.bigpigeon.us webpage WWII US > WWII Web Sources, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 10 Feb 2023.
Herein are links to web sources used in building Big Pigeon's WWII-related modules.
Some links are below, others are in the following subpages.
Herein are links to web sources used in building Big Pigeon's WWII-related modules.
Some links are below, others are in the following subpages.
Links to Big Pigeon's WWII US > WWII Web Sources subpages:
WWII US > WWII Web Sources webpage organization: (updated 15 Aug 2022)
==> 1 - World War II History - Web Portals and Libraries. (updated 15 Aug 2022)
WWII history sources in US military historical websites:
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ - A HyperText History of the Second World War, a key portal for WWII web researchers; many publications listed above are included; some scalable maps are included.
Wikipedia portals:
Impressive personal Portals:
==> 2 - World War II History - Maps and Atlases.
==> 3 - World War II History - Statistics, Summaries, and Timelines & Chronologies.
World War II history - US statistics:
Commentary - World War II history - US statistics:
World War II history - summaries:
World War II history - timelines & chronologies - not specific to Japan or Germany.
==> 4 - World War II history - US Army.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Army_Almanac/Dim5AAAAIAAJ?hl=en - The Army Almanac, A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States By Armed Forces Information School (U.S.), United States. Armed Forces Information School, Carlisle Barracks, Pa, United States. Department of the Army · 1950 (1,009 pp.)
WWII US Army Orders of Battle/Combat Chronicles - now in War with Japan and War with Germany subpages.
Some World War II US Army private databases:
==> 5 - World War II history - US Army Air Force. (I use USAAF, USAF, and AAF as abbreviations.)
World War II US Army Air Force databases - not specific to Japan or Germany:
==> 6 - World War II history - US Navy (including Marine Corps and Merchant Marine).
World War II US Navy databases:
-- World War II US Marine Corps:
World War II US Merchant Marine databases:
==> 7 - World War II aircraft web resources.
World War II US aircraft:
==> 8 - World War II ships web resources.
==> 9 - World War Iowa-specific web resources.
==> 10 - Sources for my World War II Roster Photos webpage. (very incomplete)
==> 11 - Sources requiring a subscription used for the WWII, WWII - Japan, or WWII - Germany modules.
- Web Sources - Personnel - access personnel-related web sources used in the Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster module.
- Web Sources - Japan - access web sources specific to the War with Japan.
- Web Sources - Germany - access web sources specific to the War with Germany.
- Pigeon Home > Resources - links to web and print resources used in other Big Pigeon modules.
- Databases may be incomplete.
- Some resources include periods other than WWII or include material for other countries.
- These are the resources I use; I have barely scratched the surface of what is available on-line.
WWII US > WWII Web Sources webpage organization: (updated 15 Aug 2022)
- World War II History - Web Portals and Libraries
- World War II History - Maps and Atlases
- World War II History - Statistics, Summaries, and Timelines & Chronologies
- World War II history - US Army
- World War II history - US Army Air Force
- World War II history - US Navy
- World War II aircraft web resources
- World War II ships web resources
- World War Iowa-specific web resources
- Sources for my World War II Roster Photos webpage (very incomplete)
- Sources requiring a subscription.
- A numbered arrow begins each section.
- References in sections 1 through 10 are free and available to all. Section 11 references require membership.
==> 1 - World War II History - Web Portals and Libraries. (updated 15 Aug 2022)
WWII history sources in US military historical websites:
- https://history.army.mil/catalog/browse/title.html - alphabetical list of US Army CMH publications. Try to avoid opening publications from here because of slow load times; use above ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ link.
- https://history.army.mil/catalog/browse/pubnum.html - list of CMH publications by publication number. WWII series are 1 - War Department, 2 - Army Ground Forces, 3 - Army Service Forces, 4 - Western Hemisphere, 5 - War in the Pacific, 6 - MTO, 7 - ETO, 8 - Middle East, 9 - CBI, 10- Technical Services, 11 - Special Studies, 12 - Pictorial Record, 13 - Reports of General MacArthur, 70-7 - excerpts from Command Decisions, 72 - WWII Commemorative Series Pamphlets, 100 - American Forces in Action.
- https://www.afhistory.af.mil/Books/Titles.aspxm - alphabetical list of Air Force books.
- https://www.history.navy.mil/research/publications/publications-by-subject.html#wwii - Naval History and Heritage Command publications by subject for WWII.
- CMH stands for Center for Military History.
- Some of the publications listed are not related to WWII.
- Many but not all of the publications listed are on-line.
