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Patton's Air Force
By David N. Spires. 2014
From the time the Third Army became operational on August 1, 1944, until the guns fell silent on May 8,…
1945, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton's troops covered more ground and took more enemy prisoners than any other Allied army in northwest Europe. Brig. Gen. Otto P. Weyland's XIX Tactical Air Command (TAC) provided air support every step of the way. Their combined success is something of an anomaly; air-ground relationships are notoriously confrontational and plagued with inter-service competition. How did Patton and Weyland work together to achieve such astounding success? Drawing on exclusive access to official records, David N. Spires finds that this success was due to four key developments: the maturation of tactical aviation doctrine, effective organizational procedures, a technical revolution in equipment, and, above all, the presence of pragmatic men of goodwill who made the system work. He focuses on the highly effective personal relationship between Patton and Weyland -- men who respected, trusted, and fully relied on each other and their respective subordinates. This collaboration extended all the way down the chain of command: Patton's ground troops and Weyland's airmen trained together in England, and so by the time they entered combat, they operated together as a single unit. Contrary to conventional wisdom, air-ground relationships in the field can be cooperative rather than confrontational. Today's air and ground officers can continue to benefit from the amazing success of the Third Army and the XIX TAC.War in Val d'Orcia: An Italian War Diary, 1943-1944
By Virginia Nicholson, Iris Origo. 2001
In the Second World War Italy was torn apart by German armies civil war and the Allied…
invasion In a corner of Tuscany one woman born in England married to an Italian kept a record of daily life in a country at war Iris Origo s powerful diary War in Val d Orcia is the spare and vivid account of what happened when a peaceful farming valley became a battleground At great personal risk the Origos gave food and shelter to partisans deserters and refugees They took in evacuees and as the front drew closer they faced the knowledge that the lives of thirty-two small children depended on them Origo writes with sensitivity and generosity and a story emerges of human acts of heroism and compassion and the devastation that war can bringA Chill in the Air: An Italian War Diary, 1939-1940
By Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Iris Origo, Katia Lysy. 2017
In 1939 it was not a foregone conclusion that Mussolini would enter World War II on the side of Hitler…
In this previously unpublished and only recently discovered diary Iris Origo author of the classic War in Val d Orcia provides a vivid account of how Mussolini decided on a course of action that would devastate his country and ultimately destroy his regime Though the British-born Origo lived with her Italian husband on an estate in a remote part of Tuscany she was supremely well-connected and regularly in touch with intellectual and diplomatic circles in Rome where her godfather William Phillips was the American ambassador Her diary describes the Fascist government s growing infatuation with Nazi Germany as Hitler s armies marched triumphantly across Europe and the campaign of propaganda and intimidation that was mounted in support of its new aims The book ends with the birth of Origo s daughter and Origo s decision to go to Rome to work with prisoners of war at the Italian Red Cross Together with War in Val d Orcia A Chill in the Air o ers an indispensable record of Italy at war as well as a thrilling story of a formidable woman s transformation from observer to actor at a great historical turning pointWhen Churchill Slaughtered Sheep
By Giles Milton. 2015
In this marvellous collection of fascinating footnotes, Giles Milton delves into little-known stories from history. Covering everything from adventure, war,…
murder and slavery to espionage, including the stories of the last secret of the Cold War, the man who broke into Auschwitz, the worst banker in history and the woman who gave birth for Hitler, these tales deserve to be told.On the Defensive
By Sharon Marquart. 2015
On the Defensive considers how our ethical responses to the Nazi camps have unintentionally repressed and denied the experiences of…
