Second World War Books

Book SynopsisThe German panzer armies that swept into the Soviet Union in 1941 were an undefeated force that had honed their skill in combined arms warfare to a fine edge. The Germans focused their panzers and tactical air support at points on the battlefield defined as Schwerpunkt - main effort - to smash through any defensive line and then advance to envelope their adversaries. Initially, these methods worked well in the early days of Operation Barbarossa and the tank forces of the Red Army suffered defeat after defeat. Although badly mauled in the opening battles, the Red Army's tank forces did not succumb to the German armoured onslaught and German planning and logistical deficiencies led to over-extension and failure in 1941\. In the second year of the invasion, the Germans directed their Schwerpunkt toward the Volga and the Caucasus and again achieved some degree of success, but the Red Army had grown much stronger and by November 1942, the Soviets were able to turn the tables at Stalingrad. Robert Forczyk's incisive study offers fresh insight into how the two most powerful mechanized armies of the Second World War developed their tactics and weaponry during the critical early years of the Russo-German War. He uses German, Russian and English sources to provide the first comprehensive overview and analysis of armored warfare from the German and Soviet perspectives. His analysis of the greatest tank war in history is compelling reading.

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Book SynopsisOperation Chastise, the audacious RAF bombing raid that struck at the heart of industrial Germany on the 17th May 1943, brought catastrophic damage to the three dams that served the Ruhr Valley. Water and electricity supplies were disrupted in a key area of the manufacture of Germany's war munitions, and the consequences were disastrous. The German war effort was set back substantially, the Allies celebrated, and Dr. Barnes Wallis became a national hero as the designer of the famed 'bouncing bomb' that inflicted such damage. Considered from an Allied perspective, the Dambuster Raid was a triumphant success, not only of British engineering but also of pilot endeavour. View it from the German perspective however, and an entirely new story emerges. That is precisely what we have here. In this image-heavy publication, Helmuth Euler explores all facets of the operation in fascinating detail, offering a host of illuminating insights into this much-studied event of twentieth century history.

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Book SynopsisThis is a memoir of flying with the Royal Air Force in war and peace during a career in military and civil aviation covering a half century. The text is filled with personal experiences, reminiscences and impressions and is written in four parts. Part One covers the years leading to the author's graduation and the winning of his RAF Wings. This is followed by action-packed stories of flying propeller-driven fighters, Spitfires and Mustangs, during and just after the Second World War. The author then tells of his unique experiences of front-line fighter operations when he flew jets with the United States Air Force during the Korean War. The final chapter covers the remainder of his RAF Service flying until retirement.

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Book SynopsisCharles (Charlie to his comrades) Murrell kept detailed diaries of his service with the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards throughout the Second World War as Guardsman (later Sergeant). This book starts on 10 May 1940 with the Blitzkrieg on Arras and the retreat to Dunkirk. The Dunkirk beaches and his own undignified evacuation are described in some detail and occasional humour. The second part begins on 20 June 1944 when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards set sail for Normandy and they take part in the Battle for Caen with engagements at Cheux, Cagny and Colombelles and thence to the Bocage country with a particularly bloody fight at Montchamp. The final element covers the race for and liberation of Brussels, a fiercely fought engagement at Hechtel Operation MARKET GARDEN, Nijmegen and the Island, winter in Belgium and Holland and the Rhineland Battle. As a member of the Intelligence Section, the Author was aware of the big picture. Very observant he has a literary style or ability unusual in a ranker. He often writes in his trench whilst under mortar or shell fire and one experiences the fear that he (and millions of others) felt. He describes several near death experiences and the casualties and deaths of his comrades and other horrors of war, sometimes in graphic detail. There are descriptions of hair-raising motor-cycle rides, the fanaticism of the SS, the sadness of lettering crosses of his dead comrades, the ecstatic receptions in liberated villages and towns, culminating in the liberation of Brussels, the uneasy relationship with American troops, the importance of alcohol in his (and others) war and the joy of returning to England. The many sketches are an important accessory to the journals.

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Book SynopsisOn 28th October 1940, the Greek premier, Ioannis Metaxis, refused to accept a deliberately provocative ultimatum from Mussolini and Italian forces began the invasion of Greece via Albania. This aggression was prompted by Mussolini's desire for a quick victory to rival Hitler's rapid conquest of France and the Low Countries. On paper, Greek forces were poorly equipped and ill-prepared for the conflict but Mussolini had underestimated the skill and determination of the defenders. Within weeks the Italian invasion force was driven back over the border and Greek forces actually advanced deep into Albania. A renewed Italian offensive in March 1941 was also given short shrift, prompting Hitler to intervene to save his ally. German forces invaded Greece via Bulgaria on 6 April. The Greeks, now assisted by British forces, resisted by land, sea and air but were overwhelmed by the superior German forces and their blitzkrieg tactics. Despite a dogged rearguard action by Anzac forces at the famous pass of Thermopyale, Athens fell on the 27th April and the British evacuated 50,000 troops to Crete. This island, whose airfields and naval bases Churchill considered vital to the defence of Egypt and the Suez Canal, was invaded by German airborne troops the following month and eventually captured after a bitter thirteen-day battle. The remaining British troops were evacuated and the fall of Greece completed. John Carr's masterful account of these desperate campaigns, while not disparaging the British and Commonwealth assistance, draws heavily on Greek sources to emphasize the oft-neglected experience of the Greeks themselves and their contribution to the fight against fascism.

