Search results for ""Editions Heimdal""

Une vision inédite de l'une des plus importantes batailles de juin 1940. La chronique du périple de la compagnie de canons d'infanterie hippomobile du célèbre Régiment «List», qui s'illustra en 1914 et fut aussi le régiment d'un certain Adolf Hitler. Jour après jour, nous suivons cette unité de la Rhénanie à la Normandie, en passant par Saint-Quentin, Amiens, Le Havre, Rouen et Giberville, à côté de Caen. Jour après jour, nous partageons le quotidien de ces fantassins, les conditions difficiles de ce voyage qui les mène jusqu'au coeur de la bataille d'Abbeville, au cours de laquelle la 57e division d'infanterie bavaroise se confronte à la 4e DCR du colonel de Gaulle... Face à des centaines de blindés, la 13e compagnie résista pendant de longues journées jusqu'au succès final. Jour après jour, dans un carnet, le caporal O. Bär consigne ses mots : descriptions sensibles et attentives ; réflexions intimes et réalistes ; étonnements humanistes sur les situations de combat, sur la traversée de territoires «désertés» et fantomatiques. Tel un reporter de guerre, ce jeune caporal allemand témoigne, et son style certain donne à ce témoignage l'épaisseur d'un récit. Publié en août 40, ce carnet, fait de textes et de photos originales et inédites d'O. Bär, est un document rare et exceptionnel.

Read more less

Face au peloton d’exécution qui allait le fusiller le 17 août 1946 à 7 h 05 à Alençon, Bernard Jardin, très pâle, prononçait d’une voix assez faible ses derniers mots : « Vive le national socialisme », puis avant que les balles ne fusent, il ajoutait « Et vive la France quand même ». À notre connaissance, Bernard Jardin demeure le seul auxiliaire de la Sipo-SD en Normandie à proclamer jusqu’au bout son adhésion au national-socialisme. Pourquoi ce jeune homme commis boucher choisit-il délibérément le camp nazi ? L’appât du gain l’amène d’abord à monter des affaires de marché noir. Repéré par Hildebrandt, le chef roué et manipulateur de l’antenne ornaise du Sipo-SD, Bernard Jardin devient d’abord agent de renseignement avant de prendre la responsabilité d’opérations contre la Résistance ornaise ; en quelques mois, lui et son équipe, portent des coups très durs à celle-ci. D’abord enquêteur, Jardin frappe et torture ses victimes avant de devenir un assassin.

Read more less

It answers all your questions! The first edition of the Dictionnaire de la Grande Armée was published in 2002, on the eve of the great Napoleonic military bicentenary celebrations, which took place between 2004 and 2015. Since then, a lot of publications have been brought out; this edition takes this into account and brings the different sections up to date. The first aim of this dictionary is to answer amateurs’ questions both general and precise. This book is unique in that it has no equivalent nowadays; it’s a work tool and a reference book which makes often complex and wide-ranging scattered research easier; it won the Grand Prix Premier Empire from the Fondation Napoléon when it came out. This Dictionnaire de la Grande Armée is now an easy, condensed synthesis which should delight all Napoleon enthusiasts, researchers and students who are interested in things military. Wherever possible at the end of the articles, we have indicated the references as well as the bibliographical route to take in order to refine and complement the researches. New: in this edition we have 600 biographies of people who had something to do with this military period, anything of an anecdotal nature which has a link to army organisation and military memorialists; we have also added 127 biographies of people linked to Napoleonic military history from the 19th and 20th Centuries, amateurs who were collectors, writers, historians, painters, etc., like Detaille, Lalauze, Margerand, Martinien, Rousselot, Saski, Six, etc. This part is completely new. In this second edition, there are more articles – at least 2 600 – but they have been padded out and are more precise and in a lot of cases quite new. The book finishes with a long bibliography. With all these articles, we hope you will save time in your future research and that you will discover a lot of new information, not to mention the pleasure of reading more about the history of this military epic. This dictionary is a tool which you will use often and is a must for your bookcase: that’s what it’s for!

Read more less

From the Capture of Algiers to the disbanding of the REP, through the Carlist Wars in Spain, Camerone, the Great War, Bir-Hakeim or Indochina, this book retraces the history of the most famous corps in military history over the last two centuries.

Read more less

In keeping with their way of presenting History’s most beautiful uniforms, the authors in their new book present us with the French Army during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Even though the formidable war machine which Napoleon III’s army had become had already been through several campaigns in Europe, Asia, Africa and also in America, and made a good impression on European general staffs, was it really ready to face a modern army on its own soil ? Against perhaps a Prussian army, which had recently become German, and which had also forged itself by winning battles ? The uniforms, equipment and weapons of all the Imperial Army corps are presented here with extraordinary uniform plates by André Jouineau, the famous illustrator-researcher. The texts are by Jean-Marie Mongin and go well beyond the customary details, delving into the organisation and the strength of this formidable force, which quite unpredictably suffered what some people in many ways still consider a humiliating defeat, even today. Discover the campaign clothes – and the great parade uniforms – of the Cent-Gardes squadron, the Guides, the Cuirassiers at Reichshoffen, the Marsouins at Bazeilles, the Hussars, the Turks, the Zouaves, but also that terrible year’s “Moblots” (conscripts), the heroes of Bourbaki’s army and the volunteers of the last months of this war which was, when all is said and done, a foundational conflict. This volume is for the uniform and figurine buffs ; it’s a small, practical tool, precise, clear, logical and visual. Almost 140 uniform plates and maps. More than 1000 infantry, artillery and cavalry drawings.

