Search results for ""fonthill media""

Accounts of pilots and aircrew who experienced life saving events, enabling exclusive membership rites to very special clubs. 'Goldfish' (Lives saved by the use of personal life preservers and dinghies), 'Caterpillar' (Lives saved by parachutes) or: 'Guinea Pig' (Lives saved by pioneering surgery).

Read more less

This book takes a carefully considered look at the history of many lesser known but nevertheless advanced British flying wing, delta and tailless aircraft that stretch across much of the last century. The emphasis is on classified projects considered for research or military purposes, but also includes those aircraft that were built, flown and entered service. The first commercially successful British flying wing biplane was designed by John Dunne and undertook limited military duties during the First World War. Soon, the early flying wing designs gave way to sleeker boomerangs that looked impressive, but often suffered with aerodynamic shortcomings. These were followed by the arrival of advanced wartime German jet powered delta projects initiated by Dr Alexander Lippisch. They were massively influential, with most post-war scientists and engineers immediately recognised the potential for a new generation of high performance warplanes. By the late 1940s, the UK required advanced jet powered bombers capable of carrying atomic bombs over long distances. This created many unusual, often German influenced designs that finally resulted in the V-Bombers. They were followed by short lived concepts for even larger aircraft that were not only capable of delivering nuclear weapons, but powered by nuclear propulsion. At the same time, interest in variable geometry wings gathered momentum, leading to the supersonic Swallow with its impressive science-fiction appearance. Sadly this Barnes Wallace concept was too far ahead of its time to overcome a number of technical issues, but the influence on American combat aircraft was considerable. The British also pushed ahead with ideas for vertical take-off fighters and the delta wing was often the first choice for many proposals. By the 1960s, Britain was attempting to gain a foothold in the space race. Plans were drawn up for rocket launching sites within the UK and the development of exotic delta winged space fighters. The ideas were impressive, although the technology was well beyond the UK's ability to fund and develop. These were glorious times for British aircraft designers who often pushed their ideas to the boundaries of what was possible, with design studies that remain influential today.

Read more less

No dictator can effectively govern a nation on his own. This was certainly the case with Adolf Hitler, who had little time for or interest in the day-to-day regional administration of the Nazi Party. For that purpose, he appointed his most loyal, charismatic, and brutal subordinates: The "Little Hitlers", officially known as Gauleiters. In this third volume of a series begun in 2012, Michael Miller and Andreas Schulz present, in meticulous detail, the lives, careers, and crimes of 37 such men. Included are several whose wartime career paths took them outside of their home provinces and led to widespread oppression and terror outside the borders of the Reich. Among these were Fritz Sauckel, who presided over the roundup of millions for slave labor in the Reich, Josef Terboven who oppressed the people of Norway with uncompromising brutality for five years, and Gustav Simon who ruthlessly "Germanized" Luxembourg. Perhaps most notorious of all was Julius Streicher, whose virulent attacks- in writing and at the podium- made him the unofficial face of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany.

Read more less

During its seventy-one years of existence, the 17th/21st Lancers became one of the best known British cavalry regiments of all time. Beloved by the Press as the 'Death or Glory Boys', their renowned skull and crossbones 'Motto', was one of the most recognised cap badges of the British Army. This volume, written by a former member of the Regiment, tells their complete story for the first time; much of which is in the words of those who served. The Regiment's role during the Second World War---on the Home Front, in North Africa and Italy; Austria; Greece, and Palestine in the aftermath of the war; its four years of service in Northern Ireland at the height of the 'Troubles'; and the Gulf War, where one of its crews achieved the longest ever direct-fire tank kill, are all covered in considerable detail. Personal accounts add colour to descriptions of routine life for a cavalry regiment in Egypt and India; and an armoured regiment during the Cold War, serving in Germany, Hong Kong, Libya, Yemen and Belize. Eleven sketch maps and 128 photographs illustrate the text. Appendices include, a definitive Roll of Honour; all Commanding Officers, Colonels of the Regiment and RSMs.

