Reconstructing World War Two battles through terrain analysis, primary sources and on-site research
Walking the battlefields of World War Two
World War Two was the most destructive, most geographically expansive conflict in human history, fought across beaches, bocage, mountains, deserts, forests, snowbound plains and shattered cities between 1939 and 1945. Victory and defeat were often determined not only by industrial capacity and grand strategy, but also by soldiers’ tactical ability to read the ground, exploit cover, manoeuvre through complex environments, apply firepower, and adapt tactics to local terrain.
This collection of battle studies examines key actions in Finland, Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Normandy, Arnhem, the Bulge and beyond, drawing on period maps, wartime photographs, veteran accounts and first-hand visits to the sites themselves. Each study breaks the battle down through terrain, weapons, doctrine and command decision-making, supported by GIS-based analysis and modern field reconnaissance.
Many of these battlefields — such as Brecourt Manor, Carentan, La Fière Bridge and the approaches to Arnhem — remain remarkably intact, offering rare opportunities to walk the ground exactly as airborne troops, infantry and armoured forces did in 1944. The aim of this collection is not simply to retell what happened, but to understand why it happened: how folds in the earth canalised attacks, how causeways and hedgerows shaped movement, and how commanders attempted (and sometimes failed) to exploit the terrain before them.
Whether you are studying D-Day, Operation Market Garden or the Pacific campaigns, these battlefield studies provide a ground-truth perspective rarely found in traditional military histories. I have walked the ground at every one of these battlefields. As I continue to explore theatres, campaigns and battles, I will add and expand to this page.
Second World War Battlefield Studies
In-depth battlefield analyses based on terrain, primary sources, and on-the-ground exploration.
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⚔️ Battle of Suomussalmi / Raate Road, Finland,
30 Nov 1939 – 8 Jan 1940
When Stalin’s Red Army invaded Finland on 30 November 1939, the two main thrusts were in the south around Lake Ladoga and the Mannerheim Line, and in central Finland focussed on Suomussalmi. In central Finland, the Russian 163rd Rifle Division and an independent tank brigade crossed the border at Juntusranta, and the 44th (Ukrainian) Rifle…
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⚔️ Operation ANTHROPOID: The mission to kill Heydrich,
27 May 1942
Operation Anthropoid was one of the most significant acts of resistance against Hitler’s regime. Planned and executed by Czechoslovakian operatives in collaboration with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), Operation Anthropoid targeted Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking Nazi official and one of the principal architects of the Holocaust.
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⚔️ D-Day: Brecourt Manor assault, Easy Company, 506th PIR,
6 June 1944
Here on 6 June 1944, Lieutenant Richard ‘Dick’ Winters, acting company commander for Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, led a force of 23 paratroopers in a successful assault on a German force that outnumbered them more than 5 to 1. Easy Company’s action that day was depicted in the Steven Spielberg/Tom…
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⚔️ D-Day: Gold Beach landings,
6 June 1944
On 6 June 1944, the British 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division landed at Gold Beach, facing fortified villages and determined German resistance. By nightfall, they had secured a foothold, linked with Canadian forces at Juno, and pushed inland toward Bayeux. Within days, the artificial Mulberry harbour was providing vital sustainment to the Normandy campaign.
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⚔️ D-Day: Juno Beach landings,
6 June 1944
On 6 June 1944, the British 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division landed at Gold Beach, facing fortified villages and determined German resistance. By nightfall, they had secured a foothold, linked with Canadian forces at Juno, and pushed inland toward Bayeux. Within days, the artificial Mulberry harbour was providing vital sustainment to the Normandy campaign.
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⚔️ D-Day: Omaha Beach landings,
6 June 1944
Omaha Beach makes a powerful impression. When you visit the beach, you know that this is where Robert Capa took those famous photos of American soldiers assaulting through the obstacle belt, and where the dramatic first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan was set. It also becomes clear how important the five beach exits were…
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⚔️ D-Day: Pegasus Bridge glider assault,
6 June 1944
In the opening minutes of D-Day, British airborne troops conducted a glider-borne coup-de-main assault to seize the bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne. Their mission was simple but dangerous: capture the bridges intact and hold them against German counterattacks, thereby securing the eastern flank of the Normandy landings.