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Book SynopsisThey were volunteers to a man. These were the airborne troops who dropped into enemy territory ahead of any others, pinpointing the Drop Zone by means of a radio marker. They would then prepare the ground for the main forces that would follow. Once they had marked out the Drop Zones, they then had to defend them, whatever the odds. The volunteers had to pass exacting physical and psychological tests before they could join this elite force. These were the men of the 21st Independent Parachute Company, which was part of the Parachute Regiment, and this is their story, told by one of that unique band, then Sergeant, Ron Kent. The 21st Independent Parachute Company operated in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Norway, France, as well as the largest airborne operation ever mounted, Market Garden. In compiling this account of the Pathfinders, Ron Kent contacted survivors of his company to provide the first comprehensive history of a unit that General Browning told its commanding officer, Major Wilson, was unsurpassed by any other in the world.

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Book SynopsisCompared to the RAFs Fighter and Bomber Commands, the Desert Air Force (DAF) is far less well known, yet its achievements were spectacular. DAF led the way in North Africa and Italy in pioneering new tactics in close Army-Air Force co-operation on the battlefield, DAF and Allied air forces gave Allied armies in North Africa and Italy a decisive cutting edge. While the Axis forces used the many rivers and mountains of Tunisia and Italy to slow the Allies advance, DAF was there to provide that extra mobile firepower the artillery from the sky. They were the first multi-national air force, and the first to introduce air controllers in the front lines of the battlefield. With first-hand accounts by veteran airmen form Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA, this book reveals the decisive victories with which DAF won the war over North Africa, the Mediterranean and Italy in 1942-45.

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Book SynopsisThere are many myths and legends surrounding the advanced German aeronautical technology of the Second World War. There are also facts and proven events. Yet within these stories and behind these facts lie conspiracy theories, mistaken assumptions and denials that seem to contradict the evidence. So what really happened? How far ahead were the German scientists? And, of even greater interest, why and how? There have been other books about advanced German wartime aeronautics, yet few authors have fully examined the detail of the designs and their relevance to the fighter and bomber legends of the 1950s and '60s, let alone the current crop of military and civil all-wing or blended-wing aircraft. This book charts the story from it origins, through present-day innovations and beyond, into the all-wing future of tomorrow.

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Book SynopsisHitler's attack on Poland in 1939 was the first brutal act in six years of world war, but the campaign is often overshadowed by the momentous struggle that followed across the rest of Europe. David Williamson, in this timely and thought-provoking study, reconstructs each stage of the battle in graphic detail. He looks at the precarious situation of the Polish nation caught between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, reconsiders the pre-war policies of the other European powers, particularly France and Britain, and assesses the state of the opposing armed forces before the Germans launched Operation White. In a vivid and fast-moving narrative he follows the course of the campaign as it moved across Poland in September 1939. His book should encourage a fresh understanding of the Polish-German war and of its significance for the wider conflagration that followed. Critical episodes in the German offensive are re-examined: the mock attack at Gleiwitz, the battles at Westerplatte and Bzura, the siege of Warsaw and the impact of the intervention of the Red Army. Throughout the narrative, first-hand accounts of soldiers and civilians who were caught up in events are used to give an insight into the experience of the war. The author dispels myths that persist about the course of the campaign - the apparent destruction of the Polish air force, the Poles' use of cavalry - and he draws attention to often overlooked flaws in German military organization. He also records the immediate aftermath of the Polish capitulation - the division of Poland between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union and the fate of the captured Polish troops.

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Book SynopsisDespatches in this volume include that on the first and second battles of Narvik in 1940; the despatch on operations in central Norway 1940, by Lieutenant General H.R.S. Massy, Commander-in-Chief, North West Expeditionary Force; Despatch on operations in Northern Norway between April and June 1940; the despatch on carrier-borne aircraft attacks on Kirkenes (Norway) and Petsamo (Finland) in 1941, by Admiral Sir John C. Tovey; the despatch on the raid on military and economic objectives in the Lofoten Islands (Norway) in March 1941, by Admiral Sir John C. Tovey, Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet; and the despatch on the raid on military and economic objectives in the vicinity of Vaagso Island (Norway) in December 1941, by Admiral Sir John C. Tovey. This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history.

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Book Synopsis'I do not think that Malan could join a squadron without improving it, however good it was. Not by sword-waving, but by a strength of mind and integrity that are at once recognizable and effective...he was the best pilot of the War' - Air Commodore Al Deere, C.B.E., D.S.O., D.F.C. Malan was thirty years of age during the Battle of Britain, old for a fighter pilot, but his maturity gave his leadership a firm authority. The Battle of Britain produced many airmen of great skill and accomplishment; high achievers who made their mark in one of history's most memorable and demanding campaigns. But only a few of these men distinguished themselves in such a way as to become legends in their own lifetimes. Among the greatest of these was Sailor Malan. Here is the story of this talented man, eloquently told by Philip Kaplan who manages to strike a balance between objectivity and reverence in order to commit Malan's story to paper. Featured too are a series of evocative black and white illustrations which supplement the descriptive text and work to create a real sense of the character of the man, flourishing as he did in this dramatic wartime context. As Malan continues to inspire young Aviators, this record looks set to preserve his legacy for a new generation of pilots as well as hardy Aviation enthusiasts.