Read more less

A great many books have been written over the years about individual airfields or those in particular counties/areas but this one covers a good proportion of them in one publication, from Abbots Bromley to Zeals. It provides brief details of over 1700 airfields from before the First World War to the present day and describes the main activities carried out, based units/operators and current status. It includes military bases, civil airports/airfields, gliding sites, microlight sites and larger farm strips, together with the probable number of based aircraft. An appendix lists over 500 books which have been published about individual airfields and this, together with the details provided in this book affords a convenient source of reference for further research. It does not pretend to include every flying site that ever existed as this would require a much larger volume but covers what are considered to be the most significant airfields of the past 110 years. It includes over one hundred photographs in colour and black & white, most of which have not been published previously.

Read more less

Pamela Colman Smith is the mysterious artist behind the most renowned tarot deck in the world, for many years forgotten. In a revival of interest in esoteric artists and accessible tarot, curiosity about Pamela is now on the ascendant, but there are still many unanswered questions, especially concerning her later life. Born in London to American parents, Pamela was a prolific illustrator and artist who mixed with the great and good of art and theatre, among them W. B. Yeats and Bram Stoker. ‘Adopted’ by actress Ellen Terry, she spent some years with the Lyceum Theatre crowd, also working as an exotic storyteller, known as Gelukiezanger, in bohemian London. People have questioned her sexuality, her ethnic origins and alleged synaesthesia, assuming her to be biracial and lesbian. These are discussed but the biggest mystery of all is why she converted from mysticism to Catholicism in 1911, removing herself from vibrant London to the isolated Lizard in the west of Cornwall. There, living in relative obscurity, she evangelised Catholicism in a heavily non-conformist area, before moving to Bude in her sixties.

Read more less

When war broke out in 1939, Hitler created `Strafbattalion’ (Penal Battalion) units to deal with incarcerated members of the Wehrmacht as well as `subversives’. His order stated that any first-time convicted soldier could return to his unit after he had served a portion of his sentence in `a special probation corps before the enemy’. Beginning in April 1941, convicted soldiers—even those sentenced to death—who had shown exceptional bravery or meritorious service were allowed to rejoin their original units. However those in probation units were expected to undertake dangerous operations at the front. Refusal entailed enforcement of the original sentence. The soldiers who `win back an honourable place in the national community’ had done everything that was asked of them: risky advance teams, spyware and shock troops, laying mines under enemy fire. This book examines the penal units, their combat history and order of battle.

Read more less

The United Kingdom and the United States governments made a series of signed agreements in the early part of 1941 which allowed for the American Naval, Army and Air force to design and build campaigns against Nazi Germany. Today the United Kingdom and the United States Air Force still have a selection of operational bases but only three used for flying operations. RAF Mildenhall, The host unit at Mildenhall is the 100th Air Refuelling Wing operating the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, which deploys aircraft for and manages the European Tanker Task Force, Also housing the 352 SOW is the Air Force component for Special Operations Command Europe who operate the C130J series and the CV-22 Osprey and the 95th Reconnaissance Squadron which conducts RC-135 Rivet Joint flight operations in Europe and Mediterranean theatres. RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk being the other Airbase host the 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW), also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe--Air Forces Africa. The 48th Fighter Wing aircraft is the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle and here they house 3 Squadrons plus as part of the wing the 56th Rescue Squadron (56 RQS) who are a combat-ready search and rescue squadron of HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters. RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use. Its most prominent use in recent years has been as an airfield for United States Air Force B-52s during the 2003 Iraq War, Operation Allied Force in 1999, and the first Gulf War in 1991. It is the US Air Force's only European airfield for heavy bombers. In this book Darren Willmin looks back on the history of USAFE in Britain and how it's developed to the present day. Darren Willmin's superb photographs capture the operational aircraft both from the ground and in the air from inside and outside of the bases.

Read more less

This highly detailed, absorbing Cold War guide is the ideal companion for anyone wishing to explore the once divided capital of Berlin. Using his in-depth knowledge as a historian and battlefield/historical guide, David McCormack describes in vivid detail the tension and drama of the long standoff between the superpowers which shaped the landscape of both a defeated Germany and Europe for years to come. Meticulous historical research combines with the author's intimate knowledge of Berlin to produce a user friendly guide rich in historical detail. Prepare for a fascinating journey across the Cold War landscape of Berlin as it is today.