their victims. Through detailed readings of survivor narratives, particularly the works of political deportees Jorge Semprun and Charlotte Delbo, Sharon Marquart examines how well-intentioned people - including victims, their family members, and readers of witness literature - respond to such testimony in ways that are understood as ethical by their communities but serve instead to ignore victims' experiences.As Marquart shows, collective disasters such as the Holocaust expose the limitations of our ethical theories. To cope with this instability we withdraw and defend ourselves through inattentive and formulaic responses that turn a blind eye to the plight of victims. Challenging contemporary theorizations of community, ethics, testimony, and trauma, On the Defensive is a far-reaching reflection on the ways in which communal understandings of our duties and responsibilities to others can facilitate the denial of an atrocity's horrors.MiG-3 Aces of World War 2
By Dmitriy Khazanov, Andrey Yurgenson. 2012
Created by ex-Polikarpov designers Ivanovic Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich, the MiG-1/3 family of fighters was built to satisfy a Soviet…
Air Force requirement for an advanced, fast, high altitude fighter. Entering service in the spring of 1941, the problematic MiG-1 had its handling problems rectified with the hasty production of the MiG-3 - the latter had its Mikulin engine moved further forward, increased outer wing dihedral and a strengthened fuselage. As of 22 June 1941, Air Force manoeuvre units in the five borderline military districts could field 917 MiG-3s. Many of these were destroyed on the ground when the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa. Nevertheless, enough examples survived to allow pilots such as Stepan Suprun (Twice Hero of the Soviet Union), Aleksandr Pokryshkin (Thrice Hero of the Soviet Union) and Lev Shestakov (Hero of the Soviet Union) to claim a number of victories on the type. Early successes by units such as 23rd and 28th IAPs resulted in 35 aerial victories being claimed by MiG-3 pilots in the first eight days of the Great Patriotic War. Other units enjoyed similar levels of success, with MiG-3-equipped 15 and 31st IAP proving themselves to be the most combat-ready fighter units on the Northwestern Front. By the end of 1941, a handful of pilots had 'made ace' flying the MiG-3, despite the Soviet air forces having taken a fearful beating at the hands of the Luftwaffe. In 1942 MiG pilots actively participated in the defence of Leningrad, Moscow, Odessa, Kiev and Sevastopol, with still more aviators becoming aces as the year progressed. Amongst them was Aleksandr Pokryshkin, the second-highest scoring Russian ace with 59 victories to his name. He claimed his first five kills while flying a MiG-3 with 55th IAP. Stalin terminated MiG-3 production in October 1941, although the fighter remained in frontline service in large numbers until mid-1942. Surviving examples continued to serve with national air defence regiments until 1943.B-24 Liberator Units of the Fifteenth Air Force
By Mark Rolfe, Robert Dorr. 2000
The B-24 was heavily utilised in the North African and Mediterranean theatres by the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force, with operations…
over the Ploesti oilfields in Rumania being some of the most famous missions undertaken by the big American 'heavy' in World War II (1939-1945). The stirling work of the Fifteenth Air Force is often overshadowed by the glamorous 'Mighty Eighth', yet the men flying the B-24 fought ceaselessly right through to VE Day. This is the third of five titles planned to chart the operational history of the Consolidated heavy bomber, and is the first single volume to exclusively cover the Fifteenth Air Force's B-24 units.In The Time Of The Americans
By David Fromkin. 1995
Coming of age during World War I and attaining their finest hour in World War II and the Cold War,…
these men -- FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Marshall, MacArthur -- transformed America from an isolated frontier nation into a global superpower. As he tells their stories, Fromkin, author of A Peace to End All Peace, shows how this generation not only made America great but largely succeeded in making it a force for good.Between the Dances
By Jacqueline Dinan. 2015
The start of World War 2 changed women's lives and their place in Australian society forever. Thousands of women ventured…