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Book SynopsisThe Polish Air Force, which was created in Britain in the summer of 1940 from flying and ground personnel evacuated from Poland and then from France, proved to be one of the most successful formations to fight the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. Overcoming the obstacles of language and operating in a foreign country, the Polish Air Force gained independent status, flying alongside the RAF rather than being a part of the RAF - and for the first time the Polish Air Force became a separate air arm of the Polish Armed Forces. It is stated that 145 Polish pilots fought in the Battle of Britain, many of them experienced and battle-hardened. These men fought not only for freedom of their own homeland but also for British people, of whom they often knew very little. The Poles were able to form four squadrons, two bomber and two fighter, that went into operations during the Battle of Britain. Many other Polish fliers were dispersed across the Fighter Command, joining various RAF squadrons. They all made a decisive impact, when they were needed the most, gaining the respect their British colleagues and the British public. In this superb collection of photographs, the story of the Polish Few is told from their hazardous journey from Poland to the UK and in the great struggle for control of the skies above Britain during that memorable summer of 1940.

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Book SynopsisFrom the mountains of Italy to the beaches of Normandy, and from the deserts of North Africa to the ruined cities of Germany, experience the history of the Second World War in Western Europe from 1939-1945 in an entirely different way. Using unpublished letters and diaries, follow the journeys of some fifty Allied soldiers (American, British, French, Canadian...) as they liberate the continent from Nazi rule, sometimes at the cost of their own lives. Arranged in chronological order and placed in historical context, their stories and letters are illustrated with many personal photographs, war memorabilia and original uniforms. Having miraculously escaped wartime censorship, these new first-hand testimonies are transcribed as is, whether they come from an elite soldier, a combat medic or a USO dancer. These poignant writings, completed in the mud of the European battlefields, reveal the hopes, doubts and fears of these young people sent to hell, making _Till Victory_ first and foremost a book about peace.

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Book SynopsisThe unforgiving and deadly combats fought in the skies over the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain were, in many respects, personal affairs - one man against another. These duels, and the emotions and stress they generated, are revealed in this day-to-day, blow-by-blow account of the part that two front line fighter units, one British and one German, played in the events of the summer of 1940. This is the story of the Battle of Britain as seen through the eyes of the men of 609 (West Riding) Squadron, based in southern England, and 1/JG53, a Luftwaffe staffel based in northern France. The tense action of aerial combat and the relief felt by individual pilots surviving these encounters, the elation of a successful kill', or the tragedy of seeing a friend shot down, highlight the common fears felt by airmen on both sides of the fight. We learn of exhausting, unremitting action, and days of frustrating weather-induced inactivity, along with those brief moments of leisure and pleasure grasped from the daily struggle for survival. What we also discover is that there was, in many regards, little difference in the experiences and reactions between the men defending king and country and those fighting for the F hrer - creating a form of bond derived from those shared experiences, of indeed, brothers in arms.

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Book SynopsisAs the author, a young Army bandsman lies wounded at the Battle of Corinth, he is shot between the eyes at point blank range. Miraculously he survives but is blinded. In a makeshift hospital a young Greek volunteer saves his life with slices of boiled egg. Captured Allied medics later restore the sight in one eye. In this moving and entertaining memoir Bernard describes daily life in POW camps in Greece and Germany. He established a theatrical group and an orchestra who perform to fellow POWs and their German guards. A superb raconteur, as well as a gifted musician, the author's anecdotes are memorably amusing. Bernard was repatriated via Sweden in late 1943. While blinded in one eye and seriously wounded, the author was told by his New Zealand doctor, fellow POW and musician John Borrie, 'When nothing else will do, music will always lift one up'. Barbed Wire Blues' inspirational, ever optimistic tone will surely have the same effect on its readers.

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Book Synopsis'Fortresses must carry out the same tasks as the fortresses of old....They must allow themselves to be surrounded and thus tie down as many enemy forces as possible.' So Hitler directed in March 1944 and, in so doing, sealed the fate of Ternopol', Kovel', Poznan and Breslau, cities in the Ukraine and Poland that were in the path of the Red Army's advance towards Nazi Germany. German forces, under orders to resist at all costs, adopted all-round defence and struggled to hold out while waiting for relief - which never came. In this gripping and original book, Alexey Isaev describes, in vivid detail, what happened next -intense and ruthless fighting, horrendous casualties among soldiers and civilians, the fabric of these historic cities torn apart. His account is based on pioneering archival research which offers us an unrivalled insight into the tactics on both sides, the experience of the close-quarter fighting in the streets and houses, and the dreadful aftermath. At the same time he shows why these cities were chosen and how the wider war passed them by as the Wehrmacht retreated and the battlefront moved westward. Each of these cities suffered a similar fate to Stalingrad but their story has never been told before in such graphic and circumstantial detail.

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Book SynopsisThis is the story of the fighting in Normandy by the veteran desert formations brought back by Montgomery from the Mediterranean in order to spearhead the invasion; 50th Infantry and 7th Armoured divisions, plus 4th Armoured Brigade. Heavily reinforced by individuals and fresh units, their task beyond the beaches was to push south to Villers Bocage with armour on the evening of D Day in order to disrupt German counter-attacks on the beachhead. Difficulties on 50th Division's beaches and lost opportunities allowed time for the 12th _Hitlerjugend_ SS Panzer Division and the equally elite 130th Panzer _Lehr_ Division to arrive in Normandy, despite delays of their own caused by allied fighter bombers. The result was 4th Armoured Brigade's thrust south encountered opposition from the start and was firmly blocked just south of Point 103 after an advance of less than 5 miles. A major counter-attack by Panzer _Lehr_ failed, as did a renewed British attempt, this time by the vaunted 7th Armoured Division, which was halted at Tilly sur Seulles. From here the fighting became a progressively attritional struggle in the hedgerows of the Bocage country south of Bayeux. More and more units were drawn into the fighting, which steadily extended west. Finally, an opportunity, via the Caumont Gap, to outflank the German defences was taken and 7th Armoured Division reached Villers Bocage. Here the County of London Yeomanry encountered the newly arrived Tigers of Michael Wittmann, with disastrous results. The Desert Rats were forced to withdraw having lost much of their reputation. There then followed what the battalions of 50th Division describe as their 'most unpleasant period of the war', in bitter fighting, at often very close quarters, for the 'next hedgerow'.

