Search results for ""casemate""
Casemate Publishers Jump: into the Valley of the Shadow: The WWII Memories of a Paratrooper in the 508th P.I.R, 82nd Airborne Division
“ A true member of the Greatest Generation, Burns’ fascinating story is well worth reading.” - Flight Journal Jump: Into the Valley of the Shadow tells of the wartime experiences of Dwayne Burns as a paratrooper in the 508th Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. The author recounts the action of his first mission, which took place in the early hours of D-Day. Having been dropped behind enemy lines, the paratroopers fought in a desperate running battle with German soldiers. Burns and his men held their ground until they were relieved by infantry advancing from the beaches. The 82nd Airborne Division were then sent to Holland as part of Montgomery’s plan to create a bridgehead across the Rhine. This daytime jump was less confused than the previous night-time one, but there were more German troops than expected and fewer Allied forces in support. The combat that followed was chaotic, and although the 82nd achieved their objectives, there were many casualties. Possibly the author's greatest challenge came in December 1944 , when Germany undertook their infamous Ardennes Offensive. With the Allies caught unprepared, the 82nd had to try to slow the lightening advance of the German panzers. Burns and his comrades held their own and with quickly assembled defence perimeters, they allowed other units to escape. On 3 January the 82nd were able to counter-attack, and in sealing off the Bulge, they were able to continue their pursuit of the Germans back into the Reich. Dwayne Burns relates not only the chaos of combat, but the intimate thinking of a young soldier thrust into the centre stage of several of World War II’s greatest battles. His memories are also able to provide a fascinating insight into the reality of close-quarter combat.
£14.99
Casemate Publishers Takka Takka Bom Bom: An Intrepid War Correspondent’s 50 Year Odyssey
The world’s oldest still-active war correspondent, Al J. Venter has reported from the front lines for well over half a century, witnessing the horrors humanity visits upon itself in twenty-five conflict zones across Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. In this memoir, Venter masterfully recounts his experiences, sharing the real stories behind the headlines and the sharp lessons he learned that enabled him to survive his countless exploits, ranging from exposing a major KGB operative in Rhodesia entirely by accident, and accompanying an Israeli force led by Ariel Sharon into Beirut, to gun-running into the United States.
£22.50
Casemate Publishers Strong in Will: A First-Hand Account of Working for the American Embassy in Paris During the Nazi Occupation
“Paris of today is not a happy ground for ill and dying or for those with frayed nerves and unquiet minds. It is for the brave of heart, the courageous, and the strong in will and in health. The times, so full of danger, must be lived by the ‘sword of the Spirit,’ with love and an inner calm. It is not possible otherwise.” - Marie-Louise Dilkes, 30 August 1940There have been many books written about life in Paris during the Occupation. What makes this book unique is that it is written from the perspective of the receptionist for the American Embassy in Paris, Marie-Louise Dilkes, who saw and experienced the chaos and fear of those facing an uncertain future. They walked through the door to the American Embassy looking for a sign of hope or a way out.Marie-Louise Dilkes takes us through the conquest and occupation of Paris by German forces, and includes the war-time journey of the American consulate in Paris – from Paris to Lisbon, and Lyon to Bern and back to Paris. She ends with the triumphant return of members of the American Embassy staff after the Allies forced the German Army out of Paris.
£26.96
Casemate Publishers Turning Points: The Role of the State Department in Vietnam (1945–75)
Ten years after the end of the American involvement in the Vietnam War, a career Foreign Service officer, Thomas J. Corcoran, set down in writing his thoughts on the history of U.S. State Department policy during America's involvement with South Vietnam. Like many Americans of his generation, he was perplexed by the failure of America to achieve its goals in South Vietnam. As an ambassador and with over 30 years of diplomatic experience – beginning in 1948 when he was assigned to Hanoi and involving other postings in Southeast Asia – he brought to his analysis a long and rich personal experience with events in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.The result is a thoughtful, objective and well-researched study that chronicles the key policy decisions made by the US State Department throughout the entire period from 1945 to 1975; decisions that ultimately led to the first war lost by the United States. In his extensive study, Corcoran does an excellent job of exposing many of the myths and falsehoods found in orthodox histories of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
£31.46
Casemate Publishers Storm Clouds Over the Pacific: War in the Far East Volume 1
Storm Clouds over the Pacific begins the story long before Pearl Harbor, showing how the war can only be understood if ancient hatreds and long-standing geopolitics are taken into account. Peter Harmsen demonstrates how Japan and China’s ancient enmity grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries leading to increased tensions in the 1930s which exploded into conflict in 1937. The battles of Shanghai and Nanjing were followed by the battle of Taierzhuang in 1938, China’s only major victory. A war of attrition continued up to 1941, the year when Japan made the momentous decision for all-out war; the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into the war, and the Japanese also overran British and Dutch territories throughout the western Pacific.It is the first volume in the War in the Asia Pacific series, a trilogy of books comprising a general history of the war against Japan. Unlike other histories, it expands the narrative beginning long before Pearl Harbor and encompasses a much wider group of actors to produce the most complete narrative yet written and the first truly international treatment of the epic conflict. Peter Harmsen uses his renowned ability to weave together complex events into an entertaining and revealing narrative, including facets of the war that may be unknown to many readers of WWII history, such as the war in Subarctic conditions on the Aleutians, or the mass starvations that cost the lives of millions in China, Indochina, and India, and offering a range of perspectives to reflect what war was like both at the top and at the bottom, from the Oval Office to the blistering sands of Peleliu.
£19.95
Casemate Publishers Bait: The Battle of Kham Duc
This is an account of the battle of Kham Duc, one of the least known and most misunderstood battles in the American Phase of the Second Indochina War (1959 to 1975). At the time it was painted as a major American defeat, but this new history tells the full story.The authors have a unique ability to reassess this battle – one was present at the battle, the other was briefed on it prior to re-taking the site two years later. The book is based on exhaustive research, revisiting Kham Duc, interviewing battle veterans, and reading interview transcripts and statements of other battle participants, including former North Vietnamese Army (NVA) officers.Based on their research, the authors contend that Kham Duc did not 'fall' and was not 'overrun'. In fact, it was a successful effort to inflict mass attrition on a major NVA force with minimum American losses by voluntarily abandoning an anachronistic little trip-wire border camp serving as passive bait for General Westmoreland's 'lure and destroy' defensive tactics, as at Khe Sanh.
£20.25
Casemate Publishers The Battle for Tinian: Vital Stepping Stone in America’s War Against Japan
In July 1944, the 9,000-man Japanese garrison on the island of Tinian listened warily as the thunder of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, Army and Air Corps, descended on their neighbouring island, Saipan, just three miles away. There were 20,000 Japanese troops on Saipan, but the US obliterated the opposition after a horrific all-arms campaign. The sudden silence only indicated it was now Tinian’s turn.When the battle for Tinian finally took place the US acted with great skill. Nevertheless, the Japanese resisted with their usual stubbornness, and the already decimated US Marines suffered hundreds of casualties.During the battle Japanese shore batteries were able to riddle the battleship Colorado, killing scores, plus make multiple hits on a destroyer, killing its captain. On the island itself the US used napalm for the first time, paving the way for Marines painstakingly rooting out strongpoints. One last Banzai attack signalled the end to enemy resistance, as Marines fought toe-to-toe with their antagonists in the dark.In the end some 8,000 Japanese were killed, with only 300 surrenders, plus some others who hid out for years after the war. But those Japanese who resisted perhaps performed a greater service than they knew. After Tinian was secured, the US proceeded to build the biggest airport in the world on that island, home to hundreds of B-29 Superfortresses. Among these, just over a year later, were the Enola Gay and Boxcar, which with their atomic bombs would quickly bring the Japanese homeland itself to its knees.
