In the second volume of this publication, the remainder of the Opel motor company major production types are covered that were not covered in volume 1, such as the Opel P-4 that was also used as the basis of many of the pre-war mock-up training tanks used by the German army due to the lack of real tanks to train with. The “Opel Kadett” (cadet), the Opel Supper 6, the “Opel Kapitan” (Captain) and the top of the range, the luxurious Opel Admiral. In this volume the author provides a detailed impression of these vehicles through original photographs, taken both during and before the war by the normal German soldiers who both used and served with these now classic automobiles.

El Alamein. C'est là que l'offensive de Rommel, qui semblait irrésistible, est stoppée sur la route d'Alexandrie, à l'été 1942. S'ensuivent de longues semaines de guerre de position dans les sables et roches du désert égyptien, sous un soleil de plomb. Parmi les unités de l'Axe engagées, la Fallschirmjäger- Brigade 1, ou Brigade «Ramcke», du nom de son célèbre chef de corps. Au côté de leurs compagnons d'arme italiens, ces «parachutistes allemands du désert» attendent impatiemment de se mesurer à l'adversaire… À la fin d'octobre 1942, les forces britanniques du maréchal Montgomery partent à l'assaut, au nord des positions de la brigade. De son côté, rien ne bouge. Soudain, dans la nuit du 2 au 3 novembre, l'ordre de retraite sonne : les Fallschirmjäger doivent à tout prix se replier vers l'ouest, pour éviter l'encerclement et l'anéantissement. Une épreuve immense, l'unité n'ayant - au départ - qu'un faible nombre de véhicules motorisés. Le correspondant de guerre de la Luftwaffe Hans Rechenberg, alors présent en permanence dans les rangs de la brigade, nous plonge dans la rude vie quotidienne du Fallschirmjäger dans les positions d'El Alamein, puis dans la retraite vers la Lybie, avec ses moments d'angoisse, de privations, et parfois d'incroyables surprises. Le lecteur se trouvera aussi dans l'intimité des officiers de la brigade, avec la figure emblématique du général Bernhard Ramcke. Rédigé sur le vif quelques temps avant la capture de l'auteur en Tunisie en mai 1943, ce tapuscrit original, unique, sort de l'oubli après plus de 77 ans, publié pour la première fois. De nombreuses photographies de l'unité et de la Bataille d'El Alamein accompagneront ce récit personnel. Initialement destiné à la propagande du Reich, ce document sans pathos, collant à la vie quotidienne dans le désert, étonne a sans doute de nombreux lecteurs. El Alamein was where Rommel's offensive – which seemed undefeatable – was halted on the road to Alexandria in the summer of 1942. Long weeks of battle ensued in the Egyptian desert. In this account Luftwaffe war correspondent Hans Rechenberg – present in the ranks of the brigade – immerses us in the harsh daily life of the Fallschirmjäger in El Alamein and the retreat towards Libya, with moments of anguish, deprivation, and surprise. Accompanied by numerous photographs of the unit and the battle. Originally intended for Reich propaganda, this book is without pathos, sticking to daily life in the desert. Text in French.

Generations of Australians have been reared on the belief the fall of Singapore in February 1942 was a British betrayal that exposed Australia to Japanese invasion. In The Road to Singapore a young American historian, using archival records from across the globe, exposes the notion of a British betrayal as nothing more than a myth. British authorities never gave Australia an iron-clad guarantee against enemy attack and invasion and always stressed the need for Australians to take responsibility for home defence. The causes and consequences of the refusal to heed this advice are explained in this scholarly, readable and salutary study.

On Christmas Eve 1944, the men of the IV SS-Panzerkorps were preparing to celebrate the occasion as best they could. Taking advantage of the pause in the fighting around Warsaw, they looked forward to partaking in that most German of holidays, including the finest Christmas dinner their field kitchens could still prepare in this fifth year of the war. They had earned it too; after five months of unrelenting combat and the loss of many of their friends, troops from the corps headquarters, headquarters troops, and its two divisions - the 3rd SS Panzer Division “Totenkopf” and the 5th SS Panzer Division “Wiking” - were eagerly anticipating what the holiday would bring, including presents from home and perhaps sharing a bottle of schnapps or wine with their comrades. This was not to be, for that very evening, the corps commander, SS-Obergruppenführer Herbert Otto Gille, received a telephone call notifying him that the 35,000 men of his corps would begin boarding express trains the following day that would take them from the relative quiet of the Vistula Front to the front lines in Hungary, hundreds of kilometers away. Their mission: Relieve Budapest! Thus would begin the final round in the saga of the IV SS-Panzerkorps. In Hungary, it would play a key role in the three attempts to raise the siege of that fateful city. Threatened as much by their high command as by the forces of the Soviet Union, Gille and his troops overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their attempts to rescue the city’s garrison, only to have their final attack called off at the last minute. At that moment, they were only a few kilometers away from the objective towards which they had striven for nearly a month. After the relief attempt’s failure sealed the fate of hundreds of thousands of Hungarians and Germans, the only course of action remaining was to dig in and protect the Hungarian oilfields as long as possible.

