The Frantic operations were conceived in late 1943 as Soviet advances made Soviet airfields accessible to Allied long-range aircraft. American aircraft could hit targets in central Europe, refuel and rearm at Soviet bases, then fly back to bomb additional targets. In addition to hitting Nazi war industries, the political objectives of Frantic were to build closer cooperation with the Red Army as the end of the war drew nearer. For the first two weeks of the Warsaw Uprising, Soviet forces stood outside the city, and Stalin refused to let the RAF land at Soviet bases after dropping supplies to the Polish freedom fighters. But eventually the United States persuaded him to let them use Frantic to supply the Poles. On 18 September 1944, American B-17 Flying Fortresses dropped arms, ammunition, medical supplies, and food over the city of Warsaw. The assistance came too late for the Polish freedom fighters. For many, Frantic 7 remains a mere gesture to placate Western public opinion, but the events of that day, and the courage of 1,220 airmen who risked their lives to bring them aid, are still remembered by the Poles of Warsaw. This book gives a full narrative of Frantic 7, using the first-hand accounts of those on the ground in Warsaw to tell the stories of the young aircrew. It puts Frantic 7 in context, and explains how the diplomatic wrangling set the stage for the breakdown in relations between the Soviet Union and the United States.

So little is known about the weapons, uniforms and living conditions of World War II Japanese soldiers (Heitai), these almost undisputed conquerors who operated throughout East Asia during the conflict. Through this magnificently illustrated book, the reader can finally have a glimpse into the personal possessions of the soldiers of the Imperial Army. Drawing upon an impressive collection – carefully preserved through the decades – every aspect of an Heitai’s daily existence is detailed with beautiful photos accompanied by a description. All items are classified, from weapons to clothes (tropical and polar) through to food, communication equipment, decorations, helmets, badges, devices of vision, gas masks, water bottles, cameras, tents and shoes. Also included are Propaganda posters and readings provided to the Heitai during long quiet periods of service, isolated on the Pacific islands. By studying the equipment of Japanese soldiers – from the dagger to the toothbrush, and from the grenade to underwear – we can uncover the history of these soldiers in a more in depth and evocative way than the cinema or a text could ever achieve. At the same time, it is interesting to note the differences and similarities between the equipment of an Imperial Army fighter and that of a GI. “Heitai” is an exceptional work on the Imperial Army that provides unique insights of the Japanese fighters, formerly America’s most formidable enemy.

The 2nd SS Division, “Das Reich,” was a battlefront mainstay for Nazi Germany throughout WWII—from the invasion of Poland in 1939 to the final surrender in May 1945. In between it was switched back-and-forth between east and west depending on the crisis, and it fought in nearly every major campaign, from Barbarossa to Normandy, and from Kharkov to the Ardennes. Das Reich was the first Waffen SS division created (though the title “1st” was reserved for Hitler’s Leibstandarte). Originally named the Verfügungs Division, its regiments fought through the campaigns in Poland, the Low Countries, and France, earning the respect of Wehrmacht leaders who originally doubted the efficacy of SS units. Renamed “Das Reich” after the French surrender, its elements served as a spearhead in the Balkans campaign, achieving a daring capture of Belgrade. In Operation Barbarossa, Das Reich fought with Guderian’s Second Panzer Group, first in the drive on Moscow, then toward Kiev, then Moscow again. Pulled out of the line after gigantic casualties, it seized Toulon in France, then was sent back to Russia, as part of the SS Panzer Corps, to retrieve the German debacle after Stalingrad. At the titanic tank-battle of Kursk, Das Reich was at the forefront. In June 1944, as a full SS-Panzer Division, Das Reich played an infamous role in its approach march to Normandy, as the French Resistance temporarily reached a high tide. On the Allied invasion front, Das Reich not only escaped from the Falaise Pocket but was sent back into it, to retrieve other German units struggling to get out. Das Reich fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and was then transferred to Hungary, for Hitler’s last counteroffensive of the war. Failing to retake Budapest, elements of the division were able to mount a gallant defense of Prague. When the end came, some formations were forced to surrender to the Russians while others made it to American lines. Its reputation, for better or worse, had already been established. This lavishly illustrated book by renowned French historian Yves Buffetaut lays out the full history of Das Reich in World War II, with rare photos, informative text, and true insights into a unique combat division in modern warfare.

"A completely wonderful book! ..

