Download or read book Hitler s Stuka Squadrons written by John Ward and published by Zenith Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hitler's Stuka Squadrons is a book that separates fact from fantasy regarding the achievements and military career of the Ju 87 aircraft. Able to deliver its bombs accurately onto a target, the Stuka wreaked havoc in Poland and France against ground targets and refugee columns. Hitler's Stuka Squadrons charts the Ju 87's career in 1939-40, when German aerial superiority ensured aircraft losses were low. However, against Spitfires and Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain in 1940 the Stuka was shot out of the skies. The campaign in Russia saw the re-establishment of the Ju 87's supremacy, and would lead to a change in role to one of tank-busting. Hitler's Stuka Squadrons also covers the individual Stuka squadrons, their campaigns, tactics, and pilots. Illustrated with full-color artworks, which show the various changes in livery and design that the Ju 87 underwent during its career, accompanied by a full specifications table that lists range, armament, performance, dimensions, ceiling and weights;- An authoritative book written by an expert on Military history- First-hand accounts from Stuka pilots- Full-colored artworks- Specifications boxes

Download or read book Hitler s Squadron written by C. G. Sweeting and published by Potomac Books. This book was released on 2001 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Details the aircraft and missions of Adolf Hitler's personal aircraft transportation squadron; An unparalleled reference guide to some of the legendary aircraft of the era, including the Junkers Ju 52/3m, the Focke-Wulf FW 200 Condor, and the Junkers Ju 290; Contains rare photographs of Hitler's personal planes and of life inside the inner circle of the Third Reich; Adolf Hitler was the first head of state to have his own personal pilot and airplane. His interest in aviation as a propaganda weapon as well as transportation led him to order the establishment of a special air squadron, the Fliegerstaffel des Fuehrers. To command this unique unit, he chose Hans Baur, veteran World War I combat ace and pioneering airline pilot. During the 1930s and World War II, the Fuehrer's own pilot and special aircraft flew the famous and the infamous. Baur flew Hitler, his inner circle, and visiting dignitaries throughout Europe, to Hitler's secret headquarters and to the far-flung battlefields of the Eastern Front.. The aircraft used in the squadron were the Junkers Ju 52/3m, D-2600; the Focke-Wulf FW 200 Condor; and the Junkers Ju 290, a true flying fortress. Sweeting also discusses the remark

Download or read book Hitler s Death Squads written by Helmut Langerbein and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "After the war, the German government investigated 1,770 former Einsatzgruppen members and brought 136 of these men to trial. Helmut Langerbein has systematically examined the trial evidence in search of characteristics shared by these mass murderers. Using a much broader data base than earlier studies, Langerbein identifies a number of factors that could explain their actions, illustrating each with a particular person or group of officers." "Given the extent of its data, its detailed analysis and its careful conclusions, Hitler's Death Squads: The Logic of Mass Murder will push historians and psychologists toward a reappraisal of the Nazi killing machine, the behavior of the men behind the battle lines, and the overwhelming power of circumstances."--Jacket.

Download or read book The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler s U boats written by Timothy S. Good and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2022-09-15 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No weapon platform sank more U-boats in the Second World War than the Allied aircraft. Whether it was an American ’plane operating from American escort carriers, US aircraft from Royal Air Force bases, or British aircraft from bases throughout the world, these officers and men became the most decisive factor in turning the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic against the German submarine threat. While the German crews could threaten escort vessels with torpedoes, or avoid them by remaining submerged, their leaders never developed an effective strategy against aircraft. However, the Allied aircraft did not enjoy much early success. British, Canadian and Australian air crews that fought the U-boats from 1939 until 1941 achieved few triumphs. They possessed neither the aircraft nor the bases necessary to deliver consistent lethal attacks against German submarines. In 1941, the Royal Air Force finally began implementing an effective aircraft response when it initiated training on the American-built Consolidated B-24 Liberators. Supported by other types then in service, these four-engine bombers would prove to be decisive. With America’s entry into the war, the United States Navy and the United States Army Air Forces also began employing Liberators against the U-boats so that by mid-1943, the Admiral Karl Dönitz, commander of U-boat forces, withdrew his submarines from the North Atlantic in recognition of the Allied aircraft’s new dominance. From Dönitz’s retreat to the end of the war, Allied aircraft continued to dominate the U-boat battle as it shifted to other areas including the Bay of Biscay. Dönitz eventually ordered his U-boats to remain on the surface and engage Allied aircraft as opposed to submerging. This approach did lead to the demise of some Allied aircraft, but it also resulted in even more U-boat being sunk. Most critically, Dönitz acknowledged with his new policy that he knew of no tactics or weapons that would defend his submarines from Allied aircraft. In the end, it was a matter of choosing whether his submariners would die submerged or die surfaced. Either way, Allied aircraft prevailed. The Allied Air Campaign Against Hitler’s U-Boats is the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of this most crucial battle which helped turn the Battle of the Atlantic irrevocably in favour of the Allies.