Read more less

Savoy and its Alps were for seven centuries an independent state at the centre of Europe, separating France from the patchwork of principalities that made up Italy. Merchants, clerics, pilgrims, diplomats as well as privileged young Englishmen on the Grand Tour, regularly used the Alpine passes. But it was the need of European armies to cross Savoy which made its rulers powerful as the Gatekeepers of the Alps. It allowed the Duchy of Savoy to prosper and survive when all the other great duchies of Burgundy, Milan, Provence and Dauphin' disappeared at the end of the fifteenth century. Savoy successfully resisted the pressure from Protestant Geneva on its doorstep, but was the first country to succumb to the French Revolution. By judiciously switching alliances during the European wars beginning at the end of the seventeenth century, the House of Savoy finally gained a crown. The conspiracy concocted by Napoleon III and Cavour led directly to the unification of Italy and the definitive annexation of Savoy to France in 1860. Simultaneously, the Alps that had been the source of Savoy's power, now became the source of its prosperity as a centre of tourism.

Read more less

Every major government's military makes plans for waging wars, hoping that they never have to be employed. In the early part of the last century the US government prepared a number of war contingency plans for invading a number of nations- both hostile and friendly. These color-coded plans were designed for various political and military events, some of which actually unfolded in the Second World War. Never Wars explores and provides details on a number of these key military invasion plans, their triggers, units involved, etc. Some of these plans, if executed, would have altered the globe or changed the events of the twentieth century and beyond. Included with this was the 1914 war plan against a triumphant Germany, a 1935 plan to attack Great Britain, the 1920s US plans to land forces in Mexico to topple their government, a plan for invading China and even a 1905 strike into the heart of Canada. From a plan to invade the Azores to an incursion into Cuba, Never Wars presents never before published plans for the US to strike out at the world.

Read more less

An enriching history that surpasses, at least in lore, any other city in the world, Tales of Manhattan Through Time is an exploration of a utopia of art and architecture, world peacekeepers and the opportune sanctuary for immigrant, plus a community that produces theatrical extravaganzas to celebrating it all. Tales of Manhattan Through Time connects the past with the present via the yellowed archival photos and the closest we have to time travel. Historical, yes; hysterical, but of course. As perhaps the most photographed, via box and brownie, digital and selfie or cinema, silent and sound, captured environs on the planet. The underbelly of the underworld and the fanatical terrorists may be constantly testing the resolve of that Manhattan spirit. But tourist will continue to yearn to join the long term resident or the "born and breads", for there is a pride of tenacious survival that comes with the title "I'm a New Yorker!" Purchased by the Dutch in 1626 reportedly for mere bobbles of shiny jewelry for farmland, the island would eventually be the "jewel of a metropolis called Manhattan, (Manahactanienk), Native American for "place of inebriation" but 300 years later the little village was unstoppable and would intoxicate the world with its wonder to become one of, if not the greatest cities in the world.... ever!

Read more less

In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony banned by law the celebration of Christmas as it was deemed to be a time of seasonal excess with no Biblical authority. Though repealed in 1681, it would not be until 1856 that Christmas Day became a state holiday in Massachusetts. In this book Christmas Traditions in Boston, Anthony Sammarco outlines the celebration (or lack thereof) of Christmas in the first two centuries after the city was settled in 1630. By the mid 19th century a German immigrant named Charles Follen introduced the Christmas tree to Boston, and shortly thereafter Louis Prang introduced his colorful Christmas cards, the first in Boston. During the next century, Boston would see caroling and hand bell ringing on Beacon Hill, a Nativity scene and other traditional New England displays on Boston Common and in the many department stores, as well as the once popular Enchanted Village of Saint Nicholas at Jordan Marsh, New England’s largest store. What could have been better than after a day seeing Santa, the seasonal displays and lights on Boston Common than to enjoy a hot fudge sundae at Bailey’s? Christmas Traditions in Boston revisits the memories of the past and brings together the shared tradition of how Bostonians celebrated the holiday season.