This book will soon be a reference work on the subject, of interest to collectors but also to all the history buffs who here have a particularly rich subject to study. Since ancient times, the sword accompanying the knight had a very symbolic value. In the 16th Century, the sword was often accompanied by a dagger. Until the modern-day period the sword has been a weapon, then the attribute of officers in most armies in the world. Then, in the Third Reich, where emblems and symbols took on a very important role, the dagger became omnipresent, from the paramilitary, then military units, like the SA and the SS, but also civilian institutions like the Red Cross and the Forest Wardens. This profusion was unique in uniformology and has already been written about several times, but not very often in French, in which there was no exhaustive work on the subject by a competent author. With 400 documents, forty-five models are shown, the daggers belonging to the SA (copied off the 16th Century Swiss dagger), NSKK, SS, HJ (knife and dagger), Teno, RLB, Wasserschutzpolizei, the Firemen, the Postschutz, Reichsbahn-Wasserschutz-Polizei, DRK (Red Cross), RAD (work service), the inland customs, the maritime customs, diplomats, senior civil servants, Eastern Civil Servants, Foresters’ knives, DLV, NFSK of the Luftwaffe, the Heer and Marine officers, together with some other exceptional daggers. The photos are of exceptional quality (some of them from the Hermann Historica Archives), others (from the author’s collection) show rare or precise details, explaining also these objects’ technical aspects; others are period photos showing how and with what uniforms these daggers were worn. There are also appendices. The book will be an essential reference work for a long time and a very beautifully presented book for your library.

Trois évasions (Cherbourg, Carteret et Jersey), deux crashs, des blessures, une désertion, une fuite de 7 000 kilomètres à travers l’Afrique pour retrouver le combat : la guerre d’André Courval dans les Forces aériennes françaises libres est une perpétuelle aventure. Racontées par l’intéressé, les six années de guerre de ses Mémoires constituent un témoignage rare d’un personnel non-officier des Forces Françaises Libres ayant servi dans une arme technique mal connue : le bombardement aérien. Précédée d’une partie comprenant son apprentissage et son service militaire, l’occupation, la fuite par Jersey puis l’arrivée en Angleterre et son engagement dans lesForces Aériennes Françaises Libres sont particulièrement documentés. La guerre d’André Courval en Afrique saharienne est liée à l’épopée de Leclerc (Koufra, Fezzan, Lybie…) Les deux hommes se sont croisés à plusieurs reprises. Présent dès septembre 1940 à Odiham, André Courval nom de guerre Saillard, fut un pionnier du GRB1 puis du groupe Bretagne sur Blenheim puis Marauder. Sa guerre en Afrique noire, au Tchad, en Tunisie, en Syrie est celle des héros méconnus dont il nous raconte les exploits quotidiens si utiles à l’affirmation de la France Libre. Elle précède la reconquête du territoire national préparée en Algérie, partie d’Italie et achevée de la Provence à l’Alsace. Agrémenté de dessins originaux de la main d’André Courval qui illustrent son épopée et de photos et documents ayant appartenu à l’auteur, cette édition est une édition critique richement annotée. Elle est présentée, commentée et comparée à celles de deux autres volontaires de Carteret qui ont connu avec lui le risque de fuir la France occupée et gagné, à prix de sang, l’honneur de se battre pour sa libération. Elle a été préparée par Christian Kermoal, docteur en histoire, chercheur associé au laboratoire Tempora de l’Université Rennes 2. C’est un hommage à tous ces hommes libres devenus des guerriers.

11 novembre 1918. La victoire inachevée… La France croit avoir gagné la guerre, elle n’a gagné qu’une paix précaire. Ce constat dramatique est le point de départ d’un long chemin de croix qui va mener inexorablement le pays, vers le dénouement de juin 1940. Au fil des stations de ce chemin de croix, la France, en totale contradiction entre sa politique étrangère et sa politique de défense, va aller de désillusions en démissions, sans jamais prendre conscience qu’elle n’avait pas ou ne s’est pas donné les moyens de ses ambitions. La déception du Traité de Versailles, l’arrogance des années d’occupation en Rhénanie, l’illusion du pacte de Locarno, le choix de la défensive alors qu’elle a accordé sa garantie à de nombreux pays avec lesquels elle n’a aucune frontière commune, la passivité face à la montée en puissance allemande, le manque de réaction suite à la neutralité belge, la démission de Munich, tout cela ne pouvait que conduire à une entrée en guerre mal préparée et mal gérée. Lorsque le 10 mai 1940, l’Allemagne donne le coup d’envoi des opérations à l’ouest, l’armée française va accumuler les maladresses, amplifiant malgré elle les succès allemands. Pris dans le tourbillon de la fulgurante percée allemande, le commandement n’aura à aucun moment la possibilité d’inverser le cours des événements et les nouvelles calamiteuses vont s’enchaîner telle une tragédie grecque. Après quarante-cinq jours de combat au cours desquels l’héroïsme le dispute à la lâcheté, le courage aux défaillances, la France arrive au terme de son calvaire. Ce sont les causes de cette inexorable défaite, des plus évidentes aux plus insoupçonnées, que ce livre se propose d’analyser point par point.