£17.99
Casemate Publishers Among the Firsts: Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard L. Bolland's Unconventional War: D-Day 82nd Airborne Paratrooper, Oss Special Forces Commander of Operation Rype
Unconventional warfare tactics can have a considerable effect on the outcome of any war. During World War II, the United States government developed and employed two new methods of fighting. The first was the development of 'paratroop' units, as they were first called. The second was the formation of a covert and sabotage operations branch called the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Lt. Colonel Bolland was involved in both of these 'firsts'. During the D-Day invasion he parachuted behind enemy lines, jumping out of the 82nd Airborne lead aircraft with General James Gavin. After fighting with the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment for thirty-three days straight, he returned to England and became involved with the OSS Scandinavian Section. He served as Field Commander for their Operation, code named Rype. This was the only American military undertaking, albeit covert, in Norway during the entire course of the war.As a young boy growing up in rural western Minnesota, Bolland got his military start with the Minnesota National Guard, before being accepted to West Point, solely on merit. His military career lasted seventeen years. Lt. Colonel Bolland ended up with numerous decorations including the Norwegian Liberation Medal and Citation, the Bronze Star for valour, the French Fouragerre of Croix de Guerre with Palms and posthumously the Congressional Gold medal awarded to the OSS Society on behalf of all former OSS members that served during the war.His story reveals the struggles, successes, failures and ultimate victories, detailing what went right and what went wrong with these new unconventional methods of fighting.
£24.75
Casemate Publishers Maritime Strike: The Untold Story of the Royal Navy Task Group off Libya in 2011
In April 2011, the newly created Royal Navy Response Force Task Group deployed to the Mediterranean to provide a range of military options in response to the Arab Spring. For the next six months the group planned and prepared for a range of potential operations including noncombatant evacuations from Libya, Yemen and Syria, maritime interdiction operations off the Libyan coast, and amphibious landings.On 3 June the group began launching attack helicopter strikes into Libya and in the nights that followed planned 47 and executed 22 strikes destroying a range of targets including: 54 vehicles, 2 rigid hull boats, 2 BM 21 rocket launchers, 4 main battle tanks, 1 zsu antiaircraft vehicle and 3 command and control nodes. The operation saw the first operational use of Apaches from the sea and the first embarkation of US Army combat search and rescue teams and Blackhawk helicopters in an RN warship.This is a personal account by the Group’s Commander, which brings to life the challenges of command – including authorizing strikes and mitigating risk to UK aircrew – in a complex and challenging environment. It reveals how closely the RN Group worked with its French counterpart, the support provided by the United States, together with the complexity of working alongside NATO and of simultaneously dealing with a range of UK authorities.This is a story of leadership under pressure and the remarkable professionalism of all involved and the bravery of Army aircrew. It was modern defence and joinery at its best – British Army and USAF helicopters operating from RN ships, supported by Fleet Air Arm aircraft and fixed wing jets as part of a largely air campaign.
£20.00
Casemate Publishers The Commandos: Set Europe Ablaze
Summer 1942. Defeatism hangs in the air. Britain stands alone. Winston Churchill is determined to strike back and has ordered the formation of a special operations force, dubbed "Commandos", with the mission to "set Europe ablaze."U.S. Marine Captain Jim Cain and his Gunnery Sergeant Leland Montgomery are surprised to receive orders to the British Commando training center in the Scottish Highlands. There they are put through the brutal specialized training that will hone their fighting skills and physical endurance. Pitiless forced marches, dangerous live fire exercises and hazardous assault courses separate the men from the boys, while building a strong sense of brotherhood among the British soldiers and the two Marines. Lucky to be quartered in the spacious home of the Commandos' CO, Cain has the pleasure of meeting Loreena. The stunning auburn-haired daughter of the CO is secretive about her work in London. Before Cain can learn more about her, the training course is interrupted. He and the commando squad are sent on a special mission to destroy a German radar station on a Nazi-held island off the coast of France.The site is defended by a squad of second-rate garrison soldiers who are no match for the highly trained and motivated commandos. A reaction force of infantry, led by a blooded German combat veteran, joins the fight. The action is fierce and bloody and there are heavy losses on both sides. The surviving raiders are able to withdraw to Royal Navy motor torpedo boats, as a marauding squadron of Schnellboots (E-Boats) lies in wait.The Commandos: Set Europe Ablaze is rich in detail and military accuracy which makes the story "come alive" and enables the reader to easily visualize the characters, the settings and the action scenes.
£17.99
Casemate Publishers Burn, Bomb, Destroy: The Sabotage Campaign of the German Secret Services in North America 1914–1918
Many believe that World War I was only fought "over there," as the popular 1917 song goes, in the trenches and muddy battlefields of Northern France and Belgium - they are wrong.There was a secret war fought in America; on remote railway bridges and waterways linking the United States and Canada, aboard burning and exploding ships in the Atlantic Ocean, in the smoldering ruins of America's bombed and burned-out factories, munitions plants and railway centers and waged in carefully disguised clandestine workshops where improvised explosive devices and deadly toxins were designed and manufactured. It was irregular warfare on a scale that caught the United States woefully unprepared.This is the true story of German secret agents engaged in a campaign of subversion and terror on the American homeland before and during World War I.
£24.75
Casemate Publishers General Erich Hoepner: Portrait of a Panzer Commander
This volume in the Die Wehrmacht im Kampf series examines Erich Hoepner's leadership of panzer formations in Poland in 1939, France in 1940, and Russia in 1941. It is written by Walter Chales de Beaulieu, a general staff officer who fought alongside Hoepner. Erich Hoepner was one of the most competent tank commanders of World War II, playing a significant role in Germany’s early successes. As the commander of the XVI Panzer Corps at the outbreak of war in 1939, Hoepner carried out the main thrust towards Warsaw. The panzer corps covered 250 kilometres and reached the outskirts of the city in only eight days.In 1940, commanding the same formation, Hoepner fought the French Cavalry Corps in Belgium, partook in the encirclement of Allied forces near Dunkirk, and advanced southwards over the Weygand Line deep into French territory. In 1941, Hoepner became the commander of Panzer Group 4, which was the main attack formation for the advance on Leningrad. It made rapid progress to begin with, but an increasingly wide and exposed front meant that the attack gradually ground to a halt. After one final attempt to capture the city in the middle of September failed, the panzer group was redeployed to the central sector of the Eastern Front. It was there that the panzer group was to help with the push towards Moscow. In conjunction with Panzer Group 3, Hoepner’s Panzer Group 4 completed and eliminated the Vyazma pocket. Hoepner frequently felt that he was not allowed to advance on Moscow quickly enough by his superiors, yet his decision to conduct a withdrawal in January 1942 led to his dismissal.In this book, Walter Chales de Beaulieu provides insight into Erich Hoepner’s ability as a panzer commander, painting a picture of a man who was committed to the military profession, who possessed a strong sense of responsibility, and who was confident enough to exercise his own will.