Download or read book From Hitler s U Boats to Kruschev s Spyflights written by Chris Clark and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2013-09-09 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tells the tale of the illustrious Royal Air Force career of Tom Clark, a World War Two gunner and post-war signaller in action during some of the most pivotal events of the twentieth century. Lovingly penned by his son, it provides an authentic insight into this dynamic period of world history.??From work as an air gunner, involved in the daunting task of taking on the might of Hitler's U-boat fleet, to post-war involvement in an Intelligence capacity during the dramatic events surrounding Khrushchev and the atomic threat of the late 1950s, Clark's career was dramatic and varied to say the least. ??Having joined the RAF as an aircraft man just before the Second World War, Clark was destined to take part in a whole range of wartime operational engagements. His career featured involvement in the famous 1941 hunt for the elusive Bismarck, the dangers of life as part of an Air Sea Rescue squadron in conflicted waters, and the experience of training as a gunnery leader (later an instructor), training air gunners for the famed Desert Air Force. His career also took in a fraught period behind enemy lines, when his crew of four were shot down in enemy territory in Northern Italy. Seven weeks in a safe house in Florence are relayed in engaging and dramatic style, as are a raft of other personal and professional achievements, set within the context of the wider conflict. ??Here is a career that deserves to be recorded and celebrated, and there is perhaps no-one better placed than the subject's son to act as custodian to his thrilling story.

Download or read book Bombing Hitler s Hometown written by Michael P. Croissant and published by Citadel Press. This book was released on 2024-03-26 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brilliant, groundbreaking slice of military history, this riveting story of white-knuckled action over one of Europe’s most heavily defended targets in the waning days of World War II also tells of the aftermath of the Linz, Austria, bombing—the heart-wrenching tales of survival and recovery, and the toll of warfare on both sides. In April 1945, Linz was one of Nazi Germany’s most vital assets. It was a crucial transportation hub and communications center, with railyards brimming with war materiel destined for the front lines. Linz was also the town Hitler claimed as home and had long intended to remake as the cultural capital of Europe, filling its planned Fuehrermuseum with world-famous art stolen from his conquered territories. Inevitably, Linz was also one of the most heavily defended targets remaining in Europe. The airmen of the Fifteenth Air Force were a mix of seasoned veterans and newcomers. As their mission was unveiled in the predawn hours of April 25th, audible groans and muffled expletives passed many lips. The reality of that mission would prove more brutal than any imagined. In the unheated, unpressurized B‑24 Liberator and B‑17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers, young men battled elements as dangerous as anything the Germans could throw at them. When batteries of German anti‑aircraft guns opened fire, the men flew into a man‑made hell of exploding shrapnel. Aircraft and men fell from the sky as Austrian civilians on the ground also struggled to survive beneath the bombs during the deadly climax of Hitler’s war. Drawing on interviews with dozens of America’s last surviving World War II veterans, as well as previously unpublished sources, Mike Croissant compellingly relates one of the war’s last truly untold stories—a gripping chronicle of warfare, the death of Nazi Germany, and the beginning of the Cold War. It is also a timeless tale of courage and terror, loss and redemption, humanity and savagery.

Download or read book Cracking Hitler s Atlantic Wall written by Richard C. Anderson and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2009-11-18 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Refreshingly different perspective on the momentous events of D-Day.