Read more less

Most of Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains is a raw and inhospitable land, largely the product of recent volcanic activity. Railroad builders constructed a couple mainlines skirting the edges of the region and some branch lines into agricultural communities, but found very little else to attract their interest. Over time, however, a small collection of interesting shortline railroads built or bought rail lines, either in conjunction with the developing timber industry in the Blue, Ochoco, and Wallowa mountains or to connect a few existing communities with the mainline that bypassed the town. This book tells the stories of these small railroads and the roles they played in the development and economies of the region; covered railroads includes the Big Creek & Telocaset; City of Prineville; Condon, Kinzua & Southern; Idaho, Northern & Pacific; Klamath Northern; Oregon & Northwestern; Oregon, California & Eastern; Oregon Eastern Division of the Wyoming/Colorado; Sumpter Valley; Union Railroad of Oregon; Wallowa Union; and others.

Read more less

California's sawmill and railroad industries grew up together, each at least partially depending upon the other for survival. However, not all of the Golden State's sawmills lay upon the routes of mainline railroads, resulting in the development of a number of shortline railroads connecting remote sawmills with the nation's rail network. In addition to serving the lumber industry, these shortlines often became economic lifelines to other industries in rural parts of the state. Many of these railroads also carried passengers, either as part of their common carrier service in the early years and/or as tourists in recent decades. This book seeks to tell the stories of and relate the important historical roles these small carriers played, long lasting companies such as the Almanor, Amador Central, Arcata & Mad River, California Western, Camino Placerville & Lake Tahoe, McCloud River, Quincy, Sierra, and Yreka Western, along with younger start-ups such as the Eureka Southern, North Coast, Great Western, Modoc Northern, Lake County, Lake Railway, and others.

Read more less

Life for Francis Witts is more settled. Victoria has ascended the throne and Francis is now Chairman of the Board of Governors of Stow-on-the-Wold Union Workhouse, a position he takes seriously and maintains until his death. The diaries throw much light onto the setting up of the Unions and the harsh routine there. He does not disapprove of charity being shown to the inmates but is most unhappy at the suggestion that they be allowed to enjoy the Coronation celebrations.

Read more less

Francis Witts gained a curacy in Wiltshire in 1806 but did not get on with his Rector and was about to be ousted when an opportunity at Upper Slaughter arose after his Uncle Fernando's death. By 1809 Francis is married to Margaret Backhouse and settled there. Frances discontinued his writing from 1808 until 1820 but, fortunately, details come from his mother, Agnes. The volume ends sadly with the death of his brother, George, in 1823 and Agnes's own death in 1825.

Read more less

It was love at first sight. We drove up the long track, pulled into the yard, and wow! What a view. I did the drawings myself, the maximum we were told (in those days) about what one could get away with in terms of planning permission. A local architect did the formal drawings and submitted them for planning permission. I did not intend to do the work myself, it simply happened by circumstance. I put the groundwork out to tender to six contractors. Only one bothered to reply and the quotation was astronomic. The steelwork looked very complicated, but I went to the structural engineer’s office in Gloucester to chat about it. I asked: ‘It looks complicated, but could I do this myself?’ Peter Rowntree was very reassuring. ‘It looks complicated because you are looking at it in its entirety. Let me show you this corner here.’ And he then explained how the steels fitted together and how one wired them up. After a quarter of an hour, he summarised by saying ‘Yes, you could do it.’ And I did! Working only on Saturdays, and even then, not every Saturday, it took me seven years to complete it to a point where we could move into the extension. I was extremely sad to leave Hydefield and putting this book together has been cathartic. I was tremendously proud of what I managed to build and have wanted to produce this photo book to bring back the memories of every little achievement.

Read more less

RAF Coningsby played an integral part in the strategic bombing campaign of WWII. With the average age of aircrew being barely 21, the conflict demanded unimaginable dedication. The human experience of this colossal effort is told through the experiences of squadron and station personnel, those who survived and those who paid the ultimate price.

