Modern warfare Books
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Doenitz UBoats Convoys
Book SynopsisUnique combined account of the Battle of the Atlantic from both the German and British viewpoints
£21.21
Pen & Sword Books Ltd In the Service of the Emperor
Book SynopsisCovers the dramatic 15 years of Japanese Empire expansion.
£23.75
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Radioman TwentyFive Years in the Marine Corps
Book SynopsisFull career arc of a Marine--from lowly grunt to decorated air officer--spanning 1987 to 2013.
£23.75
Sourcebooks, Inc Best Little Stories from WWII More Than 100 True
Book Synopsis
£20.66
National Geographic Society Eyewitness to World War II
Book SynopsisEyewitness to World War II brings you closer than ever before to the greatest challenge a generation of Americans had ever faced.Trade Review“This book captures both the scale and the human emotion [of WWII]” –Baltimore Sun “This incredibly dramatic and moving compilation of reportage, first-person accounts and archival photos reminds us why war is hell.” –Sacramento Bee
£28.00
National Geographic Society Generals Patton Macarthur Marshall and the
Book SynopsisCelebrated historian Winston Groom tells the uniquely American tales of George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, and George Marshall, from World War I to World War II. These three remarkable men-of-arms who rose from the gruesome hell of the First World War to become the finest generals of their generation during World War II redefined America's ideas of military leadership and brought forth a new generation of American soldier. Their efforts revealed to the world the grit and determination that would become synonymous with America in the post-war years. Filled with novel-worthy twists and turns, and set against the backdrop of the most dramatic moments of the twentieth century, The Generals is a powerful, action-packed book filled with marvelous surprises and insights into the lives of America's most celebrated warriors.
£24.00
James Lorimer & Company Ltd Too Young to Die
Book SynopsisJohn Boileau and Dan Black tell for the first time compelling stories of some of the 30,000 underage youths -- some as young as fourteen -- who joined the Canadian Armed Forces in the Second World War.Trade ReviewHistory is peppered with stories of young men who joined up when they were under age. Boileau's book takes a look at a huge number of young men aged 14+ who joined the Canadian Armed Forces to fight in the second world war. * Books Monthly *Detailed it may be , but it is also a first class read and will appeal to both the general reader and military historians. 4.5 stars. * Army Rumour Service *Meticulously researched and extensively illustrated with photographs, personal documents and specially commissioned maps, Too Young to Die provides a touching and fascinating perspective on the Canadian experience in the Second World War. * Recollections of World War II *
£24.82
Arcadia Publishing Wright Field Images of Aviation
Book Synopsis
£21.24
Pen & Sword Books Ltd DDay Cover Up at Pointe du Hoc
Book SynopsisFor the first time ever this follow-up book now offers complete Rangers history for the seven months prior to D-Day.
£36.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Panzers of the Wehrmacht 19331945 Fact File
Book SynopsisA highly accessible overview of German Panzers and variations of tanks with technical data, facts and pictures as used by German Wehrmacht in WW2.
£16.16
Pen & Sword Books Ltd US Infantry Weapons of the Second World War
Book SynopsisAn invaluable and comprehensive collection of US infantry weapons of WW2.
£21.21
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Waffen SS in Combat Rare Photographs from Wartime
Book SynopsisContains approximately 160 pages of integrated images from the period and covers the six-year history of the Waffen-SS. Ideal reading for anyone with an interest in the Second World War from the German's perspective.
£18.40
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Mystery of Missing Flight FBELV
Book SynopsisThe Mystery of Missing Flight F-BELV, believed to be the only aircraft never to have been recovered from the Vietnam War.
£19.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Voices from the Past Channel Islands Invaded The
Book SynopsisThe ground-breaking Voices From the Past series tells the stories of the great conflicts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from the Battle of Waterloo to the fall of Hitler's Germany, through the words of the politicians, the press, the generals, and the ordinary soldier and civilian that lived and fought through those momentous times.