£31.50
Casemate Publishers Widowmaker: Living and Dying with the Corsair
“Despite everything I felt very lucky to have flown Corsairs, they were the best you know even though it took me sometime to realise this when so many friends died flying them.” (Colin Facer, Corsair pilot, HMS Illustrious)The Vought-Sikorsky Corsair was one of the most potent fighters of the Second World War. It was also one of the most flawed. Conceived by Rex Beisel, Vought’s Chief Designer during 1938, the US Navy condemned it as being too dangerous for carrier operations and refused to certify it safe for use at sea. With the British Aero Industry unable to build fighters with sufficient range and potentcy for carrier use the Admirtalty sought alternatives. With the Lend Lease programme, created by President Roosevelt, in place they could acquire weapons from American factories. In practice, this meant standing in line behind the US Navy, Marines and Army for service, but it still opened up new opportunities to be exploited. So, with newly built Corsairs being stockpiled and the promise of an improved version on the way, the RN saw a opening worthy of development and exploited it. By the end of the war the Fleet Air Arm had acquired more than 2,000 Corsairs to equip its squadrons. But the risks identified by the USN were largely ignored by the Royal Navy and far too many men and aircraft were lost in accidents as a result. Yet in the hands of experienced carrier pilots its virtues were only too apparent and, in due course, they achieved great things. Eventually, the US Navy noted this “success” and certified the Corsair for use on their carriers too, but the aircraft never entirely lost its reputation as a “widow maker.”This book describes the Corsair’s development and tells the sad, but inspiring story of the young men who struggled and suffered to make the Corsair a going concern in the most vicious unforgiving war one can imagine. To do this the author met and corresponded with ninety or more veterans from America, Britain, New Zealand and Canada. Their recollections made this book possible and through their vivid memories we can experience what it felt like to be barely of age, a civilian called to arms and a fighter pilot.
£22.50
Casemate Publishers On Her Majesty's Nuclear Service
During the Cold War, nuclear submarines performed the greatest public service of all: prevention of a third world war. History shows that they succeeded; the Cold War ended peacefully, but for security reasons, only now can this story be told.Eric Thompson is a career nuclear submarine officer who served from the first days of the Polaris missile boats until after the end of the Cold War. He joined the Navy in the last days of Empire, made his first sorties in World War II type submarines and ended up as the top engineer in charge of the navy’s nuclear power plants. Along the way, he helped develop all manner of kit, from guided torpedoes to the Trident ballistic missile system. In this vivid personal account of his submarine operations, he reveals what it was like to literally have your finger on the nuclear button.In his journey, the author leads the reader through top-secret submarine patrols, hush-hush scientific trials, underwater weapon developments, public relations battles with nuclear protesters, arm-wrestling with politicians and the changing roles of females and homosexuals in the Navy. It is essentially a human story, rich in both drama and comedy, like the Russian spy trawler that played dance music at passing submarines. There was never a dull moment.Behind the lighter moments was a deadly serious game. This, the inside story of Britain’s nuclear deterrent, reveals the secretive life of submarines and the men who served on them; they kept their watch, and by maintaining the threat of ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’ helped keep Britain and the world safe.
£17.01
Casemate Publishers Baker Bandits: Korea'S Band of Brothers
B-1-5 was a unique company in the Korean War. The Baker Bandits fought at Inchon, Naktong, Chosin Reservoir, Guerrilla Hunts and the many numbered hills. Theyinspired one B Company Commander, Gen. Charlie Cooper to the extent that when he became Commanding General of the Marines First Division in 1977, his time with B-1-5 inspired his “Band Of Brothers Leadership Principles” used widely in the Corps for many years. Emmett Shelton was a 19-year-old Marine Reservist in 1950. He was called to duty after graduating Austin High School and, within six months, he was a rifleman in Korea. The Korean winter of 1950 was brutal and Emmett was evacuated shortly after Chosin due to frostbite. After the war, Emmett got on with life, then in the 1980s he attended a Chosin Few Reunion. He was overwhelmed by a need to reconnect with his old Company, his Baker Bandits. Emmett tracked down B Company members one-by-one and started a newsletter, The Guidon, to share stories and reconnect. For 20 years Emmett published The Guidon, monthly. The contributing readership grew to a high of 300, including a number of young B Company Marines fighting in Afghanistan. Chosin Brothers brings together first-hand accounts from The Guidon, written by the men of B-1-5 about their time in Korea: their battles, their fallen commanders, deathin the foxhole, lost platoons, injuries and what happened to them after the war.
£24.75
Casemate Publishers British Fighter Aircraft in WWI: Design, Construction and Innovation
World War I witnessed unprecedented growth and innovation in aircraft design, construction, and as the war progressed - mass production. Each country generated its own innovations sometimes in surprising ways - Albatros Fokker, Pfalz, and Junkers in Germany and Nieuport, Spad, Sopwith and Bristol in France and Britain.This book focuses on the British approach to fighter design, construction, and mass production. Initially the French led the way in Allied fighter development with their Bleriot trainers then nimble Nieuport Scouts - culminating with the powerful, fast gun platforms as exemplified by the Spads. The Spads had a major drawback however, in that they were difficult and counter-intuitive to fix in the field. The British developed fighters in a very different way; Tommy Sopwith had a distinctive approach to fighter design that relied on lightly loaded wings and simple functional box-girder fuselages. His Camel was revolutionary as it combined all the weight well forward; enabling the Camel to turn very quickly - but also making it an unforgiving fighter for the inexperienced. The Royal Aircraft Factory's SE5a represented another leap forward with its comfortable cockpit, modern instrumentation, and inline engine - clearly influenced by both Spads and German aircraft.Each manufacturer and design team vied for the upper hand and deftly and quickly appropriated good ideas from other companies – be they friend or foe. Developments in tactics and deployment also influenced design - from the early reconnaissance planes, to turn fighters, finally planes that relied upon formation tactics, speed, and firepower. Advances were so great that the postwar industry seemed bland by comparison.
£31.50
Casemate Publishers Gunpowder and Glory: The Explosive Life of Frank Brock OBE
Picture a daredevil combatant, secret agent and brilliant inventor all rolled into one. Such a man was pyrotechnical genius Frank Brock, a scion of the famous firework family and one of Britain’s great, unsung heroes. A remarkable combination of James Bond and ‘Q’, Frank was killed in action one hundred years ago. His story has never been told before, yet he made an extraordinary contribution to the British war effort between 1914 and 1918, saving thousands of lives. Frank could easily have been the template for 007. A heavyweight boxer, rugby player and brilliant shot, he uniquely held commissions in all three branches of the armed services – army, navy and air force – during the First World War. As an inventor he ended Germany’s dream of air supremacy with his pioneering Brock Bullet. A year later he helped prevent German domination of the Channel by inventing giant flares which lit up the sea at night and forced U-boats into deep mine fields. It did not end there. As a secret agent he dashed to France on his wedding day, rowed across a lake into enemy territory, and prepared the ground for the world’s first strategic bombing raid – ordered by Winston Churchill – on a Zeppelin base in southern Germany. Later, as a combatant, he played a leading role in one of the war’s most daring naval raids – a raid only made possible because of the artificial fog heinvented to mask the attacking vessels.Gunpowder and Glory tells more than Frank’s remarkable story of invention and derring-do. Woven into the narrative is the dazzling history of Brock’s Fireworks, the world-famous firm started by Frank’s five-times great-grandfather, and which he was being groomed to run.