Read more less

From a skinny beach bum to a brawny headband-wearing blue-collar hero, through to an elder statesman of rock, Springsteen has been one of the most revered songwriters of his and succeeding generations for half a century. Throughout the decades, his anthemic tracks of personal and political strife have chronicled life in America, providing listeners with character-driven narratives that can be read as short stories of lives they live, lived, or have seen first-hand. After getting a recording contract with Columbia Records aged twenty-two, Springsteen wrote and recorded a string of critically acclaimed albums, including Born to Run, which brought him a wider audience, before becoming a superstar with the release of 1984's Born in the U.S.A. In the twenty-first century, Springsteen continues to release landmark albums such as The Rising and Wrecking Ball and, with the stalwart support of the E Street Band, still performs in sold-out stadiums worldwide, with concerts routinely lasting for over three hours. This volume explores Springsteen's discography in detail, examining his worldwide hits alongside his lesser-known but equally moving tracks.

Read more less

Long-ranged maritime reconnaissance aircraft were a part of British wartime strategy since the First World War, in the form of flying boats. During the Second World War, the flying boats were increasingly replaced by land-based aircraft, such as the American Lend-Lease Flying Fortresses and Liberators. After the war, these aircraft were replaced by a purpose-built aircraft, the Avro Shackleton, which traced its ancestry through the Lincoln and Lancaster all the way back to the early Second World War bomber, the Manchester. The road from the Manchester to the Shackleton was a long one, and it is described comprehensively. The Shackleton itself went through two major changes - from the MR.1 to the MR.2, then from the MR.2 to the MR.3. Along with a detailed technical description of the Shackleton and its weaponry, photographs and accurate colour profiles accompany the text, to illustrate the Shackleton. This aircraft is compared and contrasted with its post-war piston-engined counterparts. Its former use with the United Kingdom and South Africa is also described. The current survivors, especially an MR.2 (WR963) in the United Kingdom and an AEW.2 (WL790) in the United States, are described in great detail.

Read more less

John Cunningham became a well-known personality following his WW2 combat successes, and his demonstrations of the Comets and Tridents at the Farnborough Air Shows. He was a modest man who did not seek publicity, but was a highly skilled test pilot in Britain's pioneering jet age. He also sold Tridents to China.

Read more less

In this absorbing new history of the ‘Galicia’ Division, David McCormack debunks many of the myths that have resulted in enduring controversies amongst the public, the mainstream media, academics, and politicians. ‘The Galicia Division 1943-45 : Just Ordinary Soldiers?’ provides an objective appraisal of the Ukrainian volunteers and conscripts that have been described as both heroes and villains in equal measure. What were the circumstances that led thousands of Ukrainians to volunteer to fight in Hitler’s crusade against Bolshevism in 1943? Why did coercion replace incentivisation as a means of recruitment in 1944? Why was a decision made by the British authorities to ignore Stalin’s demands for the repatriation of the division in 1945? Did the long established German military doctrine of ‘absolute destruction’ provide the foundations for accusations of war crimes against the division? How can the recent fetishisation of the division by Ukrainian nationalists be explained?

Read more less

Leslie Wheeler was born in Devizes, Wiltshire in 1909, and in 1927 he enlisted in his local Territorial Army regiment, the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry. Leslie served throughout the Second World War in the Middle East, North Africa, and Italy as a senior non-commissioned officer and was then commissioned as quartermaster into the regiment that he clearly loved. His honest and revealing memoirs depict the final years of horsed cavalry in the British Army, the wartime transition to mobile but poorly equipped desert columns, and finally the transition to a tank regiment. The often-overlooked 1941 campaigns in Syria, Iraq, and Persia as well as El Alamein and the fight north through Italy are described by the author in a typically understated fashion. What makes this tale unique is the often amusing and sometimes cynical perspective of a senior and experienced soldier working tirelessly in the quartermaster’s department to keep his regiment supplied in peace and war.

Read more less

During the Nazi regime in Germany, all police forces were centralised under the command of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. The political police (Gestapo), the criminal police (Kripo), and the security service (SD) were all brought together under the RSHA umbrella in 1939, commanded by SS-General Reinhard Heydrich. Using RSHA in Berlin as the centre, the web of Heydrich’s control extended into every corner of Nazi-occupied Europe. British and American intelligence agencies tried to get to grips with RSHA departments at the end of the war, knowing who was who and what they did, relying on what captured RSHA personnel told them along with intercepted documentation. To provide Allied intelligence officers in the field with accurate knowledge, the Counter Intelligence War Room (CIWR) was established to provide this information and list further Gestapo, Kripo, SD, and Abwehr officials to be arrested and interrogated. The informative CIWR reports used here give a precise examination of the RSHA by department, some detailing how Nazi jealousies and rivalries were more helpful to the Allied war effort than the Nazi cause - a portrayal of how Nazi Intelligence agencies went wrong.

