Images of War (Pen & Sword Books)
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Challenger 2
The British Main Battle Tank
by Robert Griffin
Part 2 of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
For much of the Cold War, the British Army's main battle tanks (MBT) were first the Centurion and then the Chieftain. The question of the latter's replacement became urgent when in 1980 MBT80 was canceled. While the Royal Ordnance Challenger (originally the Shir 2) was acquired as a stop gap its design and capability limitations quickly became apparent.
Vickers then took over the Royal Ordnance tank building facility and against stiff foreign competition developed the Challenger 2. This superbly researched and illustrated book tells the story of the evolution and subsequent successful career of Challenger 2 which has seen distinguished service in war and peace since 1990 and has proved itself one of the worlds most formidable fighting vehicles. The authors do not shy away from technical detail and make comparisons with competitors. The result is an objective and authoritative work which will delight military equipment buffs, modelers and war gamers.
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Allied Victory Over Japan 1945
by Jon Diamond
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
"Jon Diamond is to be commended for his attention to detail, great use of maps and amazing photographs." - IPMS/USA
In 1944 with the war in Europe turning in the Allies' favor, Japan still occupied vast swathes of South East Asia and the Pacific.
In Burma, the seemly unstoppable Japanese advance was halted at Kohima and Imphal in June and July 1944. Six months later the advances made by British-led forces enabled the re-opening of the supply routes from India to US forces in China. It was not until Spring 1945 that British-led forces seized first Mandalay and then the port city of Rangoon after a year of grueling fighting.
Admiral Nimitz's and General MacArthur's forces meanwhile were overcoming fanatical Japanese resistance as they invaded Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Leyte and Luzon in late 1944. Iwo Jima and Okinawa fell to the Allies in early 1945. These successes enabled USAAF Superfortresses to bomb mainland Japan. Late Spring/early Summer 1945 saw the steady recapture of the Northern Solomons and Brunei, Borneo and former Dutch colonies. The Soviets were advancing into Manchuria and Korea.
The atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 finally forced the Japanese to surrender without the inevitable carnage of an invasion of their mainland.
The tumultuous events of the final year of the Second World War in the Far East are brilliantly described here in contemporary well captioned images and succinct text.
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Great War Fighter Aces, 1914–1916
by Norman Franks
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Here, Norman Franks tells the story, in words and images, of the emergence of some of the greatest fighter aces to see action during the first half of the First World War. He explores the manner in which the situation developed from late 1914 to the late summer of 1916, the point at which Oswald Boelcke helped form the German Jasta system that would prove so devastating to the RFC and RNAS. Utilizing images drawn from his large personal archive of photographs, Franks profiles some of the greatest and most notorious aces, as well as the aircraft in which they flew. The first years of the war saw some of the bravest acts of pilot gallantry and ingenuity play out. Franks celebrates the legacy of just a handful of these individuals, participants on both sides, including Boelcke's premier ace Manfred Von Richtofen, Lanoe Hawker, Georges Guynemer, Albert Ball, Lionel Rees, Wilhelm Frankl, and Stanley Dallas amongst many others.
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8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Covers the operations of a leading SS Calvary Regiment and describes fighting under desperate conditions on the Eastern Front.
Formed in 1942 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer was soon deployed to the Eastern Front where Hitler's ambition to conquer Russia was stalling badly. In common with other SS units the Division was responsible for razing towns and villages, poisoning wells and genocide often against unarmed civilians. This scorched earth policy was aimed at hindering the Red Army's advance. After moving South, the Division took part in the retreat from the Dnieper River before operating in Hungary and Croatia. The end came when trapped in Budapest by Soviet and Romanian forces, the Division was destroyed in December 1944. By the end of the siege only 800 of the 30,000 men in the SS Corps reached German lines. Using many startling contemporary images, this latest book in the Author's Images of War series vividly illustrates the horror of warfare on the Eastern Front.
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Hell in the Central Pacific 1944
The Palau Islands
by Jon Diamond
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
This WWII pictorial history covers a little-known but hard-fought Pacific War campaign with striking combat images and expertly researched text.
In September 1944, to prevent Japanese air interdiction against General MacArthur's invasion of the Southern Philippines, the Americans attacked Peleliu and Angaur in the Palau group of the Western Caroline Islands. Admiral Halsey, commanding the US Third Fleet, feared the heavily defended Palaus would be costly for his III Amphibious Corps.
While Angaur fell in four days, the Japanese resisted tenaciously on Peleliu thanks to their underground fortifications on the Umurbrogel Ridge overlooking the airfield. It took more than two months of bitter fighting to take control of the Island-and the benefits of this costly victory were doubtful. But as Jon Diamond demonstrates in this fully illustrated volume, there is no denying the courage and determination shown by the attacking US forces.
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US Naval Aviation, 1898–1945
The Pioneering Years to the Second World War
by Leo Marriott
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
This pictorial history tells the story of US naval aviation from its early beginnings in the 1920s to its dominance in the Pacific theater of WWII.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor sank or crippled almost all of the battleships in the US Navy's Pacific Fleet. But the fleet's aircraft carriers survived-and soon demonstrated the power of US naval aviation. Thanks to pioneering technology and far-sighted pre-war policy, the US Navy had the necessary ships, aircraft, and crews to turn the tide of the Pacific war.
With more than 200 rare photographs, Leo Marriott traces the growth of US naval aviation from the flimsy seaplanes of the first years of the twentieth century to the mighty armadas that challenged those of the Japanese and, after the carrier battles at Coral Sea and Midway, led the advance across the Pacific. Marriott puts special focus on the navy's first aircraft carriers of the 1920s, the tremendous progress made in the decades between the wars in tactics and strategy, and the innovative design of ships and aircraft themselves.