The city of Vitebsk in Belarus was of strategic importance during the fighting on the Eastern Front, as it controlled the route to Minsk. A salient in the German lines, Vitebsk had been declared a Festerplatz—a fortress town—meaning that it must be held at all costs. a task handed to 3rd Panzer Army in 1943. Otto Heidkämper was chief of staff of Georg-Hans Reinhardt's 3rd Panzer Army, Army Group Center, which was stationed around Vitebsk and Smolensk from early 1942 until June 1944. His detailed account of the defense of Vitebsk through the winter of 1943 into 1944, right up to the Soviet summer offensive a valuable first-hand account of how the operations around Vitebsk played out. Twenty maps accompany the narrative. During this time 3rd Panzer Army undertook numerous military operations to defend the area against the Soviets; they also engaged in anti-partisan operations in the area, deporting civilians accused of supporting partisans and destroying property. Finally, in June 1944, the Soviets amassed four armies to take Vitebsk, which was then held by 38,000 men of 53rd Corps. Within three days Vitebsk was encircled, with 53rd Corps trapped inside. Attempts to break the encirclement failed, and resistance in the pocket broke down over the next few days. On June 27, the final destruction of German resistance in Vitebsk was completed. Twenty thousand Germans were dead and another 10,000 had been captured.

This volume chronicles aerial warfare in the South Pacific from December 1941 until March 1942, durign which air operations by both sides became a daily occurrence. As Imperial Japanese Navy flying boats and land-based bombers penetrated over vast distances, a few under-strength squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force put up a spirited fight. However it was the supreme power of aircraft carriers that had the biggest impact. Four Japanese fleet carriers facilitated the capture of Rabaul over a devastating four-day period in January 1942. The following month, the USS Lexington’s fighter squadron VF-3 scored one of the most one-sided victories of the entire Pacific War. By March 1942 the Japanese had landed on mainland New Guinea, and the scene was set for a race to control Port Moresby. This is the full story of both sides of an air war that could have been won by either incumbent, but for timing, crucial decisions and luck.

During World War II, 1,517 members of US aircrews were forced to seek asylum in Switzerland. Most neutral countries found reason to release US airmen from internment, but Switzerland took its obligations under the Hague Convention more seriously than most. The airmen were often incarcerated in local jails, and later transferred to prison camps. The worst of these camps was Wauwilermoos, where at least 161 U.S. airmen were sent for the honorable offense of escaping. To this hellhole came Dan Culler, the author of this incredible account of suffering and survival. Not only did the prisoners sleep on lice-infested straw, were malnourished and had virtually no hygiene facilities or access to medical care but worse, the commandant of Wauwilermoos was a die-hard Swiss Nazi. He allowed the mainly criminal occupants of the camp to torture and rape Dan Culler with impunity. After many months of such treatment, starving and ravaged by disease, he was finally aided by a British officer. Betrayal dominated his cruel fate - by the American authorities, by the Swiss, and in a last twist in a second planned escape that turned out to be a trap. But Dan Culler’s courage and determination kept him alive. Finally making it back home, he found he had been abandoned again. Political expediency meant there was no such place as Wauwilermoos. He has never been there, so he has never been a POW and didn't qualify for any POW benefits or medical or mental treatment for his many physical and emotional wounds. His struggle to make his peace with his past forms the final part of the story. Rob Morris’s introduction and notes provide historical background and context, including recent efforts to recognise the suffering of those incarcerated in Switzerland and afford them full POW status.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor the U. S. Pacific Fleet was bent but not broken. The fact that the fleet’s aircraft carriers were away from base at the time of the attack helped the navy under new commander Admiral Chester Nimitz react to further Japanese expansion in the Pacific. American task forces staged a series of raids, mostly ineffective except in letting the Japanese know that their continued aggression would not go unchecked. Then came the Battle of Coral Sea, the first naval battle fought entirely in air to sea actions – the opposing ships never saw each other. Through experience gained in this battle and advances in code breaking by U.

Reverend David Railton MC served as a chaplain on the Western Front during World War I. Attached to three divisions between 1916 and 1918, Railton supported the soldiers in their worst moments, he buried the fallen, comforted the wounded, wrote to the families of the missing and killed, and helped the survivors to remember and mark the loss of their comrades so that they were able to carry on. He was with his men at many battles, including High Wood, the Aisne and Passchendaele; he received the Military Cross for rescuing an officer and two men under heavy fire on the Somme. It was Railton’s idea to bring home the body of an unidentified fallen comrade from the battlefields to be buried in Westminster Abbey, and on Armistice Day 1920, his flag covered the coffin as the Unknown Warrior was laid to rest with full honours. Although suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he returned to work as a parish priest in Margate, where he took particular interest in supporting ex-servicemen who had returned home to the aftermath of a terrible war and crippling unemployment. While the story of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior has been told before, this is the first book to explore David Railton’s life and war, and of ‘the padre’s flag’ he used as an altar cloth and shroud throughout the war. The flag was consecrated a year after the burial of the Unknown Warrior and hangs in Westminster Abbey to this day. This book explains how the idea came out of Railton's traumatic experiences on the Western front, and how he made his idea become reality, drawing on his letters and unpublished papers.