Read more less

‘Churchill’s Little Redhead’ is the autobiography of much-travelled author and television presenter, Celia Sandys, Winston Churchill’s granddaughter. In 1959 she accompanied her grandparents on the ‘Christina’, Aristotle Onassis’s superyacht, for a grand tour of the Mediterranean with another guest, the legendary diva, Maria Callas. During the extraordinary journey, sixteen-year-old Celia witnessed the burgeoning romance between Onassis and Callas, a love affair which resulted in two divorces within a year. Celia was born in war-ravaged London in 1943, the daughter of Duncan Sandys, her grandfather’s Minister of Supply in his war cabinet, and Diana Churchill. Celia recalls in much detail post-war rationing and the make-do atmosphere that prevailed at the time. In her spirited book she describes the ups and downs of her three marriages, from which she bore three sons and a daughter. The sad death of her divorced mother is touched upon with tenderness, and the death of her favourite aunt, Sarah, who had spent several years deteriorating into alcoholism following the sudden death of her beloved husband is narrated with much understanding and obvious love. Once her children had flown the nest, Celia developed a new career as an author and wrote three books on her grandfather. One of which, ‘Chasing Churchill’, led her to present it as a television series, in which she travelled the world re-tracing her grandfather’s footsteps: from his military escapades in Cuba, the Boer War, his vital wartime meetings with President Roosevelt and countless other visits to his ‘other country’ the United States. A thoroughly modern and independent woman of spirit, Celia’s eventful life makes for a fascinating read.

Read more less

Combat gliders were called by some as Death Crates, Purple Heart Boxes, Flying Coffins and Tow Targets . They were not pretty and had no graceful lines. Viewed from the front, they had a pug nose and a sloping Neanderthal forehead. Their wings looked like the heavily starched ears of a jackrabbit placed at right angles on a canvas-covered frame. Twice the length of the body, these wings were eighty-four feet in length, 70 per cent as long as the Wright Brothers first powered flight at Kitty Hawk. They could not become airborne, let alone fly, unless assisted by an engine-powered tow plane. And for those riding in the back, it was like flying through the gates of hell . The men who were trained and assigned to guide gliders into battle were said to be the only pilots who had no motors, armament, parachutes and no second chances. Like the aircraft they commanded, they were called inglorious names such as The Bastards Nobody Wanted, Glider Gladiators in Wooden Chariots; Hybrid Jackasses and Glory Boys. Beautifully written, profoundly illustrated and researched, Silent Invaders: Combat Gliders of the Second World War is a work that is dedicated to those brave men under impossible odds from the British and American servicemen on D-Day, the doomed Operation Market Garden in Holland and Hitler s radical commando raid to rescue Mussolini."

Read more less

This book from John Van der Kiste, the eminent historian of European royalty, is an account of Queen Victoria's personal and political relationships with the empires, or to be more exact, the Kings and Queens, Emperors, Empresses and their families of France, Germany, Austria and Russia. Victoria had close connections with the royal houses of Germany long before the King of Prussia became the German Emperor in 1871, and with the exiled former Emperor and Empress of the French and their son, the Prince Imperial, after the fall of the French Empire in 1870. Van der Kiste deftly weaves together the various strands of the relationships-including the close family marriage ties-to provide a fascinating picture of European royalty in the last two thirds of the nineteenth century.

Read more less

The Christmas Truce of 1914 remains a moment of enduring fascination more than a century after the day the First World War guns fell silent. Now for the first time hundreds of first person accounts of this most extraordinary period of history have been gathered together telling the story in their own words of the soldiers who met in peace in No Man's Land. The stories of men from English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh regiments who played and joked, sang and danced, swapped gifts and shared food and drink with the enemy before returning to war on the Western Front. 'Christmas Truce By The Men Who Took Part' is the largest collection ever drawn together of letters sent home by the officers and soldiers who laid down their guns and shook hands with their foes. The eye opening accounts of the unofficial armistice between German and British forces capture the trepidation and exhilaration, the curiosity, anger, joy and despair of that first Christmas on the unforgiving battlegrounds of the Great War.