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B-17 Memphis Belle
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
by Graham M. Simons
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Without doubt Boeing Flying Fortress B—17F 41-42285 Memphis Belle and her crew generate an image that is an all-American icon. Indeed, it has been claimed that the Memphis Belle is in the top five of the most famous American aircraft of all time. In September, 1942, a new Flying Fortress was delivered at Bangor, Maine, to a crew of ten eager American lads headed by Robert K. Morgan, a lanky 24-year-old USAAF pilot from Asheville, N. C. The boys climbed aboard, flew their ship to Memphis, Tenn. and christened her Memphis Belle in honor of Morgan's fiance, Miss Margaret Polk of Memphis, and then headed across the Atlantic to join the US Eighth Air Force in England.
Between November 7 1942 and May 17 1943 they flew the Memphis Belle over Hitler's Europe twenty-five times. They dropped more than 60 tons of bombs on targets in Germany, France and Belgium. They blasted the Focke-Wulf plant at Bremen, locks at St. Nazaire and Brest, docks and shipbuilding installations at Wilhelmshaven, railway yards at Rouen, submarine pens and power houses at Lorient, and airplane works at Antwerp. They shot down eight enemy fighters, probably got five others and damaged at least a dozen. Memphis Belle flew through all the flak that Hitler could send up to them. She slugged it out with Goering's Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs. She was riddled by machine gun and cannon fire. Once she returned to base with most of her tail shot away. German guns destroyed a wing and five engines. Her fuselage was shot to pieces but Memphis Belle kept going back.
The Memphis Belle crew has been decorated 51 times. Each of the 10 has received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal and three Oak Leaf Clusters. The 51st award was Sergeant Quinlan's Purple Heart.
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Armoured Warfare and the Waffen-SS, 1944–1945
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
by Anthony Tucker-Jones
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Over 150 wartime photographs give a graphic snapshot of the dramatic tank battles fought by the Waffen-SS panzer and panzergrenadier divisions during 1944-5 on both the Eastern and Western fronts. By this stage of the Second World War these formations were at the height of their powers and took part in major armoured operations in Russia, France, the Netherlands, and Poland. As the Wehrmacht retreated the Waffen-SS played an increasingly important role. Most notably their panzers prolonged the war by staving off defeat at Arnhem and Wolomin, stabilizing both the Western and Eastern fronts at critical points in the fighting.The photographs and the accompanying narrative record the contrasting conditions they faced on each battlefront and the weapons and equipment they used, especially the armored vehicles, including the Tiger and Panther tanks, which were among the best designs the Germans produced. But they also record the crimes committed by members of the Waffen-SS against civilians and captured enemy soldiers during the series of brutal, often desperate operations mounted to stave off German defeat.Anthony Tucker-Jones's photographic history is a fascinating introduction to these elite units during the final phase of the fighting in Europe.
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US Cold War Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
by Michael Green
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
To counter the Soviet threat and that of their client States during the Cold War years 1949-1991, the American military deployed an impressive range of main battle tanks (MBTs) and armored fighting vehicles (AFVs). The Patton series of medium MBTs (including the M46, M47 and M48) supplemented by the M103s Heavy Tank initially formed the core of the US tank fleet. In 1960 the M60 MBT with its British designed 105mm gun entered service and, in turn, was replaced by the M1 Abrams in 1980. In support were armored reconnaissance vehicles, progressively the M41 bull dog (1951); the M114 (1961), the M551 Sheridan (1967) and M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (1981). The armored personnel carrier (APC) range included the ubiquitous M113 and its replacement the M2 Bradley, cousin of the M3. Expert author Michael Green covers all these vehicles and their variants in this informative and superbly illustrated Images of War series work.
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The German Siege of Leningrad, 1941–1944
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Drawing on a superb collection of rare and unpublished photographs with detailed captions and explanatory text, this dramatic book vividly portrays every aspect of the siege of Leningrad.
The historic 872 day siege of Leningrad by German Army Group North began in earnest on 8 September 1941 and was not lifted until 27 January 1944. During this period the Red Army made numerous desperate attempts to break the blockade, which the Nazis and their Spanish and Finnish allies doggedly resisted. Eventually, due to overwhelming enemy pressure, Hitler's forces were compelled to retreat, but not before looting and destroying numerous historic palaces and landmarks and looting their priceless art collections.
The bitter and prolonged fighting often under appalling climatic conditions resulted in many thousands of casualties for both sides from direct action and constant indirect artillery and air attack. Arguably most shocking was the loss of life due to the systematic starvation of the civilian population trapped inside and the intentional destruction of its buildings.
Drawing on a superb collection of rare and unpublished photographs with detailed captions and explanatory text, this dramatic book vividly portrays every aspect of the siege which has the dubious claim of being arguably the most costly in human and material terms of any in recent military history.
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Essex Class Aircraft Carriers, 1943–1991
by Leo Marriott
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
A photographic history of the US Essex-class aircraft carriers of World War II-including the USS Intrepid that now serves as a New York City museum.
Essex-class aircraft carriers played an essential role in the victory of the United States over Japan in the Second World War, and Leo Marriott's photographic history is a fascinating introduction to them. Without these remarkable ships, the island-hopping campaign of American forces across the Pacific towards Japan would not have been possible. They also took part in the Korean and Vietnam wars that followed.
During the Second World War they were at the center of the powerful task groups that could put up hundreds of aircraft to support forces on the ground. They were also prime targets for Japanese air attacks, in particular the kamikaze suicide missions. A total of twenty-four were eventually commissioned including several after the end of the war.
The selection of rare photographs and the expert text cover the evolution of US aircraft carrier design prior to the Second World War and look at the factors which shaped the design and construction of the Essex class. Included are dramatic action shots of the new breed of naval aircraft that was launched from their flight decks, including Hellcat and Corsair fighters that took on the Japanese and the carrier-borne jets that flew over Korea and Vietnam.
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Blitzkrieg in the West
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
"This superbly illustrated book captures the dramatic action of May and June 1940. The speed and ferocity of the German onslaught took the Allies by surprise as Hitlers land and air forces annihilated the inferior opposition. After 9 months stalemate the collapse was cataclysmic and Holland and Belgium quickly fell leaving the British and French forces outflanked and outfought. Panic set in and huge numbers of civilian refugees clogged the roads making the Allies withdrawal even more precarious. The miracle of Dunkirk saved vast numbers of British and French forces but could not prevent the surrender of France, leaving Britain to fight on virtually alone. The splendid photographs in this Images of War series book tell the story of this extraordinary period of history. They include previously unseen images of Rommels Ghost Division."