where few had gone before - into the services and workplaces previously considered the sole preserve of men. In preparation for her book Between the Dances, Jacqueline Dinan, interviewed over three hundred women around Australia to collect the last first hand stories from World War 2. Revealing poignant and personal conversations, photographs and letters, Between the Dances is a testament to real life during World War 2. From Malta to Australia, New Zealand to the UK, the challenges and adventures faced by these women were unprecedented. Their passion, courage, resilience and commitment during wartime were all a precursor to the astonishing changes brought about by this incredible generation. For the first time, women were doing their bit as nurses in war zones, members of the services, farmhands, factory workers or volunteers in community service. The last tradition left was the weekly dance, which ceremoniously brought these courageous women and men together for a quickstep, fox trot and brief respite from the rigours of wartime. The accounts are enhanced by poignant, amusing and insightful anecdotes along with scores of previously unpublished and unique photographs from personal albums. Jacqueline's former experience was in corporate and art communications and events, before she embarked on her own public relations and events business. Now a regular speaker with the Country Women's Association, Australian Rotary Clubs, Legacy, Red Cross and Memorial groups, Jacqueline has become a well-known figure amongst The Returned & Services League of Australia.Italian Aces of World War 2
By Richard Caruana, Giorgio Apostolo. 2000
Flying aircraft such as the Macchi 200-202, Fiat G.50 and biplane Fiat CR.42, the Italian fighter pilots were recognised by…
their Allied counterparts as brave opponents blessed with sound flying abilities, but employing under-gunned and underpowered equipment. Following the Italian surrender in September 1943, a number of aces continued to take the fight to the Allies as part of the Luftwaffe-run ANR, which was equipped with far more potent equipment such as the Bf 109G, Macchi 205V and Fiat G.55. Flying these types, the handful of ANR squadrons continued to oppose Allied bombing raids on northern Italy until VE-Day.P-36 Hawk Aces of World War 2
By Chris Davey, Lionel Persyn. 2009
The Curtiss P-36 began its life in the US where it was considered a revolution in performance design in comparison…
to other US fighters. Its pilots achieved some of the first American victories of the war and many went on to become aces. One P-36 pilot, Frances Gabreski, became the leading US ace in the European Theater. Yet by the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the P-40 was increasingly supplanting the P-36, which the US then exported to France under the guise of the Hawk 75. Flown by the French, captured by the Germans, sold to the Finns, transferred to India and Africa, and even incorporated into the RAF, the Hawk 75 saw service in every theater of operations and in a variety of combat environments. This book depicts the fascinating life of an aircraft that fought on both sides in the war, including the oft-overlooked Vichy French Air Force, with color artwork and photographs illustrating just how many national P-36 variants there were. First hand accounts recreate many of the conflicts that gave rise to over 60 pilots from several nations who became aces flying P-36 variants. This volume completes the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces coverage of the Curtiss Hawk family.Long Reach
By Michael O'Leary. 2000
This volume focuses on the little known official Army Air Force report commissioned by the Eighth Air Force's VIII Fighter…
Command (FC) in May 1944. The detailed document chronicled the experiences of 24 pilots who had seen extensive service in the frontline escorting B-17s and B-24s on daylight raids deep into Germany. Briefed to provide a candid report on combat flying that could be used as a teaching 'manual' for potential fighter pilots, the VIII FC veterans openly discuss their secrets to success, and survival in the deadly skies over occupied Europe. Exactly half of those pilots who contributed to The Long Reach subsequently achieved ace status.B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the MTO
By William Hess. 2003
Osprey's study of the B-17 Flying Fortress Units of World War II (1939-1945). Although the Fifteenth Air Force was dismissed…
as 'minor leaguers' by the Eighth Air Force, strategic bombers from this outfit had done a 'major league' job on Axis targets in southern Europe following its formation in Italy in November 1943. And the heavy bombers employed by the Fifteenth were of course the venerable B-17 and B-24. At its peak strength, the Fifteenth's B-17 force comprised six groups of four squadrons each, all controlled by the 5th Bomb Wing. Having been a part of the Fifteenth Air Force in 1944, author Bill Hess has long been waiting to write a definitive account on 'his air force'.Polish Aces of World War 2
By Robert Gretzyngier. 1998
Pilots of the Polish Air Force saw action from the first day of World War 2 until the final victory…
in Europe. Flying hopelessly outmoded P.11 fighters in defence of their country in September 1939, a handful of aviators inflicted serious losses on the Luftwaffe before being overwhelmed. The survivors escaped to then neutral Hungary and Romania, before being ordered to France by the new C-in-C of exiled Polish Armed Forces, General Sikorski. With the invasion of Western Europe in May 1940, the surviving pilots were once more thrust into desperate action in newly-formed Polish unitsUS Navy PBY Catalina Units of the Pacific War