Starting with the basic core of 117 men who made up the Stabswache in 1933, the Leibstandarte, Hitler’s personal bodyguard, became an elite motorised unit, then a brigade then a division. It distinguished itself in Poland, in the West and obtained its first military notoriety in the Balkans where Kurt Meyer distinguished himself in particular. Then it was the fighting on the Eastern Front, at the forefront of the victories. Then after 1943, it continued to distinguish itself in the big battles, at Kharkov and at Kursk. It then disarmed the Italian Army, fought in Normandy, in the Ardennes and took part in the ultimate fighting in Hungary, or even in Berlin for some of its elements. This military history is accompanied by a lot of portraits of officers who became famous, but also photographs of material. It’s a fabulous book, a milestone, a limited edition which should be put into any serious library.

Starting with the basic core of 117 men who made up the Stabswache in 1933, the Leibstandarte, Hitler’s personal bodyguard, became an elite motorised unit, then a brigade then a division. It distinguished itself in Poland, in the West and obtained its first military notoriety in the Balkans where Kurt Meyer distinguished himself in particular. Then it was the fighting on the Eastern Front, at the forefront of the victories. Then after 1943, it continued to distinguish itself in the big battles, at Kharkov and at Kursk. It then disarmed the Italian Army, fought in Normandy, in the Ardennes and took part in the ultimate fighting in Hungary, or even in Berlin for some of its elements. This military history is accompanied by a lot of portraits of officers who became famous, but also photographs of material. It’s a fabulous book, a milestone, a limited edition which should be put into any serious library.

The Red Air Force versus the Luftwaffe in the skies over Eastern Europe. June 1941: Having conquered most of Western Europe, Adolf Hitler turned his attention to the vast Soviet Union. Disregarding his Non-Aggression Pact with Joseph Stalin, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, a full-scale invasion of the Soviet homeland. .. aimed squarely at Moscow. In the skies over Russia, the battle-hardened airmen of the Luftwaffe made short work of the Red Air Force during opening days of Barbarossa. To make matters worse, Stalin had executed many of his best pilots during the perennial "purges" of the 1930s. Thus, much of the Red Air Force was destroyed on the ground before meeting the Luftwaffe in the skies. By 1944, however, the Soviet airmen had regained the initiative and fervently wrested air superiority from the now-ailing Axis Powers.

Fifteen elite mountain divisions and a multitude of small units fought for the Wehrmacht during World War II. They fought on all fronts, operating in hostile environments ranging from the far north to Libya, the Atlantic to the Caucasus - serving in all the “hot spots.” This book, the culmination of some four decades of research and the support of many veterans and collectors, describes the life, operations and equipment of these specialist units.

Bagration was the code word that the Soviet Army gave for their summer offensive in 1944. This massive offensive led to the destruction of the German Army Group Center and was the greatest military defeat ever experienced by the German Army during World War Two. This book provides an absorbing insight into the German defeat and the Russian offensive using a wide variety of rare and previously unpublished photographs. With detailed captions and text together with 20 artist profiles and maps, the book shows the compelling story of how German Army Group Center tried to counter the overwhelming might of the Soviet Army as it poured thousands of men, weapons and armor across the German lines, smashing its way through. What ensued was a swift and bloody battle of attrition as the German Army tried to contain the might of its unstoppable enemy. In the days and weeks that followed German units fought and gradually retreated under the constant hammer blows of Russian ground and aerial bombardments, and endless armored and infantry attacks. Many German units fighting to the grim death were duty-bound not to withdraw, and what followed was a disaster of a colossal magnitude. As the Soviet might punched a massive hole in the German lines it sent huge shock waves through Army Group Center forcing them to retreat or face total annihilation. However, the Russian offensive was so quick that many of the German units with their precious panzer and infantry divisions quickly became encircled and destroyed - its remnants retreating west in order to save itself. By the end of the battle this cataclysm was bigger than that experienced at Stalingrad. It saw the German Army being pushed out of Russia towards Poland with the loss of over 300,000 men and most of its weaponry lost. The story of the destruction of Army Group Center during the summer of 1944 has been completely overshadowed by the D-Day campaign in Normandy three weeks earlier. Yet, the battle in which the German forces endured on the Eastern Front that fateful summer was more catastrophic than that experienced by the Allies on the Western Front, but little is known of the operation. This book reveals the lesser-known battle in the East and shows how the German forces fought and lost against overwhelming odds.