Download or read book From Churchill s SAS to Hitler s Waffen SS written by Michael Scott and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2023-01-05 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Thoroughly researched and well written, this book astounds the reader as to how its subject managed to get away with all the things he did. The author tells a good story about a bad man and his wartime escapades." —WWII History Magazine Captain Douglas Berneville-Claye was serving with the fledgling SAS with fellow officers such as David Stirling and Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne when he was captured in the Western Desert. He was ‘turned’ and became a member of the Nazi Waffen-SS. Collaboration with the enemy was confirmed when dressed as an SS captain he approached remnants of the British Free Corps; the Waffen-SS unit composed of renegade British nationals. He exhorted them to serve under his command against Russian forces. Post-war Berneville-Claye was investigated by MI5 for treachery. Following an Army court-martial he was dishonorably dismissed and sentenced to six months imprisonment. Upon release, his escapades and private life were no less contentious. A philanderer and bigamist, he married four times, sired ten children and rubbed shoulders with the criminal underworld in and out of prison. Eventually he succeeded in emigrating to Australia. Thanks to the author’s painstaking research, this is a compelling yet shocking biography of one of the most intriguing, colorful and disreputable characters of his era. How he escaped with his life is a question readers will ponder.

Download or read book From The Battle of Britain to Bombing Hitler s Berchtesgaden written by James Bazin and published by Air World. This book was released on 2023-06-30 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was Tuesday, 17 October 1939. Britain had been at war with Germany for more than a month and for only the second time the Luftwaffe had dared to enter British airspace – and at last James ‘Jim’ Bazin’s chance had come. After joining the RAF in 1935, Jim was an experienced pilot when war broke out and he was eager to test his skills against the enemy. This first combat was the start of a career which saw Wing Commander Bazin, as he was to become, being posted to France with 607 (County of Durham) Squadron. He fought there until the last days of the Battle of France. In the course of the campaign, Bazin had battled his way to becoming an ace. He was also shot down behind enemy lines, but successfully evaded capture to return to his squadron and resume the fight. There was no respite for Bazin as he was once again in the air defending Britain’s skies in his trusty Hurricane as the Luftwaffe sort to destroy Fighter Command in the summer of 1940. With ten ‘kills’ to his name, Jim Bazin was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in October that year. But merely driving off the Luftwaffe was not enough for him. He was posted to Inverness where he served as a Controller in 14 Group’s Operations Room, which gave him a taste for offensive operations. In time, Bazin volunteered to move to Bomber Command. He duly undertook a conversion course in 1943, eventually joining 49 Squadron as a Lancaster pilot to take the war to the very heart of the enemy. After commanding 49 Squadron, including taking part in Bomber Command’s support of the D-Day landings, Bazin was promoted to Wing Commander, leading 9 Squadron on many attacks on special targets such as U-boat pens, viaducts, refineries and, most notably, operating with the famous Dambusters against Hitler’s great battleship Tirpitz. Unrelenting in his efforts against the enemy, Jim Bazin was involved in operations against targets in Poland and Germany right up until the end of the war. This culminated in the last major RAF operation of the Second World War when, on 25 April 1945, Bomber Command attacked the Berghof, Hitler’s Alpine retreat, and other targets in Berchtesgaden. Jim Bazin was awarded the DSO in September 1945 – rightful recognition for a man who had done so much to bring about the defeat of the enemy.

Download or read book Onslaught on Hitler s Rhine written by Patrick Delaforce and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2017-05-17 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Operation Plunder was Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s swan song. It is rarely mentioned in the Second World War history books, and when it is, both American and British military historians dismiss it as being ultra-cautious. Monty was by nature a cautious commander with dwindling manpower resources. Operation Market Garden in September 1944 had not been successful in achieving a major lodgement over the Rhine. Monty knew that Hitler regarded the Rhine as his final barrier, and his storm-troopers and paratroops had fought like demons for four weeks in February/March 1945 defending the Siegfried Line in Operations Veritable and Blockbuster. Presumably they would continue to defend their own country to the bitter end. So, in command of a British, a Canadian and an American army Monty ensured by very careful planning, including a huge airborne drop in Operation Varsity, that the great onslaught would be furious, quick, ruthless and highly successful. And so it was. Patrick Delaforce fought in Blockbuster, Plunder and all the river battles in his armoured battle group, which reached the Danish frontier just before Stalin’s Cossacks.The book is part of a Fonthill trilogy by Delaforce: Monty’s Rhine Adventure (Market Garden); and Invasion of the Third Reich (the campaign after Plunder). Illustrations: 194 black-and-white photographs and maps

