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American Battles & Campaigns: A Chronicle from 1622-2010
By Chris McNab. 2016
Raids and sieges; trench warfare and air campaigns; guerrilla warfare, naval engagements, and colonial wars—American Battles & Campaigns covers every…
major campaign and battle fought in North America or by United States’ forces overseas, from the Pequot War of 1634 to the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Arranged chronologically, American Battles & Campaigns: A Chronicle, from 1622-Present includes hundreds of entries, ranging from the 1770 Boston Massacre through the Alamo (1836) and the Philippine-American War (1899–1902), to Chateau-Thierry (1918), Midway (1942) and Hue (1969). Major battles, such as Yorktown, Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor, and D-Day, are illustrated with full-color annotated 3-dimensional maps and detailed text explaining the course of the engagement. Stuffed with black and white and color photographs, battle maps, paintings and other artwork, American Battles & Campaigns contains expert accounts and analysis from thirty leading military historians.Mitsubishi Type 1 Rikko Betty Units of World War 2
By Osamu Tagaya, Mark Styling. 2001
The most produced Japanese bomber of the World War II (1939-1945), the G4M saw action on every front from the…
first day of the Pacific conflict through to VJ-Day. The 'Betty's' very long range made it a key weapon during the opening year of the war. However, to achieve this, the aircraft was built with very little protective armour for its crew or fuel tanks, and Allied pilots soon exposed its extreme vulnerability. In the first in a series of volumes examining the key Japanese aircraft of WW2, Dr Osamu Tagaya details the G4M's extensive combat history, and lists all the units which operated the bomber.Between Giants: The Battle for the Baltics in World War II
By Prit Buttar. 2013
With the exception of Poland, no region or territory suffered more greatly during World War II than the Baltic States.…
Caught between the giants of the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia became pawns in the desperate battle for control of Eastern Europe throughout the course of World War II. This is a story of conquest and exploitation, of death and deportation and the fight for survival both by countries and individuals. The three states were repeatedly occupied -- by the Soviet Union in 1939, by Germany in 1941, and again by the Soviet Union in 1944-45. In each case, local government organizations and individuals were forced to choose between supporting the occupying forces or forming partisan units. Many would be caught up in the bitter fighting in the region and, in particular, in the huge battles for the Courland bridgehead during Operation Bagration when hundreds of thousands of soldiers would fight and die in the last year of the war. Over 300,000 Soviet troops would be lost during the repeated assaults on the 'Courland Cauldron' before 146,000 German and Latvia troops were finally forced to surrender. No mercy was shown and all Latvians, Lithuanians, and Estonians who fought for Germany were executed. By the end of the war, death and deportation had cost the Baltic States over 20 percent of their total population and the iron curtain would descend on the region for over four decades. Using numerous first-hand accounts and detailed archival research, Prit Buttar weaves a magisterial account of the bitter fighting on the Eastern Front and the three small states whose fates were determined by the fortunes and misfortunes of war.Curtiss P-40 - Long-nosed Tomahawks
By Carl Molesworth. 2013
The initial version of the Curtiss P-40, designated by the manufacturer as the Hawk H-81, combined the established airframe of…
the earlier radial-powered H-75 (P-36) fighter with the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled engine. The year was 1939, and the marriage was one of expediency. With the threat of war in Europe growing by the day, the US Army Air Corps brass wanted a modern fighter that would combine the sterling handling qualities of the P-36 with a boost in performance that would make it competitive with the new types emerging in Germany and England, and the generals wanted the new plane immediately. The P-40 delivered admirably, and though it never reached the performance levels of the Bf 109 or Spitfire, the sturdy fighter nevertheless made a place in history for itself as the Army's frontline fighter when the US entered World War II. Long-nosed P-40s initially saw combat in North Africa, flying in Royal Air Force squadrons. They also fought in the skies over Pearl Harbor and the Philippines. But the long-nosed P-40 is best known as the shark-faced fighter flown by the American Volunteer Group - the legendary Flying Tigers - over Burma and China during 1941-42.Santa Cruz 1942
By Howard Gerrard, Mark Stille. 2012
Santa Cruz is the forgotten carrier battle of 1942. Despite myth, the Japanese carrier force was not destroyed at Midway…