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⚔️ D-Day: Sword Beach landings,
6 June 1944
On 6 June 1944, the British 3rd Division, supported by the 1st Special Service Brigade and 79th Armoured Brigade, stormed Sword Beach, the easternmost Allied landing sector in Normandy. Their success secured the D-Day landing Allied left flank, linked with the airborne lodgement at the Orne, and set the stage for the long struggle for…
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⚔️ D-Day: US Airborne Operations, Sainte-Mere-Eglise,
6 June 1944
As a former 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper, the town of Sainte-Mere Eglise in the Cotentin Peninsula of Normandy holds a special place for me. In the early hours of 6 June 1944, ahead of the Normandy Beach landings, the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions parachuted into this area. The 82nd was to seize the…
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⚔️ D-Day: US Ranger assault on Pointe du Hoc,
6 June 1944
Pointe du Hoc, a prominent headland between Utah and Omaha Beaches, was a critical objective on D-Day. The German position was equipped with a battery of 155mm howitzers capable of targeting the American landing beaches. The mission to assault Pointe du Hoc was assigned to the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions. The Rangers would scale…
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⚔️ D-Day: Utah Beach landings,
6 June 1944
In the early hours of D-Day, 6 June 1944, 13,200 paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions landed behind Utah Beach to secure the beach landing sites and prevent German interference. A few hours later, the US 4th Infantry Division stormed ashore on Utah Beach. The amphibious forces landed about 2,000 yards south of…
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⚔️ D-Day: Battle for La Fière Causeway,
6-9 June 1944
The final act of Steven Spielberg’s 1998 movie ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is set in the fictional French town of Ramelles, as a mixed group of paratroopers defends a bridge over the Merderet River against German armoured counter-attacks. That scene is based on real events that happened right here at La Fiere Bridge. I was a…
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⚔️ D-Day: Battle of Carentan,
10-13 June 1944
After the successful D-Day landings on June 6, the Allies needed to link the Utah and Omaha beachheads, build forces to cut off the Cotentin Peninsula, and be prepared for the expected German counterattack that they knew was coming. The key to all of that was the town of Carentan on the Cotentin – a…
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⚔️ D-Day: 101st Airborne Division and the Battle of Bloody Gulch,
13 June 1944
The Battle of Bloody Gulch was fought on 13 June 1944, just west of Carentan, Normandy. The battle followed immediately after 101st Airborne Division’s capture of Carentan on 12 June. Lightly armed American paratroopers from 506th (PIR) Parachute Infantry Regiment and 501st PIR faced a major armoured counterattack by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division and…
Second World War Field Notes
Short-form observations, terrain insights, and working interpretations from the field. Some posts require access.
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📝 🔒Field Note: Fort Eben-Emael Glider Assault, Belgium, 10 May 1940
October 2025, Fort Eben-Emael, Liège, Belgium. I am exploring the great Belgian fortress of Eben-Emael. In May 1940, this was the site of one of the boldest, most dramatic actions in military history. A handful of German glider-borne assault engineers neutralised the most powerful fortress in Europe in under twenty-four hours, using a weapon no…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Battle for Gavutu & Tanambogo Islands, 7-9 August 1942
Gavutu & Tanambogo Islands, 8 August 2026. I am exploring the site of some of the most bitter fighting of the entire Guadalcanal Campaign, and it happened right here over 7-9 August 1942, While the landings at Beach Red on the big island of Guadalcanal had gone ahead unopposed, the landings at Tulagi and Gavutu…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Battle for Tulagi Island, 7-8 August 1942
Tulagi Island, 8 August 2026. I crossed Iron Bottom Sound from Honiara to Tulagi by a dawn high-speed ferry. The trip was roughly two hours long. The date of my battlefield visit also coincided with the official 84th anniversary commemoration of the battle. The commemorative service was held on Blue Beach and was attended by…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Beach Red landings, 7 August 1942
August 2026, Beach Red, Guadalcanal, I am walking the ground at Beach Red, site of the 1st Marine Division landings on 7 August 1942. Compared to many other WW2 sites on the island, Beach Red is little changed since 1942. The beach is about four kilometres east of Henderson Field and curves from the Tenaru…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Goettge Patrol Incident, 12-13 August 1942
August 2026, at the mouth of the Matanikau River. I am exploring the sites associated with the ill-fated ‘Goettge Patrol’ of 12-13 August 1942. The action happened over a very small area on the beachline west of the Matanikau, near the old village of Matanikau, now overrun by urban sprawl. In 1942 the jungle extended…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Battle of Edson’s Ridge (Bloody Ridge), 12-14 September 1942
August 2026, Edson’s Ridge, south of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. I am exploring the sites of the 12-14 September 1942 Japanese attack against the Lunga perimeter. The long north-south ridgeline here became known as ‘Edson’s Ridge’ or ‘Bloody Ridge’ after the battle. The Japanese called in ‘The Centipede’. This is one of the best-preserved battle sites…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – First Battle of the Matanikau, 18-19 August 1942
Matanikau Village site, August 2026. I am exploring the site of the First Battle of the Matanikau, 18-19 August 1942. The battle was the first major battle west of the Matanikau and bears many similarities with the other five or six battles (depending on how you count them) on the Matanikau that would follow, each…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Battle of the Tenaru (Alligator Creek), 21 August 1942
August 2026, Ilu River (Alligator Creek). I am exploring the site of the 21 August 1942 Japanese attack against the Marines on the Lunga perimeter. The Japanese ‘Ichiki Detachment’ was a battalion-sized force from the 28th Infantry Regiment, led by the Regimental Commander, Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki. Facing them across the Ilu River was the 2nd…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Battle of Isurava, Papua New Guinea, 26-31 August 1942
August 2002, Isurava, Papua New Guinea. I explored the Isurava battlefield in August 2002, around the 60th anniversary of the battle, during preparations to open the spectacular new memorial on the Kokoda Track. At the time, I was still serving in the Army back then, and I flew Prime Minister John Howard and veterans of…
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📝 🔒Field Note: XXX Corps Orders, Leopoldsburg, Belgium, 15 Sep 1944
September 2025, Leopoldsburg, Belgium. I am standing on Nicolaylaan Street, on the site of the old Cinema Splendid. On the morning of 15 September 1944, one of the most consequential military briefings of the Second World War took place inside its walls. Lt Gen. Brian Horrocks stood before his subordinate commanders of XXX Corps and…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Arnhem, Netherlands, 17 September 1944 — Kussin ambush
September 2025, Arnhem, Netherlands. I am standing at the intersection of Wolfhezerweg and Utrechtseweg with author David Buggenum, on the site where the local German commander, Generalmajor Friedrich Kussin, was ambushed and killed by members of 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, on 17 September 1944.
