World War 2 In Review

Remote-controlled anti-aircraft missile "Rheintochter 1" in flight, 1944. Rheintochter was a German surface-to-air missile developed by Rheinmetall-Borsig during World War II. Its name comes from the mythical Rheintöchter (Rhinemaidens) of Richard Wagner's opera series Der Ring des Nibelungen. The missile was a multi-stage solid fueled rocket. It had four small varnished plywood control surfaces, resembling paddles, in the nose, six fins at the after end of the top stage, and four at the end of the main stage. It stood 6.3 m (20 ft 8 in) tall, with a diameter of 54 cm (1 ft 9 in). The sustainer motor, located ahead of the 136 kg (300 lb) warhead (rather than behind, as is more usual) exhausted through six venturis between the first stage fins. Type: Surface-to-air missile Place of origin: Germany Designed: 1942-1943 Manufacturer: Rheinmetall-Borsig Propellant: multi-stage solid fuel History Rheintochter was ordered in November 1942 by the German army (He...

Marshal Georgi K. Zhukov. by David M. Glantz After enduring months of bitter and costly defensive combat at Stalingrad, on 19 November 1942, Red Army forces struck a massive blow against the hitherto triumphant German Army. To the Germans' utter consternation, within one week Soviet forces encircled German Sixth Army in the deadly Stalingrad cauldron. Ten weeks later, the army's tattered remnants surrendered, ending the most famous battle of the German-Soviet War. History states the titanic Battle of Stalingrad altered the course of war on the German Eastern Front and set the Wehrmacht and German Reich on its path toward utter and humiliating defeat. History accorded enduring fame to the victors of Stalingrad. The victorious Red Army seemingly never again suffered strategic or significant operational defeat. The architects of the Stalingrad victory entered the annals of military history as unvanquished heroes who led the subsequent Soviet march to victory. Foremost among ...