Second World War · 1941–1945 · 5 files
Eastern Front
Researched stories and films about the people who served on the Eastern Front in the Second World War, with the sources behind every account.
Written stories
Case files from the Eastern Front
File 041Article
Karelia; later Vietnam · 1939–1965
The Soldier of Three Flags
Lauri Törni fought the Soviet Union for Finland in two wars and won the Mannerheim Cross, then trained with the Waffen-SS and was jailed at home for treason. He escaped to America, joined the Army as Larry Thorne, and became a legend in the Green Berets. He vanished in a helicopter over Vietnam in 1965. His remains came home thirty-four years later.
File 036Article
Normandy; Germany; the Oder front · 1944–1945
The Paratrooper Who Joined the Red Army
Joe Beyrle jumped into Normandy on D-Day with the 101st Airborne, was captured, escaped from a German prison camp and walked east until he met a Soviet tank battalion. He fought with them towards Berlin. At home he had already been declared dead, and his funeral had been held.
File 004Article
Soviet Union · Poland · 1942–1945
Eighteen Sorties in One Night
Nadezhda Popova flew 852 combat missions in a plywood-and-canvas biplane with no radio and no guns. The German soldiers below called her regiment the Night Witches.
Films
