Search results for ""Greenhill Books""

This is the true story of a young Red Army soldier during the Second World War, told in his own words. Recruited into the army aged just seventeen, Sergei Drobyazko's introduction to battle is a violent one: forced to retreat from his home city of Krasnodar after it is set ablaze by German forces. Later, Drobyazko is captured by the Germans and placed in a concentration camp, where prisoners are reduced to eating scavenged rubbish and bathing battle wounds in urine. After a daring escape from the camp, he enters service once more, rising to the rank of sergeant in an infantry regiment. During this time, he witnesses the execution of deserters and the routine ill-treatment of German prisoners of war by vengeful Soviet troops. After surviving an attack that decimates his detachment, Drobyazko is almost court-martialled. Seriously wounded in 1944, he retrains as a radio operator, but he never returns to the war front. In this gripping memoir, Drobyazko sets down his experience of the war as it unfolded around him. He claims to have consulted no historical sources and to have simply relied on his own memory, making this a deeply personal account. Translated into English for the first time, this unique account will be enjoyed by readers with an interest in military history.

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In March 1940, Oberleutnant Wilhelm Walther transferred from Aufkl rungs-Abteilung 5, an armoured reconnaissance unit, to Bau-Lehr-Bataillon z.b.V. 800 - forerunner of what would soon be known as the Brandenburger'. Two months later, he led a commando action in the Netherlands and became the first of his unit to be awarded the Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross). By May 1944, Walther was an Oberstleutnant and an experienced regimental commander in what had evolved as the Division Brandenburg'. He would eventually join Obersturmbannfuhrer Otto Skorzeny's SS-Jagdverb nde as Chief of Staff, before seeing out the last days of the war with the short-lived Schutzkorps Alpenland. More than 200 images, together with the original German captions and English translations, portray the life and times of this career officer, from the German annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938, to operations in Russia, Greece and the Balkans during 1941-44. In comparison with other units of the Second World War, relatively little has been published about Germany's commando forces. This is hardly surprising, considering the paucity of source material available and the air of mystery and intrigue still surrounding this specialist formation. This unique collection of rare images was sourced from the photograph album of Wilhelm Walther and is sure to appeal to all with an interest in the war in the West and on the Eastern Front, as well as to militaria collectors, modellers and re-enactment groups.

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Based on their experiences during the First World War, the Reichswehr decided that the infantry support gun of the future should be an armoured, motorized vehicle with an effective calibre of cannon: the Sturmgeschutz III. The weapon was used in the 'fire brigade role' at hotspots along the Front, where it was much feared by enemy forces. This illustrated volume tells the tale of Brigade 191, aka the 'Buffalo Brigade', who used the Sturmgeschutz III as they took part in Operation Barbarossa in the Ukraine, saw action during the fight for Greece in 1941 and were deployed to the areas of heaviest fighting in the campaign against the Soviet Union. This began with the infantry advance from Ukraine to Moscow (1941): then to Voronezh, Kursk, the Caucasus and Kuban (1942), then the Kertsch Peninsula and the Crimea (1943-1944), before they were finally evacuated from Sevastopol into Romania by naval lighters. On the South-east Front (the retreat through the Balkans), the Brigade fought its way into Austria and was still fighting on the last day of the war to keep a corridor open. Keen to write an account recording the tactical significance of the Sturmgeschutz III, while surviving members of Brigade 191 also wished for a cohesive documentary record of the war, Bork set about gathering military records and literature, as well as interviewing as many ex-Brigade men as possible, in order to bring this detailed account into being.

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_"Dierk Hagedorn continues to solidify his reputation as one of today's most talented authorities on German Fechtbucher with another superlative volume Highly recommended for students of history, historical reenactors, and today's fighting practitioners."_ - Christian Henry Tobler Longsword instructor Dierk Hagedorn brings the work of one of the most prolific authors of 16th century fight books to a modern audience for the first time. Jorg Wilhalm's teachings feature fighting techniques with the long sword, in armour and on horseback and combines the teachings of the famous fighting master Johannes Liechtenauer with those of his successors. Vividly illustrated throughout, each technique is rendered in detail that even modern practitioners will be able to easily follow. This book will appeal to enthusiasts of historical European martial arts, re-enactors, jousters, as well as art historians - particularly those with an interest in the armour and clothing of the 16th century. Comprehensive in its scope, it is a striking and fascinating insight into the ancient art of swordplay.

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In the early years of the Third Reich, Hermann Goring, one of the most notorious leaders of the Third Reich, worked to establish his own personal army to rival Himmler's SS and Reichswehr. The result: a private Prussian police force which grew into one of the most powerful armoured units in Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht. This unit fought throughout the Second World War, meeting Anglo-American forces in vicious battles across the European theatres of Tunisia, Sicily and Italy before finally being defeated by the Red Army on the Eastern Front. The Hermann Goring Panzer Division incorporates technical details of these battles with the turbulent politics and Machiavellian manoeuvring of Hitler's inner circle, giving military-history enthusiasts fresh insights into the development and role of this unusual division through the war. Drawing on first-hand accounts and extensive archive material, World War II historian Lawrence Paterson presents a comprehensive and unbiased history of the establishment of the famous 1\. Fallschirm-Panzer Division.

