Download or read book A War History of the Royal Pioneer Corps 1939 1945 written by Edward Harold Rhodes-Wood and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Botswana 1939 1945 written by Ashley Jackson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first full study of an African country during the Second World War. Unusually, it provides both an Africanist and an imperial perspective. Using extensive archival and oral evidence, Ashley Jackson explores the social, economic, political, agricultural, and military history ofBotswana. He examines Botswana's military contribution to the war effort and the impact of the war on the African home front. The book focuses on events and personalities `on the ground' in Africa and also on their interaction with and impact upon events and personalities in distant imperialcentres, such as Whitehall and the wartime British Army headquarters in the Middle East. The attitudes, aims, and actions of all levels of colonial society - British rulers, African chiefs, military officials, ordinary African men and women - are considered, producing a `total history' of an Africancountry at war.

Download or read book Companion to the British Army 1939 45 written by Lieutenant Colonel George Forty OBE and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2009-10-01 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To encapsulate the British Army in one book is no easy task, but here, George Forty presents it as it was during the Second World War. When war was declared in 1939, the British Army was very much the 'Cinderella' of the three armed services, with a total strength of around 865,000 men. However, just four years later when the Allies invaded north-west Europe, the British Army had grown into a powerful, well-organised and well-equipped fighting force of 3 million men and women. George Forty presents a comprehensive overview of the British Army during this important time. He includes full details of mobilisation and training, higher organisation and arms of the service; divisional organisations and non-divisional units; HQs and Staff; the combat arms and the services; the individual soldier, his weapons and equipment; tactics; vehicle markings and camouflage; the Auxiliary Territorial Service and other Women's Corps. Fully illustrated with an unusual collection of photographs and line illustrations, this is an indispensable reference guide for anyone interested in this fascinating period of British history.

Download or read book A Bibliography of Regimental Histories of the British Army written by Arthur S. White and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2013-02-04 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is one of the most valuable books in the armoury of the serious student of British Military history. It is a new and revised edition of Arthur White's much sought-after bibliography of regimental, battalion and other histories of all regiments and Corps that have ever existed in the British Army. This new edition includes an enlarged addendum to that given in the 1988 reprint. It is, quite simply, indispensible.

Download or read book The British Empire and the Second World War written by Ashley Jackson and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2006-03-09 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1939 Hitler went to war not just with Great Britain; he also went to war with the whole of the British Empire, the greatest empire that there had ever been. In the years since 1945 that empire has disappeared, and the crucial fact that the British Empire fought together as a whole during the war has been forgotten. All the parts of the empire joined the struggle and were involved in it from the beginning, undergoing huge changes and sometimes suffering great losses as a result. The war in the desert, the defence of Malta and the Malayan campaign, and the contribution of the empire as a whole in terms of supplies, communications and troops, all reflect the strategic importance of Britain's imperial status. Men and women not only from Australia, New Zealand and India but from many parts of Africa and the Middle East all played their part. Winston Churchill saw the war throughout in imperial terms. The British Empire and the Second World War emphasises a central fact about the Second World War that is often forgotten.

Download or read book Race Sexuality and Identity in Britain and Jamaica written by Gemma Romain and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-09-07 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first biography of the extraordinary, but ordinary life of, Patrick Nelson. His experiences touched on some of the most important and intriguing historical themes of the twentieth century. He was a black migrant to interwar Britain; an aristocrat's valet in rural Wales; a Black queer man in 1930s London; an artist's model; a law student, a recruit to the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps and Prisoner of War during the Second World War. Through his return to Jamaica after the war and his re-migrations to London in the late 1940s and the early 1960s, he was also witness to post-war Jamaican struggles and the independence movement as well as the development of London's post-war multi-ethnic migrations. Drawing on a range of archival materials including letters sent to individuals such as Bloomsbury group artist Duncan Grant (his former boyfriend and life-long friend), as well as paintings and newspaper articles, Gemma Romain explores the intersections of these diverse aspects of Nelson's life and demonstrates how such marginalized histories shed light on our understanding of broader historical themes such as Black LGBTQ history, Black British history in relation to the London artworld, the history of the Second World War, and histories of racism, colonialism and empire.

Download or read book Cyprus and its Regiment in the Second World War written by Marios Siammas and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-12-29 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the role of the Cyprus regiment, a military unit of the British Army, in the Second World War. Highlighting the contribution of Cyprus to the war effort, the book contributes to the limited historiography on the military engagement of Cyprus in the Second World War. Through an analysis of British official records and interviews the author aims to provide the required chronological and contextual placement of events involving Cyprus and the Cyprus Regiment. By drawing upon veterans’ narratives and operational insights, the book offers a personal view and assessment of the Second World War period. The book covers a number of themes, including the recruitment of Cypriots to the British Army and the training they received, the establishment of the Cyprus Volunteer Force, the experiences of Cypriot soldiers while serving in multiple countries, and the wider impact of the war on Cyprus, economically, socially and militarily.

