Dive bomber in the context of "Joseph McCarthy"

The Battle of Westerplatte was the first battle of the German invasion of Poland, marking the start of World War II in Europe. It occurred on the Westerplatte peninsula in the harbour of the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). A small forested island separated from Gdansk by the harbour channel, Westerplatte was established as a Polish military outpost during the interwar period.

In the mid-1920s, the Second Polish Republic established the Polish Military Transit Depot (Wojskowa Składnica Tranzytowa, WST) on the Westerplatte peninsula in the Free City of Danzig. Beginning on 1 September 1939, the German Wehrmacht and Danzig Police assaulted the WST. Despite initial assessment on both sides that the Polish garrison might hold out for several hours before being reinforced or overwhelmed, the Poles held out for seven days and repelled thirteen assaults that included dive-bomber attacks and naval shelling.

HMS Greyhound was a G-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the 1930s. Greyhound participated in the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, the Dunkirk evacuation in May and the Battle of Dakar in September before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in November. The ship generally escorted the larger ships of the Mediterranean Fleet as they protected convoys against attacks from the Italian Fleet. She sank two Italian submarines while escorting convoys herself in early 1941. Greyhound was sunk by German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers north-west of Crete on 22 May 1941 as she escorted the battleships of the Mediterranean Fleet attempting to intercept the German sea-borne invasion forces destined for Crete.

HMS Gloucester was one of the second batch of three Town-class light cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the late 1930s. Commissioned shortly before the start of World War II in August 1939, the ship was initially assigned to the China Station and was transferred to the Indian Ocean and later to South Africa to search for German commerce raiders. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in mid-1940 and spent much of her time escorting Malta Convoys. Gloucester played minor roles in the Battle of Calabria in 1940 and the Battle of Cape Matapan in 1941. She was sunk by German dive bombers on 22 May 1941 during the Battle of Crete with the loss of 722 men out of a crew of 807. Gloucester acquired the nickname "The Fighting G" after earning five battle honours in less than a year.

Wolfram Karl Ludwig Moritz Hermann Freiherr von Richthofen (10 October 1895 – 12 July 1945) was a German World War I flying ace who rose to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) in the Luftwaffe during World War II.

In the First World War, Richthofen fought on the Western and Eastern Fronts as a cavalry officer until 1917. He joined the Luftstreitkräfte (German Imperial Air Service) after his cousins, brothers Lothar and Manfred ('The Red Baron'), both of whom became flying aces. On his first mission in Jagdgeschwader 1 (Fighter Wing 1), Manfred was killed while chasing a fighter that attacked Wolfram. Wolfram went on to claim eight aerial victories before the armistice in November 1918. After the war, Richthofen joined the Reichswehr and became a member of the Luftwaffe after Hitler's rise to power in 1933. He served as part of the Condor Legion which supported the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. During this time, he recognised the need for close air support in military campaigns and championed the dive bomber. He also made innovations in ground-air communications.

Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg (née Schiller; 3 January 1903 – 8 April 1945) was a German aviator who served as a test pilot in the Luftwaffe before and during World War II.

She was the second German woman to be awarded the honorary title of Flugkapitän (English: flight captain) and also flew over 2,500 test flights in dive bombers, the second most of any Luftwaffe test pilot. Von Stauffenberg was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class and the Gold Front Flying Clasp for Bombers with diamonds, for performing over 1,500 test flights in dive bomber aircraft.

The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 and served the Axis in World War II from beginning to end (1939–1945).

The aircraft is easily recognisable by its inverted gull wings and fixed spatted undercarriage. Upon the leading edges of its faired main gear legs were mounted ram-air sirens, officially called "Lärmgerät" (noise device), which became a propaganda symbol of German air power and of the so-called Blitzkrieg victories of 1939–1942, as well as providing Stuka pilots with audible feedback as to speed. The Stuka's design included several innovations, including automatic pull-up dive brakes under both wings to ensure that the aircraft recovered from its attack dive even if the pilot blacked out from the high g-forces, or suffered from target fixation.