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📝🔒 Field Note: Op Market Garden, Netherlands, 17 September 1944 — Achterste Brug
September 2025, Hell’s Highway, south of Eindhoven, Netherlands. I am exploring Hell’s Highway in the vicinity of Achterste Bridge with author Jack Didden. On 17 September 1944, Sherman tanks of the Guards Brigade led the XXX Corps advance from the Belgian border north towards Eindhoven, Nijmegen and, eventually, Arnhem. Lieutenant Colonel Joe Vandeleur’s Irish Guards…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Nijmegen, 20 September 1944 — Waal River Crossing
September 2025, Nijmegen, Netherlands. I am standing at the site on the Waal River, where Major Julian Cook led the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (504 PIR) of the US 82nd Airborne Division in a dramatic assault river crossing to seize the northern end of the Waal Road Bridge at Nijmegen.
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📝🔒 Field Note: Easy Company assault at Randwijk Crossroads, 5 October 1944
September 2025, Randwijk, Netherlands. I am standing at the “Crossroads” made famous in Band of Brothers Episode 5: Crossroads. On 5 October 1944, a brief battle took place here, east of the village of Randwijk, in the area between the Rhine and the Waal known as “The Island.”
Tactical Innovations
Over thousands of years of warfare, armies have sought ways to gain advantage on the battlefield. Sometimes the solution was a new weapon. Sometimes it was a radical new method. Often it was a combination of both. From the disciplined ranks of the Greek phalanx to pike-and-shot warfare to the interlocking machine-gun fire plans of the twentieth century, tactical innovations have repeatedly reshaped how battles are fought.
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💡 Tactical Innovations: Machine Gun Theory
This article explains how machine guns are employed on the battlefield, including the key concepts of cone of fire, beaten zone, grazing fire, enfilade fire, and mutually supporting machine-gun positions. The article forms part of the Tactical Innovations in Warfare series.
Authored by Mick Prictor, a retired military officer with 40 years’ service, and a military historian specialising in terrain-focused analysis of tactics, doctrine, and command decision-making in land warfare. His work draws on extensive battlefield fieldwork—more than 280 sites worldwide—and one of the world’s largest private collections of historic military arms, uniforms, and equipment. About me
⚔️ Go deeper — Members get exclusive access to the Deep Research Collection, Field Notes, and monthly Research Dispatches. Try membership free for 7 days, cancel anytime. From $9/month.
Explore Related Themes
Armies: American Army • British Army • Canadian Army • German Army • Czech Resistance •
Finnish Army • Red Army
Methods: Mechanised Warfare • Amphibious Operations • Encounter Battle • Ambush • Airborne operations
Environments: Forest Warfare • Mountain Warfare • Arctic/WInter Warfare
Further Study: World War Two Reading List
Related Battle Studies, Museum Pieces & Reading Resources
⚔️ D-Day: Brecourt Manor assault, Easy Company, 506th PIR, 6 June 1944
⚔️ D-Day: Sword Beach landings, 6 June 1944
⚔️ D-Day: Utah Beach landings, 6 June 1944
⚔️ D-Day: Omaha Beach landings, 6 June 1944
🏛️ World War Two (1939–1945) Weapons and Equipment
⚔️ D-Day: US Airborne Operations, Sainte-Mere-Eglise, 6 June 1944
Each study combines terrain analysis, period maps, archival accounts and on-site research to explain how ground, movement and tactical decisions shaped the battle.
The collection includes extensive D-Day and Normandy actions, but also covers Market Garden, airborne operations and other major battles across the European theatre.
Yes. Many sites in Normandy, including the landing beaches, remain accessible and are included with travel guidance and ground-level interpretation.
Each study uses period maps, contemporary imagery, veteran testimony and modern GIS overlays to present a clear, terrain-driven view of the battle.
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