Read more less

This book offers a meticulous study of the fighting at Fontenay-le-Pesnel and at Rauray to the west of Caen, between 25 and 29 June 1944. Both authors, Frédéric Deprun and Baptiste Flotté, wanted to give a precise account of this episode of the Battle of Normandy, starting with Operation Martlet, on the flank of Operation Epsom. Extremely detailed research concentrates on the lynchpin at Rauray and its armour confrontations. A precise chronology has been made of the destruction of the Panther tanks in front of Fontenay by the assaults by the Polar Bears and the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division until they broke through the German defensive line held by the Panzer-Lehr-Division and the 12.SS Panzer- Division “Hitlerjugend”. By the precise localisation of unpublished photographs and an account of the operation from both sides, this three-part study pays particular attention to the relics of the fighting and the testimonies which go with each of the different acts of the battle.Text in French.

Read more less

Born at the same time as the ‘Armée de L’air’ itself, in the early 1930s, the squadrons represent the evolution and development of French aerial forces over the decades. Reformed at the end of the Second World War, the number of squadrons for the ‘Armée de l’Air’ peaked during the Cold War after which their numbers were reduced as the threat from the Soviet Union evaporated as the Soviet empire imploded. The very existence of the squadrons came into question during the 1990s, but they were reformed over the next two decades. This title, covering over half a century, covers both French fighter and reconnaissance planes of 1945-2015, the period of the propeller to jet planes, the Spitfire and the Thuderbolt to the Mirage 2000 and the Rafale, including the Ouragan, Mystère and other Mirage 111.Using detailed descriptions and images, each squadron, whether in still in existence or not, is described in detail, not only its history but its insignias, equipment, planes, etc.

Read more less

The action of John Howard is without doubt on the most spectacular commando action of D-Day and WWII. Ten minutes after midnight on June 6th 1944, after an audacious glider landing, airborne troops of the 6th Airborne Division arrived at the bridge at Bénouville which became known as Pegasus Bridge and entered the annals of history. Six kilometres from there, towards the coast, at Melville was installed a German artillery battery which was in turn attacked by British paras a few hours later.

Read more less

Of Jewish origin and an intimate friend of Hitler, Emil Maurice was the founder of the SA and of the Stosstrupp Hitler (the origin of the SS). He also helped to edit Mein Kampf in Landsberg Prison. Through the unusual destiny of Emil Maurice, this book mainly describes in detail the relatively unknown but ever so terribly determining period for History, from 1919 to 1933, with some very rare documents in black and white, and some in colour: the beginnings of the DAP going back to the Society of Thule, the Munich Soviet and the Freikorps’ fighting in 1919, the Munich Putsch; Landsberg prison, the history of the Stosstrupp with a list of personal information about all its members, the Geli Raubal affair and lots of other historical details with photographs and documents as yet never published or virtually unknown, coming in part from Emil Maurice’s unpublished archives which we have acquired.

Read more less

This exceptional work, a bestseller on its original publication by Landser, offers a veritable autopsy of a totalitarian regime. It explores an unfamiliar branch of the SS, the Allgemeine-SS (the "General SS") involving military but also civilians, including university professors, personalities from civil society. Its goal was to achieve a "total society". This formed only part of the overall organization, which encompassed units both in barracks and on active service, and amongst other features this book examines the proposed new religion of Himmler, the SS organization of marriage, the Ahnenerbe think-tank, furniture designed for the new family life, and even Allach porcelain. This study is a veritable encyclopedia richly illustrated with a wealth of information and unpublished documents. Depicted are Uniforms and decorations, furniture and porcelain, in a form that will prove useful to both the general reader and historians.

Read more less

A spectacular, large format, full colour book, packed with over 200 photographs, maps and charts. The book is divided into the sectors associated with the Normandy landings in 1944.

Read more less

June 7, 1944. The Allies have landed in Normandy, where they have set a bridgehead : yet this one is narrow and fragile. The Canadians sprint on to Carpiquet, but their attack is crushed by panzers of the Hitlerjugend Division that have just rejoined the frontline. Canadians and Germans are going to fight each other violently, and the tension is at its highest – some Canadian soldiers are murdered in Buron, and at the Ardenne Abbey. June 8, 1944. The Winnipegs are crushed by a German counter-attack in Putot. Some German soldiers are executed on Hill 102, and some Canadian soldiers are executed in Audrieu and Le Mesnil-Patry. Who are the people responsible for those actions ? For the first time, the mystery is partially unveiled. Then, the crazy night attack on Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse – some panzers will burn and light this terrible night. June 9, 1944. The “Ribbentrop Company” attacks Norrey : seven Panther tanks are destroyed. The Hitlerjugend’s counter-attack is stopped. In Norrey, this is “the accident” : shrapnel wipe out a lot of civilians. The acme of horror has been reached. Thanks to a large number of testimonies, given by the combatants and the Norman civilians – who also suffered a lot during the battle –, this book offers a degree of precision never reached regarding the Battle of Normandy. The wartime and current pictures, the portraits of soldiers and civilians, the maps and the plans make this book a real movie of these “three days in hell” between Bayeux and Caen, while the frontline was still not stabilized, while the soldiers were trying to go from one enemy strongpoint to another, and while the civilians did not know where the danger was…

Read more less

La première édition de cet album historique, référence incontestable et pratiquement introuvable, est enfin rééditée, revue, corrigée et augmentée. L’ouvrage offre avec un luxe d’informations, de détails et de photos un panorama exhaustif de l’intervention de la chasse allemande dans le ciel de Normandie et de l’Île de France puis en Provence, après le débarquement allié sur les côtes méditerranéennes.

