From the decision to land in Normandy up to the closing of the "Falaise Gap" this work describes the different phases of the Battle : strategy, diversion, the multiple operations undertaken, the sectors chosen for landing, the Armed Forces and their mission in each case. Maps trace the Army Corps and Units and their advance in the course of the Battle. A concentrated and instructive work on the main stages of the Battle of Normandy.

On the 6th of June 1944, after aerial and naval bombings of unparalleled violence, the allied troops boarded the barges that took them to their respective beaches where the Germans troops, entrenched behind the "Atlantic Wall", were laying in wait…Throughout the preparation of the D-day landings, and during the terrible land, sea and aerial combat that was to bathe Normandy in blood and fire, troops of all nationalities demonstrated the most outstanding courage and determination and abnegation..

This work offers thirty or so concise but precise biographies of French World War I Generals. All ranks of generals rub shoulders, from the simple brigadier to the generals destined to become Maréchals. Some are famous; others renowned in their time are now unknown to the general public. The reader discovers the different careers, both typical and unusual, which enabled these men to reach this rank; there is also information which goes against the grain of generally accepted ideas. All the generals are mentioned, from the generals of the "14 Generation" to those of 1918, who advanced because of the conflict; also discussed are the various sackings, the different contexts and the spirit of the times; the clans, the different schools, skills and negligence, political affinities and their influence; the generals who fell at the front and the true faces of men praised or reviled by History, all with anecdotes and details still as yet unpublished.This study, the first of its type, is captivating from beginning to end and is complemented by unpublished pictures; it enables the reader to put faces to the names of the main protagonists of the Great War; it's all about the men from all walks of life who, far from forming a rigid caste like their counterparts on the other side of the Rhine, reflected the diversity of French society at the time.An undisputed specialist of 20th Century French Army history and a former officer, Paul Gaujac served in the paratroopers, in the air transport command, at the nuclear submarine headquarters and then at that of the Army, finishing his career as head of the Historical Department of the Armée de Terre. He has published twenty works, three of them with Histoire & Collections.

This book, composed of three parts, first of all recalls the design and the manufacture of the gliders, the creation of the flying schools as well as the setting-up of the program of pilot training. The second part is interested in the use of the American gliders on June 6, 1944 in Cotentin by detailing all the missions in which they took part. The last part, as for it, is focused on the ignored role held by these same apparatuses at the time of the landing of Provence. This book does not forget to mention the parachutists combined at the sides of which the gliders took share with the engagements. You will find many photographs and new documents as well as testimonies of German, French and American veterans.

Many Vietnam memoirs have appeared in recent years, but not a single one has the humour, pathos, poignancy, and often sheer hilarity of John J. Gebhart’s riveting LBJ’S Hired Gun. As Gebhart tells it, he was a ‘smart-mouthed college boy’ who joined the Marines to see the world and ‘dust a few black pajamas for Uncle Sam. ’ Two gruelling tours of duty later (1965-1967) he returned home as a sergeant after surviving 240 combat missions (12 air medals) and being shot down twice. On his chest was the Navy Commendation Award (with the combat V). LBJ’s Hired Gun launches with Gebhart’s grim recollection of the intense old-school brutality that was Marine Corps training on Parris Island before transitioning to his difficult journey for Southeast Asia aboard a troop transport with 2,000 other nameless grunts. These hardships offered but a glimpse of the suffering he and his comrades were about to endure. His candid account of life and death in Vietnam is written with a lively, infectious flair. But be forewarned: no attempt has been made to sanitize this memoir with politically-correct language. Gebhart tells his story exactly as he and his comrades spoke in the 1960s. About the AuthorJohn J. Gebhart quit college in 1964 and joined the Marine Corps. He spent the years from September 1965 to September 1967 in Vietnam, much of it as Huey door gunner. Gebhart graduated from St Joseph College with a B.S. in Business Administration and is the owner of a large employment service company. Gebhart was inducted into the ‘Enlisted Combat Aircrew Roll of Honor’ on November 14, 2003, aboard USS Yorktown at Patriots Point in Charleston, South Carolina.

A superb, highly illustrated book! From their bridgeheads in Normandy, established after three months of intense fighting, the Allies finally broke out and began a spectacular advance, pushing the Germans back at an unprecedented rate. Here’s the complete story of what became known as Montgomery’s Blitzkrieg.

