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RATING THE WW II MESSAGE BOARDS
For those trying to find out information on a specific historical topic, the Internet usually has a website that covers in some way just about everything. There are times, however, when one wishes to find more detail, and the best search engines and websites just don't work. Luckily for the researcher, and for those interested in historical conversation, there are a wide variety of message boards where knowledgeable people "meet" to discuss favourite topics and share knowledge.
Unfortunately, some of these messageboards don't provide a high level of interaction. There are many sad individuals who see the Internet as a way to play childish pranks and interfere with those people who have serious interests. On boards with strong moderators, this isn't allowed to happen, but many boards don't have strong moderators, and there is often no way to tell if a board is strongly moderated or not.
It's probably happened to you; you enter a forum, answer a serious question, or ask one, and before you know it you have some "expert" nattering at you and generally throwing out misinformation. As a public gesture, you offer to set him straight, yet ten posts later and many angry words, you realize his intent all along was simply to annoy you. By then it has worked. You leave, whether in silence or with a farewell, and he posts several more times taunting you, calling you names, and proclaiming a "victory." You write to the webmaster, but he never answers. And there is nothing to stop other unknowing souls from entering the lair - and the idiot who has nothing better to do begins to proclaim more victories.
This listing, it is hoped, will enable webmasters, forum hosts, and Internet users alike to identify and encourage the use of the well moderated messageboards. Hopefully it will steer people clear of those that deserve to die.
The key to this table is the level of moderation; "Strongly Moderated" means that namecalling and taunting, off-topic ramblings, and other annoyances are quickly excised.
The webmaster urges people to keep him informed and updated of changes to boards, new boards to add, and other similar information.
Please send updates to webmaster@historyboards.freehosting.net
Latest update - 24 April 2001(previous update 6 March) - NEW ADDITIONS MARKED IN GREEN
GENERAL FORUMS
| Board name/link | Associated Website | Moderator | Level of Moderation | Area of Expertise/Subdivisions/Off Topic Posting | Posters to Avoid | Recommendation |
| Ralph Zuljan | Lightly moderated | General info on various wars. Off Topic area included. | Requesting feedback. | |||
| Lightly moderated. | Various boards on a variety of historical topics. | "trustyrusty" | Recommended | |||
| Well moderated. | Various boards with a view to veteran's issues, including a specifically WW II board. | None | Recommended. | |||
| Skalman.nu | Skalman.nu | Marcus Wendel | Well moderated. | Site in Swedish and English devoted to Second World War History. Forum has many different categories covering different conflicts. No Off Topic area. | None | Highly recommended. |
| Soviet Union Discussion Forum | Soviet Union Fact Book | Marcus Wendel | Well moderated | Topics pertaining to the Soviet Union in World War Two. Many different categories. No discernible Off Topic area. | None | Highly recommended. |
| Third Reich Discussion Forum | Third Reich Fact Book | Marcus Wendel | Well moderated | Topics pertaining to Germany in World War Two. Many different categories. No discernible Off Topic area. | None | Highly recommended. |
| The World at Arms | TANKS!
& Armies |
Henrik Krog | Well moderated | "The forum is intended solely for the exchange of information on the armed forces of the world between 1918 and 1953, including their organisation, equipment and employment." | None | Recommended |
| Individual Moderators. | Many different World War Two forums, plus an Off Topic area. | None | Recommended. |
MILITARY FORCES AND EQUIPMENT
| Board name/link | Associated Website | Moderator | Level of Moderation | Area of Expertise/Subdivisions/Off Topic Posting | Posters to Avoid | Recommendation |
| George Bradford | Well moderated | Good discussions about armoured fighting vehicles. | None. | Recommended. | ||
| John Prigent | Strongly moderated. | Website devoted to scale modelling, good discussion of Allied AFVs in WW II. | None | Highly recommended. | ||
| Twelve O'Clock High | Ruy Horta | Well moderated | Allied air forces discussion group. | None | Recommended. | |
| Chris Shillito | Well moderated. | A site devoted to the Churchill Tank. | None. | Fledgling board, yet highly recommended. | ||
| Unknown | Poorly moderated. | Jon Gawne's site devoted to the US Army in WW II. Contains forums for British, German and US Army enthusiasts, mostly collectors and re-enactors. No Off Topic discussion. | None | Poor layout, little traffic, harsh colours, invisible URLs in messages. Not recommended. | ||
| British and Canadian 20th Century Re-enactment Forum | CANUCK | Michael Dorosh | Strongly moderated. | Definitive source for information on Second World War Canadian uniforms. Good soure of information regarding Commonwealth soldiers in WW II. Limited Off Topic discussion permitted. | None | Highly recommended |
| British and Commonwealth Awards Forum | - | Chris Boonzaier | Well moderated | For discussion of British and Canadian decorations. | None | Recommended |
| Diving Eagle Forum | Well moderated. | Discussion of German paratroopers. | None | Recommended. | ||
| Feldgrau Discussion Forum | Feldgrau.com | Jason Pipes | Very strongly moderated. | Premier website in English devoted to the German military in the
Third Reich period. Excellent source of Third Reich info, large population
base of knowledgeable posters. Subdivided into Commerical, Research, and "Soldatenheim" (Off Topic) |
"Ken" seems to have disappeared. | Very highly recommended. |