Read more less

This beautiful book combines archaeological documents, paintings and photos of a reconstruction of the first wooden amphitheatre at the Coliseum. It is a complete documentation with all categories of gladiators with their particular equipment up their fighting methods and ways of dying. This excellent reference guide is a must-have for all fans of archaeology and the Romans. - TEXT IN FRENCH -

Read more less

In 1796, the Directoire decided to hit the Austro-Hungarian Empire hard. Two armies had failed in Germany whereas the little Army of Italy, under the command of Bonaparte, thrashed the Austrians in a vigorous, marvellous campaign. In less than twelve months it smashed four Austrian armies, captured a part of the Piedmont, founded two republics, conquered Northern Italy and on 7 October 1797, signed the Treaty of Campio-Formo with Austria. Napoleon Bonaparte had covered himself in glory. After the Battle of Arcola, the legend was born; after the Battle of Rivoli, the Hero of a whole country had arisen… This book reveals various aspects of the final months of the campaign. The initial chapters describe the battles and the manoeuvres, with the tactical import of the victories as well as the strategic value of Bonaparte’s vision. The second part deals with technical aspects and uniforms of the units on both sides. The third looks more closely at the “booty” picked up by the young general, and deals with the cultural, economic and political dimensions of Bonaparte’s first successful campaign. In his account, the author insists on the daily life of the va-nu-pieds (barefoot soldiers) in the Army of Italy and the important role they had in creating the myth. With this first book describing one of the future Emperor of France’s most incredible campaigns, Editions Heimdal paints the first strokes on the canvas of the Napoleonic legend to come. Language : French

Read more less

Ils venaient des six coins de l'Hexagone, de tous les horizons, il y en a même qui venaient de notre Empire colonial éclaté. ils n'avaient pas tous la même culture, ni les mêmes convictions. Caporaux, sous-officiers et officiers, ils étaient de tous grades mais tous, sans exception, se portèrent volontaires. Ils n'étaient pas tous destinés à devenir des amis, et ils le devinrent même s'ils n'avaient pas tous suivi le même chemin, mais ils avaient tous le même but : le rétablissement, dans l'honneur, de la splendeur passée de leur Patrie. Ils nous ont tous quitté aujourd'hui mais ils n'ont jamais failli à leur tâche immense, celle de redorer le blason des Ailes françaises, de ressouder ses ailes fracturées, pour à travers elles, redonner à la France le niveau qui était le sien avant cette funeste année 1940 où elles furent, injustement, jugées responsables de sa défaite. Les Russes leur ont fourni de remarquables outils avec lesquels ils ont façonné le joyau que fut leur unité : le groupe de chasse Normandie devenu, par la volonté des Soviétiques, le Régiment Normandie-Niemen. De nombreux ouvrages ont déjà rapporté leurs exploits, mais ils méritent que leur mémoire soit encore et encore célébrée, et portée comme exemple pour les générations futures pour faire comprendre comment la France pays vaincu, bafoué, martyrisé a pu, grâce à une poignée d'entre eux - 96 exactement - en quatre ans, se rasseoir au banc des grandes nations en montrant au Monde que la France combattait sur tous les fronts. Il suffit parfois de l'ardeur d'une poignée d'hommes au combat pour convaincre et forcer l'admiration de certains - Staline en l'occurrence. C'est le portrait d'une quinzaine d'entre eux qui est brossé dans ces pages ainsi qu'une description abondamment illustrée par des profils couleurs de leurs «montures» : les chasseurs Yakovlev, choisis sans doute parce que leur moteur était une évolution du moteur français Hispano-Suiza 12Y français. L'auteur, ancien président de l'aéro-club de Caen, lui-même organisateur de meetings aériens du Souvenir a très bien connu le général Risso, qui fut directeur des Meetings Nationaux dans les années 70 puis, plus tard, quand il venait en Normandie, de temps en temps pour des commémorations. Il a construit plusieurs saynètes pour le musée des Andelys et a été invité le 20 juin 1999 à la cérémonie suivie du banquet à l'issue duquel le général Risso, en compagnie du Commandant Lorillon, a déclaré que faute d'adhérents, il se voyait contraint de mettre fin à l'association des Anciens du Normandie-Niemen 39-45. Il a déclaré que désormais leur épopée appartenait à l'Histoire. Le général Risso nous a quitté le 24 novembre 2005 et le commandant Lorillon le 17 février 2013. Il restait alors deux survivants des pilotes du Normandie de la Seconde Guerre mondiale : Jean Sauvage et Gaël Taburet. Jean Sauvage est décédé le 22 août 2014 et Gaël Taburet le 10 février 2017. Ce jour-là, avec sa disparition, une page de gloire de l'Armée de l'Air a été tournée. Ces 96 héros appartiennent désormais à l'Histoire. François Robinard a recueilli les souvenirs de cinq d'entre eux, sauvés par l'histoire, principalement ceux du Général Risso. Ils constituent la base de cet ouvrage. They came from across France, from all walks of life and all military ranks, but joined together as volunteers as the French fighter group, Normandy-Niemen after France had fallen to the Nazis. This book provides a portrait of fifteen pilots and is illustrated with colour profiles of their planes, the Soviet “Yak” fighters. Becoming operational in 1943 the squadron were a formidable military unit battling alongside the Soviets on the Eastern Front. The author, former president of the Caen flying club, and an organiser of Memorial airshows, knew pilot General Risso personally. Text in French.

