August 1914 – the trigger for the Great War that threw millions of men together from the mud of Flanders to the heights of Verdun: in all, one of the most tragic epochs of the bloody 20th century. Within these anonymous masses, struggling through hardship and sacrifice, some unknowns would discover in themselves the ‘divine coupling of courage and fear’ that would lead them to their vocations as leaders of men. Charles de Gaulle, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, George S. Patton: these 5 men, hardened in the crucible of the First World War, would become the great decision-makers of the war to come. The ordeal they went through would mark them profoundly and influence the course of their careers and, decisively, the course of history. For the first time, these five destinies are presented together in one work: an exceptional iconography and an essential document for understanding the history of both wars, and the history of the 20th century.Text in French.

The only US 8th Army Air Force fighter group to retain the mighty P-47 Thunderbolt throughout its combat tour in the European Theatre of Operations, the 56th Fighter Group justified its nickname of 'Zemke’s Wolfpack' by the aggressive attitude and tactics instilled by its original wartime commander Hub Zemke. This attitude continued through to VE-Day under the auspices of his successors Dave Schilling and Lucian Dade, and it became the top scoring 8th Air Force group for victories in air-air combat. Justifiably considered one of the greatest tacticians and leaders in VIII Fighter Command, Zemke’s leadership engendered an esprit de corps that was second to none. Fighting High Publishing brings together historians Nigel Julian and Peter Randall to tell the story of the ‘Wolfpack’, complimented by a foreword from the Group’s wartime leader’s son Hub Zemke Jnr. The two authors are the owners of the websites at 56thfightergroup.co.uk and littlefriends.co.uk respectively, universally acknowledged as the two finest sites on the 56th and VIII Fighter Command. Having researched the 56th Fighter Group for many years, they have established an international reputation for their expertise in the history of this famous unit. Looking beyond the Thunderbolt flightline, the authors have delved deep into their own extensive collections, along with the 56th Fighter Group museum archives and the many private photograph albums, made available to them by veterans and veteran’s families, in order to produce the most in-depth photographic record of the Wolfpack and its associated service units published to date. More than 400 photographs, the majority of which are previously unpublished, show views from behind the scenes alongside newly discovered aircraft noseart, social events, maintenance and repairs which, together with detailed captions, make this a visual and information feast. The modern day legacy is recorded with a section depicting memorials to the 56th Fighter Group. A full honour roll of those who made the ultimate sacrifice is included along with details of all confirmed claims by the Group’s air-air 'Aces'.

Sous-officier, « Sepp » Dietrich commanda l’un des premiers chars de combat de l’Histoire lors de la Première Guerre mondiale. Membre des gardes du corps de Hitler, il prend le commandement des 117 premiers volontaires le 17 mars 1933, noyau de la Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler qui deviendra régiment, brigade puis division. Cet album retrace le parcours de ce chef, qui avait su créer un lien très fort avec ses hommes et commandera un corps d’armée blindé à la fin de la guerre. C’est principalement un album présentant plus de 500 photos en grande partie inédites, accompagné d’anecdotes de vétérans de la Leibstandarte et de nombreux documents signés par Sepp Dietrich. Un document pour l’Histoire. Album relié en couleur de 160 pages (version reliée de deux Historica), parution hiver 2015

In May 1943 a self-described “really young, green, ignorant lieutenant” assumed command of a new Marine Corps company. His even younger enlisted Marines were learning to use an untested weapon, the M4A2 “Sherman” medium tank. His sole combat veteran was the company bugler, who had salvaged his dress cap and battered horn from a sinking aircraft carrier. Just six months later the company would be thrown into one of the ghastliest battles of World War II.On 20 November 1943 the Second Marine Division launched the first amphibious assault of the Pacific War, directly into the teeth of powerful Japanese defenses on Tarawa. In that blood-soaked invasion, a single company of Sherman tanks, of which only two survived, played a pivotal role in turning the tide from looming disaster to legendary victory. In this unique study Oscar Gilbert and Romain Cansiere use official documents, memoirs, interviews with veterans, as well as personal and aerial photographs to follow Charlie Company from its formation, and trace the movement, action—and loss—of individual tanks in this horrific four-day struggle. The authors have used official documents and interviews with veterans to follow the company from training through the brutal 76-hour struggle for Tarawa. Survivor accounts and air photo analysis document the movements –and destruction – of the company’s individual tanks. It is a story of escapes from drowning tanks, and even more harrowing escapes from tanks knocked out behind Japanese lines. It is a story of men doing whatever needed to be done, from burying the dead to hand-carrying heavy cannon ammunition forward under fire. It is the story of how the two surviving tanks and their crews expanded a perilously thin beachhead, and cleared the way for critical reinforcements to come ashore. But most of all it is a story of how a few unsung Marines helped turn near disaster into epic victory.