By Jim Laurier, Louis Dorny. 2007
Although designed in the mid-1930s and in squadron service several years prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, the PBY Catalina…
proved its soundness in combat throughout the four years that World War II raged across the Pacific. Deadly in its primary role as a submarine hunter, the PBY was the scourge of the Imperial Japanese Navy's submarine force. Its amphibious traits also made the aircraft well suited to air-sea rescue, and thousands of Allied airmen were saved from a watery grave by PBY crews. Using personal interviews, war diaries and combat reports combined with original Japanese records and books, Louis B Dorny provides a view on the role of the Catalina from both sides of the war. Illustrated with over 80 photographs and color profiles detailing aircraft markings, this is the definitive history of and insight into the PBY's use by the US Navy and Allied forces in the Pacific during World War II (1939-1945).Ardennes 1944 Peiper & Skorzeny
By David Parker, Jean-Paul Pallud. 1987
From the earliest planning stages of the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes during World War II (1939-1945), Hitler was convinced…
of the importance of taking the Meuse bridges. He resolved that, when his forces broke through the US lines, one special unit should be dressed in American uniforms and issued with American weapons and vehicles. In this guise they could take advantage of the surprise and shock of the breakthrough, and move forward to the Meuse bridges as if they were retreating Americans. Jean-Paul Pallud details their organisation and the fateful sequence of events that followed.Battle of the Bulge 1944: 115
By Howard Gerrard, Steven Zaloga. 2003
Osprey's first title examining the Battle of the Bulge, which was the largest and most costly battle fought by the…
US Army in World War II (1939-1945). The Ardennes fighting was Hitler's last gamble on the Western Front, crippling the Wehrmacht for the remainder of the war. In the first of two volumes on the Ardennes campaign Steven Zaloga details the fighting in the northern sector around St Vith and the Elsenborn Ridge. Sixth Panzer Army, containing the bulk of German Panzer strength, was expected to achieve the breakthrough here. It was the failure around St Vith that forced the Germans to look south towards Bastogne.B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the Eighth Air Force (part #2)
By Mark Styling, Martin Bowman. 2002
The Boeing B-17, which has come to epitomise the American war effort in Europe during World War II (1939-1945), took…
the fight to Germans from the late summer of 1942 through to VE-Day. Its primary operator in Western Europe was the 'Mighty Eighth', who controlled 27 bomb groups for much of the war. This second of two volumes covers the 14 Bomb Groups of the Third Air Division. First hand accounts, period photography, profile artworks and nose art scrap views bring to life aircraft from each of the groups within the Third Air Division.The Brigade
By Howard Blum, Inc. Hardscrabble Entertainment. 2001
November 1944. The British government finally agrees to send a brigade of 5,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine to Europe to…
fight the German army. But when the war ends and the soldiers witness firsthand the horrors their people have suffered in the concentration camps, the men launch a brutal and calculating campaign of vengeance, forming secret squads to identify, locate, and kill Nazi officers in hiding. Their own ferocity threatens to overwhelm them until a fortuitous encounter with an orphaned girl sets the men on a course of action--rescuing Jewish war orphans and transporting them to Palestine--that will not only change their lives but also help create a nation and forever alter the course of world history.D-Day Fortifications in Normandy
By Hugh Johnson, Steven Zaloga. 2005
German defenses along the Normandy beaches were part of the larger Atlantic Wall fortifications designed to defend Fortress Europe. When…
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel took command of the invasion front in late 1943, he began a program to enhance fortifications along the Normandy coast as he believed that any Allied assault had to be stopped on the invasion beaches themselves. His most important contribution to the defenses was an extensive program of improvised beach obstructions to complicate any landing attempt. This book analyses these fortifications and describes how the Allied forces overcame them on the morning of June 6, 1944.