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Corregidor
Siege & Liberation, 1941–1945
by John Grehan
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Singapore and Hong Kong had fallen to the forces of Imperial Japan, Thailand and Burma had been invaded and islands across the Pacific captured. But one place, one tiny island fortress garrisoned by a few thousand hungry and exhausted men, refused to be beaten. That island fortress was Corregidor which guarded the entrance to Manila Bay and controlled all sea-borne access to Manila Harbor. At a time when every news bulletin was one of Japanese success, Corregidor shone as the only beacon of hope in the darkness of defeat. The Japanese 14th Army of Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma, threw everything it had at Corregidor, officially named Fort Mills. But deep within the island's rocky heart, a tunnel had been excavated into Malinta Hill and there the US troops, marine, naval and army, endured the terrible onslaught. At their head was General Douglas MacArthur who became a national hero with his resolute determination never to surrender, until ordered to evacuate to Australia to avoid such a senior officer being captured by the enemy. Bur with his departure, the rest of the garrison knew that there was no possibility of relief. They would have to fight on until the bitter end, whatever form that might take. That end came in May 1942. The defenders were reduced to virtually starvation rations with many of them wounded. Consequently, when, on 5 May the Japanese mounted a powerful amphibious assault, the weakened garrison could defy the enemy no longer. Corregidor, the 'Gibraltar of the East', finally fell to the invaders. Those invaders were to become the invaded when MacArthur returned in January 1945. For three weeks, US aircraft, warships and artillery hammered the Japanese positions on Corregidor. Then, on 16 February, the Americans landed on the island. It took MacArthur's men ten days to hunt down the last of the Japanese, after many had chosen to commit suicide rather than surrender, but Corregidor was at last back in Allied hands. In this unique collection of images, the full story Corregidor's part in the Second World War is dramatically revealed. The ships, the aircraft, the guns, the fortifications and the men themselves, are shown here, portraying the harsh, almost unendurable, realities of war.
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Brandenburger
Wartime Photographs of Wilhelm Walther
by Anthony Rogers
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
In March 1940, Oberleutnant Wilhelm Walther transferred from Aufklärungs-Abteilung 5, an armored reconnaissance unit, to Bau-Lehr-Bataillon z.b.V. 800 – forerunner of what would soon be known as the 'Brandenburger'. Two months later, he led a commando action in the Netherlands and became the first of his unit to be awarded the Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross). By May 1944, Walther was an Oberstleutnant and an experienced regimental commander in what had evolved as the Division 'Brandenburg'. He would eventually join Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny's SS-Jagdverbände as Chief of Staff, before seeing out the last days of the war with the short-lived Schutzkorps Alpenland. More than 200 images, together with English captions, portray the life and times of this career officer, from the German annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938, to operations in Russia, Greece and the Balkans during 1941–44. In comparison with other units of the Second World War, relatively little has been published about Germany's commando forces. This is hardly surprising, considering the paucity of source material available and the air of mystery and intrigue still surrounding this specialist formation. This unique collection of rare images was sourced from the photograph album of Wilhelm Walther and is sure to appeal to all with an interest in the war in the West and on the Eastern Front, as well as to militaria collectors, modelers and re-enactment groups.
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The Waffen-SS at Arnhem
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
The 1944 Arnhem airborne operation, immortalized by the film “A Bridge Too Far”, will forever be remembered as a great British feat of arms. British and Polish paratroopers displayed outstanding courage and tenacity in a desperate last stand situation. And yet, as this book describes, the plan was fatally flawed as the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions were recuperating and concealed nearby. What followed was a bloody battle of attrition the result of which was arguably inevitable. Drawing on rare and unpublished photographs, this Images of War series work reveals the historical combat record of the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg divisions. It describes the intensity of the fighting in and around Arnhem between these elite SS and supporting units against a lightly armed yet equally determined enemy. In spite of the war being only months away from its end and the defeat increasingly certain, the SS soldier remained fanatically motivated. This superbly illustrated book with its well-researched text and full captions captures the drama of that historic battle for a bridge over the Rhine.
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United States Navy Destroyers
by Michael Green
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
This pictorial history examines the key role played by US Navy destroyers from the turn of the twentieth century through the Cold War and beyond.
The first sixteen United States Navy destroyers were ordered in 1898. Prior to America's entry into the First World War, another sixty-three destroyers were commissioned and, due to the U-boat threat, 267 more were authorized by Congress once hostilities were joined.
Between 1932 and Pearl Harbor ten new classes totaling 169 destroyers came into service. During the Second World War, American shipyards turned out a further 334 vessels. Of the three classes, the 175 Fletcher-class were judged the most successful.
The Cold War years saw the development of seven more classes, while more recent additions include eighty-two of the stealth-shaped Arleigh Burke class. In this comprehensive account, author and military expert Michael Green combines a superb collection of historical images with an authoritative text.
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Korea
The Ground War from Both Sides
by Philip D. Chinnery
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
The Korean War opened with the invasion of South Korea by the North Koreans in June 1950. This superbly illustrated book traces the fluctuating fortunes of war from both sides. The South Koreans were saved from defeat by the arrival of the American and UN forces under General MacArthur but the success of his offensive brought in the Chinese who undetected by the Allies, counter-attacked with over a quarter of a million men of the Peoples Volunteer Army. Once again the Allies fell back and a stalemate developed. No peace treaty was ever signed.
The story is well told in photographs, captions and text. Many of the images portray the brutal nature of the war, where neither POWs nor civilians were safe.
Korea was arguably the last major conflict fought outside the glare of the media and the photographs in this fine book give a unique insight into the conflict.