| G503 Message Board | G503 | Well moderated. | Information on the Willy's and GPW Jeeps. | None | Recommended | |
| German Militaria | Militaria.com | Unknown | Poorly moderated. | Jon Gawne's site devoted to the US Army in WW II. Contains forums for British, German and US Army enthusiasts, mostly collectors and re-enactors. No Off Topic discussion. | None | Poor layout, little traffic, harsh colours. Not recommended. |
| J-aircraft.com | J-aircraft.com | Dave Pluth | Strongly moderated. | Definitive source of info on Japanese aircraft. Several various topics devoted to scale modelling and Japanese aircraft, with an Off Topic area. | None | Highly Recommended. |
| Mail Call USMC | Gunny G's Marine Sites | Gunny G | Well moderated | Focuses on the US Marines. | None | Recommended. |
| HeavyBombers.com Discussion Forum | HeavyBombers.com | Scott Burris | Well moderated. | Many seperate forums dealing with heavy bombers of World War Two, including various theatres of operations, uniforms, POWs and more. | None | Recommended. |
| Maple Leaf Up Discussion Forum | Maple Leaf Up | Geoff Winnington-Ball | Strongly moderated. | Definitive source for information on Canadian Military Pattern trucks, and all Canadian military vehicles of the Second World War. Good source for general WW II Canadian info. Limited Off Topic discussion permitted. | None | Very highly recommended. |
| Dutch East Indies Message Board | The Netherlands Dutch East Indies 1941-42 | Information regarding the Dutch East Indies in World War Two. | None | Fledgeling site. | ||
| Norway During World War II Discussion Forum | Norway During World War II | Kurt Monsen | Well moderated. | Site in English and Norwegian pertaining to Norway in World War Two. | None | Recommended. |
| Panzertalk | Missing Links | James Blackwell | Strongly moderated | Site devoted to scale modelling, good discussion of German Armour in World War Two. | None | Highly recommended. |
| Pearl Harbor Attacked Messageboard | Angie Sagan | Well moderated. | Devoted to the history of the Pearl Harbor attack, many subdivisions including general Pacific War history. No Off Topic area. | None | Very serious site with authoritative posters, including veterans. Highly recommended. | |
| Scottish Military History Discussion Forum | Scots at War | Well moderated. | Topics pertaining to Scottish Military History. No discernible Off Topic discussion. | None | Recommended. | |
| Twelve O'Clock High Discussion Group | Twelve O'Clock High | Ruy Horta | Well moderated | Luftwaffe discussion group. | None | Recommended. |
| U-Boat.net Discussion Forums | U-Boat.net | Well moderated. | Discussion on the use of U-Boats and the war at sea. Other topics include films and scale modellings. | None | Recommended. | |
| US Militaria | Unknown. | Poorly moderated. | Jon Gawne's site devoted to the US Army in WW II. Contains forums for British, German and US Army enthusiasts, mostly collectors and re-enactors. No Off Topic discussion. | None | Poor layout, little traffic, harsh colours. Not recommended. | |
| Waffen SS Forum | 12th SS Pz. Division "Hitler
Jugend" & 2nd SS Pz. Division "Das Reich" |
Frank DeLaglio & Dan Reinbold | Well moderated. | Good discussion of Waffen SS subjects. | None | Recommended. |
| Wehrmacht Militaria Discussion Forum | Wehrmacht Awards and Decorations | Various moderators. | Well moderated. | In depth look at WW II German decorations. | None | Recommended |
| The World War Two GI Messageboard | Lee's Jeep Page | Lee Bishop | Strongly moderated | World War Two US Army. Small site, growing. | None | Recommended. |
| Individual Moderators. | Many different World War Two forums, plus an Off Topic area. | None | Recommended. |
MOVIES, SPECIFIC EVENTS, AND ENTERTAINMENT
| Board name/link | Associated Website | Moderator | Level of Moderation | Area of Expertise/Subdivisions/Off Topic Posting | Posters to Avoid | Recommendation |
| Battlefront.com Forums | Big Time Software, Madmatt, KwazyDog | Strongly moderated | Devoted to Big Time Software's line of games, including the groundbreaking World War Two tactical game Combat Mission. Conversation mostly about the games, but there is an Off Topic area as well. Much WW II history and info to be found in Combat Mission section. | Beware the Peng! | Highly recommended, especially to Combat Mission players, but much grognard stuff here too. "Peng" thread has taken on a life of its own - residents of this thread routinely rude, crude and obnoxious, especially to newcomers - it is part of a running gag and all in fun. Majority of threads are well moderated and civil, however. | |
| Countingdown.com | Countingdown.com | Various | Various | Amateur fan sites devoted to upcoming movie releases; some war films covered. | NA | Not recommended. Ridiculous interface in which movies are not listed alphabetically makes navigation difficult. Site lacks professionalism and anything useful to say. Individual movies left to volunteer webmasters; some forums open season for flamers. New forums have low traffic. Better off with the official movie websites. |
| GI Combat Message Board | Eric Young | Strongly moderated. | Devoted to the computer game GI Combat. | None | Recommended. | |
| Pearl Harbor: The Movie Site | Nick, David Aiken | Varied moderators. | Devoted to Pearl Harbor movie, but with strong sections on WW II history and scale modelling. Also an Off Topic area. | "Otter" | Recommended. "Otter" has left the building. | |
| SPR and General Chat Board | Stephanie | Strongly moderated. | One of the many SPR boards that kept going after the film was out of popular release. Mostly Off Topic posts, but generally military themed. | None | Recommended. | |
| Steelnavy.com | Steelnavy.com |
Well moderated. | Site devoted to model ship building. | None | Recommended. | |
| Various moderators. | Well moderated. | Many different subject areas, nothing specifically World War Two, including AFV talk, modelling and gaming. Off Topic area as well. | None | Recommended. |