£31.96
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Armoured Warfare in the Far East 1937 1945 Rare
Book SynopsisOver 150 wartime photographs of the Japanese, American, British and Russian armoured vehicles that fought in the Far East between 1937 and 1945.
£18.26
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Hitler versus Stalin The Eastern Front 19441945
Book SynopsisThe final volume in a four-part photographic history of the war between Germany and the Soviet Union.
£18.54
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Air War Varsity
Book SynopsisCovers all aspects of Operation Varsity, the last large-scale Allied operation of World War II and the largest single day airborne drop in history.
£31.96
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Eyewitness Korea
Book SynopsisVivid first-hand accounts of American and British soldiers in the front line of the Korean War, giving insight into their recruitment, training, casualties and captivity as well as combat experience.
£25.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Arnhem and the Aftermath
Book SynopsisImpact of Market Garden's failure on the population of Arnhem. Includes the 3 major airborne assaults in the Netherlands from 1940-1945
£36.55
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Air War Over North Africa USAAF Ascendant Rare
Book SynopsisA new and richly illustrated account of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in North Africa during WWII.
£21.21
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Night Hunters Prey The Lives and Deaths of an RAF
Book SynopsisStudies the short lives and parallel military flying careers of two combatants giving and interesting comparisons of serving in the RAF and Luftwaffe.
£25.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Axis Armoured Fighting Vehicles of the Second
Book SynopsisSuperb collection of colour and B&W images of all Axis AFV variants of WW2 across all theatres
£21.21
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Pointe du Hoc
Book SynopsisThis book goes back to original documents: reports and first-hand accounts to establish the story of the three separate Ranger Forces that made-up Rudder s Rangers who assaulted not just Pointe du Hoc, where they held out for over 48 hours before relief, but the Western end of Omaha Beach as well.
£14.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Spitfire
Book SynopsisA visually stunning history of the iconic Vickers Supermarine Spitfire.
£30.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Price of Victory
Book SynopsisA controversial new study of the Red Army's irrecoverable casualties during the Second World War
£25.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd US Marine Corps Women's Reserve: They are Marines
Book SynopsisWhen the US Marine Commandant, Major General Thomas Holcomb, announced the formation of what became the US Marine Corps Women s Reserve, legend has it that the portrait of the fifth Commandant, Archibald Henderson, fell off the wall and crashed to the floor in disbelief . This branch of the US Marines was authorized by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 30 July 1942. This law allowed for the acceptance of women into the reserve as commissioned officers and at the enlisted level, effective for the duration of the war plus six months. The purpose of the law was to release officers and men for combat and to replace them with women in shore stations. The result was that between 1943 and 1945 the women of America enlisted in their thousands to Free A Man to Fight . This book, the first of its kind, explores in detail the role of Women Marines, or WRs as they were known at the time. It also presents a detailed study of the uniforms of the WRs supported by numerous colour photographs. This book has been written with the full support of the US Marine Corps Histories Division, the Women Marine Association and surviving WR veterans.
£28.50
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The War With Hitler's Navy
Book SynopsisAs this well researched work reveals, Hitler's handling the German Navy during the Second World War was full of contradictions. The seriousness of the U-boat threat was never in doubt and in the dark days of 1940 - 1942, the Donitz's daring strategy coupled with the courage and determined actions of the captains and crews became perilously close to starving Britain into submission. But, despite having built and nurtured a surface fleet with capital ships of formidable power, Hitler was uncharacteristically cautious of employing them aggressively. Examination of the reasons for this make for fascinating reading, possibly stemming from the early loss of the Graf Spee and the fact that, whenever possible, the Royal Navy threw all its weight regardless of cost at the Nazi threat; the loss of the Hood in the pursuit of the Bismarck being one example. Even Goebbels could not 'spin' the loss of a battleship. The War against Hitler's Navy describes in fascinating detail the many fronts on which the adversaries faced each other and analyses the reasons for the ultimate outcome.