Read more less

When U-172, commanded by Carl Emmermann left Kiel on 22 April 1942, the second lucky period for German submarines was ending with the Americans setting up convoys along their coast. From the beginning of the conflict, the means of fighting submarines brought in to play by the Allies, had increased considerably : development of on-board radar, increased numbers of escorts and planes, decrypting submarine radio messages, etc. As a result, combat conditions had seriously deteriorated on the German side. However, from May 1942 to September 1943, Carl Emmermann’s U-172 sank 26 ships during combat patrols, and thus overtook the 150 000-ton figure of Allied shipping destroyed. U-172 was thus 15th of all the U-Boote which had obtained the best results, an exceptional result considering the period in the war. First of all because this submarine went to areas which were especially distant where success was still possible: the Caribbean for the first mission; the Cape in South Africa for the second where it took part in a surprise attack in a zone where no U-Boot had ever strayed until then; the centre of the Atlantic for its third mission where two convoys were chased in a pack right up to the African coast; the coast of Brazil for the fourth where it was the only one out of seven U-Boote engaged to return. The captain was an good officer and much liked by his men: members of a crew attached to their CO who held on to them preciously from one mission to the next. At the end of his 4th combat mission, Carl Emmermann was the 25th commanding officer of the submarine arm to be awarded the Knights Cross with oak leaves. He accepted a land posting and became the head of the 6th Flotilla at Saint-Nazaire at the beginning of November 1943. U-172 which had already survived 12 air and sea attacks, left on its 6th and last patrol. Without its charismatic captain and in even more difficult combat conditions, it was sunk 21 days after it left. The access the author, a U-Boot specialist, had to Emmermann’s photos preserved in the U-Boot-Archiv and to several photos taken by Helmut Berndt, the war correspondent, enabled the book to illustrate this particular captain’s surprising patrols with 250 exceptional unpublished photos. Thanks to the translation of the log book, to the eye-witness account by Captain Emmermann himself and the patrol sketches, you can follow U-172 on its missions across distant oceans…

Read more less

“The Guard charges” Napoleon gave special attention to this splendid unit – the Imperial Guard – and it became a sort of little army within the “Grande Armée”. This study of its organisation is here at its most erudite, like the one on the uniforms and equipment. Discover the uniforms, the equipment, and the weapons used by all those “Grognards”, who were launched into a battle as a last resort, at the decisive moment. Explaining how the Guard was organised into Old, Middle and Young Guards, in this volume, the illustrator-researcher André Jouineau shows the colonel-generals, the grenadiers, the chasseurs à pied, fusiliers, velites, flanqueurs, wards, workmen, sappers, doctors, magistrates and foot gunners; in the second volume he shows the centaurs of the Guard’s cavalry. This small practical, clear, concise, logical and visual tool is a real vade mecum, intended for imperial history buffs as well as figurine makers. The third volume – a compilation of two dossiers published in the fifth and sixth issues of the magazine ”Soldat” – is the new, improved, entirely revised and re-drawn larger version (more than fifty per cent more characters) than the previous work published several years ago now by the authors. In this volume : the last mounted units of the Guard, the follow-up units, the Horse Artillery, the Artillery trains and teams, the Health Service, the Guard HQ Staff but also the Emperor’s Household, the Emperor and the first uniforms of the Royal Guard.

Read more less

Thanks to albums belonging to one of the sailors aboard U-30 and then U-110, the author has been able to reconstruct the path taken by Kapitänleutnant Fritz Lemp and his crew, including the sailor Willi Brohm, and the fate of these submarines, with texts and also pictures. We begin the story with the sailor’s enrolment in 1936 at Cuxhaven, then aboard U-30. Then we take a look at a little-known page of history : the engagement of U-Boots in the Spanish Civil War, after 1937, with photos taken at Cadiz, Seville, Ceuta, Tetuan and the Canary Islands. It was then the beginning of the war with a good report on the U-30 under Captain Lemp. Aboard this submarine, Lemp carried off a series of successes (17 kills) which earned him the Ritterkreuz which he received on 14 August 1940, one of the first awarded to the U-Boot arm. His first engagement and success however were marred by a tragic mistake when he sank the liner Athena causing the death of civilians, including 22 Americans. He was then transferred aboard U-110 whose second patrol ended in tragedy. The submarine was attacked on 9 May 1941 in the North Atlantic. The U-boot was damaged and surfaced; most of the crew evacuated it including the sailor Willi Brohm. Captain Lemp remained aboard, probably intending to scuttle U-110, but British sailors from HMS Bulldog had time to get hold of the Enigma machine the submarine used, which had a considerable effect on the outcome of the war. Fritz Lemp disappeared with his submarine in the waters of the Atlantic. As for Willi Brohm, we follow him into captivity to Canada, with very rare and exceptional photos. A fantastic, historic album gathering together more than 200 photos and documents of which 160 photos from our own archives ; various documents are unpublished. Text in French.

Read more less

Panem et circenses, “bread and circuses”. Juvenal’s expression denouncing the Roman plebs whose only ambitions were the distribution of free wheat and a passion for games gives a rather good idea of Roman society’s rather special character in the days of the first emperors. But you mustn’t be taken in: the picture of the Circus Maximus holding gladiator fights is sheer fiction. Except for chariot races and athletics competitions, the only fights held there involved men in arms equipped with helmets and swords (bestiarii) and hunters with spears (venatores) against ferocious beasts in the context of the venationes. The Forum was the circus during the Republic. This public space – reorganised for the occasion – was used as the showcase for the first gladiator fights well before the amphitheatre in Pompeii was created. Later, the amphitheatre was to become the inescapable symbol of town urbanism, like the Coliseum in Rome. This book offers the reader almost 800 years of history, from the “proto” ethnic gladiators (4th Century B.C.) to the imperial gladiator fights organised under Augustus, from hunting in the circus (mid 3rd Century B.C.) to the various arena shows, from the gladiator emperors to the Christian authors denouncing the amphitheatre’s sacrileges. Based on archaeological documentation (terra sigillata, baked earthen lamps, painted coatings, graffiti, glasswork, lapidary elements, etc.) and on solid literary sources, this study provides the most recent historical research on the subject so as to offer a more original study of this prodigious social phenomenon.