“Ironclads are said to master the world, but torpedoes master the ironclads.” Gabriel J. Rains was a Confederate Brigadier General who was more than a military officer—he was a scientist. His Civil War appointment gave him an opportunity to develop explosives. He invented three mines: the “subterra shell” (land mine), the keg torpedo, and the submarine mortar battery (both naval mines). After the Battle of Seven Pines in 1862, he served the Confederacy in two ways, Superintendent of Conscription and Commander of the Torpedo Bureau. He and his men mined the roads around Jackson and the harbors of Mobile, Savannah, and Charleston. His naval mines sank many ships and were more effective than heavy guns.In 1864, at the request of President Jefferson Davis, he mined the principal roads leading into Richmond as well as the lines around Fort Harrison. When it came time to evacuate the city, Rains and his family joined the president and cabinet as they traveled by train to Greensboro.After the war, he earned a patent, prepared a notebook for West Point, and wrote an article on mine warfare. Rains had a significant military career as he introduced a new form of weaponry. To some, he is regarded as the “father of modern mine warfare.”Gabriel Rains and the Confederate Torpedo Bureau by W. Davis Waters and Joseph I. Brown tells his remarkable story.

Après le succès du volume 1 sur la percée du bocage dans le secteur du XXX Corps britannique du 30 juillet au 15 août 1944, ce second volume présente, pour la première fois de manière aussi détaillée, les opérations du VIII Corps britannique, sur la même période, qui permettra aux Anglais de percer le front allemand dans le bocage. Le 28 juillet, Monty ordonne le transfert rapide des divisions du VIII Corps et du XXX Corps dans le secteur de Caumont pour lancer une attaque simultanée des deux corps. L’opération est baptisée « Bluecoat ». Caumont l’Eventé, Sept Vents, Saint Martin des Besaces, le Bény Bocage, Saint Charles de Percy, Le Tourneur, Montchamps, Chênedollé, Estry, Vire, Vassy autant de noms qui symbolisent l’âpreté des combats livrés par les unités du VIII Corps britannique pour percer le bocage au cours des quinze premiers jours du mois d’août 1944. Les pertes britanniques durant cette période sont très élevées face aux Tigres et Jagdpanther des unités d’élite allemandes bénéficiant de l’avantage du terrain. La zone d’opération est beaucoup plus vallonnée et boisée que la tête de pont. Les principaux objectifs sont une série de collines entre Le Bény Bocage et Aunay-sur-Odon en direction de Vire puis de la route Vire-Vassy. En s’appuyant sur de nombreuses photos, cartes et témoignages pour l’essentiel inédits ainsi que sur les journaux de marche des unités, l’auteur, responsable du Musée de la bataille de Tilly sur Seulles, présente heure après heure, ces combats dans le bocage. English blurb:Following the success of Volume one covering the breakout from the bocage by the British XXX Corps between July 30th and August 15th 1944, this second volume covers for the first time in similar detail, the operations of British VIII Corps during the same period which resulted in the British breakthrough of the German lines. On July 28th Monty ordered the rapid transfer of both VIII and XXX Corps to the Caumont sector to launch a joint attack in the operation codenamed ‘Bluecoat’. Caumont l’Evente, Sept Vents, Saint Martin des Besaces, le Bény Bocage, Saint Charles de Percy, Le Tourneur, Montchamps, Chênedollé, Estry, Vire, Vassy… are names which symbolise the ferocious fighting unleashed by the units of VIII Corps to pierce the bocage during the first fifteen days of August 1944. The British losses were very high against the elite tank units of the German Tiger and Jagdpanther who benefited from the terrain, the area of operations being much more undulating and overgrown than that of the bridgehead. The main objectives were a range of hills situated between Le Bény Bocage and Aunay-sur-Odon in the direction of Vire then on to the Vire-Vassy road. Using numerous and mostly previously unpublished photos, maps and unedited accounts taken from unit journals, the author, the curator of the Musée de la bataille de Tilly sur Seulles, gives a blow-by-blow account of the fighting in the bocage.

Quatre ans avant le débarquement allié en Normandie, le littoral français a été le théâtre d’un autre épisode majeur de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il s’agit de l’Opération Dynamo, nettement moins connue que le Jour J. Et pourtant, il suffit de rappeler quelques chiffres pour mesurer l’importance de cette page de l’histoire de la Campagne de France : entre le 27 mai et le 4 juin, près de 350 000 soldats britanniques et français ont été évacués de la poche de Dunkerque par une flotte hétéroclite de 850 bateaux. Près de 80 ans après, Jean-Charles Stasi, auteur de plusieurs livres à succès aux éditions Heimdal, revient sur ce fait majeur du dernier conflit mondial, de la genèse à ses conséquences, dans un ouvrage au style alerte, illustré de nombreuses photos en noir et blanc et en couleurs, mais aussi de cartes, d’infographies, de profils d’avions et de bateaux.