£23.83
Pen & Sword Books Ltd United States Army Armored Division of the Second
Book SynopsisThe routing of the British and French Armies in May and June 1940 by the Wehrmacht's armoured divisions caused a major rethink by the US Army's senior leadership. The result was the formation of the two armoured divisions in July 1940; the first named 'Old Ironside' and second designated 'Hell on Wheels'. In 1941, a further three armoured divisions were created; the third (Spearhead), the fourth (remained unnamed) and the fifth called 'Victory'. The following year seven more were created, the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth. The final two armoured divisions formed in 1943 numbered the sixteenth and twentieth. All but one of these powerful formations went on to see service in the European Theatre of Operation (ETO); the exception being the 1st Armoured Division that served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. These fourteen divisions proved their effectiveness against the Axis forces. In this carefully researched book military historian and much published author Michael Green explains their operational and fighting doctrine. Equipment enthusiasts will appreciate the lavish images and informed captions of the armoured fighting vehicles and other equipment employed.
£16.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Bombing Campaign North Vietnam: Volume II:
Book SynopsisOn March 30, 1972 some 30,000 North Vietnamese troops along with tanks and heavy artillery surged across the demilitarized zone into South Vietnam in the opening round of Hanoi's Easter Offensive. By early May South Vietnamese forces were on the ropes and faltering. Without the support of U.S. combat troops - who were in their final stage of withdrawing from the country - the Saigon government was in danger of total collapse and with it any American hope of a negotiated settlement to the war. In response, President Richard Nixon called for an aggressive, sustained bombardment of North Vietnam. Code-named Operation Linebacker I, the interdiction effort sought to stem the flow of men and material southward, as well as sever all outside supply lines in the first new bombing of the North Vietnamese heartland in nearly four years. To meet the American air armada, North Vietnamese MiG fighters took to the skies and surface-to-missiles and anti-aircraft fire filled the air from May to October over Hanoi and Haiphong. With the failure of its Easter Offensive to achieve military victory, Hanoi reluctantly returned to the negotiating table in Paris. However, as the peace talks teetered on the edge of collapse in mid-December 1972, Nixon played his trump card: Operation Linebacker II. The resulting twelve-day Christmas bombing campaign from 18-30 December unleashed the full wrath of American air power. More than 2,200 attack sorties, including 724 B-52 sorties alone, were flown by Air Force and Navy aircraft delivering 15,287 tons of bombs that laid waste to the North Vietnamese capital. Railyards, military storage depots, power stations, and bridges, as well as radar and communication sites, airfields, and anti-aircraft defences were pummelled day and night. Linebacker II would prove to be decisive: a ceasefire agreement was signed on 23 January 1973.
£14.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Battle of Manila: Nadir of Japanese Barbarism, 3
Book SynopsisNearly four years of brutal Japanese occupation in WW2 has dimmed Manila's lustre. The Philippine capital, surrounding an old Spanish fortress, was once a glittering jewel among America's overseas possessions. And now a vast Allied army led by the indomitable MacArthur is ready to take it back from the Japanese. It is a necessary mission and an urgent one for trapped within the old University of Santo Tomas are thousands of ailing prisoners: men and women, young and old, at risk of torture and death by their captors. But the token Japanese garrison has other ideas as desperate units of the Japanese navy dig in to fight to the death against the advancing Americans. Caught in this cruel vice are thousands of Filipinos still trapped in the metropolis, with no hope of escape. From the closing days of January until early March 1945, Manila is to endure the most bitter fighting in the Pacific theatre, leaving it a charred wasteland littered with the bodies of the dead, soldier and civilian alike, the latter deliberately targeted by Japanese death squads. Such is the carnage and conquest of Manila.
