In 1941, military operations were conducted by large formations along the northern coast of Scandinavia – for the first time in history of warfare. A modern army suddenly swept into that isolated and inhospitable region that was yet to possess the level of importance it would later assume in Cold War polar strategy. The Arctic Front was the northernmost theatre in the war waged by Germany against Russia. For a period of four years, German troops from all branches of the Wehrmacht fought side by side with Finnish border guard units. The high point of the war on the Arctic Front was the assembly and advance of Germany’s Mountain Corps Norway in the summer and autumn of 1941. Commanded by general of the mountain troops, Eduard Dietl, and composed of the 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions, the Mountain Corps advanced out of occupied North Norway, assembled in the Petsamo Corridor in North Finland, and struck into Russian territory in an attempt to seize Murmansk. It did not reach its objective. This account of the operation was written by Wilhelm Hess, quartermaster of the Mountain Corps Norway. He draws upon his personal experience of the conditions and actions on the Arctic Front in order to describe and analyse the environment, the sequence of events, and the reasons behind certain decisions. In addition to describing how operations conducted by the Mountain Corps unfolded, Hess provides insight as to how the terrain, the flow of supplies, and the war at sea impacted those operations.

A rarely frank account of the U.S. infantry experience in northern Europe, A Foot Soldier for Patton takes the reader from the beaches of Normandy through the giddy drive across France, to the brutal battles on the Westwall, in the Ardennes, and finally to the conquest of Germany itself. Patton’s army is best known for dashing armoured attacks, its commander combining the firepower of tanks with their historic lineage as cavalry. But when the Germans stood firm the greatest fighting was done by Patton’s long undersung infantry—the foot sloggers who were called upon to reduce enemy strongpoints, and who took the brunt of German counterattacks. Michael Bilder, a member of the 5th Infantry (“Red Diamond”division), played a unique role in the Third Army’s onslaught. A rifleman foremost, he was also a German-speaker, called upon for interrogations and special duties. Also a combat lifeguard, he played a key role in successive river crossings. An astute observer, he relates dozens of fascinating insights into the campaign, from dealing with German snipers to intoxicated Frenchwomen, as well as relaying the often morbid humor of combat. Laughter, for example, erupts among Bilder’s unit when a hated Graves Registration officer, known for robbing the pockets of the dead, gets his hand blown off by a German booby trap. When the 5th Infantry comes up against the fortress of Metz, the battle is detailed in all its horror, as is the sudden drive into the flank of the Bulge, where the Americans face their first winter battle against enemy veterans of Russia. Incidents common to the ordinary GI, but which seldom see the light of day in histories, are routinely related in this book, enriching the reader’s sense of the true reality of World War II combat.

Published for the first time in English, this is a German account of the German invasionof Norway in the spring of 1940. It focuses on the efforts of Group “1” led by Eduard Dietl. This group of gebirgstruppen was landed at Narvik in early April by tendestroyers. These ships were then all sunk by the Allies. Dietl’s troops wereoutnumbered by Allied troops but his defense utilized ammunition, food and sailorsfrom the sunken ships and his men retook Narvik once the Allies abandoned theirefforts to push the Germans out of Norway.