Among the many Americans who fought to liberate Europe in 1944, some arrived on the battlefield with no combat experience while others were already veterans of the North African and Italian campaigns. This book traces the career of fifty soldiers, who, during the conflict held a variety of positions: shock troops, bomber pilot, quartermaster aboard a destroyer or chaplain in a motorized cavalry unit. Several nurses and a telephone operator are included and demonstrate the commitment of the female staff. A short genealogical study precedes each story, allowing the reader to discover the origins and family background of each personnel. A study of official records as well as archival documents kept by the soldier helps trace his military career from draft to theater. The author offers additional perspective through historical newspapers and walking units, providing valuable information on the progress of the fighting that would lead to victory and homecoming for the luckiest. At a time when many veterans of World War II are quickly diminishing, it is important to treasure these moving testimonies of a painful past.

On 20 January 1944 Bomber Command Navigator Reginald Wilson’s Halifax, LW337, comes into the sights of an ace Luftwaffe night fighter pilot, and is blown from the darkness above the German capital Berlin. Reg, yet to celebrate his twenty-first birthday, plunges into the dark and parachutes to safety, but the experience of being shot down will haunt him for the rest of his life.In July 2005 Reg embarks on a seemingly impossible quest to discover the fate of his aircraft. Undeterred by the skepticism of family, friends and military archivists, Reg uses the internet and his natural aptitude for problem solving to piece together exactly what happened to the Halifax he last saw plunging towards a Berlin suburb, 61 years previously. Reg’s persistence leads to a most remarkable discovery – something he never anticipated. His life is changed. Perhaps, more importantly, the discovery will change for the better the lives of others he has yet to meet.This uplifting biography traces the extraordinary course of events that led Reg to make two important vows. One of these, made during the London Blitz, was to join the Royal Air Force and fight to defend his country. The second was to solve an intriguing mystery – something which others had tried, but failed, to do. The events described here are a testimony to Reg’s courage and steely determination, and also reflect the extreme sacrifices made by Bomber Command aircrew during the Second World War. What makes this compelling story quite unique is the juxtaposition of past and present, for without twenty-first century technology and the cooperation of a number of highly motivated individuals, both British and German, the real truth about the last flight of LW337 would never have been discovered.

Shot down and killed in April 1944, Lionel Anderson, a low flying Mosquito intruder pilot, was part way through his second tour of operations. He had survived his first tour stooging up and down the French coast in an outdated Boulton Paul Defiant to confound the German night fighter defences and allow the Royal Air Force bombers a free run to the target. Lionel’s journey to war had been one of enormous excitement, most of which had been spent training in the sunshine and mountains of Arizona, flying during the day and partying hard at the weekends. A prolific letter writer, Lionel continually regaled his parents with tales of cowboys and indians, rattlesnakes and spiders, ground loops and near misses. He also talked of his Hollywood connections, his new ‘pals’ Preston Foster and Gene Tierney, and a movie in which he had ‘starred’ as an ‘extra’. In A Thunder Bird in Bomber Command, acclaimed military aviation historian Sean Feast pieces together Lionel’s story revealing a young man dearly loved by his mother and father. He was similarly worshipped by his younger brother, Gerald, who would go on to become a world renowned television producer, director, and writer. It was Lionel’s connection with a little-known film that was to inspire Gerry Anderson to create a global phenomena - the legend of Thunderbirds.