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Book SynopsisThe 11th Armoured Division, famous for its Black Bull insignia, was widely recognized as being among the best armoured divisions in north-west Europe during the Second World War. This book tells the story of the Division in the words of the soldiers who fought with it: of its part in the three ferocious battles in Normandy Operations EPSOM, GOODWOOD and BLUECOAT, the great Swan to Amiens, the taking of Antwerp; right flanking for MARKET GARDEN, back-up in the Ardennes and the final slog into Germany across well-defended river barriers, to the liberation of Belsen, Lbeck and the Danish frontier. The Division suffered 10,000 casualties, with almost 2,000 lost in action, and so this is also a story of courage and the hardships of a winter campaign, of being wounded, comradeship and fighting fear. Contributions are included from twelve of the regiments who proudly wore the sign of the Black Bull. Memories from troop commanders and riflemen, bombardiers and signalmen, tank crews, troop leaders and from the dashing GOC are brought together to reveal what life was like at the sharp end. The Black Bull is liberally illustrated with contemporary photographs showing the Division in action. It will appeal not only to those who still have memories of the battles and to those who fought in the Second World War, but also to readers interested in the day-to-day actions and thoughts of soldiers in the front line for almost a year.

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Book SynopsisTed Shippy Shipman was one of The Few who flew with 41 Squadron in the Battle of Britain. He left his fathers farm in 1930 and enlisted in the RAF as a driver ACII. He flew for thirteen years of his thirty years service, achieved the highest grade of flying instructor and retired as a Wing Commander. This book is based on the copious notes that Shippy wrote in the 1970s and brings a first-hand insight into the life of an RAF Spitfire pilot during the early war years and then his remaining wartime and post-war service until 1959\. His career as a senior instructor included No 8 Service Flying Training School, Montrose and the Central Flying School at Upavon. He then went on to teach at the Flying Instructors School at Hullavington in 1942 and the Rhodesian Air Training Group between 1943 and 1945\. After the war he did tours in Germany and Cyprus. He was Commanding Officer at RAF Sopley, Hampshire and RAF Boulmer in Northumberland until his retirement in 1959\. During retirement he actively supported the Air Training Corps, Battle of Britain Fighter Association and the RAF Benevolent Fund.

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Book SynopsisOn the night of 31 March 1945, five men were woken and taken from their cells in the city of Zwolle, in The Netherlands. They were put in a vehicle and escorted by the German occupying forces to a street nearby, where all five were lined up and executed. The corpses were left behind as the Germans left the scene. Whether by accident or betrayal, these men had fallen in to the clutches of the _Sicherheitsdienst_, the Nazi intelligence service. Although the liberation was at hand (Zwolle would be freed less than two weeks later), these men did not live to see it. This book not only reveals what the men had done and the reasons behind their execution, but also the experiences of their wives, who had tried to obtain their husbands' release, while other women were deported to concentration camps. Attention is also paid to the execution and the process leading up to it. Combining interviews with descendants, eyewitnesses, acquaintances, archival research, historical books and newspapers, family member and history student Samuel de Korte recreates an image of the executed men on that fateful morning and the families they left behind. Using a number of rare and well-known photographs, the condemned are portrayed as resistance fighters as well as fathers and husbands. The book examines not only the consequences of the men and their actions, but also the grief of the women who were left behind.

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Book SynopsisFrom their first introduction at the Battle of the Somme in the First World War, tanks proved to be one of the most important military developments in the history of warfare. Such was their influence on the battlefield, both as infantry support and as an armoured spearhead, their presence could determine the outcome of any battle. Another significant development during the 1930s was that of airborne forces, with a number of countries experimenting with air-dropped troops. Such a concept offered the possibility of inserting soldiers behind the front lines to sow fear and confusion in the enemy's rear. However, such troops, parachuting from aircraft, could only be lightly armed, thus limiting their effectiveness. It is understandable, therefore, that much thought was given to the practicalities of air-lifting tanks that could be dropped, or deposited, alongside paratroopers. Tanks, though, are heavy, cumbersome vehicles and before there could be any thought of carrying them by air, much lighter models would have to be produced. Charles Roberts' fascinating book opens with an investigation into the efforts in the 1930s by Britain, the Soviet Union and the USA into the development of, or adaptation of, light tanks for airborne operations. It was, inevitably, the start of the Second World War which accelerated efforts to produce an airborne tank and the means of delivery. The use of conventional powered aircraft to carry the tanks, limited their use to existing airfields which negated their employment with airborne troops landing in the open countryside. Another method of delivery had to be found, and this took the form of the glider, which could be landed in a field behind enemy lines. The combination of light tank and glider made the aim of airborne forces being supported by armour a realistic proposition - and as a result, the 28th Airborne Tank Battalion was born. This detailed and comprehensive study deals with every aspect of design and deployment of American airborne tanks from the earliest concepts to their actual use, by British units, on D-Day and during Operation Varsity, the Rhine crossing.