Read more less

Every phase of the Third Reich's foreign policy was determined by its authoritarian leader, Adolf Hitler. Following his rise to power, his political acuity and utter lack of scruple enabled him to achieve numerous diplomatic successes against the well-intentioned but largely ineffectual Anglo-French democracies. First by duplicity, then by bluff and bluster, and finally by brinkmanship, Hitler succeeded in establishing a strengthened and united Greater Germany (Grossdeutschland) in preparation for a Second Great War. This book examines in depth the revanchist foreign policy of Hitler's Germany from 1933 to 1939: the withdrawal of Germany from the League of Nations, German rearmament, the introduction of compulsory military service and the enlargement of the German Armed Forces, the remilitarization of the Rhineland, the notorious Hossbach Conference, the Austrian 'Anschluss', the Munich Conference, the brazen seizures of Bohemia-Moravia and the Memel District, the Danzig crisis, the cynical brokering of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, and the German invasion of Western Poland.

Read more less

This is the story of the career of the author's mysterious great uncle Raymond de Candolle, who had apparently disappeared into the bowels of London, at the turn of the twentieth century. It begins when he joins a group of enterprising bankers, engineers and tycoons, fascinated by international railway opportunities. They build railroads in Mexico, Spain, China, Columbia, and eventually Raymond heads up Argentina's leading railway. Just as the First World War is about to break out, he is sent to solve a dispute with Germany's Baghdad Railway in Anatolia. He is recruited by the British War Cabinet in 1916 to help stop the German advance in Romania. As chaos erupts in Russia they send him to deal with the Trans-Siberian Railway, the rise of the Bolsheviks, and finally the capture of Mosul in 1918. He is active at the Paris Peace Conference in settling Romania's reparations and the take-over of the Baghdad railway. In 1921 it is back to Anatolia to deal with its dilapidated railway, and the eventual horrors of the Smyrna genocide. He shakes hands with a victorious Kemal Ataturk. Raymond's story concludes with his family, and their good friend Ian Fleming, listening to his conclusions about the future.

Read more less

When the future of his family's rope business in Liverpool was threatened at the end of the 1920s Eric Rigby-Jones had to leave his wife and young family behind to risk everything on establishing a new factory in the Irish Free State. He was still an officer in the Territorial Army when he leased a former British cavalry barracks in co. Kildare from the Irish government in 1933. It had lain derelict since the departure of British troops in 1922. Within four years his company, Irish Ropes, was supplying nearly all of Ireland's rope. When war came in 1939 Ireland remained staunchly neutral and faced both German invasion and a British trade embargo. With the government determined to make the country self-sufficient Eric had to resort to increasingly desperate measures to ensure that Irish farmers never ran out of twine to gather the harvest. Tintawn and Binder Twine is the untold story of the foundation and eventual demise of an iconic Irish business, known around the world for its Red Setter twine and Tintawn sisal carpets; of the pioneering Englishman who founded it and introduced new concepts in industrial relations to Ireland; of a family separated in peace and war; and of the regeneration of an Irish town. It is also the story of sisal, the vegetable fibre that became the mainstay of East Africa's colonial economy, and of the first fifty years of an independent Irish state. A member of Eric's wider family, Thomas Jones, was secretary to the British delegation that negotiated the Anglo-Irish treaty in 1921 and his son, Michael, was killed in the Staines air disaster in 1972 while travelling to Brussels with an Irish delegation for talks about the country's imminent membership of the European Union. Well-illustrated and drawing heavily on unpublished family letters, documents, and photographs as well as new research in British and Irish archives, the book reveals intriguing but little-known sides to Anglo-Irish relations during the Second World War. It has particular relevance in today's world of Brexit, borders, tariffs, and the bullying of small nations by large.