but survived to still prove a threat in the Pacific theater. Nowhere was this clearer than in the battle of Santa Cruz of October 1942. The stalemate on the ground in the Guadalcanal campaign led to the major naval forces of both belligerents becoming inexorably more and more involved in the fighting, each seeking to win the major victory that would open the way for a breakthrough on land as well.The US Task Force 61 under the command of Rear Admiral Kinkaid and consisting of the carriers Hornet and Enterprise, as well the battleship South Dakota and a number of cruisers and destroyers, intercepted the Japanese fleet, which boasted four carriers - Shokaku, Zuikaku, Junyo and Zuiho - as well as four battleships and numerous other ships, on 26 October. Though US aircraft managed to damage the Japanese carriers seriously, in turn Hornet was so badly damaged that shed had to be sunk, while Enterprise was hit and needed extensive repairs. Both sides withdrew at the end of the action.The Japanese were able to gain a tactical victory at Santa Cruz and came very close to scoring a strategic victory, but they paid a very high price in aircraft and aircrew that prevented them from following up their victory. In terms of their invaluable aircrew, the battle was much more costly than even Midway and had a serious impact on the ability of the Japanese to carry out carrier warfare in a meaningful manner.Junkers Ju 88 Kampfgeschwader in North Africa and the Mediterranean
By John Weal. 2009
This volume follows the Luftwaffe's twin-engined Wunderbomber southwards to describe its deployment in North Africa and the Mediterranean Theater during…
World War II (1939-1945), from the Straits of Gibraltar in the west, via the beleaguered island of Malta, to the Aegean and the Suez Canal in the east. It is a story of two distinct parts - the initial lightning successes, and then the long, slow process of retreat and defeat. It began early in 1941 with the first sporadic air raids on Malta, followed in the spring by the campaign in the Balkans which resulted in the conquests of Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete. After supporting land operations in North Africa during the latter half of 1941, the Ju 88s resumed their assault on Malta. Such was their decline, however, that by the final month of the war there was just one machine left in the Mediterranean - an improved model Ju 188, which was used to drop Axis agents behind the Allied lines in Italy. Bringing the story to life are personal accounts of some of the more famous actions - the bombing of the evacuation shipping off the coast of Greece and the sinking of three Royal Navy destroyers south of Crete by the renowned 'Helbig Flyers' of LG 1, all illustrated with rare photographs and full color profiles.First Special Service Force 1942-44
By Michael Welply, Bret Werner. 2006
This is a concise history of the unique integrated commando-style brigade of US and Canadian volunteers formed in 1942. Hand…
picked, and trained in airborne, amphibious, mountain and winter warfare, demolitions and close-quarter tactics, they left a combat legacy still recognized amongst today's Special Forces. This book explores the remarkable results the FSSF achieved in Italy - in the harsh mountain fighting on the Winter Line, in the trenches of Anzio, and in the breakthrough to Rome. Accompanied by unique combat photography and illustrations of their distinctive uniforms, this is an insight into a famous, but little explored unit.US Marine Rifleman 1939-45
By Howard Gerrard, Gordon Rottman. 2006
Osprey's study of United States Marine Corps riflemen during World War II (1939-1945). It is sometimes a basic assumption that…
a US Marine Corps rifleman was essentially trained, uniformed, equipped, and armed much the same as a US Army rifleman during World War II. While there were of course similarities, the Marines conducted their own unique training programs, wore mostly different uniforms and equipment, and possessed some unique weapons, although they also used many of the same weapons as the Army. The Marine Corps was not part of the Navy, but a component of the Navy Department alongside the Navy. While the Marines specialized in amphibious warfare, the Army actually conducted more amphibious assaults in the Pacific than the Marines. The typical Marine was extremely proud of his service and acutely aware that there were only six Marine divisions but 89 Army divisions. The Marine Corps began World War II with less than 66,000 officers and men; more than that would be wounded before it ended. The Corps grew to almost 487,000. It provided only 5 percent of the US armed forces, but suffered 10 percent of overall American casualties.The Marines were able to build on their proud traditions and history to transform a small branch of service into a premier combined arms amphibious assault force. Regardless of its expansion by 750 percent, the Corps was able to maintain its sense of tradition, instill that into thousands of new Marines, and create an elite arm of service. Here, Gordon L Rottman, follows the Marine rifleman through his draft and training, and then participation in operations such as Roi-Namur in the Marshall Islands, Saipan and Tinian in the Mariana Islands, and Iwo Jima.The opening sentences of the Marine Creed, composed shortly after the attack on Pearl HarborThis is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me my rifle is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless.Tin Sky
By Ben Pastor. 2012