Download or read book Hitler s Air War in Spain written by Norman Ridley and published by Air World. This book was released on 2022-06-07 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Almost since the advent of warfare, civilians have suffered ‘collateral damage’, but the concept of Total War – a war without limits – only surfaced in the early part of the twentieth century. The idea of huge numbers of aircraft raining death upon defenceless cities was seen by many as not only barbaric but, in practical terms, quite unrealistic given the logistical challenges that would have to be overcome in order to put them into practice. Any complacency over the threat, however, was rudely shattered on 26 February 1935, when Adolf Hitler officially signed a decree authorizing the formation of the Luftwaffe. The third branch of Germany’s armed forces erupted on to the European military landscape. Its blustering claims of irrepressible air power sent waves of panic rippling through ministries of war throughout the world. Framing a realistic response to Hitler’s propaganda offensive proved to be problematic given the lack of detailed knowledge of not only the numbers, but also the true performance capabilities of his new generation of aircraft and the ways in which they had expanded the boundaries of war. It was, therefore, of huge interest to all modern military establishments when these machines were deployed during the Spanish Civil War which broke out in July 1936. Notwithstanding the limited scope of this conflict, it offered, for the participating nations, a testing ground for new machines and, for the interested observers, a window into the future of aerial warfare. When the Spanish Civil War was less than a year old it had already seen air power employed in most of the ways that it would be used in the Second World War. This not only included airlifting troops, reconnaissance, interdiction, close support and strategic bombing, but also the deliberate targeting of civilians as a means of achieving military objectives. This book looks at all the significant aerial engagements of the war and examines them against the background of the wider global context. In this way, the Spanish Civil War’s part in the evolution of air power is confirmed, as is the way in which its lessons were learned, or ignored, in the context of the much greater conflagration that was to come.

Download or read book Guarding Hitler written by Mark Felton and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-08-04 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A hive of interesting facts and almost unbelievable stories about Adolf Hitler . . . Well worth a look. Well worth a read.” —War History Online Based on intelligence documents, personal testimonies, memoirs, and official histories, including material only declassified in 2010, Guarding Hitler provides the reader with a fascinating inside look at the secret world of Hitler’s security and domestic arrangements. The book focuses in particular on both the official and private life of Hitler during the latter part of the war, at the Wolf’s Lair at Rastenburg, and Hitler’s private residence at Berchtesgaden, the Berghof. Guarding Hitler manages to offer fresh insights into the life and routine of the Führer, and most importantly, the often indiscreet opinions, observations, and activities of the “little people” who surrounded Hitler but whose stories have been overshadowed by the great affairs of state. It covers not only the plots against Hitler’s life but the way security developed as a result. His use of “doubles” is examined as is security while traveling by land or air. As little has been written about the security and domestic life of Adolf Hitler, Guarding Hitler allows the reader to delve deeper into this previously overlooked aspect of the world’s most infamous man. “A fascinating view into the close world Hitler inhabited and which shaped his life and decisions.” —Fire Reviews