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The Battle for the Caucasus, 1942–1943
Rare Photogaphs from Wartime Archives
by Anthony Tucker-Jones
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
In late 1942 Hitler's forces advanced far into the Caucasus in the southern Soviet Union in one of the most ambitious offensives of the Second World War, but this extraordinary episode is often forgotten-it is overshadowed by the disastrous German attack on Stalingrad which took place at the same time. Using over 150 wartime photographs Anthony Tucker-Jones gives the reader a graphic, concise introduction to this remarkable but neglected campaign on the Eastern Front.
Operation Edelweiss was designed to seize the oil fields of Maikop, Baku and Grozny. Seen by some as a wholly unnecessary diversion of resources from the critical confrontation at Stalingrad, the assault on the Caucasus aimed to secure oil supplies for the Germans and deny them to the Soviets.
As this memorable selection of photographs shows, the Werhmacht came close to success. Their forces advanced almost as far as Grozny, famously raising the Nazi flag over Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in the region, before they were compelled into a hurried withdrawal by the rapid deterioration of the German position elsewhere on the Eastern Front.
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SS Polizei at War, 1940–1945
A History of the Division
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Formed in 1939 SS-Polizei Division were not considered initially as an SS fighting force, and this status was reflected in the quality of the equipment they were issued. Following operations in France, Greece and then Russia, it was not until 1942 the division was transferred to the Waffen-SS, and eventually upgraded to a Panzergrenadier division, the 4th SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier Division.
The book describes how the SS-Polizei Division fought across the Low Countries, the Eastern Front, before deploying to the Balkans and Greece where it committed numerous atrocities. During the last days of the War it was assigned to Army Detachment Steiner defending Berlin where many soldiers fought to the death.
This book is a unique glimpse into one of the most infamous fighting machines in World War Two and a great addition to any reader interested Waffen-SS history.
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German Halftracks at War, 1939–1945
by Paul Thomas
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
In the aftermath of The Great War, which saw the introduction of the tank, the more far sighted military leaders realized that the future of warfare hinged on a balance of mobility, firepower and protection.
Tanks would need to be accompanied into battle by supporting arms, specifically infantry, artillery and engineers. An all fully-tracked field army was thought to be too expensive, so the semi-tracked support vehicle (commonly called a halftrack) was born. The halftrack concept was embraced by the French, the US and most notably Germany.
The Germans commissioned numerous types of half-tracked tractors, which were classified by the weight of their towed load. These vehicles were designated Sonderkraffarzeug (special motorized vehicle), abbreviated as Sd.
Kfz. Without these vehicles, the Blitzkrieg would not have been possible.
These front-wheel steering vehicles with tracked drive transformed the fighting quality of the armored divisions. They carried the infantry alongside the advancing panzers and brought guns and pontoon-bridge sections. The halftrack also became the preferred reconnaissance vehicle.
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Armoured Warfare in the Italian Campaign, 1943–1945
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
by Anthony Tucker-Jones
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
The Second World War campaigns in North Africa, on the Eastern Front and in northwest Europe were dominated by armored warfare, but the battles in Italy were not. The mountainous topography of the Italian peninsula ensured that it was foremost an infantry war, so it could be said that tanks played a supporting role. Yet, as Anthony Tucker-Jones demonstrates, in the battles fought from the Allied landings in Sicily in 1943 to the German surrender after the crossing of the Po in 1945, tanks, self-propelled guns and armored cars were essential elements in the operations of both sides. His selection of rare wartime photographs shows armor in battle at Salerno, Anzio and Monte Cassino, during the struggle for the Gustav Line, the advance on Rome and the liberation of northern Italy. In addition, they reveal the full array of Axis and Allied armored vehicles that was deployed-most famous among them were the German Mk IVs, Panthers, and Tigers and Allied Stuarts, Chafees, Shermans and Churchills.This volume in Anthony Tucker-Joness series of books on armored warfare in the Second World War gives readers a vivid impression of the Italian landscapes over which the campaign was fought, the wide range of military vehicles that were used, and the grueling conditions endured by the men who fought in them.
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D-Day
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
by Francis Crosby
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Drawing upon a new international archive of the Second World War, the support of veterans world-wide and from archives overseas, the author uses previously unpublished letters, diaries, photographs and reminiscences to tell the story of D Day in a way which brings the reader closer to the actual experience. From an aerial, naval and land perspective the events of D Day are captured superbly in wartime contemporary and retrospective documentation. Each of the beaches is fully represented. American, Canadian and British testimony is supported by new, compelling, German material. Appropriately the RAF and Merchant Navy experience appear as do the contemporary and retrospective reactions of women in the know and those whom knew from unofficial sources of the immediate imminence of the assault. The reader will share in each stage of the day from the experience of paratroops and glider-borne troops to crossing the Channel by sea and at the landings on each beach. The book is profusely illustrated with previously unpublished photographs and facsimile documentation and provides a treasure-trove of evidence on the 60th anniversary of 6th June 1944.
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M7 Priest
by David Doyle
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
The M7 Howitzer Motor Carriage, dubbed the Priest, was the most successful and widely used example of American self-propelled artillery during WWII. Examples continued to be used by the U.S. Army during the Korean war, and beyond, even serving Allied countries into the 1970s. Coined the Priest due to its pulpit-like structure for the gun commander, this armored fighting vehicle would see action in North Africa, Italy, and the D-Day landings in Normandy and all the way to Germany.
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The Nazis' Winter Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1941–1945
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Graphically describes the appalling hardships faced by German troops on the Eastern Front 1941-1945.
Hitler's shock decision to launch the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 was arguably the turning point of the Second World War. Spectacular early victories saw the Nazis close in on Moscow, but the Soviet 1941/42 winter counter offensive changed the odds entirely. Without doubt Russian winter conditions were a major factor compounded by the Germans' woeful lack of preparedness. As this fascinating book reveals, Wehrmacht and SS units only began to be issued with winter clothing in late 1941 and many had to improvise well into 1942. In an attempt to restore morale adversely affected by the harsh conditions and military reversals 'The Winter Warfare Handbook' (Winter Buch) was produced in 1942 and extracts are quoted in this work. Commanders had to adapt to the snow, freezing conditions and, almost worse, the impassable roads during the melt. With customary thoroughness and drastic measures, the Germans largely mastered the climatic challenges but nothing could mask the reality of the ruthless and numerically superior enemy that they faced.