£16.85
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Disaster Before D-Day: Unravelling the Tragedy at
Book SynopsisThis is a book of two stories. The first is the sad tale of how at least 749 American servicemen lost their lives on a pre-D-Day landing exercise, code-named 'Operation Tiger', on the evening of 23/24 April 1943\. The second, was the unanswerable question of whether the attacking E-Boats of the German Kriegsmarine had fully grasped the importance of what they had stumbled across. Because of the time scale between the operation and the actual D-Day landings, secrecy surrounding the tragedy had to be stringently adhered to, and even after the invasion of Normandy, only scant information about the incident and those who were killed was ever released. The other factor which was of major concern, was if the Germans had understood the significance of the vessels they had attacked, then the intended Allied invasion of Europe was in grave danger of having to be postponed for an indefinite period of time. In late 1943, as part of the build-up to the D-day landings at Normandy, the British government had set up a training ground at Slapton Sands in Devon, to be used by the American forces tasked with landing on Utah Beach, in Normandy. Coordination and communication problems between British and American forces, resulted in friendly fire deaths during the exercise, making a bad situation even worse. The story was then lost to history until it was picked up again by Devon resident, Mr Ken Small after he discovered evidence of the aftermath washed up on the shore at Slapton Sands in the early 1970s. In 1974, Mr Small bought the rights to a submerged American tank, which he had discovered in the waters close to the beach at Slapton Sands. In 1984, he raised the tank, which is now a memorial close to the sea front.
£23.46
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Death March Escape: The Remarkable Story of a Man
Book SynopsisIn June 1944, the Nazis locked eighteen-year-old Dave Hersch into a railroad boxcar and shipped him from his hometown of Dej, Hungary, to Mauthausen concentration camp, the harshest, cruellest camp in the Reich. After ten months in the granite mines of Mauthausen's nearby sub-camp, Gusen, he weighed less than 80lbs, nothing but skin and bones. Somehow surviving the relentless horrors of these two brutal camps, as Allied forces drew near Dave was forced to join a death march to Gunskirchen concentration camp, over thirty miles away. Soon after the start of the march, and more dead than alive, Dave summoned a burst of energy he did not know he had and escaped. Quickly recaptured, he managed to avoid being killed by the guards. Put on another death march a few days later, he achieved the impossible: he escaped again. Dave often told his story of survival and escape, and his son, Jack, thought he knew it well. But years after his father's death, he came across a photograph of his father on, of all places, the Mauthausen Memorial's website. It was an image he had never seen before - and it propelled him on an intensely personal journey of discovery. Using only his father's words for guidance, Jack takes us along as he flies to Europe to learn the secrets behind the photograph, secrets his father never told of his time in the camps. Beginning in the verdant hills of his father's Hungarian hometown, we travel with Jack to the foreboding rock mines of Mauthausen and Gusen concentration camps, to the dust-choked roads and intersections of the death marches, and, finally, to the makeshift hiding places of his father's rescuers. We accompany Jack's every step as he describes the unimaginable: what his father must have seen and felt while struggling to survive in the most abominable places on earth. In a warm and emotionally engaging story, Jack digs deeply into both his father's life and his own, revisiting - and reflecting on - his father's time at the hands of the Nazis during the last year of the Second World War, when more than mere survival was at stake - the fate of humanity itself hung in the balance.
£23.75
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Hitler's Panzers: The Complete History 1933-1945
Book SynopsisOften it is assumed that Hitler's panzers stormed into action perfectly formed, driving through the armies of the Poles in 1939 and the French in 1940 and defeating them. The dramatic blitzkrieg victories won by the Wehrmacht early in the Second World War - in which the panzers played a leading role - tend to confirm this impression. But, as Anthony Tucker-Jones demonstrates in this illustrated, comprehensive and revealing history of the panzers, this is far from the truth. As armoured fighting vehicles the early panzers were no better than - sometimes inferior to - those of their opponents, but their tactics rather than their technology gave them an advantage. Later on German tank designers developed technically superior tanks but these could not be built fast enough or in sufficient numbers. For all their excellence, they were overwhelmed by the American Shermans and Soviet T-34s that were produced in their tens of thousands. This is the story Anthony Tucker-Jones relates as he traces the evolution of the panzers from the modest beginnings in the 1930s to the Panzer IVs, Panthers and Tigers which were the most formidable German tanks of the war. Not only does he cover their design and production history, he also assesses their combat performance and gives a fascinating insight into the decision-making at the highest level which directed German tank design.