When the author was inducted into the US Army in 1942 he had no idea that typists and draftsmen were in short supply and that he would be quickly snatched up by the G-3 (Operations) Section of the 82nd Airborne. The author thus gained a ringside seat for some of the greatest campaigns of World War II.The 82nd fought from the invasions of North Africa, Sicily and France, to the Battle of the Bulge and the drive on Berlin. And throughout the campaigns sat Lebenson at the division’s nerve centre, typing orders, drafting battle maps and acting as liaison. A rare enlisted man with ‘bigoted’ (top secret) status, he was privy to the 82nd’s actions as they were being devised. In the process, he was able to meet Ridgeway, Gavin, Patton, Montgomery and other army luminaries who came through the headquarters. Along with the divisional staff, the author arrived in battle in many different ways – by ship, plane, glider, parachute and jeep. With the rest of the All American Division he shared the blistering heat of Africa and the bone-chilling cold of the Ardennes.Rising from private to master sergeant, Lebenson thought that he had ‘the best job in the army’. In this revealing memoir, however, he never fails to give full credit to the men on the firing line who suffered the greatest hardships and casualties. The author has provided a rare behind-the-scenes view of the 82nd Airborne in World War II, yet he is the first to acknowledge that his greatest honour was to be ‘surrounded by heroes’.

“The mission to clear up the last strongholds of resistance in Falaise fell to the Mont-Royal Fusiliers ans the task was far from easy. About 60 diehards from the Hitler Youth were entrenched in the Ecole Superieure (a primary school), in the town centre. The building was surrounded by a thick wall and overhung the main street which crossed the southern side of Falaise from east to west. Resistance ceased at 2 a.m. on 18th August while the riflemen were lauching an attack under a German air raid which pounded enemies and allies alike. The school was sent on fire. Four Germans were reported to have escaped, the others "fought to the death", non surrendered”. This was how the official Canadian history, written by Colonel Stacey, reported the last stage of the fighting in Falaise. The author of this book, Jean-Luc Leleu, shows that this account of the battle is a myth : the Germans did not intend to fight to the death, but fled during the air raid, saving their lives.

This book is the first in a new series devoted to German armored formations of World War II.Packed with full color images and a large amount of previously unpublished material, it is custom designed to appeal to modelers, AFV enthusiasts, and readers interested in Second World War technical history.The book traces the battle of Kursk and the involvement of the German Panzer Units, through first hand records. Many hitherto unpublished photos, plus recently discovered memoirs from veterans combined with color profiles of AFVs, contribute to make this book a real reference bible for the enthusiast. Didier Lodieu is a dedicated specialist on the German Army of World War II. In more than thirty years of research. he has learned how to find the most interesting photos and historical sources.

‘In a fascinating way, Chuck Alling recalls his days as a pilot flying B-17’s over Germany. He is truly a member of ‘The Greatest Generation’ and from his book, written from the heart, people can learn a lot about the laughs and the tears of World War II.’ – Former President George H. W. Bush• A unique insight into the lives of a lead-bomber crew in WWII• An extraordinary tale of everyday braveryA Mighty Fortress is the personal account of the captain and crew of a lead bomber in the enormous formation raids made by the 8th Airforce during the last few months of the Second World War.It is an extraordinary tale of heroism and bravery on the part of the entire crew of just one B17 amongst hundreds – but the one B17 that meant most to them.Flying a total of 27 missions before the war came to an end in May 1945, Alling tells, with great restraint, the story of what it was like to be there, over the skies of enemy territory, constantly on the look out for German fighters; of the enormity of some of the raids they were part of and the consequences for those on the ground; of the planes around them that fell out of the sky under enemy attack, the horror and the determination to succeed. The book gives a unique insight into the lives of one crew of one plane as the War neared its end.About the AuthorCharles B. Alling received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters during the Second World War. He graduated from Yale University in 1947. In 1988, he retired and studied Ethics at Oxford University Graduate School in England. He lives in Kennebunk, Maine.