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Book SynopsisWhen a proud Adolf Hitler revealed his new Luftwaffe to the world in March 1935, it was the largest, most modern military air arm the world had seen. Equipped with the latest monoplane fighter and bomber aircraft manned by well-trained and motivated crews, it soon became evident that the Luftwaffe also possessed a high degree of technical superiority over Germany's future enemies. Yet within just nine years the once-mightiest air force in the world had reached total collapse, destroyed in part by the very people responsible for creating it. By 1944, the Luftwaffe, wearied by aerial battles on multiple fronts combined with tactical mismanagement from the highest levels of command, were unable to match their enemies in both production and manpower. By this time the Luftwaffe was fighting for its survival, and for the survival of Germany itself, above the burning cities of the Third Reich, facing odds sometimes as high as ten-to-one in the air. Told through the eyes of the fighter and bomber crews themselves, this book explores previously unpublished first-hand accounts of the rise and fall of one of the most formidable air forces in twentieth-century military history. It paints a haunting picture of the excitement, fear, romance intertwined with the brutality, futility and wastefulness that is war.

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Book SynopsisSince it was first published in 1989, Men of the Battle of Britain, the complete third edition of which was published in 2015, has become a standard reference book for academics and researchers interested in the Battle of Britain. This remarkable publication records the service details of every airman who took part in the Battle of Britain, and who earned the Battle of Britain Clasp, in considerable detail. Where known, an individual's various postings and their dates are included, as are promotions, decorations, and successes claimed whilst flying against the enemy. There is also much personal detail, often including dates and places of birth, civilian occupations, dates of death and place of burial or, for those with no known grave, place of commemoration. There are many wartime head-and-shoulders photographs. Inevitably, the passage of time ensures that there is a constant re-evaluation of the wealth of information contained within _Men of the Battle of Britain_. At the same time, since the 2015 edition it has been possible to expand many individual entries, some 330 in total, to give some idea of the wider social context around the aircrew who earned the Battle of Britain Clasp. This has been achieved by reference to existing sources, including information supplied by The Few themselves and their relatives over many years, as well as new research. This invaluable supplement to the 2015 edition ensures that these additions and revisions are available to all researchers, historians, enthusiasts and general readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 sank or crippled almost all of the battleships belonging to the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, but the fleet's aircraft carriers survived to demonstrate that naval aviation was now the dominant factor in the struggle at sea, turning the tide of the Pacific War. That the US Navy had the necessary ships, aircraft and crews was the result of pioneering, far-sighted decisions made in the pre-war years. Before the First World War the navy had recognised the potential of aircraft at sea, and it went on to develop the techniques and equipment that contributed so much to the defeat of the Japanese. This is the fascinating story Leo Marriott tells in this photographic history. In a selection of over 200 rare photographs he traces the growth of US naval aviation from the flimsy seaplanes of the first years of the twentieth century to the mighty armadas that challenged those of the Japanese and, after the carrier battles at Coral Sea and Midway, led the advance across the Pacific. Key aspects of the history are the navy's first aircraft carriers of the 1920s and the tremendous progress made in the decades between the wars in tactics and strategy as well as in the design of ships and aircraft.

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Book SynopsisDid Japan surrender in 1945 because of the death and devastation caused by the atomic bombs dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima and Nagasaki or because of the crushing defeat inflicted on their armies by the Soviet Union in Manchukuo, the puppet state they set up in north-east China? Indeed, the Red Army's rapid and total victory in Manchukuo has been relatively neglected by historians. Charles Stephenson, in this scholarly and highly readable new study, describes the political, diplomatic and military build-up to the Soviet offensive and its decisive outcome. He also considers to what extent Japan's capitulation is attributable to the atomic bomb or the stunningly successful entry of the Soviet Union into the conflict. The military side of the story is explored in fascinating detail - the invasion of Manchukuo itself where the Soviet 'Deep Battle' concept was employed with shattering results, and secondary actions in Korea, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. But equally absorbing is the account of the decision-making that gave rise to the offensive and the political and diplomatic background to it, and in particular the Yalta conference. There, Stalin allowed the Americans to persuade him to join the war in the east; a conflict he was determined on entering anyway. Charles Stephenson's engrossing narrative throws new light on the last act of the Second World War.

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Book SynopsisThe Allied landings at Dieppe in German-occupied France in August 1942 are one the most famous amphibious operations of the Second World War and many books have been written about them, mostly from the Allied point of view. The German side of the story has been neglected, and that is why Graham Thomas's fresh account is so valuable. He reconstructs the immediate response of the Germans to the landings, gives a graphic detailed description of their actions throughout, and looks at the tactical and strategic lessons they drew from them. Each phase and aspect of the action is depicted using a broad range of sources including official reports, correspondence and recollections - the preliminary British commando attacks on the gun batteries, the landings themselves, the German defences and preparations, and their counter-attacks, and the associated naval and air campaigns. The result is a finely balanced and incisive reassessment of this remarkable operation. It also offers the reader an engrossing account of one of the most dramatic episodes in the war in Western Europe.