£23.75
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Truth About Rudolf Hess
Book SynopsisRudolph Hess flight to Britain in May 1941 stands out as one of the most intriguing and bizarre episodes of the Second World War. In The Truth About Rudolph Hess, Lord James Douglas-Hamilton explores many of the myths which still surround the affair. He traces the developments which persuaded Hess to undertake the flight without Hitlers knowledge and shows why he chose to approach the Duke of Hamilton. In the process he throws light on the importance of Albrect Haushofer, one-time envoy to Hitler and Ribbentrop and personal advisor to Hess, who was eventually executed by the SS for his involvement in the German Resistance movement. Drawing on British War Cabinet papers and the authors unparalleled access to both the Hamilton papers and the Haushofer letters, this new and expanded edition of The Truth About Rudolph Hess takes the reader into the heart of the Third Reich, combing adventure and intrigue with a scholarly historical approach.
£19.64
Pen & Sword Books Ltd M12 Gun Motor Carriage: Rare Photographs from
Book SynopsisAlthough only 100 examples were produced, the 155mm Gun Motor Carriage M12 served with distinction as an infantry-support weapon and in particular as a bunker-buster during the U.S. assault on the Siegfried Line in the winter of 1944-45.
£18.54
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Vehicles and Heavy Weapons of the Vietnam War
Book SynopsisThe ground war in Vietnam pitted a myriad of American tanks, artillery, APC and trucks against not only the weapons of Communist North Vietnam, but also the terrain. Through archival images, the arsenal of the US Army and USMC are revisited. From the iconic M113 APC to the M48A3 tank, M551 Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle, M151 and M54 trucks, M50 Ontos, M107 and M109 artillery, and M42 Duster, the complete array of vehicles fielded is shown. This book, the first in a series on the US military's weapons, vehicles, aircraft, and naval vessels of the Vietnam War, offers a highly illustrated reference for this wishing to delve deeper into this conflict.
£25.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Red Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of
Book SynopsisJoseph Pilyushin, a top Red Army sniper in the ruthless fight against the Germans on the Eastern Front, was an exceptional soldier and he has a remarkable story to tell. His first-hand account of his wartime service gives a graphic insight into his lethal skill with a rifle and into the desperate fight put up by Soviet forces to defend Leningrad. Pilyushin, who lived in Leningrad with his family, was already 35 years old when the war broke out and he was drafted. He started in the Red Army as a scout, but once he had demonstrated his marksmanship and steady nerve, he became a sniper. He served throughout the Leningrad siege, from the late 1941 when the Wehrmacht's advance was halted just short of the city to its liberation during the Soviet offensive of 1944\. His descriptions of gruelling front-line life, of his fellow soldiers and of his sniping missions are balanced by his vivid recollections of the protracted suffering of Leningrad's imprisoned population and of the grief that was visited upon him and his family.
£17.42
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Normandy's Nightmare War: The French Experience
Book SynopsisFamous for Calvados apple brandy and Camembert cheese, Normandy is a green and pleasant land now dotted with thousands of British-owned second homes. Its coastline is also dotted with thousands of indestructible reinforced-concrete bunkers and gun emplacements that formed part of the Atlantic Wall of Hitler's Fortress Europe. Tourists passing through the ferry ports like Boulogne, Cherbourg and Dunkirk may wonder why there are so few old buildings. Few know that the demolition which preceded the extensive urban renewal of the ancient town centres was effected by British bombs during four years of hell for the people living there. Before its belated liberation three ghastly months after D-Day, the sirens in Le Havre wailed 1,060 times to warn of approaching British and American bombers. After one single Allied raid, over 3,000 dead civilians were recovered from the city's ruins, without counting the thousands of injured, maimed and traumatised survivors. So, whom did the Normans regard as the enemy: the German occupiers who shot a few hundred civilians or the Allied airmen who killed as many neutral citizens of northern France as died in Britain from German bombs during the whole war? Told largely in the words of French, German and Allied eyewitnesses - including the moving last letters of executed hostages - this is the story of Normandy's nightmare war.