Too little has been written to date on Germany's "Schnellboote" in the Second World War. Known by the Allies as E-Boats (Enemy Boats) the S Boote played havoc on Allied naval operations in the English channel and elsewhere. Many of their captains were amongst the most decorated of any branch of the Kriegsmarine. Jean-Philippe Dallies-Labourdette is a noted expert on the Kriegsmarine in World War Two and was the author of the best selling (and now sadly out of print) U-Boote, published in 1996 by Histoire & Collections.This highly detailed book examines all aspects of the S-Boote, from design to deployment and notes all the major engagements for which they are famous. As with all Histoire & Collections books, you are guaranteed a visual feast of excellent descriptive graphics and previously unseen photographs.

The Soviet aircraft industry of the 1940-1950 period has been incredibly productive, while Russian manufacturers, stimulated by the huge needs stressed by World War Two, competed with each other in design and creativeness. This book offers an exhaustive coverage, by chronological order which is one of its original features every single Soviet fighter of the period, from obscure projects which did no go off the drawing table, to the best known mass-produced models.

A series of outstanding articles by leading scholars on what Native Americans experienced during our Civil War. Articles include" "Nations Asunder: Western American Indians During the Civil War"; "Minnesota Volunteers and the Coming of the 1862 Dakota War"; "The Most Terrible Stories: The Minnesota Dakota War and White Imagination"; "Stand Watie at First and Second Cabin Creek"; and interview with a leading historian, a look at Wisconsin's 1832 Black Hawk War Trail and much more, including book reviews, index.

This collection of reminiscences and poems of American veterans residing in France brings alive the realities of World War II, particularly in France but also in North Africa, the South Pacific, England, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Germany.Many compelling images emerge from these seventeen stories: a secret agent launching kayaks in cold Algerian waters, a six-foot-two sergeant wading ashore at Utah Beach, an American medic treating a German soldier in a Norman church, a young Frenchman hiding an American airman in a shepherd's hut, a commander crawling over to a burning tank to save on of his "boys", a WAC dancing in the streets of Paris on V-E Day.

On August 18, 1965, regiment fought regiment on the Van Tuong Peninsula near the new Marine base at Chu Lai. On the American side were three battalions of Marines under the command of Colonel Oscar Peatross, a hero of two previous wars. His opponent was the 1st Viet Cong Regiment commanded by Nguyen Dinh Trong, a veteran of many fights against the French and the South Vietnamese. Codenamed Operation Starlight, this action was a resounding success for the Marines and its result was cause for great optimism about America's future in Vietnam. This was the operation that sent the Vietnam War into the headlines across the nation and into the minds of Americans, where it took up residence for more than a decade. Marine participants from private to colonel were interviewed during the book's research phase. The battle is seen from the mud level, by those who were at the point of the spear. But this is not just another war story told exclusively from the American side. In researching the book, the author talked with and walked the battlefield with men who fought with the 1st Viet Cong Regiment. All were accomplished combat veterans years before the U.S. entry into the war.The book also looks at the ongoing conflict between the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marines about the methodology of the Vietnam War. With decades of experience with insurrection and rebellion, the Marines were institutionally oriented to base the struggle on pacification of the population. The Army, on the other hand, having largely trained to meet the Soviet Army on the plains of Germany, opted for search-and-destroy missions against Communist main force units. The history of the Vietnam War is littered with many "what ifs." This may be the biggest of them.

Each mini-guide allows the reader to get to know more about a region's history, linking historical events with places of interest and sites of note, as well as providing an unprecedented visual feast of contemporary photographs, uniforms, badges and equipment - all in full color. Practical information is included in each mini-guide and itineraries are suggested for those wishing to visit battlefields, monuments, memorials and museums. By the dawn of 7 June some 152,000 Anglo-American troops had set foot on the Normandy coast, testimony that the D-Day landings had been a success. But the battle was far from over; beachheads had to be reinforced and troops prepared to face the inevitable German counterattack. The weather, too, added to the uncertainty as it had the power to interrupt supplies and reinforcements. The American objective was to seal off the Cotentin peninsula, thereby forcing the surrender of the massive port of Cherbourg. For the British, Caen, capital of Lower Normandy and gateway to Paris, became the target. They prepared to launch a quick and formidable blow to seize the place but were frustrated a handful of miles from the town by German panzers. Would the Allies be able to break out and end the campaign with a decisive blow?