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Book SynopsisIf there was ever a man who was born to fly, it is John M. Billings. He took his first plane ride in 1926, began taking piloting lessons in 1938, and joined the US Army Air Force in July 1942\. After training he was assigned to fly Consolidated B-24 Liberator long-range bombers. He joined the 825th Bombardment Squadron of the 484th Bombardment Group. After flying fifteen daylight strategic bombing missions, Billings was selected for assignment to the 885th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) (Special). As its designation suggests, the 885th was no regular bombing unit. The 885th specialized in flying top secret, low-altitude missions at night in support of the clandestine operations of the OSS and the Special Operations Executive. The unit's covert missions included parachuting OSS and SOE agents and supplies deep inside German territory. The most eventful and dangerous of Billings' thirty-nine secret missions with the 885th was his assignment in February 1945 to clandestinely insert a three-man OSS team, code-named _Greenup_, into Austria. The drop zone selected for the _Greenup_ insertion was located on a glacier in a valley surrounded by mountains in the middle of the snow-covered Alps. Billings and his crew finally found the weather in the Alps clear enough to spot the drop zone, slip their unwieldy B-24 between the mountain peaks and descend to an altitude just a few hundred feet above the moonlit snow. On Billings' signal, the OSS agents parachuted right on target. The insertion of this OSS team was the inspiration for the feature film _Inglorious Bastards_. However, Brad Pitt's vengeful character was far removed from the leader of the _Greenup_ team, Fred Mayer, who achieved success by infiltrating enemy ranks to gain vital intelligence. After the war, John Billings flew with Trans World Airlines and Eastern Airlines. He also flew more than 300 'Angel Flight' airlift missions which involve the specialized aerial transportation of critically ill medical patients. This is one man's story of a remarkable lifetime of flying, both in peace and in war.

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Book SynopsisWinston Churchill was no stranger to storms. They had engulfed him in various ways throughout his long career and he had always turned to face them with jutting jaw and indomitable spirit. Dark clouds had hovered over him from the moment he became Britain's Prime Minister in May 1940\. Now, fifteen harrowing months later, he was setting out to meet President Franklin Roosevelt, the one man who could offer real assistance in his hour of need. And another storm awaited - this time one of a meteorological kind as his ship, HMS _Prince of Wales_, ran into a howling gale within hours of leaving its base at Scapa Flow. Churchill demanded to be escorted to the Captain's cabin. His escort was a nervous young officer who feared that, in total darkness up swaying stairs, the Prime Minister, a man of some girth, might fall into the roiling sea. But Churchill relished it, remarking later that it was like an adventure after being trapped in No.10 Downing Street. The storm was so bad that the three-destroyer escort, sailing alongside to ward off the very real prospect of the battleship being torpedoed by German U-Boats, could not keep up. Undaunted, Churchill gave the order 'Full steam ahead!' The risks were considerable, especially as Churchill had brought the bulk of his senior military staff with him. When he heard of it, the Canadian Prime Minister thought him mad. When the secret journey was revealed a few days later, Members of Parliament were aghast. But, Churchill knew where his deliverance lay, and he knew that he could no longer postpone a meeting with the man who held Britain's fate in his hands. After five days, the coast of Newfoundland hove into view and when Britain's Prime Minister was piped aboard USS _Augusta_ at Placentia Bay, there began a meeting which, in hindsight, could be seen as one of immense profit for the future of mankind. It was a meeting that allowed FDR and Churchill to get to know each other and become friends. It was also a meeting that, somewhat unexpectedly, produced a document, strangely never signed, called The Atlantic Charter - an eight point agreement designed to act as a guide for how the world's nations should behave towards each other in the post-war years. Many of the principles laid out in this document are incorporated into the Charter of the United Nations. In this book, the authors seek not only to explain how this document came into being - bits of it being scrawled out on scraps of paper over dinner - but to delve into the lives of the two most prominent and influential figures of the twentieth century. For most people belonging to younger generations, they are but legendary names from history. In addition the authors have added biographies of the men who helped them change history - Harry Hopkins and Sumner Welles; Lord Beaverbrook and Lord Cadogan as well Randolph Churchill, the rambunctious and often misunderstood son who had a greater influence on his father's life than many critics were willing to accept. The creation of the Atlantic Charter stands as a pivotal moment in time - the moment two great leaders, men of courage, empathy and imagination, stood alone against tyranny to save the world.

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Book SynopsisWeapons of myth and scandal, that is the best way to describe the spigot weapons deployed by the British in the Second World War. Unlike conventional mortars, a spigot mortar does not have a barrel through with the round is fired. Instead, the general concept involves a steel rod - the 'spigot' - onto which the bomb is placed before it is fired. This design was, as David Lister reveals, the basis of a number of successful weapons used during the Second World War. The myth of the PIAT man-portable anti-tank weapon is, for example, tied closely to British paratroopers struggling in the ruins of Arnhem with an inadequate design, one inferior to the German equivalent. Similarly, the myth of the Blacker Bombard is of a useless weapon, one of dubious quality, that was dumped on the unsuspecting Home Guard. In reality, neither scenario is the case. Both weapons were devastating creations of war, often superior to any other nation's counterpart. At sea, the Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon was another powerful spigot weapon. It was undoubtedly capable of sweeping the U-boats from the sea and even winning the Battle of the Atlantic before it had really begun. That it did not is one of the great scandals of the Second World War, one hidden by wartime secrecy until now. In _Defeating the Panzer-Stuka Menace_ the author explores a large number of spigot weapons from the Second World War, many of which were created by the fertile mind of one of Britain's great weapon inventors, Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker.