Download or read book The Bechuanaland Pioneers and Gunners written by Deborah Schmitt and published by Praeger. This book was released on 2006 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Relying on extensive oral interviews with WWII veterans in Botswana, Schmitt argues that British military policy during the Second World War directly impacted Bechuanaland's entry into the war, the nature of the soldier's service, and the lives of the individual soldiers. Because Bechuanaland was considered a small, rather unimportant backwater of colonial possessions, policy decisions were often influenced by the political situation in South Africa and by its attitudes towards arming Africans. Unwilling to cause friction with South Africa, Great Britain mirrored that policy with the recruitment, training, and deployment of soldiers from Bechuanaland during the Second World War. Once Great Britain realized that army recruitment strengths were below operational levels, recruiting began in Bechuanaland for many different types of support roles including anti-aircraft gunners, medical transport drivers, and pioneer duties. Over 10,000 soldiers from this small British protectorate served under British command and contributed significantly to operational readiness and effectiveness during the war. Relying on extensive oral interviews with WWII veterans in Botswana, Schmitt argues that British military policy during the Second World War directly impacted Bechuanaland's entry into the war, the nature of the soldier's service, and the lives of the individual soldiers. Because Bechuanaland was considered a small, rather unimportant backwater of colonial possessions, policy decisions were often influenced by the political situation in South Africa and by its attitudes towards arming Africans. Unwilling to cause friction with South Africa, Great Britain mirrored that policy with the recruitment, training, and deployment of soldiers from Bechuanaland during the Second World War. However, once Great Britain realized that army recruitment strengths were below operational levels, recruiting began in Bechuanaland for many different types of support roles including anti-aircraft gunners, medical transport drivers, and pioneer duties. Over 10,000 soldiers from this small British protectorate served under British command and contributed significantly to operational readiness and effectiveness during the war. Schmitt notes that African leaders were given quotas to fill based on population figures within the different provinces, but it was stressed that enlistment was to be voluntary. When African leaders had a difficult time meeting the demand, some methods of coercion were used. New recruits were enlisted, trained, and then shipped off to North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe to begin their assigned duties. Interviews conducted with veterans highlight the nature of their service and the many challenges they faced with difficult weather, discriminatory policies, and as a result of being near the front lines of combat. The soldiers of Bechuanaland adapted well to military life under the leadership of white officers.

Download or read book Alamein written by Jon Latimer and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It also changed the way the British Army fought, using concentrated artillery on a scale not seen since 1918 to break through Axis defences built in depth."--BOOK JACKET.

Download or read book Battle for Sicily written by Ian Blackwell and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2008-09-19 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the night of 9-10 July 1943, an Allied armada launched the invasion of Sicily, a larger operation than the Normandy landings the following year. Over the next thirty-eight days, half a million Allied servicemen fought the Germans and Italians for control of this rocky island, which was to become the first part of Axis homeland to fall during World War II.Despite their success in capturing the island, inter-Allied and inter-service divisions and rivalries robbed them of the opportunity to inflict a crushing defeat on the Germans and Italians, who were able to conduct a fighting withdrawal to the Italian mainland and save sizable forces to continue the war. Regarded by some as a "blind alley" and by others as the way into Europe via the "soft underbelly", the decision to invade Sicily was and remains controversial. Notwithstanding the campaigns failure to achieve its potential, invaluable lessons were learned which contributed to success in France later. Many of the leading generals who were to take prominent roles in northwest Europe amongst them Eisenhower, Montgomery, Bradley and Patton brought with them the experience of Sicily.

Download or read book War and Empire in Mauritius and the Indian Ocean written by A. Jackson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2001-08-08 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By examining Mauritius and the Indian Ocean, this unique synthesis of imperial and naval/military history, reveals the depths of colonial involvement in the Second World War and the role of colonies in British strategic planning from the eighteenth century. In the century of total war, the British Empire was fully mobilized. The Mauritian home front became regimented, troops were recruited for service overseas, the Eastern fleet guarded the Indian Ocean, and Mauritius became a base for SOE operations and intelligence-gathering for Bletchley.

Download or read book A Bibliography of British History 1914 1989 written by Keith Robbins and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 962 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Containing over 25,000 entries, this unique volume will be absolutely indispensable for all those with an interest in Britain in the twentieth century. Accessibly arranged by theme, with helpful introductions to each chapter, a huge range of topics is covered. There is a comprehensiveindex.