£22.66
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Legion of the Lancasters
Book SynopsisSothe had already decided to use his nose armament against the 4-mot [four engined bomber]. He looked out and focused on a black shape of the Britisher. Small, bluish exhaust flames made it easier to keep the target in sight. Four engines, twin tail were recorded almost subconsciously. No sudden movement that might attract their attention. Calm now! Guns armed? Night sight switched on? Everything OK! Now he could see that it was a Lancaster, crossing gently from starboard to port. He applied a little more power and approached cautiously. Now he was exactly behind him at about 100 metres' range. The rear turret was clearly recognisable. Bronies kept silent. Pauke! Pauke!' [ Kettledrums! Kettledrums!'] Sothe announced with a cry. Bronies immediately transmitted Ich beruhe'. Then they closed in rapidly for the kill. One can almost smell the flak, taste the cordite and experience the nervous twitch' before jumping out of one's skin to the sound of exploding shells and detonating bombs in this pulsating and highly intriguing selection of never-before-told stories recalled largely by members of the revered Lancaster crews of RAF Bomber Command. From this bomber's introduction into service in 1942 with the famous if flawed raid on Augsburg on 17 April that year, to the attacks on the Tirpitz in 1944, each chapter is a tribute to the spirit of those who flew the Lanc' in anger and gained the respect of their enemies.
£32.15
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Airmen of Arnhem
Book SynopsisMartin Bowman presents us here with an unparalleled account of events as they unfolded in the skies above Holland during Operation �Market-Garden' in September 1944. �Market-Garden' was a heroic failure conducted at great cost; combined losses - both airborne and ground forces - in killed, wounded and missing amounted to more than 17,000. �Market', the airborne part of the operation, spanned ten Allied lifts in a calamitous nine days of operations, often in foul weather. Over the course of Operation �Market', 4,050 aircraft saw employment; most of them towed the 1,205 Hamilcar and Horsa gliders and were confronted by an unknown number of Luftwaffe aircraft. Stories of individual heroism punctuate this narrative, such as that of David Lord, a RAF Dakota pilot who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Tales such as these humanise a period of wartime history that is often reduced to mere facts. There is no doubting the gallant and valorous contribution of the airmen of Arnhem - the RAF Dakota, Stirling, Halifax, Albemarle, Horsa, Hamilcar and Glider Pilot Regiment crews together with those of the USAAF C-47 Troop Carrier Groups of the IX US Troop Carrier Command, the Waco and Horsa gliders, and the B-24 Liberator re-supply crews. All of their incredible, illuminating and often understated accounts of extraordinary courage, camaraderie, shared terror and encounters with the enemy offer a more personalised view of �Market' and are complemented by the author's background information that give an overall picture of each air operation.
£28.91
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Men Who Flew the Heavy Bombers: RAF and USAAF
Book SynopsisMartin Bowman's considerable experience as a military historian has spanned over forty years, during which time he has amassed a wealth of material on the participation by RAF and Commonwealth and US 8th and 15th Air Force crews in the series of raids on the cities and oil transportation and industrial targets in the Third Reich, culminating in 'Round-the-Clock' bombing by the RAF, operating at night on the largely forgotten Stirling, the gamely Halifax and ultimately the more successful Lancaster, and the US 8th Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator crews by day on a target list so long and wide ranging that it defies the imagination. Hundreds of hours of painstaking and fact-finding research and interviews and correspondence with numerous airmen and women and their relatives, in Britain, America and beyond has been woven into a highly readable and emotional outpouring of life and death in combat over the Third Reich as the men of the RAF and Commonwealth and American air forces describe in their own words the compelling, gripping and thought-provoking narrative of the Combined Bomber Offensive in World War Two, which resulted from the RAF nocturnal onslaught and the American unescorted precision attacks on targets throughout the Reich until the P-51 Mustang escort fighters enabled the 8th to assume the mantle of the leading bombing partner in theatre. February and March 1945 saw the most intense bombing destruction when Nazi defences were minimal or absent and the war was all but over. Final victory in May 1945 came at a high price indeed. Half of the U.S. Army Air Forces' casualties in World War II were suffered by Eighth Air Force, with in excess of 47,000 casualties, with more than 26,000 dead. RAF Bomber Command lost 55,573 men killed out of a total of 125,000 aircrew and 8,403 wounded in action while 9,838 became prisoners of war. RAF and American bomber crews could, therefore be forgiven for thinking they had won a pyrrhic victory; one that had taken such a heavy toll that negated any true sense of achievement, though, if nothing else, the human effort spent by RAF Bomber Command and the Eighth Air Force did pave the way for the Soviet victory in the east.