- Some on-line publications are slow to download. If you find this is the case, try downloading from ibiblio.org below.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ - A HyperText History of the Second World War, a key portal for WWII web researchers; many publications listed above are included; some scalable maps are included.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/AMH/index.html - American Military History from the Army Historical Series; chapters 20-23 summarize WWII.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-Guide/index.html - US Army in WWII Reader's Guide.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ - US Army in World War II.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/index.html - US Army Air Forces in World War II.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/index.html - US Navy in World War II.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/index.html - US Marine Corps in World War II.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USCG/index.html - US Coast Guard in World War II.
Wikipedia portals:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:World_War_II - Wikipedia's portal into its WWII module.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_World_War_II - incomplete list of WWII timelines.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_orders_of_battle - index of available WWII orders of battle.
Impressive personal Portals:
- wwiidb.com, C. Peter Chen - contains lots of non-textual material.
- http://tothosewhoserved.org/usa/, Chris Gage - includes many official US WWII military histories.
==> 2 - World War II History - Maps and Atlases.
- https://www.westpoint.edu/academics/academic-departments/history/atlases - USMA West Point on-line map collection. Some of these maps are also at http://www.emersonkent.com/maps.htm.
==> 3 - World War II History - Statistics, Summaries, and Timelines & Chronologies.
World War II history - US statistics:
- https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-us-military-numbers - basic WWII US military statistics from the National World War II Museum.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battles_with_most_United_States_military_fatalities - US battles in order of fatalities (all wars; battles & campaigns; there are some errors and omissions and some overlapping).
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_maritime_disasters_in_World_War_II - all nations, in order of fatalities.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_sunk_by_submarines_by_death_toll - major losses in order of fatalities, all nations & wars.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/Casualties/index.html - table of contents.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/Casualties/Casualties-Intro.html - pp. 1-7, Introduction & Summary.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/Casualties/Casualties-1.html - pp. 8-95, Battle Casualties.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/Casualties/Casualties-2.html - pp. 96-117, Battle & Non battle Deaths.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/Casualties/Casualties-3.html - p. 118, Geographic Area of Residence.
- https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/us-navy-personnel-in-world-war-ii-service-and-casualty-statistics.html - exhaustiveNaval History & Heritage Command's US Navy in WWII Service & Casualty Statistics.
- https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/w/world-war-ii-casualties.html - summary statistics taken from above report.
Commentary - World War II history - US statistics:
- These sources contain overall data, no information about individuals.
World War II history - summaries:
- https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/09/world/world-war-ii-fast-facts - some statistics and a short summary.
- https://malwarwickonbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/7misconceptionsaboutwwii_compressed.pdf - corrects common misconceptions about WWII.
- www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii
- http://www.abmc.gov/sites/default/files/interactive/interactive_files/WW2/index.html - an interactive summary from the American Battle Monuments Commission.
- https://www.onwar.com/wwii/maps - nice collection of easy-to-read maps, each with a brief summary of that particular facet of WWII.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/pha/misc/World%20War%20II%20Fact%20Sheets.pdf - WWII Fact Sheets, prepared for use by educators during the 50th anniversary of WWII.
- historyofwar.com - British website, not specific to WWII.
World War II history - timelines & chronologies - not specific to Japan or Germany.
- http://books.stonebooks.com/wardiary/ - each day in WWII has a separate list of events.
- https://www.onwar.com/wwii/chronology/index.html - all aspects of WWII arranged by month.
- https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-SS-Chronology/index.html#index - UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II, Special Studies, CHRONOLOGY 1941-1945, Compiled by Mary H. Williams for the US Army's Center for Military History - detailed timeline of US Army in WWII.
- https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron.html - The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II.
- The above chronologies are long but are good research tools.
==> 4 - World War II history - US Army.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Army_Almanac/Dim5AAAAIAAJ?hl=en - The Army Almanac, A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States By Armed Forces Information School (U.S.), United States. Armed Forces Information School, Carlisle Barracks, Pa, United States. Department of the Army · 1950 (1,009 pp.)
WWII US Army Orders of Battle/Combat Chronicles - now in War with Japan and War with Germany subpages.
Some World War II US Army private databases:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_formations_of_the_United_States_Army_during_World_War_II - US Army Groups, Armies, Corps and Divisions in WWII.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Corps_of_the_United_States_in_World_War_II - brief histories, some incomplete, of WWII corps in the Army and Marine Corps.
- https://www.armydivs.com - campaigns in which each army division was involved. Scroll down for charts, initially confusing but worth understanding for someone with strong interests.
- http://www.militaryresearch.org/freebies.htm#Army%20WWII - selected TO&E (Tables of Organization and Equipment).
- https://www.battleorder.org.
- https://www.unithistories.com - interesting but fragmentary material.