Download or read book Churchill s Army written by Stephen Bull and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-09-22 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winston Churchill, Britain's iconic war time Prime Minister, is inextricably linked with the victorious British Army of 1939 to 1945. Yet hindsight, propaganda, and the imperative of the defeat of Hitler and Imperial Japan, have led to a tendency to oversimplify the image of Churchill the war leader, and 'his' Army. For whilst Churchill was undeniably a towering statesman, his relations with both the Army and War Office were ambiguous and altered considerably not only with the progress of the Second World War, but over decades. In this comprehensive book, Stephen Bull examines every aspect of the British Army during the Second World War, and considers in detail the strengths and weaknesses of an organisation that was tested to its limits on many fronts but made an immense contribution to the successful Allied outcome. The book explores the structure of military power from the men who ran it, the Generals to the detail of the regiments they commanded. It looks at the uniforms the soldiers wore and the badges and insignia they bore on their uniforms. The weaponry Churchill's army used is discussed in detail, from small arms including rifles, bayonets, grenades, carbines and machine guns to the massed firepower of the artillery along with the increasing sophistication of tanks and other military vehicles during the period. Finally the role of auxiliary and special forces and their contribution to the campaign is considered. The comprehensive text is enhanced by more than 200 contemporary photographs.

Download or read book Donald Dean VC written by T. E. Crowdy and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2011-03-23 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Donald Dean lied about his age to enlist in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment and serve on the Western Front, where he worked his way up from Private to acting Captain. It was in the last weeks of the war, late in September 1918, that he won his VC for leading a platoon in the determined defense of a recently captured and isolated trench against repeated German counterattacks. In one of these attacks, the Germans actually broke into the trench, forcing Dean to break off a radio call for artillery support with the words 'The Germans are here, goodbye!' Refusing to be overrun, he personally killed four of the Germans before they were finally evicted. Dean also served in World War II, witnessing the fall of France in 1940 and claiming to be the last Brit to get out of Boulogne. His frank account of the evacuation challenges some cherished conceptions and is very critical of the conduct of the Irish Guards in particular. He went on to fight in Madagascar, Sicilya and the Italian mainland. Donald Dean died in 1985.Military historian Terry Crowdy has edited Dean's letters and diaries, never previously published, adding additional notes and material from official reports to give the reader context. The result is a moving, often amusing and inspiring portrait of a little-known hero of two world wars.

Download or read book True to Their Salt written by Robert Johnson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-14 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last decade an Iraqi Army and an Afghan National Army were created entirely from scratch, the founding of which was deemed to be a crucial measure for the establishment of security and the withdrawal of Western forces from Iraq and Afghanistan. Raising new armies is always problematic, especially during an insurgency, but doing so outside the sovereignty of one's own state raises questions of legality, concerns about their conduct and the risk of an over-empowered local military. The recruitment of proxies, including former insurgents, or the arming of local fighters and auxiliaries, levies and militias, may also exacerbate an internal security situation. In seeking answers to this conundrum Robert Johnson turns to history. His book sets out how recruitment of local auxiliaries was an essential component of European colonialism, and how, in the transfer of power and security at the end of that colonial era, the raising of local forces using existing Western models became the norm. He then offers a comprehensive survey of the post-colonial legacy, particularly the recent utilization of surrogates and auxiliaries, the work of embedded training teams, and mentoring.

Download or read book Distant Drums written by Ashley Jackson and published by Apollo Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reveals how colonies were central to the defence of the British Empire and the command of the oceans that underpinned it. This book considers the colonial role in the WWI. It also considers the WWII, documenting the recruitment of colonial soldiers, their manifold roles in British military formations, and the impact of war on colonial home fronts.

Download or read book Fifth Army in Italy 1943 1945 written by Ian Blackwell and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2014-01-19 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the Allied coalition in Italy during World War II. The US Fifth Army first saw action during the Salerno Landings in September 1943. While commanded by US Lieutenant General Mark Clark, from the outset one of its two Corps was the X (British) Corps; the other V1 (US) Corps. The multi-national composition of Fifth Army is demonstrated by the French Expeditionary Corps, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, the South African Armoured Division, the Italian Co-Belligerent forces, formations from the New Zealand Corps and the 4th Indian Division. Clark’s Fifth Army was itself part of the Fifteenth Army Group, commanded by Field Marshal Alexander. Alexander’s light and diplomatic touch oiled the wheels of this uneasy arrangement but inevitably there were tensions and disagreements that threatened success. The low priority accorded to Italy as compared with OVERLORD and NW Europe did not help matters. Seen as a backwater, crack units were taken away and insufficient resources allocated to the Italian Campaign. This combined with the tenacity of the Germans, the difficult terrain and the harsh climate caused real problems. Allied morale was at times particularly brittle and desertion rates worryingly high. This superbly researched book objectively examines the performance of Fifth Army against this complex and troublesome backdrop. The author’s findings make for authoritative and fascinating reading and give food for thought about multinational cooperation in more recent conflicts.