Read more less

In France, there are not many books on runes. Ever since the “Introduction to Runology” by Lucien Musset in 1965, very few works have been published on this subject, which is nonetheless very rich. This new work enables the various opportunities of research on the appearance of the runes in Northern Europe to be analysed and understood. The author deals with all the theories that have been voiced and gives a novel analysis to runic inscriptions. He details the main epigraphic sources in old Fuþark of the German Iron Age and places them in their historical context. This work also offers an interesting analysis of the symbolism of the different types of inscriptions, like “ALU”, “LAUKAZ” or “OTA”. Understanding these recurrent inscriptions throughout Northern Europe enables one to revive the mental universe of these ancient Germans.

Read more less

Following his book on the role of the 1st Marine Division in the battle of Iwo Jima, Charles Trang hs written an encyclopedic study of the Marines in the Pacific 1941-1945. Each camplaign is treated in detail individually accompamied by first-hand accounts and photos, many previously unpublished. Corregidor, Wake, Midway, Guadalcanal, Makin, Bougainville,Rabaul, Tarawa, Marshall Islands, Cape Gloucester, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, bloody, pitiless battles where the Marines forged their rerputation for tenacity, implacability and professionalism rarely equalled during the Second World War. This book looks at all the various units of the USMC, orders of battle, command stuctures and profiles of all the recipients of the Medal of Honor.

Read more less

Construit à plus de 12 000 exemplaires dans six versions principales, utilisé par certaines forces aériennes jusque dans les années 1970, mais surtout avion emblématique de la guerre du Pacifique et véritable vedette du petit écran, le Chance Vought F4U Corsair est assurément l’un des avions les plus célèbres de l’histoire de l’Aviation. Immédiatement reconnaissable à sa voilure en « ailes de mouette », configuration imposée par son hélice de très grand diamètre, le Corsair, après des débuts difficiles, fut l’un des artisans du succès de l’aéronavale américaine pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, y gagnant au passage son surnom de « mort sifflante », en raison du bruit engendré par son moteur et sa voilure lors des attaques. Faute d’un successeur disponible et efficace, il reprit aillamment du service lors de la guerre de Corée au cours de laquelle il effectua près de 80% des missions d’attaque au sol. Si les États Unis furent les principaux utilisateurs du F4U, la Fleet Air Arm britannique l’utilisa dès le Second Conflit mondial, y compris sur le théâtre d’opérations européen, tandis que la France, pour laquelle une version spécifique fut fabriquée par Vought, ne retira du service ses derniers Corsair qu’au début des années 1960, après les avoir utilisés au combat en Algérie et à Suez.

Read more less

Ce nouvel album illustré de près de 200 pages nous présente dix témoignages de vétérans de la 12.SS-Panzer-Division «Hitlerjugend» ayant combattu en Normandie. Ces témoignages, communiqués à l’auteur, sont présentés chronologiquement, illustrés de près de 300 photos, inédites pour la plus grande partie, avec des documents ayant appartenu à ces combattants. Un nouveau document permettant de retrouver l’enfer de la bataille de Normandie en un vrai reportage captivant.

Read more less

Deprun's richly illustrated two-volume study of the German armored unit, the 2. Panzer-Division (Wiener) will finally be complete in 2016. The author, Frederic Deprun, devoted more than ten years to meticulously studying the 'engagement of this armored force in the Norman hedgerow'. The first part retraces the reformation of the unit while waiting for the landing to Arras, and goes on to tell of the murderous fights before Caumont-l'Evente, Cahagnes, Cheux then Maysur-Orne in June and July 1944. In the second work the author accounts for the impotence of the Panzer unit in containing the Allied offensive from the south of Saint-Lo at the end of July 1944, as well as that of Mortain and the encirclement of the men of the Unity at the Trident in the Kessel of Chambois / Argentan. The two volumes of 350 pages illustrated with 800 unpublished photographs and more than 60 maps, leads the reader through multiple testimonies of the tragic paths of the soldiers in the 2. Panzerdivision of the Calvados until the crossing of the Seine. Text in French.

Read more less

Le projet d’une étude en deux volumes richement illustrés concernant l’unité de blindés allemande, la (Wiener) 2.Panzer-Division va enfin aboutir en 2016. L’auteur Frédéric Deprun a consacré plus de dix années à méticuleusement étudier l’engagement de cette force blindée dans le bocage normand. La première partie se propose de retracer la reformation de l’unité dans l’attente du débarquement vers Arras pour conduire le lecteur sur les combats meurtriers devant Caumont-l’Eventé, Cahagnes, Cheux puis à Maysur-Orne en juin et juillet 1944. Il fallait rendre compte dans un deuxième ouvrage de l’impuissance de l’unité de Panzer à contenir l’offensive alliée du sud de Saint-Lô à la fin juillet 1944, de celle de Mortain jusqu’à l’encerclement des hommes de l’unité au Trident dans le Kessel de Chambois/Argentan.

Read more less

Villers-Bocage is undoubtedly one of the most emblematic actions the Battle of Normandy. Many historians have recounted documented way the events of 13 June 1944, including the destruction of a British armored column by Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann in a Tiger I. - TEXT IN FRENCH -

Read more less

4 juin 1944, 18h30, sud de l'Angleterre. Des officiers de liaison montent à bord de vingt-deux bâtiments français. Enfermés avec les commandants, ils leur remettent une grande enveloppe cachetée. Dès le départ des Anglais, les « pachas » découvrent leur mission dans l'opération « Neptune » (nom de code donné au débarquement des troupes alliées en Normandie). Les équipages sont réunis. Les hommes découvrent qu'ils seront les premiers Français à contribuer au débarquement. Beaucoup parmi ces marins venus de France qui vont participer à la plus vaste opération navale de tous les temps ont rejoint de Gaulle en Grande-Bretagne. En revanche certains, à commencer par leur chef l'Amiral Jaujard, sont plus réticents à l'égard du général. C'est l'histoire de ces bateaux et de ces hommes qui forme le coeur du livre. Parmi eux, Querville avec son sous-marin la Junon qui a débarqué en Norvège un commando chargé de faire sauter une usine d'eau lourde; ou Levasseur avec l'Aconit qui a coulé deux U-Boote en douze heures. La participation des marins français est rarement, voire jamais, évoquée lorsqu'on célèbre les anniversaires du débarquement en Normandie. Il n'est que temps de réparer l'injustice faite à ces hommes, à leurs bâtiments et à la Marine Nationale.