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Retreat to Berlin
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Drawing on a superb collection of rare and unpublished photographs this latest book in the popular Images of War Series provides an absorbing insight into the last desperate year of the German Army. It analyses, in dramatic detail, the German retreat from the wastelands of the Eastern and Western Fronts into a bombed and devastated Third Reich to the very gates of Berlin.
Accompanied by detailed captions and text, the book shows how Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS, Luftwaffe, Hitlerjugend and Volksturm personnel attempted to defend every yard of ground against the overwhelming Allied forces. As the final months of the war are played out the reader learns how the Germans fought to the death in a desperate attempt to prevent what Hitler called the two fold devastation of the Reich. Despite the adverse situation in which the German Army was placed, soldiers continued right to the very end, holding their lines under the constant hammer blows of ground and air bombardments. Those German forces that were fortunate enough to survive the overwhelming ferocity of the enemy onslaught, gradually streamed back to fight on home soil until they were either destroyed or were driven around a devastated Berlin.
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United States Marine Corps in Vietnam
by Michael Green
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
A pictorial history "jam packed full of excellent visual and textual history of US Marine Corps operations in the Vietnam War" (AMPS).
With the American-supported South Vietnamese government verging on collapse in early 1965, President Lyndon Johnson decided to commit conventional ground forces in the form of a United States Marine Corps brigade of approximately 3,000 men on March 8, 1965. So began a massive and costly ten-year commitment.
At its height in 1968, the USMC had 86,000 men in South Vietnam. Almost a half million Marines would eventually rotate in out of South Vietnam during their typical one-year tours of duty. In the end, the fighting during well-known battles at Con Tien, Chu Lai, Hue, Khe Sanh, and Dong Ha-and thousands of now forgotten smaller-scale engagements-would cost the USMC 13,070 killed in action and 88,630 wounded, more casualties than they suffered during the Second World War.
In this book, well-known military historian Michael Green, using hundreds of dramatic images, tells the gallant story of the Marines' contribution to an unwinnable war; the battles; their equipment, from rifles to helicopters and jets; and the strategy adopted by the Corps.
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Himmler's Death Squad
Einsatzgruppen in Action, 1939–1944
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
The murderous activities of Himmler's Einsatzgruppen—or death squads—rank high among the horrors of the Nazi regime during the Second World War. These hand-picked groups followed in the wake of Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht units advancing intro Eastern Europe and Soviet Russia. Their mass murder of civilians in the occupied territories will never be accurately quantified but is likely to have exceeded two million people, including some 1.3 million of the 6,000,00 Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The graphic and shocking photographs in this Images of War book not only show the hunt for and rounding up of civilians, communists, Jews and Romani people but the active support given to the Einsatzgruppen by SS units and Wehrmacht units. The latter strenuously denied any collusion, but the photographic evidence here refutes this.
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Rommel's Ghost Division
Dash To The Channel-1940
by David Mitchelhill-Green
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Erwin Rommel's rapid and unexpected advance through France culminated in a key victory during the 1940 invasion of Europe and was branded the "Ghost Division". Adolf Hitler invaded Western Europe on 10 May 1940. After breaking through the supposedly 'impenetrable' Ardennes, Erwin Rommel was at the forefront of the Wehrmacht's audacious drive through France. Rommel, who had no prior experience leading an armored division in combat, moved with such speed and nerve that he frequently surprised French units by arriving far earlier than expected. Crossing the Meuse River, we follow Rommel-in what he referred to as 'practically a lightning Tour de France'-as he pushed through northern France to the English Channel. His spectacular victory at the coastal port of Saint-Valéry-en-Caux was crowned by the capture of Cherbourg. Following the armistice, Rommel was involved in reenacting certain battles, such as crossing the Somme, for the documentary Sieg im Westen (Victory in the West). This is the story of Rommel and the 7th Panzer Division-the so-called 'Ghost Division'-in France, 1940.
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Hitler's Death Camps in Occupied Poland
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Covers the six principal extermination camps in Nazi occupied Poland: a sobering reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust.
Nearly 80 years on, the concept and scale of the Nazis' genocide program remains an indelible, nay almost unbelievable, stain on the human race. Yet it was a dreadful reality of which, as this graphic book demonstrates, all too much proof exists. Between 1941 and 1945 an estimated three and a half million Jews and an unknown number of others, including Soviet POWs and gypsies, perished in six camps built in Poland; Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdenak, Sobibor and Treblinka. Unpleasant as it may be, it does no harm for present generations to be reminded of man's inhumanity to man, if only to ensure such atrocities will never be repeated. This book aims to do just this by tracing the history of the so-called Final Solution and the building and operation of the Operation Reinhard camps built for the sole purpose of mass murder and genocide.
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The Battle for Burma, 1942–1945
by Philip Jowett
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
The battle for Burma during the Second World War was of vital importance to the Allies and the Japanese. The Allies fought to protect British India and force the Japanese out of Burma; the Japanese fought to defend the north-west flank of their newly conquered empire and aimed to strike at India where anti-British feeling was growing stronger. Yet the massive military efforts mounted by both sides during four years of war are often overshadowed by the campaigns in Europe, North Africa, the Pacific and China. Philip Jowett, using over 200 wartime photographs, many of them not published before, retells the story of the war in Burma in vivid detail, illustrating each phase of the fighting and showing all the forces involved—British, American, Chinese, Indian, Burmese as well as Japanese. His book is a fascinating introduction to one of the most extreme, but least reported, struggles of the entire war. The narrative and the striking photographs carry the reader through each of the major phases of the conflict, from the humiliation of the initial British defeat in 1942 and retreat into India and their faltering attempts to recover the initiative from 1943, to the famous Chindit raids behind Japanese lines, the Japanese offensive of 1944 and their disastrous retreat and ultimate defeat.
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Panzergrenadiers 1942–1945
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Using 250 photographs, this addition to the Images of War series examines Hitler's elite armored infantry: the Panzergrenadiers.
