Blog Posts Archive

World War I Begins At the dawn of the 20th century, few anticipated a global war, but what came to be known as the Great War began on June 28, 1914, with the assassinations of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, while they were visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia, a country recently annexed into the Austrian […]

About This Exhibit The State of Delaware maintains an extensive collection of World War I era objects under the stewardship of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs . The World War I collection consists of military gear, uniforms, medals, Red Cross related items including attire, personal letters, postcards, books, photographs, advertisements and sound recordings. The collection also […]

Fourth in a series of articles exploring the subjects of images from the state’s William D. Willis World War II Photographic Collection.

Are you familiar with the Donut Dollies and the important role they played during World War II? Donut Dollies was the popular term used to refer to the American Red Cross women who volunteered to work overseas in mobile service clubs called clubmobiles. These Red Cross volunteers served to provide food, entertainment and a bit […]

In a previous display, I discussed military gliders used during World War II but now I would like to move on to an aircraft that played a pivotal role in the outcome of the war, the B-17 Flying Fortress. What, you ask, was a Flying Fortress? Developed by the Boeing Company in the 1930s, the […]

What are mission symbols? Learning about mission symbols painted on aircraft during World War II has proved to be somewhat difficult but interesting research. Mission symbols, also known as mission marks, kill markings and victory decals, are the small symbols painted on the sides of planes, usually near the cockpit or nose, which are used […]

In my previous online display, I explained that gliders were lightweight engineless aircraft that were used by the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II to transport troops and heavy equipment into enemy-controlled areas without detection. However, the United States was not the first to use this innovation so how did the idea of […]

Did you know that the United States military used stealth aircraft during World War II? Though most of us think of stealth aircraft coming into use by our military in the late 20th century, the U.S. Army Air Force used gliders during World War II to silently land and surprise the enemy. In organizing and […]