Killed by friendly fire: Lesley J. McNair and Bede Irvin
More than a hundred Americans were killed by bombs dropped by U.S. aircraft on July 25, 1944 — a key Army figure and beloved Associated Press photographer among them.
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The July 20 plot on Hitler’s life
On July 20, 1944, a bomb went off in a conference room at Hitler’s “Wolf’s Lair” headquarters, sending Germany into chaos and confusion. The attack was in the news almost immediately, thanks to German radio reports, and within about 12 hours Hitler himself had taken to the airwaves to address the incident.
Read moreThomas D. Howie: The Major of Saint-Lô
The story of the body of an unidentified major being borne into liberated Saint-Lô resonated with U.S. readers for days before they learned Maj. Thomas D. Howie’s name.
Read more‘Greyhound’ in real life: Covering the convoys
The type of Atlantic convoy action portrayed in the new Tom Hanks movie was covered by press correspondents at the time. We examine some of their work.
Read moreLiberating Caen: The unbroken spirit of ‘war-tortured’ French civilians
British and Canadian troops entering battle-ravaged Caen were greeted with unabashed joy by French townspeople, leaving soldiers and correspondents alike stunned by the reception.
Read moreAudie Murphy’s overlooked heroics
Audie Murphy became perhaps the most famous American foot soldier of World War II, but the press didn’t catch on to his story until he was done fighting.
Read moreD-Day: Keeping the Mulberry secret
The “Mulberry” artificial harbors were one of the great engineering feats of the war, but it was months after D-Day before word of their existence appeared in the press.
Read moreD-Day: Joan Ellis and the AP’s accidental invasion report
The flash hit the Associated Press wire at 4:39 p.m. Eastern War Time on Saturday, June 3, 1944: FLASH LONDON EISENHOWER’S HEADQUARTERS ANNOUNCED ALLIED LANDINGS IN FRANCE U.S. broadcast news operations had been poised for just such an alert for weeks, and immediately sprang into action. Seconds after the flash hit the wire, CBS broke into the Belmont Stakes broadcast
Read moreD-Day: Correspondents balance ambition, fear ahead of invasion
The classic bit that sums up the tension between the press and its handlers ahead of the Normandy Invasion first appeared in Leonard Lyons’ syndicated column on June 12, 1944: Shortly before the invasion began, Britain’s Ministry of Information was besieged by hundreds of newspapermen seeking credentials to cover the story. For a while the confusion seemed interminable. One disgruntled
Read moreAttu: Japan’s last desperate charge
The American flag flew triumphant this Memorial day over the rocky ridges of Attu Island. That was the lead on the Associated Press story that ran in hundreds of newspapers Monday, May 31, 1943, in a report datelined the previous day out of Washington, D.C. It was based on War Department communiques, and the message they conveyed was succinct: “Except
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World War II on Deadline 