Read more less

Jack Sweet takes a personal look back to Yeovil during the six momentous years of the Second World War and during the time when he grew up. He tells of the air raids, how people rallied to civil defence, welcomed thousands of young evacuees in 1939 and again in 1944. How people dealt with the many trials of a population facing and enduring total war. Sitting for hours in uncomfortable air raid shelters hearing German bombers flying overhead and wondering whether the bombs would fall on Yeovil. How the townsfolk saved to buy, a destroyer and a Spitfire, and 'Saluted the Soldier'. Heard the roar of aircraft engines from the Westland Aircraft works and watched Lysanders, Whirlwinds and Spitfires flying overhead. Enjoyed the 'friendly invasion' of the US Army preparing for D-Day, saw them go off to battle and finally the joy of VE and VJ-Days. Total war meant that no-one in the town, young and old alike escaped unaffected.

Read more less

LIGHTNING STRIKES-THE LOCKHEED P-38 tells the full story of one of the most successful and versatile aircraft of the Second World War. The P-38 (including its F-4 and F-5 photo reconnaissance models) eventually served with all the USAAF's numbered overseas air forces, from early 1942 to VJ Day. The book describes the Lightning's design and its technical details as it gradually evolved and improved, from the original XP-38 to its final variant, the P-38L-5. The main focus is on its service in the combat theatres, from the frigid, windswept Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific to the steaming jungles of the South Pacific and Southeast Asia, the burning sands of North Africa and the more temperate climes of Europe. All the units that flew the Lightning are included, as are the experiences of many of their pilots and groundcrewmen as they fought the Japanese Empire and the European Axis. Also related are the P-38's service with foreign (non-U.S.) air forces, its postwar commercial utilization as civilian aircraft and the surviving examples in museums around the world. The book is extremely well illustrated by over 400 high-resolution photographs, art work and graphics, and is supplemented by detailed appendices.

Read more less

In this second and final volume, the whole of the East Coast Main Line between King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley stations is examined closely, with a particular emphasis on the ways and structures: the line, stations, connections, yards, and other physical features. Interposed are accounts of the traffic at the principal stations (including connecting and branch line services) with observations on changes over the period 1939 to 1959. Some emphasis is placed on freight traffic on account of its importance and, perhaps, its relative unfamiliarity to the reader. The lines, stations, and many other elements are described as they were in August 1939, but as some plans on which they are based are dated before the late 1930s, there may be marginal differences from the precise layout in 1939.

Read more less

Short Brothers was established in 1908, the first British aircraft manufacturer, with the company moving to Rochester during the early years of the First World War. At Rochester Shorts produced some of their most famous aircraft, beginning with a number of designs for the Royal Naval Air Service. During the inter-war years the company specialised in large flying boats, these undertaking pioneering flights while establishing a series of regular over water air routes operated by Imperial Airways. At Rochester the Company designed and manufactured the Stirling bomber and Sunderland flying boat. 'Shorts: the Rochester Years' not only looks at the development of those aircraft, but is a fascinating account of the early years of long-distance aviation and the airmen that used the River Medway at Rochester as a launch pad for flights of hitherto undreamed of distances.

Read more less

When introduced in 1914, the Military Cross filled a large void in medallic recognition for junior officers--the first men over-the-top when going into action. Here the author covers a diverse range of heroic Military Cross actions in exciting detail. Legendary characters like Albert Jacka feature within, as do the high-profile solider-poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. The bravery of many lesser-known but equally gallant recipients are also explored. From dogfights in the air, to hand-to-hand scraps in tunnels below the battlefields and everything in between, 'For Conspicuous Gallantry' tells many stories of individual bravery and heroism that resulted in the award of the Military Cross.

Read more less

Following World War I, horse cavalry entered a period during which it fought for its very existence against mechanized vehicles. On the Western Front, the stalemate of trench warfare became the defining image of the war throughout the world. While horse cavalry remained idle in France, the invention of the tank and its potential for success led many non-cavalry officers to accept the notion that the era of horse cavalry had passed. During the interwar period, a struggle raged within the U.S. Cavalry regarding its future role, equipment, and organization. Some cavalry officers argued that mechanized vehicles supplanted horses as the primary means of combat mobility within the cavalry, while others believed that the horse continued to occupy that role. The response of prominent cavalry officers to this struggle influenced the form and function of the U.S. Cavalry during World War II.

Read more less