George VI's biographer, Sir John Wheeler Bennett wrote “The actual turning of the tide in the 2nd World War may be accurately determined as the first week of July 1942.” This book argues that it is possible to be even more exact: the tide turned at about 21.00 hrs on 2 July 1942, when Rommel’s tanks withdrew for the first time since the fall of Tobruk on 20 June, or arguably since 14 January 1942 at El Agheila. At dusk on Wednesday 1 July 1942, Rommel broke through the centre of the British defences at Alamein. His tanks had overwhelmed the gallant defence of the 18th Indian Infantry Brigade in the Deir el Shein at the foot of the Ruweisat Ridge. At that moment, and for the next twelve hours, there was no further organised defence between the spearhead of the Afrika Korps and Alexandria. Throughout the next day, only a handful of men and guns stood between Rommel and his prize. In Cairo, black clouds of smoke from burning files showed that many people believed Rommel would not stop short of the Suez Canal, his stated objective. But, on Friday 3 July at 22.56 hrs, only 48 hours later, Rommel called off his attack and ordered his troops to dig in where they stood. The Delta was saved. Just a few weeks earlier, the 18th Indian Infantry Brigade, which took the brunt of the initial attack on 1 July, and the guns of the small column known as Robcol that stopped Rommel on 2 and 3 of July, had been in northern Iraq. General Auchinleck's desperate measure, pulling them 1,500 miles from Iraq into the Western desert, just succeeded but it greatly increased the price of failure. If Robcol had failed, it is doubtful that Rommel would have stopped at the canal; it does not require much imagination to see his forces threatening to link up with Barbarossa in the Ukraine. This vivid account of the battle of Ruweisat Ridge, the beginning of the battle of Alamein, was written by an officer who was part of Robcol on the fateful day.

In the early summer of 1941 German mountain soldiers under the command of General Eduard Dietl set out in northern Norway up through Finland to the Russian border. Operation Silberfuchs was underway. The northernmost section of the Eastern Front would ensure Hitler supplies of nickel from Finnish mines, and bring the strategically important port city of Murmansk under German control. The roadless rocky terrain and extremes of weather created major challenges for the German troop movements. Despite this Dietl's men made quick gains on his Russian foe, and they came closer to Murmansk. Despite repeated warnings of a German attack, Stalin had failed to mobilize, and the British hesitated to come to the rescue of the Red Army. But while the weather conditions steadily worsened, the Russians' resistance increased. Three bloody efforts to force the river Litza were repulsed and the offensive would develop into a nightmare for the inadequately equipped German soldiers. In an exciting and authoritative narrative based on previously unpublished material, Alf Reidar Jacobsen describes the heavy fighting that would lead to Hitler's first defeat on the Eastern Front. With firsthand accounts of the fighting on the front line, this is a dramatic new account of a forgotten but bloody episode of World War II.

While the 6th Airborne Division had landed in France on D-Day and covered itself in glory, its counterpart, the 1st Airborne Division, had last seen action during an amphibious assault at Taranto on September 9, 1943, as part of the invasion of Italy. Returned to the UK in December 1943, it was held in reserve during the battle of Normandy and spent three months waiting for action, as plan after plan was proposed and then discarded, such was the speed of the Allied pursuit of the Germans.In September 1944, however, 1st Airborne played a leading role in Operation Market—the air component of Operation Market Garden, an audacious attempt by the Allies to bypass the Siegfried Line and advance into the Ruhr. It was to be 1st Airborne’s last action of the war. Encountering more resistance than expected, including II SS Panzer Corps, the division landed too far from Arnhem bridge, and fought bravely but in vain. Held up en route, particularly at Nijmegen, XXX Corps’ advance to Arnhem stuttered and ran late.After nine days of fighting, 1st Airborne had lost 8,000 men around Arnhem when the survivors retreated across the Lower Rhine to safety. During those nine days, however, they had created a legend: first as the small unit under Lt-Col John Frost held the “bridge too far” and then as the Oosterbeek perimeter came under sustained attack waiting for XXX Corps to arrive.The Past & Present Series reconstructs historical battles by using photography, juxtaposing modern views with those of the past together with concise explanatory text. It shows how much infrastructure has remained and how much such as outfits, uniforms, and ephemera has changed, providing a coherent link between now and then.

This new photo album, one of first in the MMPBooks/Stratus "Camera On" series, contains 200+ photos of the Battle for Dunkirk - from the German perspective. The photos, mostly unpublished before now, are from German sources, including private photos taken by German soldiers. They cover the retreat to Dunkirk, the battles for the town and beaches, and the aftermath of the evacuation. Vehicles, equipment, ships and aircraft are all covered. A compelling new perspective on this classic battle, this book is an invaluable reference for military historians and modellers alike.