Dans ce deuxième volume sur les Sturmgeschütze des Waffen-SS, le lecteur retrouvera l'historique des canons d'assaut de la «Totenkopf», d'abord articulée en simple batterie, et plus tard en une puissante Abteilung de trois batteries. Plongés dans les affres de la poche de Demiansk, à l'hiver 1941/42, les Sturmartilleristen connaissent presque continuellement de rudes combats jusqu'en Autriche, au printemps 1945, dont ceux de l'opération «Zitadelle» en juillet 1943 et de Pologne l'été suivant. Cette partie est particulièrement illustrée par une iconographie riche grâce à l'héritage de l'Untersturmführer Jänisch ou de l'Unterscharführer Mödlinger. Appartenant à une grande unité moins prestigieuse, quoique fort intéressante, sont ensuite retrouvés les canons d'assaut de la division «Polizei» - particularité, des StuG. IV -, accompagnés de photographies inédites, montrant des engagements peu connus comme la Grèce ou encore ceux du Banat et de Hongrie à l'automne 1944. Enfin, les StuG. III de la «Wiking» qui s'illustrent entre autres dans l'horreur de la poche de Tcherkassy. Qu'ils soient organisés en simple batterie, en redoutable groupe, intégrés aux blindés, aux chasseurs de chars ou à la Sturmartillerie proprement dite, les canons d'assaut ont joué un rôle essentiel dans la lutte contre les blindés soviétiques. Outre des photos et témoignages immersifs, l'ouvrage dresse également des biographies détaillées d'as et titulaires du Ritterkreuz des StuG. de ces divisions, comme Berndt Lubich von Milovan, Ernst Dehmel, Richard Utgenannt, Hans-Georg Jessen ou encore Willy Hein. Immersed in the throes of the Demiansk pocket, in the winter of 1941/42, the Sturmartilleristen almost continuously experienced harsh fighting until Austria in the spring of 1945, including Operation Zitadelle in July 1943 and in Poland the following summer. Whether they were organised into a single battery, into a formidable group, integrated into the armoured vehicles, the tank destroyers or the Sturmartillery proper, the assault guns played an essential role in the fight against the Soviet armour. Accompanied by unpublished photographs, showing little-known engagements such as Greece or those of Banat and Hungary in the autumn of 1944. In addition to immersive photos and testimonials, the book also provides detailed biographies of aces and holders of the Ritterkreuz des StuG, such as Berndt Lubich von Milovan, Ernst Dehmel, Richard Utgenannt, Hans-Georg Jessen and Willy Hein. Text in French.

The reader is introduced to a little-known side of Custer - a deeply personal side. George Custer grew up in an expanding young country and his early influences mirrored the times. Two aspects of this era dominate most works about him: the Civil War, and the war with the Indians, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. When mentioned, if at all, his early life and years as a cadet at West Point are brief, and then only enough to set some background for discussion of the mystery of the Little Bighorn. This is the first Custer biography to focus on these lesser-known parts of his life in great detail. The approach uses all of Custer’s known writings. Letters, magazine articles, his book, My Life on the Plains, and his unfinished memoirs of the Civil War, along with materials and books by his wife, Elizabeth Custer, and reflections of others who knew him well. The five chapters are; Early Life (growing up and as a West Point cadet); The Civil War; The Indian Fighter; The Little Bighorn and Conclusion. The theme of the book is not so much new historical information but the depth of his character development and lesser-known influences of his life. Custer draws together these elements in a succinct and accessible read. The book also includes illustrations (primarily from Harper’s Weekly), and photos, such as Matthew Brady’s Civil War collection, to accompany the text.

What happened at Pearl Harbor?What really happened? The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is one of those rare moments where, in the space of a few hours, the "hinge of Fate" turned and the course of history was utterly changed. Nearly eight decades later, it has become one of those events which almost everyone knows of, but hardly anyone seems to know about. How—and why—did the Empire of Japan and the United States of America collide on blood and flames that Sunday morning when the sun rose and the bombs fell? Pearl: The 7th Day of December 1941 is the story of how America and Japan, two nations with seemingly little over which to quarrel, let peace slip away, so that on that "day which will live in infamy," more than 350 dive bombers, high-level bombers, torpedo planes, and fighters of the Imperial Japanese Navy did their best to cripple the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet, killing 2,403 American servicemen and civilians, and wounding another 1,178. It's a story of emperors and presidents, diplomats and politicians, admirals and generals - and it's also the tale of ordinary sailors, soldiers, and airmen, all of whom were overtaken by a rush of events that ultimately overwhelmed them. Pearl shows the real reasons why the America's political and military leaders underestimated Japan's threat America's security, and why their Japanese counterparts ultimately felt compelled to launch the Pearl Harbor attack. Pearl offers more than superficial answers, showing how both sides blundered their way through arrogance, over-confidence, racism, bigotry, and old-fashioned human error to arrive at the moment when the Japanese were convinced that there was no alternative to war. Once battle is joined, Pearl then takes the reader into the heart of the attack, where the fighting men of both nations showed that neither side had a monopoly on heroism, courage, cowardice, or luck, as they fought to protect their nations.

The Pacific Profiles series presents the most accurate WWII aircraft profiles to date of Japanese & Allied aircraft in the Pacific theatre. Volume Two illustrates, by unit, Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF) bomber and other supporting aircraft types operating in New Guinea and the Solomons from December 1942 to April 1944. In this distant theatre many different aircraft types and their variants were assigned to a variety of bomber, reconnaissance, command and transport units which together formed the 4th Air Army. Unit insignia, camouflage and command markings varied considerably from unit to unit, giving a wide variety of colour, heraldry and markings. The profiles, based on photos, Japanese documents, Allied intelligence reports and post-war wreck investigations, are accompanied by brief histories of each relevant unit and explanations of their role in the theatre. The author, Michael Claringbould, is world-renown for his expertise in respect to wartime Japanese aviation. These profiles accurately portray JAAF bombers and support aircraft during this fascinating and esoteric timeframe of the Pacific air war.