This book, originally published in German in 1956, has now been translated into English, unveiling a wealth of both experiences and analysis about Operation Barbarossa, perhaps the most important military campaign of the 20th century.Hermann Hoth led Germany’s 3rd Panzer Group in Army Group Center in tandem with Guderian’s 2nd Group during the invasion of the Soviet Union, and together those two daring panzer commanders achieved a series of astounding victories, encircling entire Russian armies at Minsk, Smolensk, and Vyazma, all the way up to the very gates of Moscow.This work begins with Hoth discussing the use of nuclear weapons in future conflicts. This cool-headed post-war reflection, from one of Nazi Germany’s top panzer commanders, is rare enough. But then Hoth dives into his exact command decisions during Barbarossa—still the largest continental offensive ever undertaken—to reveal new insights into how Germany could, and in his view should, have succeeded in the campaign. Hoth critically analyses the origin, development, and objective of the plan against Russia, and presents the situations confronted, the decisions taken, and the mistakes made by the army’s leadership, as the new form of mobile warfare startled not only the Soviets on the receiving end but the German leadership itself, which failed to provide support infrastructure for their panzer arm’s breakthroughs. Hoth sheds light on the decisive and ever-escalating struggle between Hitler and his military advisers on the question whether, after the Dnieper and the Dvina had been reached, to adhere to the original idea of capturing Moscow. Hitler’s momentous decision to divert forces to Kiev and the south only came in late August 1941. He then finally considers in detail whether the Germans, after obliterating the remaining Russian armies facing Army Group Center in Operation Typhoon, could still hope for the occupation of the Russian capital that fall. Hoth concludes his study with several lessons for the offensive use of armored formations in the future. His firsthand analysis, here published for the first time in English, will be vital reading for every student of World War II.

Discover the fantastic history of the saboteurs during World War II in the French resistance. Trained by the British secret service, they destroyed hundreds of buildings, bridges, and industries. Leading up to D-Day they blocked the German forces by destroying transport links and sabotaged German military production in France. The actions of this small number of brave men and women made a huge contribution to the success of the Allies in the Second World War.THIS BOOK IS IN ENGLISH.

Technical/historical background by the Dutch expert, illustrated with 31 b&w period photos and a selection of 224 detailed walkaround photographs highlighting in color all exterior and interior details of the World's only preserved K5(E) railway guns: Ausf. C from the US Ordnance Museum, Aberdeen, USA and Ausf. D from the Musee du Mur de l'Atlantique, Audinghen, France. Includes the bonus giant (990 x 680 mm size) fold out sheet of super-detailed 1/72nd and 1/35th scale drawings of K5(E) Ausf. C & D in both firing and transport mode, and 1/10th scale drawings of K5's charges and projectiles. Twelfth volume in the Series of all-picture books showing AFVs preserved at museums and collections throughout the World, designed for the enthusiast and military modeler. Most complete reference book for super-detailing the Trumpeter, Dragon and Hasegawa kits. Reissued.

The book challenges the preconceptions behind three of Great Britain’s primary military leaders: Churchill, Montgomery and Mountbatten. Although their achievements during and immediately after the Second World War are widely celebrated, this book offers a new perspective, suggesting that most accounts ignore the darker side of each of these wartime leaders. It makes the case that a great deal of Churchill’s, Montgomery’s, and Mountbatten’s reputation was built on contrived results, deception and dishonesty. It examines the influence and impediment of class on the performance of the British Army in World War II, and puts forward an argument frequently proposed by the Americans, that there was unwillingness among the British to base officer promotion on effectiveness rather than on social background; conforming was more important than performing. At the same time, Montgomery feared and was jealous of Patton, whose rate of advance was nearly always twice that of Monty’s.The author presents the argument that the services of Field Marshals Wavell and Auchinleck, two of Britain’s finest commanders of the war, were largely lost to Britain because of Churchill’s consistent interfering in field matters, and a desire to stay in power after the fall of Singapore.Arnold includes the bizarre case of Major-General Dorman-Smith, one of Britain’s most brilliant original thinkers, often overlooked after his sacking by Churchill. Dorman-Smith was the tactician who had produced Britain’s victory over Rommel at the first battle of Alamein, but his crime seems have been overachievement; an unforgivable sin in some eyes. Mountbatten’s fumbling in India is also realistically examined in these pages, fundamentally questioning the “man for the century’s” embellished reputation.