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In this rare World War II memoir, Lothar Herrmann, a soldier from the Wehrmacht, details his unimaginable experience as a German Prisoner-of-War in the Soviet Union. Hermann grew up in Bavaria, going through the RAD (Nazi Labour Service) before being conscripted into a Wehrmacht Mountain Division (the Gebirgsdivision) in 1940. He participated in Germany's advance through southern Ukraine in 1941 and, in 1944, was arrested in Romania while retreating to Germany. The Romanians passed him onto the Soviets, who placed him in a forced labour camp, where he watched two-thirds of prisoners around him die. In 1949, Herrmann was finally released to Germany and returned to Bavaria. Three million German troops were taken prisoner by the Red Army and around two-thirds of them survived to return to Germany in 1949, but their stories are little known. Klaus Willmann draws on interviews he conducted with Herrmann, to recount these astonishing recollections in the first-person. Depicting the challenges of growing up in Nazi Bavaria to becoming a Soviet prisoner-of-war, this is a gripping and enlightening account from a necessary but rarely explored perspective.

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The little known Battle of Znaim (10th-11th July 1809) was the last battle to be fought on the main front of the Franco-Austrian War. Cut short to make way for an armistice it effectively ended hostilities between France and Austria and is now uniquely considered to be an episode both of conflict and simultaneously of diplomacy. The battle began as a result of the Austrian decision to stage a rearguard action near Znaim, prompting the Bavarians to unsuccessfully storm a nearby town. Battle ensued with the village changing hands a number of times over the course of the two days. Jack Gill delves deep into the respective tactics of both sides as the two armies continually changed positions and strategies. His account dissects and investigates the dual aspects of the Battle of Znaim and explains the diplomatic decisions that resulted in the peace treaty which was signed at Schonbrunn Palace on 14th October 1809\. Gill's book is an unrivalled analysis of the Battle of Znaim. Accessible, highly detailed and expertly crafted, it sheds new light on this fascinating moment in Napoleonic history.

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The T-34 was one of the most remarkable tanks of the Second World War. Although the Red Army suffered continual heavy tank losses, the rugged and reliable T-34 was an immense success story and was ultimately instrumental in turning the tide of the war. This photographic history follows the story of this exceptional armoured vehicle from its disastrous first action during Operation Barbarossa to its miraculous defence of Moscow, its envelopment of the Axis forces at Stalingrad and victory at Kursk, and finally, the advance to the gates of Warsaw then on to Berlin. Packed with a wealth of images, including rare archive photographs and photographs of surviving examples, this is an extraordinary record of both the tank and its personnel. The accompanying text features an in-depth technical evaluation outlining the differences in the myriad of models, including detailed plans of each type, alongside a gripping breakdown of the tank's entire operational history.

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Prior to World War Two, Wing Commander Guy Gibson joined the Royal Air Force. In 1944, he wrote down his experience of serving in the RAF. Aged just 25, Gibson had completed two full tours, each of 30 operations, with Bomber Command, and had led the now-famous Dam Busters raid against the dams of the Ruhr Valley in May 1943. He died aged 26 in 1944, when his Mosquito crashed near Steenbergen in the Netherlands. Gibson's story is an incredible one. He struggled daily to work the Handley Page Hampden, and then the Avro Manchester, flying both into enemy airspace with great difficulty. He goes into detail on this, describing the troubles facing him, and how he managed to overcome them. He also addresses the rapid professionalisation of the Bomber Command. At the start of the war, they seemed ill-equipped and unprepared to confront Germany, but they grew in confidence and stature, to represent one of the defining units of the Second World War. Gibson recounts this change.

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In this vivid first-hand account we gain unique access to the inner workings of Stalin's Central Women's Sniper School, near Podolsk in Western Russia. Luliia was a dedicated member of the Komsomol (the Soviet communist youth organisation) and her parents worked for the NKVD. She started at the sniper school and eventually became a valued member of her battalion during operations against Prussia. She persevered through eight months of training before leaving for the Front on 24th November 1944 just days after qualifying. Joining the third Belorussian Front her battalion endured rounds of German mortar as well as loudspeaker announcements beckoning them to come over to the German side. Luliia recounts how they would be in the field for days, regularly facing the enemy in terrifying one-on-one encounters. She sets down the euphoria of her first hit and starting her battle count but her reflection on how it was also the ending of a life. These feelings fade as she recounts the barbarous actions of Hitler's Nazi Germany. She recall how the women were once nearly overrun by Germans at their house when other Red Army formations had moved off and failed to tell them. She also details a nine-day stand-off they endured encircled by Germans in Landsberg. Regularly suffering ill-health she took a shrapnel injury to her knee and had to be operated on without an anaesthetic. She would eventually see the end of the war in K ngsberg. Like her famous counterpart Pavlichenko she gained recognition but struggled to come to terms with war service Haunted by flashbacks she burned the letters she sent home from the Front. She later discovered that of the 1885 graduates of her sniper school only 250 had died in war. In this powerful, first-hand account we come up close to the machinations of the NKVD (the secret police) as well as the gruelling toll of war and the breathtaking bravery of this female sniper. Additional material includes notes by John Walter and an introduction by Martin Pegler.

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Eastern Front Sniper is a long overdue and comprehensive biography of one of World War II s most accomplished snipers. Math us Hetzenauer, the son of a Tyrolean peasant family, was born in December 1924\. He was drafted into the Mountain Reserve Battalian 140 at the age of 18 but discharged five month s later. He received a new draft notice in January 1943 for a post in the Styrian Truppen bungsplatz Seetal Alps where he met some of the best German snipers and learned his art. Hetzenauer went on to fight in Romania, Eastern Hungary and in Slovakia. As recognition for his more than 300 confirmed kills he was awarded on the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on April 17, 1945. After nearly five years of Soviet captivity Math us Hetzenauer returned to Austria on January 10, 1950\. He lived in the Tyrol's Brixen Valley until his death on 3 October of 2004.

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