Volume Four chronicles aerial warfare in the South Pacific in the critical period between 19 June and 8 September 1942. It can be read alone or as a continuation of the first three volumes that spanned the first six months of the Pacific War, culminating in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Unlike the previous three volumes, no aircraft carriers appeared in New Guinea waters. Instead, the air war was fought solely by land-based air units. This was in the face of an increasingly complex strategic situation that saw the Japanese land at both Buna and Milne Bay. For the first time, airpower in the theatre was tasked to support the land forces of both sides which became engaged in a bloody struggle in the mountains of Papua and then the narrow muddy quagmire of Milne Bay. Two veteran Japanese air groups, the Tainan and No. 4 Kokutai, continued their Herculean struggle against mounting Allied opposition. In the face of continued attrition, Japanese pilots had many notable successes including several coveted aerial victories against B-17s. Then, from August a plethora of fresh Japanese units arrived in theatre including the No. 2, No. 6, Chitose, Misawa and Kisarazu Kokutai.USAAF P-39s and RAAF P-40Es responded with low level close support missions and B-25s, B-26s and B-17s ramped up an unrelenting bombing campaign. Towards the end of the period A-20A strafers made their combat debut, portending a radical blueprint for future attack tactics in the theatre. Never before has this campaign been chronicled in such detail, with Allied accounts matched against Japanese records for a truly factual account of the conflict.

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.

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.

Compared to armies and navies, which have existed as professional fighting services for centuries, the technology that makes air forces possible is much newer. As a result, these services have had to quickly develop methods of preparing aviators to operate in conditions ranging from peace or routine security to full-scale war. The first book to address the history and scope of air power professionalization through learning programs, Educating Air Forces offers valuable new insight into strategy and tactics worldwide. Here, a group of international experts examine the philosophies, policies, and practices of air service educational efforts in the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, Canada, and the UK. First, the contributors discuss the founding, successes, and failures of European air force learning programs between the Great War and World War II. Chapters in section two explore how the tense political climate during the Cold War influenced the creation, curriculum, and results of various programs. The final section addresses the post--Cold War era, specifically examining how educational programs are adapting to soldiers' needs and the demands of modern warfare.Featuring contributions from eminent scholars in the field, this volume surveys the learning approaches globally employed by air forces in the past century and evaluates their effectiveness. Educating Air Forces reveals how experiential learning and formal education are not only inextricably intertwined, but also necessary to cope with advances in modern warfare.

"The days of Congo and Angola when you had the image of mercenaries as drunken guys going around shooting up the place..

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.

June 1778 was a tumultuous month in the annals of American military history. Somehow, General George Washington and the Continental Army were able to survive a string of defeats around Philadelphia in 1777 and a desperate winter at Valley Forge. As winter turned to spring, and spring turned to summer, the army—newly trained by Baron von Steuben and in high spirits thanks to France’s intervention into the conflict—marched out of Valley Forge in pursuit of Henry Clinton’s British Army making its way across New Jersey for New York City. What would happen next was not an easy decision for Washington to make. Should he attack the British column? And if so, how? “People expect something from us and our strength demands it,” Gen. Nathanael Greene pressed his chieftain. Against the advice of many of his subordinates, Washington ordered the army to aggressively pursue the British and not allow the enemy to escape to New York City without a fight. On June 28, 1778, the vanguard of the Continental Army under Maj. Gen. Charles Lee engaged Clinton’s rearguard near the small village of Monmouth Court House. Lee’s over-cautiousness prevailed and the Americans were ordered to hasty retreat. Only the arrival of Washington and the main body of the army saved the Americans from disaster. By the end of the day, they held the field as the British continued their march to Sandy Hook and New York City. In A Handsome Flogging: The Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, historian William Griffith retells the story of what many historians have dubbed the “battle that made the American army,” and takes you along the routes trekked by both armies on their marches toward destiny. Follow in the footsteps of heroes (and a heroine) who, on a hot summer day, met in desperate struggle in the woods and farm fields around Monmouth Court House.