£22.50
Casemate Publishers The Paratrooper Training Pocket Manual 1939–1945
Airborne assault was one of the great innovations of the 1930s and 1940s, adding a new ‘vertical’ dimension to infantry warfare. By the onset of World War II in 1939, Germany, Italy, and Russia were already advanced in their development of paratrooper units. Germany in particular demonstrated the tactical shock of paratroopers in Western Europe in 1940 and, most spectacularly, in Crete in 1941, galvanizing the UK and the United States to expand and train their own airborne forces, which they unleashed in 1943–45. The Allied paratrooper drops on D-Day (6 June 1944) and those of Operation Market Garden (17–25 September 1944) were the stuff of legend, huge in scale and ambition, but both Allied and Axis paratroopers were deployed in numerous other actions, including special forces raids.It quickly became apparent that the physical and tactical demands placed upon paratroopers required men of exceptional stamina, courage and intelligence. To create these soldiers, levels of training were unusually punishing and protracted, and those who came through to take their ‘wings’ were a true elite.The Paratrooper Training Pocket Manual provides an unusually detailed insight into what it took to make a military paratrooper, and how he was then utilized in actions where expected survival might be measured in a matter of days. Using material from British, US, German archives and other primary sources, many never before published, the book explains paratrooper theory, training and practice in detail. The content includes details of the physical training, instruction in static-line parachute deployment, handling the various types of parachutes and harnesses, landing on dangerous terrain, small-arms handling, airborne deployment of heavier combat equipment, landing in hostile drop zones, tactics in the first minutes of landing, radio comms, and much more.Featuring original manual diagrams and illustrations, plus new introductory text explaining the history and context of airborne warfare, The Paratrooper Training Pocket Manual provides a detailed insight into the principles and practice of this unique type of combat soldier.
£9.99
Casemate Publishers Sherman: The M4 Tank in World War II
The Medium Tank, M4, better known to the British as the Sherman, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and western Allies in World War II. Reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and easy to maintain, thousands were distributed to the British Commonwealth and the Soviet Union by the Lend-Lease program. It first saw combat in North Africa, where it outclassed lighter German and Italian tanks. By 1944 the M4 was outgunned by the German heavy tanks, but it still contributed to the fight when deployed in numbers and supported by artillery and fighter-bombers.A detailed insight into the development and deployment of the M4, this book covers the design and construction of the chassis, turret, engine, armaments and munitions and differences between the variants of the M4. It covers the difficulties facing the crews who fought in this legendary tank, exploring the training they received and the different combat methods perfected by the Allies, including landing from an landing craft, maneuvering in the bocage of Normandy, and fighting in the snow.Fully illustrated with hundreds of contemporary and modern photographs and detailed diagrams, this complete account provides all the technical details of the construction of the M4, its maintenance and repair, and the logistics required to support it in combat.Whether you are a collector, modeler or simply passionate about military history, this book will provide you with an unparalleled insight into the M4.
£35.99
Casemate Publishers German and Russian Tank Models 1939–45
The Second World War is a favorite for modelers, and this comprehensive guide to techniques suitable for 1/72, 1/48 and 1/35 scale tank models will be invaluable to modelers wanting to recreate the iconic tanks of this conflict. From the Russian T-34 at the time of the battle of Kursk, and Su-152 in winter camoflague, to the German Panzer I in North Africa, and the gigantic Maus, as it might have appeared just after the war ended, this book offers a wealth of detail into the necessary tools, paints and techniques to perfect a realistic finish.
£22.50
Casemate Publishers American Guerrilla: The Forgotten Heroics of Russell W. Volckmann—the Man Who Escaped from Bataan, Raised a Filipino Army Against the Japanese, and Became the True “Father” of Army Special Forces
With his parting words “I shall return,” General Douglas MacArthur sealed the fate of the last American forces on Bataan. Yet one young Army Captain named Russell Volckmann refused to surrender. He disappeared into the jungles of north Luzon where he raised a Filipino army of over 22,000 men. For the next three years he led a guerrilla war against the Japanese, killing over 50,000 enemy soldiers. At the same time he established radio contact with MacArthur’s HQ in Australia and directed Allied forces to key enemy positions. When General Yamashita finally surrendered, he made his initial overtures not to MacArthur, but to Volckmann.This book establishes how Volckmann’s leadership was critical to the outcome of the war in the Philippines. His ability to synthesize the realities and potential of guerrilla warfare led to a campaign that rendered Yamashita’s forces incapable of repelling the Allied invasion. Had it not been for Volckmann, the Americans would have gone in “blind” during their counter-invasion, reducing their efforts to a trial-and-error campaign that would undoubtedly have cost more lives, materiel, and potentially stalled the pace of the entire Pacific War.Second, this book establishes Volckmann as the progenitor of modern counterinsurgency doctrine and the true “Father” of Army Special Forces - a title that history has erroneously awarded to Colonel Aaron Bank of the ETO. In 1950, Volckmann wrote two Army field manuals: Operations Against Guerrilla Forces and Organization and Conduct of Guerrilla Warfare, though today few realize he was their author. Together, they became the Army’s first handbooks outlining the precepts for both special warfare and counter-guerrilla operations. Taking his argument directly to the Army Chief of Staff, Volckmann outlined the concept for Army Special Forces. At a time when U.S. military doctrine was conventional in outlook, he marketed the ideas of guerrilla warfare as a critical force multiplier for any future conflict, ultimately securing the establishment of the Army’s first special operations unit—the 10th Special Forces Group.Volckmann himself remains a shadowy figure in modern military history, his name absent from every major biography on MacArthur, and in much of the Special Forces literature. Yet as modest, even secretive, as Volckmann was during his career, it is difficult to imagine a man whose heroic initiative had more impact on World War II. This long overdue book not only chronicles the dramatic military exploits of Russell Volckmann, but analyzes how his leadership paved the way for modern special warfare doctrine.
£13.99
Casemate Publishers German Fighter Aircraft in World War I: Design, Construction and Innovation
Fighter aircraft were developed by during World War I at an unprecedented rate, as nascent air forces sought to achieve and maintain air supremacy. German manufacturers innovated at top speed, while constantly scrutinizing the development of new enemy aircraft. The Germans also utilized the concept of systematic production or modular engineering during the war—Fokker capitalized on this aspect with all his aircraft built in a similar fashion—wooden wings with welded steel fuselages. This meant that they could be disassembled or reassembled quickly in the field—unlike many Allied aircraft. Pfalz and Albatros were the first to realize the importance of a streamlined fuselage—the precursor to all that would follow. Both of these companies built semi-monocoque fuselages using plywood to develop semi-stressed skin—the Allies had nothing like this. The Germans also perfect powerful inline engines, as exemplified by the Albatros fighters. These engines did not have the gyroscopic effect of the rotary engines and as such were easier and more stable to fly. Fokker was slow to give up his rotary engines but once he did, the result was the iconic Fokker D VII—years ahead of its time and the only aircraft specifically mentioned in the Treaty of Versailles that Germany could not build after the war.German Fighter Aircraft in World War I explores how German fighter aircraft were developed during the war, the innovations and trials that made the Fokker D VII possible, and the different makes and types of aircraft. Using unpublished images including photographs of surviving aircraft, archive images, and models and replicas, it shows details of aircraft that were kept top secret during the war. Extensively illustrated with 140 photos and ten color profiles, this is will be essential reading for all WWI aviation enthusiasts and modellers.