This superb monograph is devoted to the Ar 196, a shipboard reconnaissance aircraft, which became the standard aircraft of the Kriegsmarine throughout World War II.Loved by its pilots for its superior handling both in the air and on the water, the A-1s were added to coastal squadrons, and continued to fly reconnaissance missions and submarine hunts into late 1944. Two notable operations were the capture of HMS Seal, and the repeated interception of RAF Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley bombers. Although it was no match for a fighter, it was considerably better than its Allied counterparts, and generally considered the best of its class. Owing to its good handling on water, the Finnish Air Force utilised Ar 196 solely on transporting and supplying special forces patrols behind enemy lines, landing on small lakes in remote areas. Several fully equipped soldiers were carried in the fuselage.This volume includes many rare colour profile artworks, detailing the aircraft. About MonographsMonographs focuses on an individual type of aircraft. Each monograph contains descriptions of the aircraft’s origin, its variants and combat history. Each volume includes several hundred archive photographs, technical scale drawings and colour profile artwork.

The speed of the German Blitzkrieg in 1940 and the relative ease with which they brushed aside Allied defenses meant four years of occupation. But in June 1944—this time with American forces—the Allies finally returned for a rematch. The destruction of German forces in Normandy’s Falaise pocket, on August 14,was as quick as the Blitzkrieg had been: by September British troops were in Ghent and Liege; Canadian forces liberated Ostend, and in northeast France Patton's Third Army was moving rapidly to the German border, taking Rheims on August 29 and Verdun on the 30th. Paris was liberated on August 25th.The liberation of the Low Countries would not prove as straightforward, however. Operation Market Garden—Montgomery's brave thrust toward the Rhine at Arnhem—started on September 17 and hoped to end German resistance at a stroke. But it ended in failure on the 25th with over 6,000 paratroopers captured.V-1 flying bombs had meantime been launched from northern France and the Low Countries from August 1944. During September the more frightening German V-2s began raining in. In late October, belated operations began to clear the Scheldt Estuary and open the port of Antwerp to the Allies, and took nearly a month. Belgium was almost free of the Nazi yoke and the Netherlands looked likely to be cleared before Christmas.Then, on December 16, came Hitler's last roll of the dice: a major German counter-offensive in the Ardennes aiming to split the Allied armies and retake Antwerp. It turned out to be their last try: the American defenders held, and finally with better weather, Patton's army and Allied air superiority told. With the Germans having shot their last bolt, in the spring the Rhine was gained.Race to the Rhine, a companion volume to The Normandy Battlefields, links modern aerial photography with contemporary illustrations to provide a modern interpretation of the battles, replete with maps, diagrams and photos. It is now 70 years since Western Europe was freed from its occupation, and this book provides a graphic view of how it was accomplished. For those interested in visiting the sites, it supplies a guide to the places that best represent the battles today.