Read more less

Villers-Bocage is undoubtedly one of the most emblematic operations of the Battle of Normandy. Many historians have analysed the events of the 13th of June 1944, with particular emphasis on the destruction of a British armoured column by the Tigers of the Obersturmfuhrer Michael Wittmann. Despite the fact one might consider this subject broadly covered, there are still unknown details to bring to light. Yann Jouault and Frederic Deprun present an incisive and extremely detailed study of the events of this fateful day, an ‘autopsy’ of the battle made possible by new evidence and never-before-published photographs. The authors pursued these leads to establish a precise and unbiased chronology of the day’s events, from the opening of hostilities between the 7th Armoured Division and Wittman up until the destruction of the last Tiger of the SS Panzer Abteilung 101 within the village. The study is broken up into two parts: Wittman’s final victory and the defeat of the Tigers, inviting a better understanding of the facts and freeing the subject from its persistent myths and legends. 192 pages, in colour, text in French.

Read more less

Beginning on June 6, the Allies were able to establish their first airfields in Normandy. Here we will discover the fifty airfields that played an essential role in the Allied victory in Normandy. The authors offer detailed descriptions, maps, and archival photos for each of the airfields. In addition to the technical plans for the runways, the squadrons assigned to the airfields along with more than one hundred colour profiles of the aircraft are included. French Language

Read more less

• A newly updated edition of this highly regarded volume on the Normandy landings and battles in English and French Heimdal’s first Album Mémorial appeared in July 1983, complete with over 1000 photographs, and proved to be a tremendous success. With all the information in both French and English, during a period when similar works were scarce, it sold close to 50,000 copies during the following decade. The times may have changed, but this album has taken on a mythical quality and is still fulfilling the need for a detailed description of the landing and Normandy battle. Twenty-seven years later, here is a newly updated account of this dramatic period from history in all its splendour.

Read more less

“The Guard Attacks!”. The Imperial Guard, this glorious phalange, the fruit of the Emperor Napoleon’s greatest attention, was almost an army within the “Grande Armée”. This study of the Guard’s organisation, uniforms and equipment is fully comprehensive.Vol. I: Discover the uniforms, equipment and weaponry of the Old Guard, often the last resort to be thrown into battle at the decisive moment. The illustrator and researcher, André Jouineau presents here a fully comprehensive overview of all aspects, regiments, etc. of the French Imperial Guard.Vol. II Continues where vol. I ended with a wealth of images to conclude this fully comprehensive overview of the Imperial Guard.

Read more less

Éclairé par les récentes découvertes, cet ouvrage propose enfin un récit précis, détaillé et dynamique, adapté aussi bien aux néophytes qu’aux passionnés, de la spectaculaire bataille menée par les Rangers et les forces de la Wehrmacht sur la Pointe du Hoc. La prise de la Pointe du Hoc, le 6 juin 1944, constitue l’un des événements les plus spectaculaires du Jour J. Deux cent vingt-cinq soldats américains, surentrainés, se voient confier « la plus dure des missions », selon les mots du General Bradley : escalader des falaises de plus de trente mètres de haut, prendre d’assaut une position allemande hautement défendue et y détruire six canons susceptibles de déverser un feu dévastateur sur les plages d’Utah et Omaha Beach. Voici le récit complet de cet événement. Nous commençons par les lointaines origines des Rangers au tout début du dix-septième siècle et les premiers colons d’Amérique. Après la mise en place de cette élite de soldats en 1942, on y découvre leur long et douloureux entraînement aux États-Unis et au Royaume-Uni ainsi que les premiers combats sur Dieppe, en Afrique du Nord, en Sicile et en Italie. Puis vient le débarquement du 6 juin 1944. Un détaillé très minutieux des bombardements sur la Pointe du Hoc nous permet de saisir toute la puissance des destructions que subit le point d’appui en vue de l’assaut. Le récit complet de l’incroyable traversée en mer des Rangers jusqu’aux plages de Normandie nous plonge ensuite rapidement au coeur d’Overlord. Puis, il laisse place aux violents combats jusqu’au 8 juin, sur la Pointe du Hoc, mais aussi tous les affrontements sur Omaha Beach. De nombreux témoignages poignants, de soldats mais aussi de civils normands, permettent de rentrer dans l’âme de la bataille. Après la prise de la Pointe du Hoc, nous est révélé l’avenir des Rangers en Europe et le destin très singulier de certains d’entre-eux après la guerre. Plus de deux cent soixante-dix photographies, dont de nombreuses inédites et en haute définition, ainsi que des cartes intuitives, permettent de se repérer sur les champs de bataille. Un détaillé des bombardiers, des péniches et du matériel innombrable utilisé pour les combats offre, en plus, un éclairage passionnant pour se plonger dans l’événement et répondre de manière poussée à de nombreuses questions.

