Mildred Gillars is a name synonymous with treason in the United States. During the Second World War the American became a broadcaster in Nazi Germany, tasked with devastating the morale of US troops. Yet despite her minimal impact on America's fighting spirit, Gillars dubbed Axis Sally by her listeners - today boasts a legacy comparable to defector Benedict Arnold, spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and double-agent Robert Hanssen.
However, exactly how and why the failed actress descended from the Broadway stage and onto the fascist airwaves of the Third Reich, still largely remains a unexplained. "Even now, mystery and ambiguity shroud her troubled life. Many, many questions surrounding her choices remain unanswered and, frankly, probably unanswerable," Professor Michael Flamm, a scholar of modern American political history at Ohio Wesleyan University (where Gillars studied before the war), told History of War.
A troubled childhood
Born on 29 November, 1900, Mildred Elizabeth Sisk was the daughter of Canadian parents Mary (Mae), a seamstress, and Vincent, an alcoholic blacksmith. Her early years were spent across the border in Portland, Maine, where she bore witness to her father's drunken tirades and abusive behaviour. Eventually, her mother divorced Vincent and remarried dentist Robert Bruce Gillars, also an alcoholic, whose surname Mildred took. After the birth of her half-sister Edna in 1909, the family moved to settle in Ohio.
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THE RUHR POCKET
The world's largest industrial complex, the Ruhr was where Nazi Germany's war machine was forged. If the Allies could capture it the conflict in Europe would effectively be over
HITLER'S 'ALPINE FORTRESS
With the Rhine crossed and the Ruhr taken, Allied Supreme Commander Dwight D Eisenhower had to decide what came next. His orders would help shape the fate of Europe for decades to come
BLUNTING THE SULTAN'S SPEAR
During his 1532 invasion, Suleiman the Magnificent faced a seemingly simple obstacle in the small fortress of Koszeg, Hungary. What ensued was a bloody struggle between Ottoman firepower and imperial grit
BATTLE OF THE NILE NELSON vs NAPOLEON
In 1798, Britain's most celebrated admiral pursued the French across the Mediterranean, attempting to thwart General Bonaparte's mission to Egypt. The pursuit culminated in what was arguably the most strategically important naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars
FREDERICKSBURG
The Confederate invasion of the north had been repulsed in Maryland by the Army of the Potomac. President Abraham Lincoln now urged his military to seize the initiative and crush the Confederates in the east and capture their capital Richmond. It would culminate in another catastrophic defeat
REMAGEN GATEWAY TO THE REICH
On 7 March 1945 the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine at Remagen was still standing - capturing it intact was vital to the Allied advance into Nazi Germany
A13 MK III CRUISER COVENANTER TANK
Plagued with mechanical issues, the Covenanter was envisioned as an improved cruiser design but never deployed for overseas service
INSIDE PICKETT'S CHARGE
On 3 July 1863 a Confederate regiment – the 19th Virginia Infantry – marched into the jaws of Hell in one of the most infamous events in American military history
Heroes of the Victoria Cross: MILTON FOWLER GREGG
On 28 September, 1918, this Royal Canadian Regiment officer led his men through uncut barbed wire into enemy trenches
MARCH 1945
To commemorate 80 years since the Second World War, History of War will be taking a look at some of the key events taking place during each month of the conflict