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Book SynopsisEighth Army was formed in Egypt in September 1941\. A year later, under Montgomery, it defeated Rommel's Panzerarmee Afrika at El Alamein which led to the victorious end of the North African campaign at Tunis in May 1943. The controversial landings in Italy in September 1943 followed the short Sicilian campaign. Tenacious German resistance, exemplified by the protracted Monte Cassino battle during the first half of 1944, made the Eighth Army's advance north testing and costly. In April 1945, Eighth Army, now commanded by General Dick McCreery, brilliantly attacked into the plain of Lombardy overcoming the last Nazi defensive lines in Italy. No less than thirty-four Victoria Crosses were awarded to soldiers of Eighth Army who were drawn from every Empire and Commonwealth country, including neutral Ireland, and nations such as Poland occupied by the Nazis. Drawing on official records and personal accounts, A Noble Crusade, first published in 1999, is a superb and comprehensive history of the most famous British military formation of the Second World War and, arguably, of all time.

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Book SynopsisThe Hawker Hurricane was the RAF's most valuable fighter asset in the Second World War, yet even today is relatively under-appreciated by the general public. Yet from the early months of the war it was the single engine fighter most often encountered by the Luftwaffe and during the Battle of Britain it made 80% of the successful interdictions of enemy formations. As this superbly researched book written by a leading authority on the air war reveals, this was only the start of the Hurricane's war service. Its reliability and versatility ensured that variants saw action in more war theatres worldwide than any other fighter. Indeed, as the RAF's Official History recalls Everywhere the Ubiquitous Hurricane was to be seen'. This book follows the Hurri' to Russia, Malta, North Africa and as far afield as Burma, Sumatra and Java. Seaborne versions fought in the Battle of the Atlantic and defended the Mediterranean convoys. In the ground attack role Hurricane fighter bombers made countless sweeps over occupied Europe. Pilots' first-hand accounts supplement the text. Readers are left in no doubt as to the massive contribution that the Hurricane made to ultimate victory.

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Book Synopsis250 b/w illustrations

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Book SynopsisMuch has been written about the famous fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe which proved so successful in the invasion of Poland, the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain and in the early operations in Eastern Europe. Little attention, however, has been focused on the Luftwaffe's transport aircraft which played a vital role in supplying German forces in every theatre. In early May 1940, the battle of Norway was nearing its climax, but General Eduard Dietl's 3rd J ger division was blocked by the Allies in the Narvik area. Only the Luftwaffe could provide effective assistance to the encircled troops. The special purpose groups KGr.zbV107 and KGr.zbV108 were ordered to supply the division by air. Transports delivered ammunition, food, and even boots for German sailors who found themselves on land. This was the first of a number of occasions in which the Luftwaffe's transport Gruppen, often equipped with the slow, but reliable Junkers 52, created an air bridge' to supply troops cut off or surrounded by the enemy. The transport Gruppen had previously been involved in supporting the advance of German forces during the Polish campaign, this being followed by the capture of Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Greece. During Operation Barbarossa, German troops were dispersed over the vast expanses of Russia. It was a country without roads where the normal supply by trucks and trains to the troops was difficult and sometimes impossible. Often, it was only the Luftwaffe's transport aircraft that kept the Germans fighting. But with Hitler's insistence that there should be no retreat despite the overwhelming strength of the Soviet forces, his Germans armies found themselves surrounded and the Luftwaffe had to create air bridges to supply the beleaguered troops. Nowhere was this more evident than the Battle of Stalingrad, Goring having convinced Hitler that the Luftwaffe was capable of keeping the Sixth Army supplied. As the war increasingly turned against the Third Reich, air bridges were vital in supporting and maintaining its garrisons in places such as Demyansk, Holm, Korsun, Budapest, Breslau, and many others. Hitler's Air Bridges presents the story of the Luftwaffe's transport Gruppen more extensively and in greater detail than ever before.

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Book SynopsisHitler was not a lonely, aloof dictator. Throughout his rise in the NSDAP, he gathered a loyal circle around him, which later took on the features of a regular court, and was surrounded by people who celebrated, flattered and intrigued him. Who belonged to this inner circle around Hitler? What function did this court fulfill? And how did it influence the perception of history after 1945? Using previously unknown sources, Heike Gortemaker explores Hitler's private environment and shows how this inner circle made him who he was. Biographies of Hitler often concentrate on his obsession with self-image: "If you subtract what politics is about him, little or nothing remains," said Ian Kershaw, and Joachim Fest asserted: "He did not have a private life." For Alan Bullock the "Fuhrer" was an "uprooted man without a home or family". Hitler's inner circle, the Berghof Society, was his private retreat. But the court was more than that. It provided him with the support he needed to be able to take on the role of "Fuhrer" at all, while at the same time allowing him to use its members as political front men. Most of all, it represented a conspiratorial community whose lowest common denominator was anti-Semitism. In this book, Heike Gortemaker asks new questions about the truth behind Hitler's inner circle and, for the first time, also examines the "circle without leaders"; the networking of the inner circle after 1945.

