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.

An Alphabetical Listing of the Officers and Batteries of the Confederacy, 1861–1865 is a remarkable, immensely useful, and exceedingly rare book containing the names of the officers and every Confederate artillery unit. It is so rare that most scholars in the field don’t even know of its existence.It was originally published as simply Confederate Artillery Organizations by the U. S. War Department in 1898, one of Marcus J. Wright’s compilation aids to help assemble and organize the massive publication that would appear as the 128-volume The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (1880-1901), known to researchers and students alike as simply Official Records.Editor Ray Sibley spent more than a decade researching the thousands of entries, correcting mistakes, and adding many artillery units and additional officers unknown to the original compilers more than a century ago. Sibley utilized archival records, manuscripts, letters, diaries, and other sources to verify the original work, correct mistakes, and add further useful information in the form of hundreds of valuable footnotes.This new updated and easy-to-use reference work sets forth the linage of the Confederate artillery. It lists, in alphabetical order, individual batteries to artillery regiments, the names and alternate names for the batteries and the names of the men who led them. Also included are the dates of acceptance into Confederate service for each unit. Most companies have an annotation that includes an alternate name (if there was one), and the date if a unit disbanded or was merged into another organization. The annotations for officers include date of appointment, date of promotion to a higher grade (if any), date of transfers (if any), date dropped from rolls (if any), and date relieved of command (if any).

“McScotch” himself describes his book and pays tribute to a colleague in this note, which appears at the front of the volume:“This book consists of the reminiscences of an ordinary fighter pilot of the R.F.C. who had the privilege of serving in one of the leading Fighter Squadrons and who had the honour of being the friend of the supreme fighter of all the Air Forces, that indomitable and loveable patriot, ‘MICK’ MANNOCK, V.

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.

The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads, March 10, 1865, was one of most important but least known engagements of William T. Sherman's Carolinas Campaign. Now in paperback, here is the only book-length account of this combat. As Sherman's infantry crossed into North Carolina, Maj. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick's veteran Federal cavalry division fanned out in front, screening the advance. When Kilpatrick learned that Confederate cavalry under Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton was hot on his trail, he decided to set a trap for the Southern horsemen near a place called Monroe's Crossroads. Hampton, however, learned of the plan and decided to do something Kilpatrick was not expecting: attack.On March 10, Southern troopers under Hampton and Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler launched a savage surprise attack on Kilpatrick's sleeping camp. After three hours of some of the toughest cavalry fighting of the entire Civil War, Hampton broke off and withdrew. His attack, however, stopped Kilpatrick's advance and bought another precious day for Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee to evacuate his command from Fayetteville. This, in turn, permitted Hardee to join the command of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and set the stage for the climactic Battle of Bentonville nine days later.Noted Civil War author Eric J. Wittenberg has written the first detailed tactical narrative of this important but long-forgotten battle, and places it in its proper context within the entire Carolinas Campaign. His study features 28 original maps and dozens of illustrations.Finally, an author of wide experience and renown has brought to vivid life this overlooked portion of the Carolinas Campaign.

“A superior piece of Civil War scholarship.” – Edwin C. Bearss, former Chief Historian of the United States National Park Service and award-winning author. The nine-month siege of Petersburg was the longest continuous operation of the American Civil War. A series of large-scale Union “offensives,” grand maneuvers that triggered some of the fiercest battles of the war, broke the monotony of static trench warfare. Grant’s Fourth Offensive, August 14-25, the longest and bloodiest operation of the campaign, is the subject of John Horn’s revised and updated Sesquicentennial edition of The Siege of Petersburg: The Battles for the Weldon Railroad, August 1864.Frustrated by his inability to break through the Southern front, General Grant devised a two-punch combination strategy in an effort to sever the crucial Weldon Railroad and stretch General Lee’s lines. The plan called for Winfield Hancock’s II Corps (with X Corps) to move against Deep Bottom north of the James River to occupy Confederate attention while Warren’s V Corps, supported by elements of IX Corps, marched south and west below Petersburg toward Globe Tavern on the Weldon Railroad. The move triggered the battles of Second Deep Bottom, Globe Tavern, and Second Reams Station, bitter fighting that witnessed fierce Confederate counterattacks and additional Union operations against the railroad before Grant’s troops dug in and secured their hold on Globe Tavern. The end result was nearly 15,000 killed, wounded, and missing, the severing of the railroad, and the jump-off point for what would be Grant’s Fifth Offensive in late September.Revised and updated for this special edition, Horn’s outstanding tactical battle study emphasizes the context and consequences of every action and is supported by numerous maps and grounded in hundreds of primary sources. Unlike many battle accounts, Horn puts Grant’s Fourth Offensive into its proper perspective not only in the context of the Petersburg Campaign and the war, but in the context of the history of warfare.

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.

According to the history books, the story of the Battle of Gettysburg ended when the armies departed on July 4, 1863. But for the citizens of Gettysburg, their story was only beginning. Many survived three days of battle that raged July 1–3, 1863, through their farms and homes and were left alone to pick up the pieces. To a casual observer, Elizabeth Thorn was no different than all of the other civilians doing their part to restore their town from the devastation of war. However, she was very different. No other woman in town was a six-month-pregnant mother, who simultaneously managed both a household and a cemetery, and acted as sole caretaker to two aging parents. No other woman was asked to dig nearly 100 soldiers’ graves. Elizabeth performed all of these strenuous tasks in the heat and the stench of a battlefield of bodies left to rot in the hot summer sun. This is her story and the story of the Evergreen Cemetery, a small-town burial ground that acquired national fame.

Thanks to years of dedicated preservation efforts, the Gettysburg National Military Park has evolved into a thriving, diverse ecosystem. It is home to many native, and introduced, species of plants and birds. This full-color, photographic field guide identifies the natural treasures of the Military Park's trails and fields. Over 160 stunning color photos are accompanied by common and scientific names with brief, informative text. Ideal for Gettysburg visitors, armchair naturalists, and nature photographers.

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 Fokker Dr. I was built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke in 1917 and saw service during World War I. Manfred Von Richthofen, better known as the the Red Baron, is perhaps the most widely recognised Fokker pilot, gaining his final 19 victories in the aircraft before his death in April 1918. This new title in the Legends of Aviation series comes complete with numerous photographs, 3D images and profiles of the World War I fighter aircraft.

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.