£25.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Air War at Sea in the Second World War
Book SynopsisMartin Bowman's considerable experience as a military historian has spanned over forty years, during which time he has spent hundreds of hours interviewing and corresponding with numerous men and women and their relatives, in Britain, America and beyond, resulting in a wealth of material on the war at sea from World War One to the Falklands and the wars on terror. All these narratives have been woven into a highly readable and emotional outpouring of life and death in action in all his titles, as here, in World War Two, where the men of the Fleet Air Arm and the US Navy fighter (operating bomber and torpedo carrying aircraft) describe the compelling, gripping and thought-provoking narrative of the air war in the freezing Atlantic wastes to the waters of the mighty Pacific.
£35.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd US Marine Corps Women's Reserve: They Are
Book SynopsisWhen the US Marine Commandant, Major General Thomas Holcomb, announced the formation of what became the US Marine Corps' Women's Reserve, legend has it that the portrait of the fifth Commandant, Archibald Henderson, fell off the wall and crashed to the floor - in disbelief'. This branch of the US Marines was authorized by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 30 July 1942. This law allowed for the acceptance of women into the reserve as commissioned officers and at the enlisted level, effective for the duration of the war plus six months. The purpose of the law was to release officers and men for combat and to replace them with women in shore stations. The result was that between 1943 and 1945 the women of America enlisted in their thousands to Free A Marine to Fight'. This book, the first of its kind, explores in detail the role of Women Marines, or WRs as they were known at the time. It also presents a detailed study of the uniforms of the WRs supported by numerous colour photographs. This book has been written with the full support of the US Marine Corps Histories Division, the Women Marine Association and surviving WR veterans.
£16.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Gilbert and Ellis Islands - Pacific War: Rare
Book SynopsisThis classic Images of War book covers the dramatic events that befell both the Gilbert and Ellis Pacific island groups using a wealth of well-captioned photos and informed text. Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Gilbert Islands were occupied by the Japanese who built a seaplane base at Butaritari. In August 1942 this base was attacked by the US 2nd Raider Battalion (Carlson's Raiders). As a result the base was reinforced and a second built at Apamana. Betio Island on the Tarawa Atoll became the main Japanese strong point. Operation Galvanic, the US assault on Butarita, Apamana and Betio, was launched in November 1943 by the 2nd Marine Division and the 27th Infantry Division. While short in duration, the Betio battle has the dubious distinction of being the most costly in US Marine Corps history. Thanks to the author's in depth knowledge and access to superb contemporary images, this book will be of particular interest and value to historians and laymen.
£20.19
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Americans from Normandy to the German Border:
Book SynopsisThis classic Images of War book takes up the story of the massive American contribution to the campaign in north West Europe during the autumn and early witner of 1944. Following the dramatic breakout from the Normandy bridgehead, events moved fast with the liberation of Paris quickly following and the Allies closed in on the German border. But the apparent collapse of the Nazis was illusory. As lines of communication lengthened and German resistance stiffened, the Allied High Command was divided on the right strategy. The ill-fated Operation Market Garden brought home the reality that the war would continue into 1945\. The Siegried Line was penetrated and Aachen fell but the American First Army suffered heavy casualties in the Hurtgen Forest. As winter set in, the third Army crossed the Moselle River and into the Saar. The stage was set for the costliest battle in American history - The Bulge, to be covered in the Third and final volume of this trilogy. With his superb collection of images and grasp of the historic significance of the actions so graphically described, Brooke Blades' latest book will be appreciated by all with an interest in the final stages of the Second World War.