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Book SynopsisThe all-too frequently cited mantra that 'the bomber will always get through' had dominated Britain's strategic air policy in the decades preceding the Second World War. However, the experiences of the Battle of Britain and the Blitz indicated that aerial bombardments were not as effective at disabling a country's ability to fight as had been believed. This assessment was reinforced when the RAF's Bomber Command analysed the results of their precision bombing efforts during the early years of the war. A growing body of evidence indicated that the great 'knock-out' blow expected to be delivered from the air was a fantasy and that it would only be through a prolonged campaign of attrition that the enemy could be worn down to such a degree that morale, the means of production and the infrastructure of the enemy would be degraded to the point where its fighting ability was crippled. The result of this assessment was a change of policy from precision bombing of carefully identified key installations, to area bombing with the declared intent of striking at the homes of the German workers, the factories where they worked regardless of the nature of such establishments or of the civilian casualties that would be the inevitable consequence. In compiling this official analysis of the effectiveness of the RAF's strategic bombing campaign, the author was granted unrestricted access to Air Ministry, Cabinet and other relevant departmental documents that were maintained for internal government use, enabling him to gain a complete and unbiased assessment of the contribution made by Bomber Command to the defeat of Germany. The conclusion he draws fully justifies the decisions taken, by both Britain and the USA, to bomb the German people into surrender.

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Book SynopsisThis book relates a chapter of American military history which many people would rather forget. When the United States came to the aid of Britain in 1942, the arrival of American troops was greeted with unreserved enthusiasm, but unfortunately, wartime sometimes brings out the worst, as well as the best, in people. A small number of the soldiers abused the hospitality they received by committing murders and rapes against British civilians. Some of these men were hanged or shot at Shepton Mallet Prison in Somerset, which had been handed over for the use of the American armed forces. Due to a treaty between Britain and America, those accused of such offences faced an American court martial, rather than a British civilian court, which gave rise to some curious anomalies. Although rape had not been a capital crime in Britain for over a century, it still carried the death penalty under American military law and so the last executions for rape in Britain were carried out at this time in Shepton Mallet. _Fighting For America, Executed in Britain_ tells the story of every American soldier executed in Britain during the Second World War. The majority of the executed soldiers were either black or Hispanic, reflecting the situation in the United States itself, where the ethnicity of the accused person often played a key role in both convictions and the chances of subsequently being executed.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first hand account of a young man's entry into World War II in 1941, culminating in his role in the bombing of Dresden in February 1945 by RAF Bomber Command. This is not a gung-ho account of flying with Bomber Command, instead Musgrove takes the form of a basic narrative in his memoir, paying particular attention to fear, morale and, as the author explains, the myth of leadership felt by those involved first hand. Several raids are described in detail and illustrate the variety of experiences, problems and dangers involved in such hazardous warfare. First published nearly 60 years after his experiences, Musgrove delves in to his recollections of the bombing of factories and cities to reflect on the grave moral issues brought on by this particular raid.

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Book SynopsisAir Vice-Marshal James Edgar 'Johnnie' Johnson CB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, DFC & Bar, DL was a character literally from the pages of Boys' Own: an individual who became the RAF's top-scoring fighter pilot of the Second World War. A one-time household name synonymous with the superlative Spitfire, Johnnie's aerial combat successes inspired schoolboys for generations. As a 'lowly Pilot Officer', Johnnie Johnson learned his fighter pilot's craft as a protege of the legless Tangmere Wing Leader, Douglas Bader. After Bader was brought down over France and captured on 9 August 1941, Johnnie remained a member of 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron, in which he became a flight commander and was awarded the DFC a month after Bader's devastating loss. In time, Johnnie came to command a Canadian wing in 1943, when the Spitfire Mk.IX at last outclassed the Fw 190, and participated in some of the most important battles of the defeat of Nazi Germany, including Operation _Overlord_ and the D-Day landings in 1944, Operation _Market Garden_ and the airborne assault at Arnhem, and the Rhine Crossings, throughout all of which Johnnie also commanded Canadian wings. Johnnie's remarkable career is revealed through this unparalleled collection of archive photographs, the majority of which are drawn from his own personal album or from other members of the Johnson family. Many have not been published before. Between them, they present a fascinating insight into the man himself, the machines he flew, and the men he served alongside.

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Book SynopsisAir Vice-Marshal 'Johnnie' Johnson was a character literally from the pages of _Boys' Own_: an individual who became the RAF's top-scoring fighter pilot and wing leader par excellence of the Second World War. A one-time household name synonymous with the superlative Spitfire, Johnnie's aerial combat successes inspired schoolboys for generations. As a 'lowly Pilot Officer', Johnnie Johnson learned his fighter pilot's craft as a protege of the legless Tangmere Wing Leader, Douglas Bader. After Bader was brought down over France and captured on 9 August 1941, Johnnie remained a member of 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron. By the beginning of 1942, when Johnnie's diary begins, Fighter Command was pursuing an offensive policy during daylight hours, 'reaching out' and taking the war to the Germans in France. It was also a period in which the Focke-Wulf Fw outclassed the Spitfire Mk.V. In Johnnie's words, the Fw 190 'drove us back to the coast and, for the first time, pilots lost confidence in the Spitfire'. As well as his participation in _Rhubarb_ and _Circus_ sorties, Johnnie was also involved in Operation _Jubilee_ on 19 August 1942. In this diary, published here for the first time, we get a glimpse of the real Johnnie, and what it was really like to live and breathe air-fighting during one of the European air war's most interesting years: 1942\. Presented on a day-by-day basis, each of Johnnie's entries is supported by an informative narrative written by the renowned aviation historian Dilip Sarkar, drawing upon official documents and his interviews and correspondence with the great man. As would be expected, Johnnie's diary also includes numerous personal references. This diary, therefore, is a unique insight into how fighter pilots lived, loved - and died.

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