FOURTH IN THE MARTIN BORA SERIES.SPELLBINDING MULTI-LAYERED CRIME NOVEL SET IN UKRAINE AS THE GERMANS REGROUP AFTER THE DISASTER OF…
STALINGRAD.FOR FANS OF PHILLIP KERR (BERNIE GUNTHER SERIES), ALAN FURST (SPIES OF THE BALKANS).THE HERO, MAJOR MARTIN BORA, IS AN ARISTOCRATIC GERMAN OFFICER OF THE ILK OF CLAUS VON STAUFFENBERG, TORN BETWEEN HIS DUTY AS AN OFFICER AND HIS INTEGRITY AS A HUMAN BEING.Ukraine, 1943. Having barely escaped the inferno of Stalingrad, Major Martin Bora is serving on the Russian front as a German counterintelligence officer. Weariness, disillusionment, and battle fatigue are a soldier's daily fare, yet Bora seems to be one of the few whose sanity is not marred by the horrors of war.As the Wehrmacht prepare for the Kursk counter-offensive, a Russian general defects aboard a T-34, the most advanced tank of the war. Soon he and another general, this one previously captured, are found dead in their cells. Everything appears to exclude the likelihood of foul play, but Bora begins an investigation, in a stubborn attempt to solve a mystery that will come much too close to home.From the author of Hiding in the Spotlight, the story of the Kharkov trials, forgotten by history, which sought justice…
for the thousands killed the Ukraine, a place also overlooked in the annals of the Holocaust When one thinks of the Holocaust, we think of Auschwitz, Dachau; and when we think of justice for this terrible chapter in history, we think of Nuremberg. Not of Russia or the Ukraine, and certainly not of a city called Kharkov. But in reality, the first war-crimes trial against the Nazis was in this idyllic, peaceful Ukrainian city, which is fitting, because it is also where the Holocaust actually began.Eighteen months before the end of World War II--two full years before the opening statement by the prosecution at Nuremberg--three Nazi officers and a Ukrainian collaborator were tried and convicted of war crimes and hanged in Kharkov's public square. The trial is symbolic of the larger omission of the Ukraine from the popular history of the Holocaust--another deep irony, as most of the first of the six million perished in the Ukraine long before Hitler and his lieutenant seven decided on the formalities of the Final Solution.Ferdinand and Elefant Tank Destroyer
By Thomas Anderson. 2015
This is the story of the largest and statistically most successful tank destroyer of World War II. The Ferdinand was…
a true behemoth, and although only 91 examples were built, they took a savage toll of Soviet armor in the Battle of Kursk and subsequent operations on the Eastern Front. This study explores the technical development and combat deployment of this remarkable vehicle, from its origins in the Porsche Tiger Tank through its deployment under the designation 'Ferdinand' in the Citadel offensive, to its modification and redesignation as the 'Elefant' and final use in the desperate Battle of Berlin. Drawing on original archival material from within Germany, private collections, and heretofore unpublished photographs this title is an essential illustrated history to one of the most famous armored vehicles ever built.US Army Air Force
By Gordon Rottman, Francis Chin. 1994
While the most conspicuous components of the US Army Air Forces in World War II (1939-1945) were the air units,…
there were also hundreds of ground units and organisations. Besides assigned military personnel the AAF also employed thousands of civilians. Many unique outfits were designed to meet the AAF's special needs. Uniformed civilians also possessed a variety of unique uniforms and insignia. These general issue and specific uniforms are the subject of this volume by one of Osprey's most experienced authors, Gordon L. Rottman, whose detailed text is backed by plenty of contemporary photographs and 12 full page colour plates by Francis Chin.Operation Barbarossa 1941
By Howard Gerrard, Robert Kirchubel. 2005
Osprey's second title examining the events of Operation Barbarossa. Of the German Army Groups that attacked Soviet Russia, Von Leeb's…
Army Group North, tasked with seizing the Baltic States and Leningrad, was the smallest and weakest. General Kuznetzov's Northwestern Front, however, was in an even weaker state. Despite brave counterattacks and defense by the Soviet forces, the Germans smashed through the Dvina Line, then the Stalin Line, flooded into Latvia and pressed on to encircle Leningrad. This book examines the German offensive and also the courageous Soviet attempts to halt the German spearhead, defending every possible line against overwhelming odds.Victims of Yalta: The Secret Betrayal of the Allies, 1944–1947
By Nikolai Tolstoy. 1977
Hitler's Eagles
By Chris Mcnab. 1943
At the beginning of World War II, the Luftwaffe was the world's most advanced air force. With superior tactics, aircraft…