America’s World War II is most often told through the stories of its great battles, when an entire generation of our young men was suddenly thrust across the oceans to represent the New World in deadly combat against the great powers of the Old. On sea, in the air, and on land our boys fought against totalitarian powers that threatened to overturn the American ideal of liberty for every individual, even civilization itself. But while often forgotten, America’s women were there too. On the homefront they were more than willing to share in the hardships of wartime, and in countless cases they fairly lived and breathed with support for our troops overseas. Whether working in factories or taking care of families, rationing or volunteering, their unflagging support contributed more to our victories than has ever been told. Young people have been falling in love since time began, but romance during a global conflagration brought a unique set of challenges. The uncertainty of the time led to an abundance of couples marrying quickly, after brief courtships. Others grew closer through intermittent correspondence, where the soldier was invariably censored by officers, yet true longing from either side invariably came through. It was the worst time at all to try to have a relationship; yet amazingly, thousands of couplescreated lifelong bonds. From blind dates to whirlwind romances to long separations, War Bonds highlights stories of couples who met or married during or shortly after WWII. Underscoring these tales are the principles of maintaining lasting love in the face of tumultuous times, as well as the daily challenges of building a life together. When the soldiers finally came home (and many of them did not) the next job of building a family began. Suddenly it was the females who were the true front-line. Each of the stories in this book begins with a World War II-era song title and concludes with a lookat wartime couples in their twilight, as well as when they were so hopeful and young, and determined to save the world. Illustrated with photos from the 1940's as well as current photographs of each couple, War Bonds offers readers a glimpse of bygone days, as well as a poignant glimpse of our own. During history’s greatest war it was no time to start a relationship. But many among our young men and women did so regardless, and in this book we see how amazingly the “war bonds” of that World War II generation so frequently endured.

War’s Nomads is an evocative account of one man’s experience of life in a mobile radar unit after the battle of El Alamein as Rommel’s AfrikaKorps was relentlessly pursued across the desert through Egypt, Libya and Tunisia by the Eighth Army. It is the only known detailed account in existence of the small radar units who played a key part in the Western Desert Campaign. A budding professional writer and grammar school master, Fred Grice had a keen eye for detail and ear for language, which he assiduously employed after he was called up in 1941, keeping two journals of his experiences. The first,‘On Draft’ deals with waiting to embark after initial training, with the journey to the battle zone, and the privations of a low-ranking AC. Daily life on board ship is vividly brought to life with details of routine, the cramped conditions, the banter and pastimes used to pass the time by the troops, and the by contrast luxurious existence of the officers. The second, ‘Erk in the Desert’ gives a detailed account of the activities of Unit 606, a radar crew that follows just behind the battlefront. 606 provides radio-detection for the advanced landing grounds being used by RAF fighter-bomber squadrons, because these landing strips, in turn, are the target of the German Luftwaffe and the Italian Air Force attacks. 606 was a tiny unit, never more than 10 men, often operating for protracted periods in complete isolation. Fred’s account vividly and lyrically evokes the landscape and the often tense and dangerous environment they operated in, pitching the reader into the experience of travelling with the unit in a 3-ton lorry, finding ingenious solutions to lack of rations and living space, even commandeering an abandoned boat to relax in the sea, whilst constantly needing to be alert to dodge air attacks. An authoritative introduction explains the background to the military events of the Western Desert campaign, and the purpose of 606’s mission, which Fred for security reasons cannot talk about: to get to a selection of the 200 or so landing grounds in the desert with all speed; and then to defend them against air attack by using a light warning set (radar) developed to go operational within an hour. War’s Nomads sheds light on a key but little known aspect of the Eighth Army’s Western Desert Campaign, the first in British military history in which the RAF and the army collaborated so closely. But much more than that it is a human story by a gifted writer that recreates a lost time and landscapes.

Tuesday, 6th June 1944: 130,000 Allied soldiers arrived on the beaches of Normandy. Among them, 177 Frenchmen.If this number seems modest, its symbolic weight is immense. These men who had refused the Nazi occupation rediscovered the land of their birth, arms in hand, four years after having left. They formed part of the commandos, those elite corps created by Churchill after the disastrous evacuation of Dunkirk. At their head, Philippe Kieffer, a banker for 40 years, whose enthusiasm and obstinacy had combined to convince the British to accept the French at the heart of their shock troops.But the importance of "Commando Kieffer" to the success of Operation Overlord is not simply limited to the symbolic. On D-Day, the French Green Berets would achieve, at the price of heavy losses, all of their objectives, notably the taking of the casino at Ouistreham, transformed by the Germans into a powerfully fortified bunker.Illustrated with many photos, maps, plans, and infographics which plunge the reader into the heart of the action, this book permits one to follow the extroardinary course of action more closely than ever, from their exhaustive training in Great Britain up until the final raids at the beginning of 1945.