The term Panzergrenadier was introduced in 1942 and applied equally to the infantry component of Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and later Waffen-SS Panzergrenadiere divisions. As this classic new Images of War book describes, these elite divisions fought as mechanized infantry and escort for and in close cooperation with panzers and other armoured fighting vehicles. Trained to fight both mounted and on foot, their priority was to maintain the fast momentum of armoured troops on the battlefield. Using a wealth of rare, often unpublished, photographs with detailed captions and text, the author charts the fighting record of the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe Panzergrenadiertruppe units. This includes their initial successes on the Eastern Front. But as defeat approached, they were forced on the defensive on all fronts including the bitter fighting in Italy and the Western Front. As well as describing their many actions, the book details the vehicles and weapons used and main personalities.
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Rommel in North Africa
Quest for the Nile
by David Mitchelhill-Green
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Erwin Rommel is the arguably the most well-known German general of the Second World War. Revered by his troops and applauded by his enemies, the so-called Desert Fox achieved legendary status for his daring exploits and bold maneuvers during the North African campaign. In this book, richly illustrated with over 400 images, the author examines the privations and challenges Rommel faced in leading his coalition force. Endeavoring to reach the Nile Delta, we find Rommel's Axis soldiers poorly prepared to undertake such an audacious operation. Much-admired by his men in the front lines, we discover a demanding and intolerant leader, censured by subordinate officers and mistrusted by his superiors in Berlin. Certainly no diplomat, we observe posed interactions with Italian and junior German officers through an official lens. We note Rommel's readiness to take advantage of his enemy's weakness and study his extraordinary instinct for waging mobile warfare. We consider his disregard for the decisive factor of supply and view his army's reliance on captured equipment. We learn how this brave and ambitious commander was celebrated by German propaganda when the Wehrmacht's fortunes in the East were waning. Conversely, analyze why Winston Churchill honored him as a daring and skillful opponent. Finally, we picture this energetic, ambitious, at times reckless, commander as he roamed the vast Western Desert battlefield. This is the story of Rommel in North Africa.
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The Warsaw Uprisings, 1943–1944
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
By 1942 the Nazi leadership had decided that the Jewish ghettos across occupied Poland should be liquidated, with Warsaw's being the largest , processed in phases. In response the left-wing Jewish Combat Organisation (ZOB) and right-wing Jewish Military Union (ZZW) formed and began training, preparing defences and smuggling in arms and explosives. The first Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began in April 1943. Although this was quelled at devastating cost to the Jewish community, resistance continued until the summer of 1944. By this time the Red Army was closing on the city and with liberation apparently imminent the 40,000 resistance fighters of the Polish Home Army launched a second uprising. For sixty-three days the insurgents battled their oppressors on the streets, in ruined buildings and cellars. Rather than come to their aid the Russians waited and watched the inevitable slaughter. This gallant but tragic struggle is brought to life in this book by the superb collection of photographs drawn from the album compiled for none other than Heinrich Himmler entitled Warschauer Aufstand 1944.
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Hitler versus Stalin: The Eastern Front 1941–1942
Barbarossa to Moscow
by Nik Cornish
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
The world was not prepared for the massive onslaught launched by Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 — the scale of the invasion, the speed of the German advance, the hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers taken prisoner, the chaotic, headlong retreat of Stalin's forces eastwards, towards Leningrad and Moscow. But equally it was not prepared for the Soviet fight back. For, despite all the predictions, the Red Army stemmed the Wehrmacht's advance, held the lines before Leningrad and Moscow, and mounted a counter-offensive that changed the course of the campaign and the outcome of the Second World War. These are the historic events that Nik Cornish portrays in the selection of rare wartime images he's selected for this graphic history of the war on the Eastern Front. The key aspects of the opening year of the war are vividly recorded — Operation Barbarossa, the German and Soviet forces as they marched and fought their way across the countryside and through the villages and towns of the Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states, the clashes at Brest, Smolensk, Kiev, the failure of Operation Typhoon, the turning point in this phase of the war which denied to Hitler the anticipated quick victory in the East.
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Waffen-SS Armour on the Eastern Front, 1941–1945
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union, codename ‘Operation Barbarossa’, was arguably the pivotal moment of the Second World War. Initially the onslaught was staggeringly successful with, as the superb contemporary images in this book show, Waffen-SS armored divisions leading the charge. But the Nazis had underestimated the Russians' determination to defend their homeland and the logistical problems compounded by the extreme winter weather conditions. After early victories such as the recapture of Kharkov in early 1943 and the Kursk offensive, commanders and crews of armored vehicles such as Pz. Kpfw. I, II, III, IV, Panther, Tiger, King Tiger, assault and self-propelled guns had to adapt their tactics and equipment to what became a desperate defensive withdrawal eventually back across a scarred and devastated Eastern Front. Even during the last months of the war as the Panzers withdrew through Poland and into the Reich, these exhausted elite units, broken down into small battle groups or Kampfgruppen, fought to the bitter end. With authoritative text supported by a plethora of rare fully captioned photographs, this classic “Images of War” book informs and inspires the reader revealing the key role played by Waffen-SS Panzer units in this most bitter campaign.
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Schnellbootwaffe: Adolf Hitler's Guerrilla War at Sea: S-Boote 1939-45
by Hrvoje Spajic
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
The Schnellbootwaffe was created in the early 1930s, before the Second World War, in concurrence with the regenerated Kriegsmarine. Young officers, most of whom learned their craft in the old Imperial Navy, would now take responsibility for the operational use of these revolutionary vessels. Working with the naval engineers of Lürssen Shipyard, the Germans designed combat weapons that were never surpassed by their opponents. After the first series of Schnellboote were launched, constantly improved versions of these vessels would follow. The Schnellbootwaffe would achieve significant victories for the Kriegsmarine at the beginning of the war by using these vessels in high-level strategies, including a style of guerrilla warfare. The British often call German torpedo boats E-boats, and these fast vessels were a genuine threat not only to coastal trade, but also to the movement of Allied ships after D-Day. Indeed, Admiral Rudolf Petersen's flotillas remained combat-ready until the very end, even after the balance of power was in favour of the Allies. Allied air bombardment of German torpedo boat bases from 1944 onwards failed to destroy the offensive potential of the Schnellboote and their crews. The Allied disaster at Lyme Bay at the end of April 1944 shows how this guerrilla war at sea was still dangerous, even at this stage of the war. The Allied invasion plans were not yet known to the Germans, but Eisenhower learned a great deal from Lyme Bay and the Schnellbootwaffe was still potentially dangerous right until the end of the war. This book tells the fascinating story about these special people, whose pirate spirit and guerrilla style of naval combat is reminiscent of the ancient pirates and their own way of warfare.