In November 1945, two French officers secretly entered the Führerbunker, the air raid shelter near the Chancellery in Berlin. The bunker was the last home of Adolf Hitler, the background of the last months of his life, and the war, where he married Eva Braun on April 29, 1945, and where he killed himself less than two days later. In the middle of a heap of furniture and broken objects, the two officers found hundreds of documents littering the ground. Among the documents that they retrieved were a dozen telegrams of historic importance that allow us to understand the spirit of the last leaders of the Third Reich as well as the events that took place between April 23 and 26, 1945. These and other documents are presented for the first time in this book, presented in their proper context and with an expert commentary.

The L 2 H 43 and L 2 H 143 better known by its nick name given to it by the troops that used it ”The Krupp-Protze" (Krupp Boxer) was a specialized, multipurpose, six-wheeled 6x4 (six wheel 4 wheel drive) German light off-road truck and artillery tractor. It was fitted with the Krupp M-304 flat four engine, a 4-cylinder horizontally opposed petrol engine that originally delivered 55hp but was upgraded to deliver 60hp in 1936. It was this flat engine the allowed the fitting of the slopping engine bonnet that gave rise to the vehicles nickname. The Krupp Boxer saw extensive service on all of the operational fronts where the German army was engaged.This publication covers the Krupp-Protze in great photographic detail focusing on the trucks and their crews as they dealt with the conditions and circumstances they found themselves in. It is illustrated with the author’s own collection of photographs, all taken by the average German soldier and not official army cameramen whose photos are already well known.

“Despite everything I felt very lucky to have flown Corsairs, they were the best you know even though it took me sometime to realise this when so many friends died flying them.” (Colin Facer, Corsair pilot, HMS Illustrious) The Vought-Sikorsky Corsair was one of the most potent fighters of the Second World War. It was also one of the most flawed. Conceived by Rex Beisel, Vought’s Chief Designer during 1938, the US Navy condemned it as being too dangerous for carrier operations and refused to certify it safe for use at sea. With the British Aero Industry unable to build fighters with sufficient range and potentcy for carrier use the Admirtalty sought alternatives. With the Lend Lease programme, created by President Roosevelt, in place they could acquire weapons from American factories. In practice, this meant standing in line behind the US Navy, Marines and Army for service, but it still opened up new opportunities to be exploited. So, with newly built Corsairs being stockpiled and the promise of an improved version on the way, the RN saw a opening worthy of development and exploited it. By the end of the war the Fleet Air Arm had acquired more than 2,000 Corsairs to equip its squadrons. But the risks identified by the USN were largely ignored by the Royal Navy and far too many men and aircraft were lost in accidents as a result. Yet in the hands of experienced carrier pilots its virtues were only too apparent and, in due course, they achieved great things. Eventually, the US Navy noted this “success” and certified the Corsair for use on their carriers too, but the aircraft never entirely lost its reputation as a “widow maker.” This book describes the Corsair’s development and tells the sad, but inspiring story of the young men who struggled and suffered to make the Corsair a going concern in the most vicious unforgiving war one can imagine. To do this the author met and corresponded with ninety or more veterans from America, Britain, New Zealand and Canada. Their recollections made this book possible and through their vivid memories we can experience what it felt like to be barely of age, a civilian called to arms and a fighter pilot.

Nazi Dreamtime is the ground-breaking story of extreme-right, ultra-nationalist thought and practice in Australia in the period immediately before and during the Second World War. It focuses on those native-born Australians who were attracted to the ideology of Nazism in Germany from 1933. Their belief was that the achievements and tenets of the Nazi regime were applicable to Australian political and cultural life to some extent. These Nazi enthusiasts and their fellow-travellers differed markedly over the extent of that applicability, but all agreed that Australians ought to learn from and follow the European experiment of the ‘German revolution’. The appeal of Nazism was marked in the immediate post-Depression years amongst those Australians who rejected democracy but were uncomfortable with alternatives on the conservative Right and on the Left. The aggressive foreign policy followed by Berlin in the late-thirties failed to shake the faith of these ideologues and even the duress of war would not dislodge the faith of some in Hitlerism. This group was charitably described as ‘well-meaning dreamers’ by one renegade amongst them and their ranks included tourists, appeasers, political agitators, propagandists, writers, poets, mystics, aesthetes, academics, soldiers and outright cranks. Some were obscure figures; others enjoyed a high public profile and were well-known. Many thought that aboriginal concepts of dreaming could be merged with a local variant of national-socialism to form a white dreaming – a Nazi Dreamtime under the Southern Cross. Only the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 terminated the prospects of what had turned from dream to nightmare, although the idea lingered.