C. Peter Chen

I am the founder and managing editor of the World War II Database, which is a website brought to you by my consulting firm Lava Development, LLC. This website came from a relational database originally designed to organize text clippings, photographs, and my own notes. On 28 Dec 2004, the WW2DB website became publicly available to achieve two goals: To share my notes on WW2 history with others with similar interest, and to showcase the technical capabilities of Lava Development, LLC. From this initiative born the website you see today. Aside from WW2DB, I am also on the staff of the website Imperial Japanese Navy Page on the topic of the WW2-era Japanese Navy.

What is it exactly about history that intrigues me so much? Perhaps this following quote from Eric Hobsbawn's book The Age of Extremes best illustrates it.

For historians of my generation and background, the past is indestructible, not only because we belong to the generation when streets and public places were still called after public men and events, when peace treaties were still signed and therefore had to be identified, and war memorials recalled yesterdays, but because public events are part of the texture of our lives. They are not merely markers in our private lives, but what has formed our lives, private and public. For this author the 30 January 1933 is not simply an otherwise arbitrary date when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, but a winter afternoon in Berlin when a fifteen-year-old and his younger sister were on the way home from their neighboring schools in Wilmersdorf to Halensee and, somewhere on the way, saw the headline. I can see it still, as in a dream.

To our generations, that is exactly how we see World War II. In 2006 while on vacation abroad I met a gentleman who spent part of his childhood years in Shandong Province of China under Japanese occupation. He did not remember the war as a world-changing event, but to him the war was when he and his friends hid in the rice paddies as Japanese fighters flew over them, naively thinking they were targets of a Japanese offensive. To my grandmother, too; she did not care that the conflict was a World War, rather it was the air raid that separated her from several of her children.

For more information:

cpeterchen.org		C. Peter Chen's personal website
lavadev.com		Lava Development, LLC.'s website
dev-notes.com		Lava's contribution to the technical community
CougarDB.com		1999-2002 Mercury Cougar registry, an early Lava project

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Visitor Submitted Comments

Kathleenb says:
20 Mar 2006 04:15:03 PM

Peter, great site. Im an American friend of Morgans (Mobadious) from Simaquian. Maybe when I feel like Ive mastered (or at least become competent at) Roman history Ill move back to US history and hang out here more. :-)
Roy Coleman says:
11 Aug 2006 06:22:17 AM

Rallis birthdate is unknown.
Filovs birthdate was Apr 10 1883 (ref Current Biography 1941)
Your take on the astute Boris III is a little biased.
Jack Costantino says:
18 Nov 2006 10:39:01 AM

Peter

The conundrum of war is alive and well. I am against war. Having said that if I truly believed a pre-emptive military action would permanently eliminate war and all enemies of sanity, I would close my eyes, grit my teeth, hold my breath and push the button. Unfortunately the historic evidence is that our current wars are inextricably connected to our previous wars the ones we have won and the ones we have lost.

In reality there has never been a permanent “military solution”. Rather there appears to be a series of temporary military cessations while the defeated rearm both with weaponry and elevated levels of hatred and vengeful intent.

Peter
The conundrum of war is alive and well. I am against war. Having said that if I truly believed a pre-emptive military action would permanently eliminate war and all enemies of sanity, I would close my eyes, grit my teeth, hold my breath and push the button. Unfortunately the historic evidence is that our current wars are inextricably connected to our previous wars the ones we claim we have won and the ones we have lost.
In reality there has never been a permanent “military solution”. Rather there appears to be a series of temporary military cessations while the defeated rearm both with weaponry and elevated levels of hatred and vengeful intent.
Your excellent site reminds us of the realness of war. I am touched by the number of people still looking for old friends, family members, commrads in arms and some possible answer to the unanswerable question of the efficacy of armed conflict from a vantage point 60 years removed. Keep up the good work. Jack C.
Glenn says:
13 Oct 2008 09:48:23 AM

There is a caption error on this Web page: http://ww2db.com/photo.php?sourceall&colorall&listsearch&foreigntypeO&foreigntype_id25

The caption states "WASP pilot Helen W. Snapp flying her SBD Dauntless aircraft over Washington, DC, United States, Jun 1944"

The aircraft is a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver.
You can verifty this at Web site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SB2C_Helldiver, among others.
Matt says:
24 Jun 2009 08:48:25 AM

Hiya Pete-
Your site looks great I am contacting you to make you aware of a new Yank Magazine article that I've posted - no WW II database is complete without it:
http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/article.php?Article_Summary2855

Cheers!