£26.99
Casemate Publishers A Few Lawless Vagabonds: Ethan Allen, the Republic of Vermont and the American Revolution
This work takes us beneath the veneer of the famous “Green Mountain Boys” to reveal the true story of how a hardened, quasi-commando army happened to be present in America’s northern colonies at the start of the Revolution.Under their first dynamic commander, Ethan Allen, the Green Mountain Boys indeed formed and fought against a larger, oppressive power—this was the Colony of New York, which repeatedly tried to make claim to Vermont land. Meantime Vermont itself was termed the “Hampshire Grants,” and was considered to be a part of that similarly nebulous New England territory.The Vermonters would have little of it, however, even as British Canada also extended its covetous eye, and under Ethan Allen formed their own militia to combat encroachers from either side. Allen was not an innocent in the mix, and had his own agenda, including financial or landowning ones. But the spirit he and his men showed in defense of their isolated mountains has come to epitomize America’s own spirit of independence against any untoward or unwanted regime.When the Revolution against Britain arrived, the Green Mountain Boys were one of the few organized, experienced combat units Washington could call on from the northeast. And they were immediately put to good use, seizing the British fortress at Ticonderoga and afterward helping to invade Canada. But in mid-1777 was declared the “Republic of Vermont,” sending a signal to all comers that those rustic fighters didn’t wish to be governed by anyone except themselves.Nevertheless, at the Battle of Hubbardton, and then Bennington, the Green Mountain Boys performed good service on behalf of the United Colonies. Eventually the Vermonters would be persuaded to join the new nation itself, even if, as this fascinating book proves, they never considered that path such an easy one.
£22.50
Casemate Publishers The Red Army's Do-it-Yourself Nazi-Bashing Guerrilla Warfare Manual: The Partisan's Handbook, Updated and Revised Edition 1942
Want to know how to destroy a tank? Derail a train? Fell a tree? Break up a gun? Damage telephone wires? Destroy a bridge? Go back in time and become a partisan preparing for Nazi invasion with this original guerilla warfare manual produced for Russian civilians in 1943. The original version of this manual was distributed to the public in December 1941 as Nazi tanks rolled toward Moscow. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the Red Army was hard pressed to cope with the “invincible” Wehrmacht. Yet by 1943, it was obvious that Germany was losing the war. The partisan ranks grew as did the training requirements for the partisan commanders. The 1943 edition of The Partisan’s Companion helped quickly train new guerrillas to a common standard. Inside was chapter after chapter of guerrilla warfare and survival tactics designed to turn ordinary civilians into freedom fighters capable of defending their homes against the Nazis. In this complete, expanded and last third edition, the manual incorporates all the lessons learned in battle. You'll learn the tactics of partisan warfare as practiced by Soviet citizens during World War II, including how to ambush the bad guy and get away with it, from railroads to highways; destroy their tanks without detection; blowing up supply stations; set up and use improvised sniper positions; carry out sappy work such as felling trees, damaging telephone and telegraph wires and destroying bridges; surviving under harsh winter conditions and perhaps the most important role of all – reconnaissance and recognizing the enemy before they recognize you.
£14.99
Casemate Publishers A. Cook's Perspective: A Fascinating Insight into 18th-Century Recipes by Two Historic Cooks
Ann Cook was an 18th-century cook and cookbook author. Her cookbook was printed in three editions and contained more than just receipts. For some reason, she had a real problem with Hannah Glasse’s cookbook, The Art of Cookery: Made Plain and Easy, which had been republished many times during the 18th century and would have been the first port of call for a puzzled cook or housekeeper. Cook’s book included vitriolic comments about a number of Glasse’s recipes.Historic cooks Clarissa F. Dillon and Deborah J. Peterson use their skills to investigate whether Cook’s remarks were valid. They prepared a number of recipes, both from Glasse and from Cook, and commented on the results. Although a number of people have written about these two women, their emphasis was on the comments, not on the validity of the criticisms. This approach makes this book unique.
£26.96
Casemate Publishers The German Infantryman on the Eastern Front
The German Army was all-conquering until late 1941 when, only a few miles short of Moscow, it ran out of steam. Maniacal defence, the Russian winter and exhaustion all played their part and, although they didn't realise it, the German forces wouldn't advance further on this front. While they continued their offensives into 1942, Soviet defenses had stiffened. Its equipment – notably the T-34 – had improved and the Germans had lost too many of their best men: the savvy NCOs and experienced junior officers that gave the Wehrmacht its edge over the opposition. They had lost their moral compass as well. Complicity in the massacres of the SS-Einsatzgruppen, the barbarity of the anti-Partisan operations and summary execution for those who flagged, were the hallmarks of the German Army's fight for survival against people it considered less than human.Outnumbered, under attack on many other fronts, their homeland bombarded unceasingly from the air, the German servicemen endured the hell of the Eastern Front until their armies were destroyed in 1945. While the morality of the regime they fought for and its reprehensible actions should never be forgotten, what cannot be denied is the indefatigable courage of the German infantrymen.Fully illustrated with over 200 contemporary photographs and illustrations – and exploring a broad range of topics from uniform, weapons and provisions to tactics and communications – this title provides valuable insights into the Germans' main theater of operations in World War II.
£22.46
Casemate Publishers Vietnam Combat: Firefights and Writing History
The year 1968 was arguably the most significant year of the Vietnam war. It was the height of the American involvement, and because officer casualties had been so great after the Tet Offensive of May 1968, all prior officer assignments were cancelled.First Lieutenant Robin Bartlett, originally on orders to the 101st Airborne Division, suddenly found himself at the “repo-depo” in Bien Hoa reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). The unit had more helicopter support than any other unit in Vietnam. The soldiers carried lighter packs, more ammo and water because of the availability of rapid helicopter resupply. Immediate support from artillery, helicopter gunships and ARA (aerial rocket artillery) was only minutes away to support a firefight. Wounded troops could be medevacked even in dense jungle using “jungle penetrators.” It also meant that Bartlett’s platoon could deploy into hot landing zones at a moment’s notice if an enemy force had been spotted. And they did.It was with extreme anxiety that Bartlett made his way to join his battalion and company—it was the worst of times to be a platoon leader in Vietnam, let alone a grunt serving in a combat unit. Bartlett also had to cope with personal issues of commitment to a war that was rapidly losing support not only back home but among the soldiers he was leading through the jungles of I Corps on “search and destroy" missions. Fifty years later, Bartlett’s vivid combat experiences are brought to light in a fast-moving, well-written, first-person narrative expressing the horror, fear, anguish and sometimes illogical humor of that war.
£29.66
Casemate Publishers The Spy from Place Saint-Sulpice: A Novel
Richard “Rick” Blayne has a mission. One of the CIA’s top expert on Cambodia, who escaped the country’s fall to the Khmer Rouge and has monitored the ensuing genocide from Thailand ever since, he has been sent to Paris to further the CIA’s plan to infiltrate the Cambodian resistance to the Hanoi-controlled puppet government in Phnom Penh.Arriving in the middle of a Parisian summer, Rick feels out of place and uncertain if he can handle the assignment. Vying factions seek to form a guerrilla force. As he establishes contact with old Cambodian friends on both sides trying to control the resistance, he is drawn into an operation to recruit a Russian diplomat serving in Paris.With the help of a Thai fashion designer serving as an access agent, Rick, under the guidance of Sasha – a seasoned CIA Soviet “head hunter” and deputy chief of Paris station – moves the operation forward at a time of great upheaval and change for the Soviet Union.