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The Waffen-SS Ardennes Offensive
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
In late 1944 under extreme pressure on both the Eastern and Western fronts, Hitler realized he needed to force the Allies into negotiating a truce thereby saving Germany from total defeat. Using the Christmas period to enhance the vital element of surprise, he ordered a devastating attack through the rugged and mountainous Ardenne region with the key Allied port of Antwerp as the objective. This book, with its extensive text and rare and unpublished photographs with detailed captions, tells the story of the Waffen-SS offensive, known as Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine). These formidable SS armored units with supporting Wehrmacht divisions initially achieved dramatic success making full use of the harsh winter conditions and terrain. Gradually the Allies regained the upper hand on the attackers who were increasingly suffering from lack of reinforcements and resupplies. After defeat at the pivotal battle of Bastonge, remaining Waffen-SS units withdrew and were transferred back to the Eastern Front. As described in this classic Images of War book, the Fuhrer's gamble so nearly paid off and the ruthless fighting spirit of the elite Waffen-SS divisions caused the Allied command serious concern.
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SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, 1941–1945
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Drawing on a superb collection of rare and unpublished photographs “SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia 1942-1945” describes how the occupying Nazis recruited Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian conscripts into the Waffen-SS. Unlike her Latvian neighbor, Lithuania had no plans to provide Germany with a National Legion. Although volunteers came forward, the majority did not. This was not the case for Latvia and Estonia, which undertook huge recruitment programs, and thousands of men were drafted into their own foreign legion of Waffen-SS Grenadier divisions. After intensive training, these divisions saw action on the Eastern front, around Leningrad, in the Ukraine, before vicious defensive operations as the Red Army smashed its way through the Baltic States in 1944. Even in the last dying weeks of the war, what was left of the Baltic soldiers of the 15th, 19th, and 20th Waffen-SS Grenadier Divisions, continued to fight alongside their Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS counterparts until they were either destroyed or surrendered. The story of these divisions is graphically told with detailed captions and text together with many contemporary images in true Images of War style.
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German Machine Guns of the Second World War
Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives
by Hans Seidler
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
German Machine Guns of the Second World War is a highly illustrated record of the German war machine between 1939 1945. Many of the photographs, all from the authors collection, come originally from the albums of individuals who took part in the war.
Arranged by theatre chronologically, the book analyses the development of the machine gun and describes how the Germans carefully utilised weapons such as the MG34 and the much vaunted MG42 into both offensive and defensive roles. Supported by a host of other machine guns like the MP28, MP38/40 and the lethal Sturmgerher 44, it depicts how these formidable machine guns fought against an ever increasing enemy threat.
Using over 250 rare and unpublished photographs together with detailed captions and accompanying text, this book provides a unique insight into German weaponry from early Blitzkrieg campaigns to the final demise of the Nazi empire.
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Fallschirmjäger: German Paratroopers, 1942–1945
by François Cochet
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
As elite troops, the German Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) were regularly engaged in front line combat during the Second World War. Their famed actions such as the fighting in Scandinavia, the taking of the Belgian fortress Eden-Emal in May 1940, and the Battle for Crete just a year later, have given them the reputation of being determined, courageous and loyal soldiers. This book continues the pictorial history of the Fallschirmjäger, focusing on the period following the bloody Battle for Crete. Used as elite infantry, first in the USSR and then in Africa, the Fallschirmjäger were able to reconnect with their glorious past, whether in Italy or on the Greek Islands, as they jumped from their Ju 52s to engage the enemy. Their hard fighting in Italy helped to cement the legend of 'the Green Devils', with the British General Harold Alexander describing them as 'tenacious, highly trained men, hardened by their many actions and combats'. However, during the fighting in Normandy, the Ardennes and on the Eastern Front, the number of veterans decreased, meaning it was the young German paratroopers who finally surrendered the III Reich on 8 May 1945.
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Knight's Cross Winners of the Waffen SS
by Marc Rikmenspoel
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
A pictorial overview of recipients of Nazi Germany's military award for bravery.
“Knight's Cross Winners of the Waffen-SS” details some of the most-decorated personalities of that infamous organization. Rare photos, including a mix of studio portraits and shots taken in the field, portray prominent members of the SS's military branch during World War II including Sepp Dietrich, who went from serving as Adolf Hitler's driver and bodyguard to being elected to the Reichstag; Dachau commandant Theodor Eicke; and tank commander Michael Wittmann.
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The Red Baron
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
by Barry Pickthall
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Beginning his wartime career on the Western Front in August 1916, Manfred von Richthofen, or the Red Baron as he became known, had shot down an impressive total of fifteen aircraft by January 1917, as well as being appointed commander of his own unit. By the time of his death in 1918, he had destroyed a staggering total of eighty allied aircraft. From the perspective of the allies, he was a deadly menace. For the Germans, he was a fighter pilot hero of legendary significance. This fascinating collection of rare images offers a fresh perspective on the Baron himself, as well as a number of his adversaries from the Allied side of the line.
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Allied Armies in Sicily and Italy 1943–1945
by Simon Forty
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
A pictorial history of Allied forces making their way through Italy in the final years of World War II, featuring rare photos from wartime archives.
The Italian campaign was one of the most debated of World War II, splitting the American and British allies, and causing great disharmony. After the fall of Rome and the surrender of Italy, the invasion of Normandy led to the Italian campaign becoming a sideshow as the "D-Day Dodgers" fought their way through Italy to the Alps against a grinding defense and extreme weather.