Read more less

Of D-Day, everybody remembers the American paratroopers dropping over Sainte-Mère-Eglise, the bloodbath at Omaha Beach, the heroic capture of the Point du Hoc, or again the 177 French Commandoes landing at Ouistreham. What everybody forgets was that in the middle of this front, there was a sector, Gold Beach, where the Allied offensive turned out to be particularly effective, so much so that by the evening of 6 June the 25 000 British soldiers who set foot on the beaches at Asnelles and Ver-sur-mer had reached their objectives, in particular the control of the Caen-Bayeux road and liberated Bayeux the next day. But Gold Beach was also the story of the technical expertise resulting in the building of the artificial port at Arromanches and changing Port-en-Bessin into a “petrol station” supplying the whole of the Allied armada. It was in the Gold Beach sector that Sergeant Stan Hallis earned his Victoria Cross (the highest British military award) in recompense for his acts of bravery, the only one awarded in Normandy. It was for all these reasons that the British Government chose Gold Beach and in particular the village of Ver-sur-Mer to set up the Memorial bearing the names of some 21 000 United Kingdom soldiers killed on D-Day or during the Battle of Normandy. A book was therefore needed for Gold Beach to obtain a rightful place of its own in history among the five landing beaches. Thanks to the exceptional documentation gathered over more than half a century by Philippe Bauduin, a recognised specialist of D-Day, born in Ver-sur-mer, this richly illustrated book reminds you of what was at stake in this sector of D-Day, and tells the story of what happened there, nearest the participants. After the success of Jour-J, ce qu’on ne vous a pas raconté, les secrets du Débarquement, published in 2016, Philippe Bauduin and Jean-Charles continue their work together with this most recent book devoted to 6 June 1944.

Read more less

An original idea, unsuspected focal points, picturesque and touching characters, twenty years between war and peace, this is what the pages of this book offer: a story of Lyon seen through the prism of the adventures and the tribulations of several protagonists who, to say the least, are original : Journalists, authors, artists, fantasists, gastronomes, among whom Marcel Grancher, Frédéric Dard and Curnonsky. This story takes place at the beginning of the 1930s in Lyon with five great daily newspapers, a lot of periodicals and a lot of specialised documentation covering the very varied domains available to the people of Lyon. This story takes place during ten years of uneasy peace, five years of war and five years of renewed freedom afterwards. It ends at the beginning of the 1950s. It was yesterday, it was last century. Behind intensive literary activity we find here the atmosphere of the bistrots, the bars and the little restaurants in the Rue Bellecordière or the Rue Confort, just so many places of conviviality, encounters and exchanges. A book of great wealth where each chapter portrays a character, who is often picturesque, or a literary or culinary event.

Read more less

It seemed that 1798 was a year like any other. In appearance only. Indeed, the year seemed to finish off the infernal ten-year period which started in 1789. France had quietened down and consolidated its borders. It was a bigger country which saw out the 18th Century, but a country in which the ashes from the fires lit earlier still glowed red, flaring up with the slightest breath of air… Starting in peace, 1798 ended with the clash of fighting. With this book by Lionel Marquis, a journalist and renowned historian, discover this turning point when the Egyptian Campaign under the young General Bonaparte took up centre stage.

Read more less

The liberation of Carentan is not well-known even though it wasn’t just an anecdote in the Battle of Normandy. It was in fact the object of ferocious fighting from 9 to 13 June 1944 with two elite units confronting each other: the American paratroopers from the 101st Airborne and the Fallschirmjäger of the FJR 6. General Maxwell Taylor, commanding the 101st Airborne used the whole of his division with its four airborne regiments but also all the supporting units, its four airborne artillery batteries, its medical units and its logistics to encircle the town and to chase out the German paratroopers under Major Freiherr von der Heydte; they left after fierce fighting during the night of 11-12 June only to return the next day with the 17. SS-Pz-Gren-Div. “Goetz von Berlinchingen”. The German losses as well as those of the Americans were very heavy, as were those of the civilians (the town centre still bears the signs). This book gives a detailed account of the Battle of Carentan. The accounts given by the participants in the battle enable the feats of arms to be recorded; they are always poignant, moving even. Each story is a personal epic in itself. This book modestly gathers together some of these individual adventures, throwing a profoundly human light on the complexity and the violence of the fighting for the liberation of this region in the Cotentin Peninsula. For example, Edward David Shames, one of the last heroes of Carentan still alive. Born 13 June, he thought his last hour had come on… 13 June 1944. For these reasons, Carentan holds a special place in his memories. It was also where he landed at 01h40 on D-Day. Also Don Rich who was wounded in the legs by machine gun fire in G-Company’s charge, during the attack on the town. Let’s mention also the Californian Staff Sergeant Thomas M. Rice (C/501st) who experienced a Dantesque experience in the Barquette Locks sector, his battalion’s objective. An obvious must-have for all Battle of Normandy buffs, or for readers sensitive to the human aspects of the war.

Read more less

L'histoire de la première Porche, la 356, de sa création en 1948 à la fin de la production en 1965.

Read more less

La présentation d’une nouvelle Alpine en 2017 a redonné vie à une marque mythique, disparue depuis 22 longues années. Alpine était née de la passion d’un homme, Jean Rédélé, qui donna vie à son rêve en 1955. Résolument sportive les premières Alpine se feront une place respectée dans le rallye. Tributaires des mécaniques Renault, elles sauront en tirer le meilleur parti grâce à Amédée Gordini et Marc Mignotet, mais aussi grâce à une structure originale dont elles furent les pionnières, le châssis-poutre. Le modèle le plus emblématique, la berlinette A 110 dominera le rallye européen dans les années 1960, face à des adversaires souvent mieux armés, avant de s’adjuger le titre de première championne du monde des rallyes en 1973. Les 24 Heures du Mans seront une autre aventure qui se terminera avec Renault et la victoire de 1978. Les prix atteints dans les récentes ventes aux enchères auprès des collectionneurs donnent la mesure de la passion qui continue d’animer les nombreux amateurs de la marque. Text in French.