£20.25
Casemate Publishers Ghost Patrol: A History of the Long Range Desert Group 1940–1945
The origins of most of the west’s Special Forces can be traced back to the Long Range Desert Group which operated across the limitless expanses of the Libyan Desert, an area the size of India, during the whole of the Desert War from 1940 – 1943. After the defeat of the Axis in North Africa they adapted to serve in the Mediterranean, the Greek islands, Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece. They became the stuff of legend. The brainchild of Ralph Bagnold, a pre-war desert explorer, featured, in fictional terms in The English Patient, who put all of his expertise into the creation of a new and, by the standards of the day, highly unorthodox unit. Conventional tactical thinking shunned the deep heart of the vast desert as it was thought to be a different planet, a harsh, inhospitable wilderness where British forces could not possibly survive even less operate effectively. Bagnold, Pat Clayton and Bill Kennedy Shaw created a whole new type of warfare.Using specially adapted vehicles and the techniques they’d learned in the‘30s, recruiting only men of the right temperament and high levels of fitness and endurance, the first patrols set out bristling with automatic weapons. The 30-cwt Chevy truck and the famous Jeep have become iconic, the LRDG, in a dark hour, was the force which took the fight to the enemy, roving over the deep desert – a small raider’s paradise, attacking enemy convoys and outposts, destroying aircraft and supplies, forcing the Axis to expend more and more resources protecting their vulnerable lines.Their work was often dangerous, always taxing, exhausting and uncomfortable. They were a new breed of soldier. The Axis never managed to equip any similar unit, they never escaped their fear of the scorching wilderness. Once the desert war was won they transferred their skills to the Mediterranean sector, re-training as mountain guerrillas, serving in the ill-fated Dodecanese campaign, then in strife torn Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece, fighting alongside the mercurial partisans at a time the Balkans were sliding towards communist domination or civil war.In addition LRDG worked alongside the fledgling SAS and they established, beyond all doubt, the value of highly trained Special Forces, a legacy which resonates today.
£16.99
Casemate Publishers The Red Army Guerrilla Warfare Pocket Manual
The Partisan's Companion was produced by the Red Army to train partisans to fight the Nazi invader. Its usefulness outlived World War II, as it was later used to train Third World guerrillas in their wars of national liberation during the 1950s–70s, and even the Fedayeen guerrillas who fought US and coalition forces in Iraq.By the end of 1942, it was obvious that Germany was losing the war. The partisan ranks grew as did the training requirements for partisan commanders. The 1942 edition of The Partisan's Companion helped quickly train new guerrillas to a common standard. Besides field craft, it covers partisan tactics, German counter-guerrilla tactics, demolitions, German and Soviet weapons, scouting, camouflage, anti-tank warfare and anti-aircraft defense for squad and platoon-level instruction. It contains the Soviet lessons of two bitter years of war and provides a good look at the tactics and training of a mature partisan force. The partisans moved and lived clandestinely, harassed the enemy, and supported the Red Army through reconnaissance and attacks on German supply lines. They clearly frustrated German logistics and forced the Germans to periodically sideline divisions for rear-area security. The partisans and their handbook were clearly part of the eventual Soviet victory over Germany. This pocket manual puts The Partisan's Companion in context, explaining its importance.
£9.99
Casemate Publishers Into the Dark Water: The Story of Three Officers and Pt-109
Made famous by her final commanding officer, John F. Kennedy, PT-109 is one of the most celebrated warships in American history. However, a full chronicle of PT-109’s wartime story has heretofore been lacking. Behind the familiar account of the future president and the boat’s violent demise is the little-known record under two previous officers during the swirling battles around Guadalcanal.In these mainly nocturnal fights, when the Japanese navy was at its apex, America’s small, fast-boat flotillas would sally out to probe enemy strength, vying with enemy destroyers, who were similarly roaming the waters and able to blast a PT-boat out of the water if main armament could be brought to bear. It was constant hit-and-run and dodging between searchlights across Iron Bottom Sound, as the PT-boats darted in among the enemy fleet, like a“barroom brawl with the lights turned out.”Bryant Larson and Rollin Westholm preceded Kennedy as commanders of PT-109, and their fights with the brave ship and its crew hold second to none in the chronicles of US Navy daring. As the battles moved on across the Pacific the PT-boat flotillas gained confidence, even as the Japanese, too, learned lessons in how to destroy them.Under its third and final commander, Kennedy, PT-109 came a cropper as a Japanese destroyer suddenly emerged from a dark mist and rammed it in half. Two crewmen were killed immediately but Kennedy, formerly on the swim team at Harvard, was able to shepherd his wounded and others to refuge. His unsurpassed gallantry can not resist retelling, yet the courage of the book’s previous commanders have not till now seen the light of day.This book provides the complete record of PT-109 in the Pacific, as well as a valuable glimpse of how the American Navy’s daring and initiative found its full playing field in World War II.
£14.99
Casemate Publishers Team Yankee: A Novel of World War III
This revised and updated edition of the classic Cold War novel Team Yankee reminds us once again might have occurred had the United States and its Allies taken on the Russians in Europe, had cooler geopolitical heads not prevailed.For 45 years after World War II, East and West stood on the brink of war. When Nazi Germany was destroyed, it was evident that Russian tank armies had become supreme in Europe, but only in counterpart to US air power. In 1945 US and UK bombers sent a signal to the advancing Russians at Dresden to beware of what the Allies could do. Likewise when the Russians overran Berlin they sent a signal to the Allies what their land armies could accomplish. Thankfully the tense standoff continued on either side of the Iron Curtain for nearly half a century.During those years, however, the Allies beefed up their ground capability, while the Soviets increased their air capability, even as the new jet and missile age began (thanks much to captured German scientists on both sides). The focal point of conflict remained in central Germany—specifically the flat plains of the Fulda Gap—through which the Russians could pour all the way to the Channel if the Allies proved unprepared (or unable) to stop them.Team Yankee posits a conflict that never happened, but which very well might have, and for which both sides prepared for decades. This former New York Times bestseller by Harold Coyle, now revised and expanded, presents a glimpse of what it would have been like for the Allied soldiers who would have had to meet a relentless onslaught of Soviet and Warsaw Pact divisions.It takes the view of a US tank commander, who is vastly outnumbered during the initial onslaught, as the Russians pull out all the cards learned in their successful war against Germany. Meantime Western Europe has to speculate behind its thin screen of armor whether the New World can once again assemble its main forces—or willpower—to rescue the bastions of democracy in time.
£12.57
Casemate Publishers We Dared to Win: The SAS in Rhodesia
In his own words Andre Scheepers describes his childhood on a farm, learning about the bush from his African friends, and becoming a soldier. The family had to leave the farm after being ambushed by terrorists.A quiet, introspective, deep thinker Andre started out as a trooper in the Rhodesian Light Infantry commandos and was hectically engaged in Fire-Force combat operations before leaving for the SAS. Wounded 12 times, his operational record is exceptional even by the high standards that existed at the time and he really emerges as the quintessential SAS officer displaying extraordinary calmness and audacious cunning in the course of a host of extremely dangerous operations.Loved by his men Andre, writes very eruditely about his mental and emotional condition during the war and reflects very candidly on what he learned and how war has shaped his life since. Offered a commission in the British SAS after the conflict he decided to stop soldiering and entered a seminary whereupon he became a minister.In addition to Andre’s personal story the book also reveals more about the other men who were distinguished operators in other celebrated SAS operations. This is the story of soldiers, the hardships, the battles they fought and the challenges they faced.