In a sequence of 200 wartime photographs Simon Forty sums up the major events of the conflict-from the landings on Sicily to the crossing of the Po. Commanded first by Sir Harold Alexander and then Mark Clark, the Allied armies (U.S. Fifth and British Eighth) drew men not only from Britain, the United States, France, and Poland, but also from all over the Commonwealth-from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa-as well as such other countries as Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and Palestine.
The devastation caused by the war in the cities, towns, and countryside is part of the story, but perhaps the most powerful impression is made by the faces of the soldiers themselves as they look out from the Italian front of so long ago.
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The Americans from the Ardennes to VE Day
by Brooke S. Blades
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
A World War II pictorial history with over 250 rare photos showing the contribution of U.S. forces in northwest Europe from December 1944 to May 1945.
Launched in December 1944, the Nazis' Ardennes offensive, known as the Battle of the Bulge, was one of the most dangerous periods of the war. During six weeks of desperate fighting, more U.S. soldiers were killed, wounded, or reported missing than in any battle in American history.
The Rhine was crossed in March 1945, first by the seizure of the railway bridge at Remagen and then by the combined American, British, and Canadian ground and airborne operation codenamed Varsity. In the closing stages of the war, the western allies pushed remorselessly in the heart of Germany. Shocking evidence of Nazi atrocities was uncovered.
Berlin fell to the Russians in early May, and the Allies met up on the River Elbe. In the chaos that followed, Germany was divided into four zones of occupation. The immediate tasks were ensuring the survival of the civilian population, establishing law and order, and the capture of war criminals.
In true Images of War style, this book graphically describes the magnificent role played by U.S. forces under General Eisenhower's overall command.
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The Vought F4U Corsair
by Martin W. Bowman
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
This fully illustrated history of the iconic American fighter plane examines its development and combat experience through WWII and beyond.
First flown in 1940, the Vought F4U Corsair was the fastest fighter in the world and the fastest US aircraft of any description. Powered by a huge 18-cylinder Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp engine, the first Corsairs were capable of speeds up to 417 miles per hour. This figure would rise to nearly 450mph in later versions.
The F4U entered service with the US Navy in September 1942 and over time was extensively used by the US Marines, Royal Navy and Royal New Zealand Air Force. Famous squadrons that flew these planes-like VMF-214 'The Black Sheep' and VF-17 'Jolly Rogers'-maintained their superiority over the Japanese for the rest of the war.
After the Second World War the Corsair was used with distinction by the French in Indo-China and again by the US Navy in Korea. Since then, Corsairs have remained a favorite among warbird enthusiasts the world over. This comprehensive book examines the engineering of the Corsairs alongside a detailed history of their development and usage in combat. Illustrated with scores of rare and previously unpublished photographs, Vought F4U Corsair is the perfect book for any fan of the 'bent wing bird'.
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Wingate's Men
The Chindit Operations: Special Forces in Burma
by Colin Higgs
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
This volume of rare WWII photographs offers a vivid chronicle of the exploits and operations of the famous British special forces unit stationed in Burma.
The Long Range Penetration Groups, more commonly known as the Chindits, were possibly the most famous fighting formations of the Second World War's Burma campaign. Colonel Orde Wingate began the operations deep within enemy territory with the aim of disrupting Japanese plans for the invasion of India.
In their first operation, the Chindits took the Japanese by surprise, but the Japanese responded quickly. With three brigades chasing them, they fled back to India to avoid capture. Despite heavy losses, the Chindits had proven themselves a formidable force-and their next operation would be far more ambitious. Wingate arranged for 10,000 men to be flown into the heart of Burma, causing significant mayhem amongst the Japanese forces. Wingate, however, died in a plane crash in the Burmese jungle.
This wonderful collection of photographs, drawn in large part from one man's private albums, shows the harsh conditions in which the Chindits had to operate, and the terrible physical state of many of the men who survived the jungles, the dry plains, and the ferocious Japanese enemy.
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The Fall of Berlin
by Ian Baxter
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
By March 1945, the Red Army had closed in on Berlin. Marshal Zhukov, with almost a million soldiers and 20,000 tanks and guns at his disposal, launched his assault of the Seelow Heights. While costly, with 30,000 Russians killed, it brought the Russian Army to the gates of the capital.
On April 20, Hitler's fifty-sixth birthday, Soviet artillery began a massive bombardment of the doomed city. The Fuhrer ordered every soldier, Hitlerjugend, and Volksstrum to fight to the death. The house-to-house fighting that followed was brutal and savage, with heavy casualties for both military and civilians. Using superb Russian and German imagery, this pictorial history describes the Russian assault and Nazi last-ditch defense of Hitler's capital during the final days of the Third Reich.
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The Battle for Arnhem 1944–1945
Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives
by Anthony Tucker-Jones
Part of the Images of War (Pen & Sword Books) series
Operation Market Garden, September 1944, the Netherlands. Three parachute drops and one armored charge. The prize was the last bridge at Arnhem over the Neder Rijn. Taken intact it would provide the Allies with a backdoor into Germany — the famous 'Bridge Too Far.' This was one of the most audacious and imaginative operations of the war, and it failed, and Anthony Tucker-Jones's photographic history is a vivid introduction to it. In a sequence of almost 200 archive photographs accompanied by a detailed narrative he describes the landing of British and American parachutists and glider troops. At the same time British tanks spearheaded a sixty-mile dash along 'Hell's Highway' to link up with the lightly armed and heavily outnumbered airborne forces. Most books about the resulting battle concentrate on the struggle at Arnhem and the heroism of the British 1st Airborne Division. This book puts that episode in its wider context. In particular it focuses on the efforts of the US 101st and 82nd airborne divisions to hold off counterattacks by German battlegroups during the tanks' advance. The photographs give a dramatic insight into all sides of a remarkable but ill-fated operation which has fascinated historians and been the subject of controversy ever since. They also portray, as only photographs can, the men who were involved and the places and conditions in which the fighting took place.