==> 5 - World War II history - US Army Air Force. (I use USAAF, USAF, and AAF as abbreviations.)
World War II US Army Air Force databases - not specific to Japan or Germany:
- https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf - Air Force Combat Units of World War II, edited by Dr. Maurer Maurer, 1983 (group-sized units and above).
- https://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf - Combat Squadrons of the Air Force World War II, edited by Dr. Maurer Maurer, 1982. As an alternative, use a browser search string such as 500th_Bombardment_Squadron to access a squadron's wikipedia entry.
- http://usafunithistory.com/index.html - AAF Unit Histories - good!
- https://www.aviationarchaeology.com - locating missing aircraft.
- http://accident-report.com/usaf.html - AAF accident reports (Feb 1943 - Nov 1945 missing as of Mar 2021).
- aviation-safety.net/database/ - Aviation Safety Network Safety Database of aircraft accident reports.
- http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/usafserials.html - WWII AAF aircraft losses, indexed by tail number.
==> 6 - World War II history - US Navy (including Marine Corps and Merchant Marine).
World War II US Navy databases:
- http://www.navsource.org - NavSource Naval History home page - information on most ships, many photos.
- http://www.navsource.org/Naval/losses.htm#bb - WWII US Navy losses.
- www.navsource.org/Naval/ - from links near the bottom of the webpage, you can access a detailed Navy chronology for each year of WWII.
- https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs.html - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_Navy_ships_sunk_or_damaged_in_action_during_World_War_II - includes detailed information for larger ships.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_December_1941 - includes ships damaged at Pearl Harbor; links at the very end allow access to other monthly lists for WWII.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Navy_losses_in_World_War _II - by ship category.
- http://www.oneternalpatrol.com - WWII US submarine losses.
- https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/united-states-submarine-losses.html - WWII US submarine losses.
- http://rwebs.net/avhistory/acdesig/usnsqdrn.htm - Naval Aviation squadron prefixes (e.g., VSB).
-- World War II US Marine Corps:
- https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine-Corps-History-Division/Information-for-Units/Battle-Honors-of-the-Six-Marine-Divisions-in-WWII/ - Battle Honors of the Six Marine Divisions in WWII.
World War II US Merchant Marine databases:
- http://www.usmm.org/shipsunkdamaged.html - access lists of US merchant ships lost in WWII.
==> 7 - World War II aircraft web resources.
World War II US aircraft:
- https://pearlharborwarbirds.com/world-war-2-fighter-planes-aircrafts/ - about 25 common US WWII models.
- https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/ww2-us-military-aircraft.asp - 217 mostly-US mostly- WWII models.
- http://www.aircraftaces.com/ww2-aircraft-usa.htm - specs for 31 US WWII aircraft listed by manufacturer.
- http://acepilots.com/planes/factory.html - WWII aircraft mainframe manufacturers.
- https://www.wikiwand.com/en/United_States_aircraft_production_during_World_War_II - WWII aircraft production by category and by end user.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-produced_aircraft - worldwide list since 1903 of aircraft with production runs over 5,000.
- https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/WWII-Gallery/ - National Museum of the USAF, Dayton, OH WWII holdings.
- https://www.airplanemuseums.com/list-of-air-museums-exhibits-airparks.htm - partial list of US air museums.
- https://www.airplanes-online.com - airplanes of WWII, the Cold War, and Modern Times.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1924_United_States_Army_Air_Service_aircraft_designation_system -
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1922_United_States_Navy_aircraft_designation_system
==> 8 - World War II ships web resources.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Shipbuilding_Program - well-written article about WWII emergency construction of cargo ships in the US.
==> 9 - World War Iowa-specific web resources.
- https://worldwartwoveterans.org/national-guard-of-the-state-of-iowa-1938/ - 1938 Iowa National Guard yearbook.
- http://www.34ida.org/images/34ida_wwii_anniversary_letter_iowa_units_roster.pdf - list of all Iowa National Guard units inducted in early 1941.
- See the WWII - Personnel Lists webpage for the Iowa National Guard roster at time of induction in early 1941.
==> 10 - Sources for my World War II Roster Photos webpage. (very incomplete)
- https://www.ww2online.org/browse - Accesses photo library of the National WWII Museum, New Orleans, LA.
==> 11 - Sources requiring a subscription used for the WWII, WWII - Japan, or WWII - Germany modules.
- Links to most WWII subscription sources I used are in WWII Web Resources - Personnel.
- https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2348/ - US Navy Cruise Books, 1918-2009.
- https://www.fold3.com/browse - access fold3 index.
- https://www.fold3.com/search?general.title.id=95:Missing+Air+Crew+Reports,+WWII - Missing Air Crew Reports courtesy of the National Archives.