£25.00
Casemate Publishers 82nd Airborne: Normandy 1944
On August 15, 1942, the 82nd Airborne became the US Army’s first airborne division. Commanded by Major General Matthew B. Ridgway, they trained exhaustively for their new role, which involved parachuting from C-47s and insertion by Waco CG-4A gliders.In April 1943 the 82nd was shipped overseas to Casablanca, North Africa, and on July 9 made its first combat drop as part of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. A second operation—night parachute drops onto the Salerno beachhead on September 13 and 14—provided more experience, and in December the bulk of the division left for the United Kingdom and training for D-Day.Reorganized with two new parachute infantry regiments, the 507th and the 508th, joining the 505th, the division dropped onto the Cotentin peninsula between Ste-Mère-Église and Carentan on the night of June 5–6, in a mission codenamed Boston. Their glider-borne component, the 325th GIR, arrived the next day. Widely dispersed on landing, the division overcame its problems and strong German defenses to take the important town of Ste-Mère-Église. Further intense action along the Merderet River ensured that the Utah beachhead wasn’t compromised, and subsequently the division fought on losing 5,245 troopers killed, wounded, or missing. When withdrawn after 33 days of action, the division could be satisfied it had performed heroically and helped establish the Allied forces’ foothold in France.The Past & Present Series reconstructs historical battles by using photography, juxtaposing modern views with those of the past together with concise explanatory text. It shows how much infrastructure has remained and how much such as outfits, uniforms, and ephemera has changed, providing a coherent link between now and then.
£9.99
Casemate Publishers 101st Airborne in Normandy: June 1944
101st Airborne Division was activated in August 1942 in Louisiana, and its first combat mission was Operation Overlord. On D-Day—June 6, 1944—101st and 82nd Airborne dropped onto the Cotentin peninsula hours before the landings, tasked with capturing bridges and positions, taking out German strongpoints and batteries, and securing the exits from Utah and Omaha Beaches. Things did not initially go smoothly for 101st Airborne, with cloud and antiaircraft fire disrupting the drops resulting in some units landing scattered over a large area outside their designated drop zones and having to waste time assembling—stymied by lost or damaged radio equipment—or trying to achieve their objectives with severely reduced numbers. Casualties were high in some areas due to heavy pre-registered German fire. Nevertheless, the paratroopers fought on and they did manage to secure the crucial beach exits, even if they only achieved a tenuous hold on some other positions. A few days later, 101st Airborne were tasked with attacking the German-held city of Carentan as part of the consolidation of the US beachheads and establishment of a defensive line against the anticipated German counteroffensive. The 101st forced their way into Carentan on 10 and 11 June. The Germans withdrew the following day, and a counteroffensive was put down by elements of the 2nd Armored Division. This fully illustrated book details the planning of the airborne element of D-Day, and the execution of the plans until the troops were withdrawn to prepare for the next big airborne operation, Market Garden.
£19.99
Casemate Publishers Fighter Pilot
“McScotch” himself describes his book and pays tribute to a colleague in this note, which appears at the front of the volume:“This book consists of the reminiscences of an ordinary fighter pilot of the R.F.C. who had the privilege of serving in one of the leading Fighter Squadrons and who had the honour of being the friend of the supreme fighter of all the Air Forces, that indomitable and loveable patriot, ‘MICK’ MANNOCK, V.C., D.S.O., M.C.”Available records and publications show “McScotch” himself as a fighter pilot with 40 Squadron, holding the rank of lieutenant and then captain. He is credited with 12 kills of German opponents.This is a detailed and exciting account of squadron life and shows the bravery and true comradeship of these fliers.
£22.99
Casemate Publishers Bastogne: Ardennes 1944
Bastogne will live forever in the annals of American military history. From the resounding 'Nuts', in response to the German demand for surrender, to the breaking of the siege by Patton’s Third Army face=Calibri>– brilliantly disengaged from its positions on the Saar, wheeled 90 degrees and marched northwards faster than any thought possible face=Calibri>– the defense of Bastogne and victory in the Ardennes was one of the greatest feats of American arms in the European Theatre.This title in the Past & Present series looks at the encirclement, siege, and relief with then and now photographs; specially commissioned aerial photos, and a wealth of detail.
£9.99
Casemate Publishers The Russian Civil War, 1918-1921: An Operational-Strategic Sketch of the Red Army's Combat Operations
The Russian Civil War was one of the most fateful of the 20th century's military conflicts, a bloody three-year struggle whose outcome saw the establishment of a totalitarian communist regime within the former Russian Empire. As such, it commands the attention of the military specialist and layman alike as we mark the one hundredth anniversary of the war's end.This work is the third volume of the three-volume Soviet official history of the Russian Civil War, which appeared during 1928-1930, just before the imposition of Stalinist orthodoxy. While the preceding volumes focused on the minutiae of the Red Army's organizational development and military art, this volume provides an in-depth description and analysis of the of the civil war's major operations along the numerous fronts, from the North Caucasus, the Don and Volga rivers, the White Sea area, the Baltic States and Ukraine, as well as Siberia and Poland. It also offers a well-argued case for the political reasons behind the Bolsheviks' military strategy and eventual success against their White opponents.And while it is a certainly a partisan document with a definite political bias, it is at the same time a straightforward military history that manages to avoid many of the hoary myths that later came to dominate the subject. As such, it is easily the most objective account of the struggle to emerge from the Soviet Union before the collapse of the communist system in 1991.
£55.00
Casemate Publishers Winning Wars: The Enduring Nature and Changing Character of Victory from Antiquity to the 21st Century
While 'winning' might be considered a fundamental part of the human objective, what constitutes winning and how one might achieve it remain somewhat abstract, in war as in any other human endeavour. 'Winning' militarily at the tactical level - in a firefight or a battle - has always been more quantifiable than at the strategic level. At the strategic level, success might be measured by means of three big ideas: ownership; intervention for effect; and fighting for ideas. The divergence between success at the tactical level and the political context of the war creates a challenge at the operational level when it relates to political and strategic matters.The result of a research project carried out by the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research for the British Army, this book analyses the philosophical constituents of what may comprise ‘victory’ or ‘winning’ and then travels, chronologically, through a wide set of historical case studies, exploring those more philosophical components and weaving them into the factual discussion. Thus the factual relation and analysis is the vehicle for a deeper exploration of the concept of success or ‘winning’, rather than a narrative end in itself.
£55.00
Casemate Publishers Indochina Hand Tales of a CIA Case Officer
Barry Broman joined the CIA in 1971 straight out of the Marine Corps, choosing a career in intelligence largely because he wanted to spend his working life in Southeast Asia. Over the next thirty years, he had the privilege of working with brave men and women who were prepared to put their lives on the line in support of the free world during the Cold War, and he enjoyed the life of adventure he had been seeking since childhood. This book brings together tales from his career as a CIA case officer during the Cold War, giving fascinating insights into handling double agents, working in denied areas, assessing and recruiting Soviet targets, flying with Air America, acting to discredit Soviet agents with Moscow, and what happened when a case officer set a scavenger hunt around Bangkok for fellow spies--and at least one active target. A selection of stories told in engaging style proving that often the truth is more unbelievable than fiction. AUTHOR: Barry Broman was a teenage photograp
£26.96
Casemate Publishers The Ageless Call to Serve
The oldest American to join the U.S. Army, psychiatrist Lanny Snodgrass challenges the paradoxical age restrictions in military service, invoking an urgent call for reform through his extraordinary journey.
£26.96
Casemate Publishers Japan Runs Wild 19421943
This book details the astonishing transformation that took place from 1942 to 1943, setting the Allies on a path to final victory against Japan.