and training, it cut through the air forces of Poland and Western Europe in 1939 and 1940, and those of the Soviet Union in 1941.Despite this auspicious beginning, by 1945 the Luftwaffe was a dying force. The Allies were destroying German aircraft at unequal rates, and Luftwaffe aviators were dying in their thousands in an unbalanced battle to save Germany from destruction. The Luftwaffe's lack of a convincing long-range bomber force also meant that it could not return strategic devastation upon its enemies. In the words of one historian, the Luftwaffe had a 'strategy for defeat'.Hitler's Eagles - The Luftwaffe 1933-45 charts the turbulent history of the Luftwaffe from its earliest days to its downfall. It explores the secretive development of German air power during the 1920s and early 1930s, and the training of a new generation of aviators, including combat experience in the Spanish Civil War. Once Hitler was in power, the Luftwaffe came out of the shadows and expanded under a massive rearmament programme, then embarked upon the war that would define its existence. Hitler's Eagles explains the Luftwaffe's operations in every theatre of the war - Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Eastern Front. As well as providing a detailed history of the Luftwaffe's history and combat experience, the book also expands on its human and material aspects. Aces and commanders are profiled, uniforms and equipment are explained, and aircraft ranging from the Fiesler Storch to the Fw 200 Condor are described both technologically and tactically. The book conveys all the drama of the Luftwaffe's existence, from bombing raids over London to jet-fighter dogfights over Berlin, with Osprey's famous aviation artwork and more than 150 photos bringing the story incomparably to life.Destination Berchtesgaden
By Robert Jackson, John Frayn. 2012
Of the US Armies fighting in Europe at the end of World War II, General Patch's Seventh Army has received…
the least attention from historians. Although over-shadowed by the performance of General Patton and the actions of his US Third Army (breaking out of the Normandy bridgehead, liberating Paris and seizing Remagen bridge), the Seventh Army made a considerable contribution to the Allied victory, particularly their rapid advance through southern Germany and Austria. The Seventh Army landed in Sicily in 1943, and then took part in Operation Anvil in 1944 before advancing across the Rhine and reaching Berchtesgaden itself. Both the successes and setbacks of the Seventh Army are discussed in this volume, as well as discussing the tactical victories and defeats that contributed to the Allied campaign.Bf 109 Aces of North Africa and the Mediterranean
By Jerry Scutts, Chris Davey. 1994
Totally outnumbered throughout their short two-year sojourn in the Western Desert, the crack fighter pilots of the handful of Jagdgeschwader…
in-theatre fought an effective campaign in support of Rommel's Afrika Korps against the British and American forces. Relying almost exclusively on the Luftwaffe's staple fighter of World War 2, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the battle-hardened aces used the aircraft's superior performance to achieve incredible scores against the Allies. Similarly, once pushed out of North Africa, these units continued to take the fight to the RAF and USAAF from makeshift bases in northern Italy.Rumanian Aces of World War 2
By John Weal, Denes Bernad. 2003
First seeing action in the wake of the German invasion of the USSR in June 1941, the Royal Rumanian Air…
Force had been allied to the Luftwaffe since the Romanian government signed a Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy in November 1940. This book reveals how, despite suffering heavy losses to the numerically superior Russian forces, the Rumanians inflicted even greater casualties on the communists. Locked in bitter conflict with the Soviets until September 1944, when the Red Army poured across the Rumanian frontier and forced an armistice, the modest fighter force claimed 1500+ kills using primarily Bf 109's, E's.C-47/R4D Skytrain Units of the Pacific and CBI
By Chris Davey, David Isby. 2007
C-47 is an aircraft that remains a popular favourite and an acknowledged classic design, carrying out missions every bit as…
strategically important and as dramatic for the aircrew as those of the fighters and bombers. The C-47's wartime operations paved the way for post-war military air transport. It also demonstrated how the USAAF was able to invest in and carry out a mission that it had not devoted much time to preparing for in terms of pre-war doctrine (in contrast to strategic bombing). In addition to linking theatres (by flying across 'the Hump'), it showed how vital it was to operations within a theatre like New Guinea. Even if massed airborne invasions were not carried out in the PTO/CBI, all air arms need transports like the C-47.US Army Paratrooper in the Pacific Theater, 1943-45
By Gordon Rottman. 2012
The two major Army units that operated in the Pacific - the 11th Airborne Division and the 503rd Parachute Regimental…
Combat Team (PRCT) launched small-scale operations on extremely difficult, if not, outright dangerous, terrain, while also conducting amphibious assaults, fighting on jungled hills, swamps and mud. The two units were very different, with the 503rd PRCT being reserved for special purpose missions and the 11th Airborne Division occupying a more traditional role. This title will deal with the background to these two units and their training, before detailing the specific equipment used in the theatre and, finally and most importantly, the combat experience at a personal level of the US Army Paratrooper in the Pacific.