Matt
Monika Ehrentraut says:
3 Jul 2009 09:52:45 PM

Hallo Peter Chen,
can you for me in the US-Blogs or archivs informationen about Erhard Milch (German Luftwaffe)? I'm searching long time a woman from this family. She had living in the Russian occupation zone until 1954/1955. Than a German brought this girl at relatives in the USA. Today she is 70 year. I know here in Germany not privat live from E. MIlch.
Kindly Regards
Monika Ehrentraut
matthew says:
26 Feb 2010 09:47:12 PM

Hi there. i am a proud New Zealander and am quite upset at the fact you have left out any mention about New Zealand's contribution to the second world war! we suffered a huge amount of casualties but also massive sucesses, particulary in the north african campaign! please add my country to your website after all we are a member of the commonwealth and fought in the war!
Miguel Krebs says:
29 Mar 2010 08:58:39 AM

Hello, my name is Miguel Krebs. Several years ago back I was working on a documentary one on the armored Graf Spee, for which I resorted to the military file in Germany and made a news article to Diggins commander, assistant of Langsdorf, that was in the German embassy of Montevideo.
Between the investigation materials I have newspapers the original Press and the Nation of the time (13 and 14 of December of 1939), filmic material in 8m (nonsuper 8) dumb in black and white of 15 minutes of duration on a made meeting days 11.12.13.19 and 20 of December of 1964 between the survivors of the tipulación of the Graf Spee and those of the Ajax, Exeter and the Achilles, in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, to commemorate the 25 years of the battle of the River of the Silver.
Also one copies in 16mm of the reporter Argentine Events of the time and the news article to Diggins, also in 16mm and magnetic perforated the corresponding one.
All this material I have it on sale and wanted to know if it could interest to him or if it knows somebody that to offer it.
To the delay of an answer, it greeting atte.

Miguel Krebs
J says:
27 Apr 2010 11:49:36 AM

I have a picture of Cpl Charles Russell at Camp Bowel Texas Oct 1942 and would like to get it to his relatives. Any idea how I can do this?
Leslie Suppan says:
5 Jan 2011 10:59:11 AM

Great site I found it while searching for Reinhard Heydrich photos. I did notice an error in two of the photographs of him though. At the bottom of the page of photos of him it shows Heydrich and his wife Lina attending a concert. The correct date for this is 26 May, 1942, the day before the assassination attempt.He lived for a week in the Bulovka Hospital in Prague until he died on 04 June, 1942. Also, the photo of the green Mercedes 320 on display in the Military Technical Museum in Prague probably is not the actual car Heydrich was in when he was attacked. Most historians and researchers agree that it is just a similar car that was made to resemble the damaged vehicle for the display.
Kate Jordan says:
20 Apr 2011 02:15:40 PM

Contributors to this site might be interested in a new WWII book that my husband has written, released by Penguin on April 5. It is called Brothers Rivals Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe. It chronicles the relationship between the 3 generals from their West Point days through the end of WWII. The book made it to #42 on Amazon (#2 among all history books) over the weekend, and was recently reviewed in both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
John Jessie Keller says:
24 May 2011 02:29:32 PM

Hi Peter.
Thanks for the artical on Rodney keller. Would you know if has any relatives in England?
John Keller, ( grandson )
Nick Rose says:
17 Nov 2011 05:54:48 AM

Just wanted to congratulate you on an outstanding website Peter!

Keep up the good work!

Best wishes,

Nick

Ex B-Coy 3-Para 1980-87. UK.
Geoff Harding says:
8 Dec 2011 09:16:38 AM

Can you tell me how to get a crew roster for the USS Colorado under Capt. Woodside (1941)
David says:
24 Dec 2011 05:59:26 AM

Hi Peter,
My dad was the 43d Division Artillery's dentist in '41-45 and brought back over 70 photos from the Solomon Islands. He also has photos from his Army traing at Camp Blanding and Camp Shelby. Would you like to add them to the collection?
You have a terrific site- the navigation is easy and clean and your commentary is simply terrific. If you ever leave IT, you'll have a great career as a militery historian.
Best Regards,
Dave
Robert Dix says:
12 Jan 2013 02:54:01 PM

I have a little piece of information about the battle of Hafid Ridge 15 June 1942 in which my father's tank was hit and he was captured. Would you be interested?
Serbian patriot says:
31 Mar 2013 03:05:02 PM

U sucks, Yugoslavia was major allied country. First of all, in Yugoslavia was first liberate place in WWII and was known as Uzicka republika. U so do not have a clue about WWII, moron.