£20.25
Casemate Publishers Undercurrent: Tank Commander Cadet in the Yom Kippur War
Tank commander cadet Amir Bega is about to leave training for the Jewish High Holiday of Yom Kippur when a surprise attack on Israel by Egyptian and Syrian forces upends this peaceful reprieve, throwing the teenager into an unexpected war. A war in which the confidence and complacency of the Israeli army led to disaster.Believing himself well-trained and the Israeli army unstoppable, Bega struggles to accept the horrifying events surrounding him. His battalion was annihilated in one of the first combats by new anti-tank weaponry. He survived and joined a reserve unit, with which he fought to stop the Egyptian army from advancing beyond the first line of defense, all through the war’s end.In this realm of death and destruction, Bega comes face to face with the conflicts between the reality of war, his core beliefs, and his basic ideology. As the war progresses, he deals with the horrific losses of both those around him and his own innocence. Tank after tank that he joins is destroyed or damaged, and he is seen as a bad omen by those still alive. Gnawed by survivor guilt, the young soldier agrees to go on a sole perilous mission to rescue an army technical unit surrounded by Egyptian commandos.This captivating first-hand account, as viewed through the eyes of the young soldier, conveys the heavy toll of the Yom Kippur War and its impact on the people of Israel. Ultimately, Undercurrent is a story about survival, friendship, humanity, duty, and honour.
£26.96
Casemate Publishers Flawed Commanders and Strategy in the Battles for Italy, 1943–45
Wars never run according to plan, perhaps never more so than during the Italian campaign, 1943-45, where necessary coordination between the different armies added additional complexity to Allied plans. Errors in the strategies, tactics, the coalition tensions, and operations at campaign command level can be clearly seen in first-hand accounts of the period. This new account examines the Italian campaign, from Sicily to surrender in 1945, exploring the strategy, intentions, motives, plans, and deeds. It then offers a detailed insight into the five commanders who led the battles in Italy - the two British commanders: Montgomery and Alexander; two American: Patton and Clark; and the leading German commander, Field Marshal Kesselring. Their personal notes and accounts, taken alongside archival material, provides some surprising conclusions - Montgomery was not quite the master of war he is portrayed as; Patton had serious flaws, exposed by wasting men’s lives to save a relative and overlooking the shooting of prisoners of war; Clark lost lives to bolster his image; Alexander the gentleman was far too vague to be effective as a senior leader. Meanwhile, condemned war criminal Kesselring appears to be the most efficient and also, like Alexander, one of the most popular leaders.
£25.43
Casemate Publishers Midway Submerged: American and Japanese Submarine Operations at the Battle of Midway, May–June 1942
Most books gloss over submarines at Midway and, if they are mentioned at all, conclude they failed miserably and had little impact on the outcome of the battle. It is undeniable that carrier aviation and intelligence saved the day, but the role of the submarine was an important one in defence of an anticipated amphibious assault.Midway Submerged is a comprehensive examination of a little-known aspect of this pivotal naval battle, explaining how Nimitz used his submarines at Midway, and the Japanese misused theirs based on a flawed tactical plan. Based on in-depth archival research not only into the battle itself, but also submarine design and construction, and tactical and operational doctrine for both the United States and Japan, it brings a whole new dimension to the discussion of the battle of Midway. It examines the intended role of the submarine in the plans and doctrine of both navies, and what the submarines were expected to accomplish for both fleets during the battle, before assessing the actual accomplishments, successes, and failures of the submarine forces on both sides. Of particular importance, the book offers an analysis of how well these vessels fulfilled the expectations placed on them by their respective naval planners, concluding that submarines played a more important role in the outcome than has been previously understood.
£26.96
Casemate Publishers Leading Like the Swamp Fox: The Leadership Lessons of Francis Marion
Francis Marion is certainly the stuff of which legends are made. His nickname “The Swamp Fox,” bestowed upon him by one of his fiercest enemies, captures his wily approach to battle. The embellishment of his exploits in Parson Weems’ early biography make separation of fact from fiction difficult, but certainly represents the awe, loyalty, and attraction he produced in those around him. His legacy is enshrined in the fact that more places in the United States have been named after him than any other soldier of the American Revolution, with the sole exception of George Washington. Even today’s U.S. Army Rangers include Marion as one of their formative heroes. Surely much about leadership can be learned from such an intriguing personality.Leading like the Swamp Fox: The Leadership Lessons of Francis Marion unlocks those lessons. Divided into three parts, the book first presents the historical background and context necessary to appreciate Marion’s situation. The main body of the book then examines Marion’s leadership across eight categories, with a number of vignettes demonstrating Marion’s competency. The summary then captures some conclusions about how leadership impacted the American Revolution in the South CarolinaLowcountry. An appendix provides some information about how the reader might explore those physical reminders of Marion and his exploits that exist today. Readers interested in history or leadership, or both, will all find something for them in Leading like the Swamp Fox.
£22.50
Casemate Publishers Darkest Christmas: December 1942 and a World at War
December 1942 saw the bloodiest Christmas in the history of mankind. From the islands in the Pacific to the China front, from the trenches in Russia to the battle lines in North Africa, in the skies over Europe and in the depths of the Atlantic, men were killing each other in greater numbers than ever before. The Holocaust continued, and innocent civilians were murdered by the thousands throughout the evil Nazi empire, even as the perpetrators celebrated the birth of Christ.Millions stationed in far-off lands amid the greatest conflict in human history feared this was their last Christmas in freedom, or their last Christmas alive. At the same time as the slaughter continued unabated, throughout the world there were random acts of kindness, born out of an instinctive feeling of the essential brotherhood of man. These gestures also straddled religious barriers and sometimes included those of non-Christian faiths. Even some Japanese, otherwise embarked on a self-declared crusade against the West, relented for a few precious hours in acknowledgment of the holiday.At the same time, Christmas 1942 saw the injunction of ‘good will to man’ distorted in ugly and callous ways. At Auschwitz, SS guards played cruel games with their prisoners. In Berlin, the German heart of darkness, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels spent time with his family while still buried in feverish fantasies about the Jewish world conspiracy.Christmas 1942 saw the entire range of man’s conduct towards his fellow man, reflecting the extremes of behaviour, good and bad, that World War II gave rise to. The way the holiday was marked around the world tells a deeper and more universal story of the human condition in extraordinary times.
£26.96
Casemate Publishers General Gordon Granger: The Savior of Chickamauga and the Man Behind "Juneteenth"
This is the first full-length biography of the Civil War general who saved the Union army from catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga, and went on to play major roles in the Chattanooga and Mobile campaigns. Immediately after the war, as commander of U.S. troops in Texas, his actions sparked the "Juneteenth" celebrations of slavery's end, which continue to this day.Granger's first battle was at Wilson’s Creek, Missouri, and he soon thereafter rose through the ranks - cavalry, then infantry - in early 1863 vying with Forrest and Van Dorn for control of central Tennessee. The artillery platform he erected at Franklin, dubbed Fort Granger, would soon overlook the death knell of the main Confederate army in the west.Granger's first fame, however, came at Chickamauga, when the Rebel Army of Tennessee came within a hair’s-breadth of destroying the Union Army of the Cumberland. Without orders - even defying them - Granger marched his Reserve Corps to the scene of the hottest action, where Thomas was just barely holding on with the rump of Rosecrans' army. Bringing fresh ammunition and hurling his men against Longstreet’s oncoming legions, Granger provided just enough breathing space to prevent that Union defeat from becoming the worst open-field battle disgrace of the war.Granger was then given command of a full infantry corps, but just proved too odd a fellow to promote further. At Chattanooga he got on the nerves of U.S. Grant for going off to shoot cannon instead of commanding his troops (he’d actually indulged this impulse also at Chickamauga) and Sherman had no use for him either. So he went down to join Farragut in the conquest of Mobile, Alabama, leading land operations against the Confederate forts.This long-overdue biography sheds fascinating new light on a colourful commander who fought through the war in the West from its first major battles to its last, and even left his impact on the Reconstruction beyond.
£18.99