Read more less

Four years before the Normandy landings, the French coast was the scene of another major episode in the Second World War. This was Operation Dynamo, much less well known than D-Day. And yet you only have to look at the statistics to see how important this part of the story of the Campaign of France was: between 27 May and 4 June, almost 340 000 French and British troops were evacuated from the Dunkirk pocket by a miscellaneous fleet of 850 boats, among which hundreds of fishing vessels, pleasure boats, lifeboats or Merchant Navy vessels. Thanks to the sailors’ courage but also the RAF pilots’ skill, this operation without precedent was a success which enabled the British to continue to fight the Germans, even though they had to leave behind most of their equipment and weapons. Replaced in its context, Operation Dynamo is here narrated in detail with numerous period photos, maps, aircraft profiles and uniform plates. This military operation and human adventure without precedent breathes again, 77 years later thanks to the film director Christopher Nolan, the author of the Batman trilogy and Interstellar which, with Dunkirk, has become an international blockbuster, to which a chapter of this book is devoted

Read more less

"On 6 June 1944, on the beaches, as well as inland, with very few exceptions, all orders and reports for all the fighting arms were transmitted by electric radios." Until now, no encyclopaedia has ever presented so much transmission equipment to such a large number of readers. Although not exhaustive, Les Radios alliées, 1940-1945's two volumes invite you to delve into a world that many collectors of WWII military memorabilia don't even suspect exists. Radio is a world that has yet to be discovered, a world where it is still possible to find a genuine collector's item that has seen combat. Any enthusiast reading about the fighting in Europe – from the Normandy beaches to VE Day – should know how complex the means of radio-electric communication used by the Allies were. The descriptions accompanying the apparatus are taken entirely from the original technical data and specifications. No less than 160 transmission apparatuses – BC 611, BC 1306, Wireless Set N° 18, N° 19 or the Amplifiers RF N° 2 and Wavemeters Class D, etc. – used by the Anglo-Saxon forces (English, American, Canadian, New-Zealand and French) are all fully shown as they were, in all their complexity and with all their accessories. Text in French.

Read more less

This title, a perfect guide to the Viking age, offers an exhaustive survey of the archaeology and history of medieval Scandinavia during the eighth and ninth centuries. The author begins his historical tour at the twilight of the Iron Age in Germany as the foundations of Viking society can be found there. Rather than concentrating on the warrior aspects, he looks at differences within Scandinavian societies such as the art of war, the expansion of Scandinavia, writing, religion and how these societies functioned. These differences are demonstrated through objects from the Scandinavian sphere and numerous photographs of reconstructions of objects which help to visualise the life of the Norsemen.

Read more less

On 17th June 1940, the French army, having followed the order given by Weygrand on June 13th, was in full retreat towards the South West with the Germans in pursuit and under orders from Hitler’s directive of 14th June to destroy the French Army. The new head of government. Marshal Petain, announced over the radio the sad pronouncement that the fighting must stop. The Germans aimed to exploit this command to encourage French troupes to surrender themselves. Despite this, numbers of French soldiers, named by Roger Bruge ‘The Fighters of June 18th, courageously continued fighting along the Loire, along the canal of the Marne to the Rhine, and the Maginot Line. Fighting also continued along the Alps in an attempt to win back from the Italians the territories ceded as part of the Armistice. This book recreates these last tragic eight days of the campaign.

Read more less

Rares sont les photographies en couleur de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et encore plus rares lorsqu’elles montrent une unité de la Waffen-SS. Le SS-Kriegsberichter Mitschke a pu bénéficier de cette technologie, encore peu répandue à l’époque, pour un reportage d’une quarantaine de clichés montrant la SS-Gebirgs-Division «Nord» sur le front de Finlande. Il s’agit donc d’un document exceptionnel que nous avons le privilège de vous présenter. Les photographies offrent un panorama des plus variés sur la vie de cette division dans le cadre spectaculaire de la forêt de Carélie. Cet ouvrage est aussi l’occasion d’apporter des éléments nouveaux sur cette unité par rapport au texte que nous avions publié dans le Dictionnaire de la Waffen-SS. Historique illustré.

Read more less

À partir d’une incroyable collection de photos découverte dans la base sous-marine des U-Boote de Brest à la fin de la guerre, et restée cachée jusqu’à récemment dans une boîte à chaussure, ce livre exceptionnel retrace l’histoire complète d’un U-Boot en mission au cours de l’été 1942. Le sous-marin en question, l’U-564, arbore le célèbre motif à « 3 chats noirs » de « Teddy Suhren » qui, avec Prien et Kretschmer, était l’un des grands commandants d’U-Boot durant la bataille de l’Atlantique. Ce livre remarquable fournit un éclairage unique à la fois sur la vie au jour le jour dans un U-Boot en immersion et sur les rouages complexes de la Kriegsmarine. Au travers des succès et des épreuves de l’U-564, le lecteur est emmené dans cet immense champ de bataille naval qui est peut-être l’un des plus importants théâtres de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Read more less

In this book, Matthew LONG offers us a unique evocation detailed and complete the journey to Eugene B. SLEDGE, using a mortar 1st Marine Division who fought on the front Pacific during the last year war. Describing the battles of the Marines Peleliu and Okinawa, the author relates, step by step, each tragic moment marking the journey of the character warrior central narrative. The book also includes a rich set of charts descriptions informing us the composition of the units and accurate information on weapons and the equipment in use among the troops of the US Marine Corps at that time. - TEXT IN FRENCH -

Read more less

Here is an unpublished work about the Wallonie Legion and its members engaged on the Eastern Front in the uniform of the Heer from 1941 to 1945. Here the reader will dive into the archives and documents still mostly unpublished to this date, including previously unedited stories and also tales of the legionnaires. It offers biographies of most of the officers. One will also find rare and previously unseen archives of newspapers and propaganda for the Wallonie Legion, shedding light on its development and international reputation, so important to the morale of the Legionaries and the families of these men. This work is rich in both written and photographic documentation along with previously undisclosed information about the activities and services LW. It will provide researchers and amateur historians of the Legion many details and clarifications about the"uses and customs," service organisations and actions both inside and outside the LW.

Read more less