£21.43
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Inchon Landing: MacArthur's Korean War
Book SynopsisInchon, a dramatic Cold War event: in the first two volumes in the author's series on battles of the Korean War, North Korean ground forces, armour and artillery cross the 38th Parallel into South Korea, inflicting successive ignominious defeats on the ill-prepared US-led UN troops, pushing them ever southward into a tiny defensive enclave the Pusan Perimeter on the tip of the Korean Peninsula. General Douglas MacArthur, Second World War veteran of the South East Asia and Pacific theatres, meets with considerable resistance to his plans for a counteroffensive, from both Washington and his staff in South Korea and Japan: it is typhoon season, the approaches to the South Korean port city of Inch'?n are not conducive to amphibious assault, and it will leave the besieged Pusan Perimeter in great danger of being overrun. However, the controversial MacArthur's obstinate persistency prevails and, with a mere three weeks to go, the US X Corps is activated to execute the invasion on D-Day, 15 September 1950. Elements of the US Marine Corps land successfully on the scheduled day, and with the element of surprise on their side, immediately strike east to Seoul, only 15 miles away. The next day, General Walker's Eighth US Army breaks out of Pusan to complete the southerly envelopment of the North Korean forces. Seoul falls on the 25th. MacArthur's impulsive gamble has paid off, and the South Korean government moves back to their capital. The North Koreans have been driven north of the 38th Parallel, effectively bringing to an end their invasion of the south that started on 25 June 1950.
£17.90
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Logistics in the Vietnam Wars, 1945-1975
Book SynopsisThe combatants in the three Vietnam wars from 1945 to 1975 employed widely contrasting supply methods. This fascinating book reveals that basic traditional techniques proved superior to expensive state of the art systems. During the Indochina or French' war, France's initial use of wheeled transport and finally air supply proved vulnerable given the terrain, climate and communist adaptability . The colonial power gave up the unequal struggle after the catastrophic defeat at Dien Bien Phu. To stem the advance of Communism throughout the region, the Americans stepped in to support the pro-Western South Vietnam regime and threw vast quantities of manpower and money at the problem. The cost became increasingly unpopular at home. General Giap's and Ho Chi Minh's ruthless use of coolies most famously on the Ho Chi Minh Trail proved resistant to carpet-bombing and Agent Orange defoliation. The outcome of the final war between the Communist North Vietnam and the corrupt Southern leadership, now with minimal US support, was almost a forgone conclusion. The Author is superbly qualified to examine these three wars from the logistic perspective. His conclusions make for compelling reading and will be instructive to acting practitioners and enquiring minds.
£23.75
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Pioneers of Irregular Warfare: Secrets of the
Book SynopsisCovert operations and ingenious weapons for irregular warfare were developed rapidly, and with great success, by the British during the Second World War, and the story of the most famous organizations involved like SOE, the SAS and Section D of SIS is now well known, but Military Intelligence (Research), the smallest but one of the most influential of these units is relatively unknown. Malcolm Atkin's intriguing and meticulously researched account describes their role at the heart of the War Office in trying to develop a 'respectable' arm of irregular warfare and their innovations ranging from the early Commandos, sticky bombs, limpet mines, booby traps, and even helicopters to the creation of the MI9 escape organization. They were an 'ideas factory' rather than an operational body but the book describes their worldwide operations including Finland, Norway, Romania, the Middle East and Central Africa. This is also a story of conflicting personalities between Jo Holland, the visionary but self-effacing head of MI(R) and his ambitious deputy, Colin Gubbins (later head of SOE), and the latter's private war with SIS.
£25.00