Download or read book Hitler s Northern War written by Adam R. A. Claasen and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adolf Hitler had high hopes for his conquest of Norway, which held both great symbolic and great strategic value for the Fuhrer. Despite early successes, however, his ambitious northern campaign foundered and ultimately failed. Adam Claasen for the first time reveals the full story of this neglected episode and shows how it helped doom the Third Reich to defeat. Hitler and Raeder, the chief of the German navy, were determined to take and keep Norway. By doing so, they hoped to preempt Allied attempts to outflank Germany, protect sea lanes for German ships, access precious Scandinavian minerals for war production, and provide a launchpad for Luftwaffe and naval operations against Great Britain. Beyond those strategic objectives, Hitler also envisioned Norway as part of a pan-Nordic stronghold—a centerpiece of his new world order. But, as Claasen shows, Hitler's grand expectations were never realized. Gring's Luftwaffe was the vital spearhead in the invasion of Norway, which marked a number of wartime firsts. Among other things, it involved the first large-scale aerial operations over sea rather than land, the first time operational objectives and logistical needs were fulfilled by air power, and the first deployment of paratroopers. Although it got off to a promising start, the German effort, particularly against British and arctic convoys, was greatly hampered by flawed strategic thinking, interservice rivalries between the Luftwaffe and navy, the failure to develop a long-range heavy bomber, the diversion of planes and personnel to shore up the German war effort elsewhere, and the northern theater's harsh climate and terrain. Claasen's study covers every aspect of this ill-fated campaign from the 1940 invasion until war's end and shows how it was eventually relegated to a backwater status as Germany fought to survive in an increasingly unwinnable war. His compelling account sharpens our picture of the German air force and widens our understanding of the Third Reich's way of war.

Download or read book Hitler s Last Christmas written by Donald F. Kilburg, Jr and published by Outskirts Press. This book was released on 2019-05-02 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The events of World War II have been studied, analyzed and documented extensively. Yet, one of the greatest feats of aerial bombing warfare has been all but ignored. In Hitler’s Last Christmas, we revisit the Second World War and specifically Sunday, December 24, 1944—when the 8th Air Force launched the largest air armada in the history of warfare. It was a desperate effort by the Allies to support the troops hopelessly hunkered down in the frigid weather of the Battle of the Bulge. The eventual success of those beleaguered troops was to some great measure due to the success of that Christmas Eve air mission. The details of the 8th Air Force mission #760 were mis-filed shortly after the war and the magnitude of that day in December 1944 overlooked—until now. Hitler’s Last Christmas shares the accounts of the event both from the Air Force Archives and the memories of those brave flyers who participated in it.

Download or read book The Women Who Flew for Hitler written by Clare Mulley and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2017-07-18 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biographers' Club Prize-winner Clare Mulley’s The Women Who Flew for Hitler—a dual biography of Nazi Germany's most highly decorated women pilots. Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg were talented, courageous, and strikingly attractive women who fought convention to make their names in the male-dominated field of flight in 1930s Germany. With the war, both became pioneering test pilots and were awarded the Iron Cross for service to the Third Reich. But they could not have been more different and neither woman had a good word to say for the other. Hanna was middle-class, vivacious, and distinctly Aryan, while the darker, more self-effacing Melitta came from an aristocratic Prussian family. Both were driven by deeply held convictions about honor and patriotism; but ultimately, while Hanna tried to save Hitler’s life, begging him to let her fly him to safety in April 1945, Melitta covertly supported the most famous attempt to assassinate the Führer. Their interwoven lives provide vivid insight into Nazi Germany and its attitudes toward women, class, and race. Acclaimed biographer Clare Mulley gets under the skin of these two distinctive and unconventional women, giving a full—and as yet largely unknown—account of their contrasting yet strangely parallel lives, against a changing backdrop of the 1936 Olympics, the Eastern Front, the Berlin Air Club, and Hitler’s bunker. Told with brio and great narrative flair, The Women Who Flew for Hitler is an extraordinary true story, with all the excitement and color of the best fiction.Biographers' Club Prize-winner Clare Mulley’s The Women Who Flew for Hitler—a dual biography of Nazi Germany's most highly decorated women pilots. Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg were talented, courageous, and strikingly attractive women who fought convention to make their names in the male-dominated field of flight in 1930s Germany. With the war, both became pioneering test pilots and were awarded the Iron Cross for service to the Third Reich. But they could not have been more different and neither woman had a good word to say for the other. Hanna was middle-class, vivacious, and distinctly Aryan, while the darker, more self-effacing Melitta came from an aristocratic Prussian family. Both were driven by deeply held convictions about honor and patriotism; but ultimately, while Hanna tried to save Hitler’s life, begging him to let her fly him to safety in April 1945, Melitta covertly supported the most famous attempt to assassinate the Führer. Their interwoven lives provide vivid insight into Nazi Germany and its attitudes toward women, class, and race. Acclaimed biographer Clare Mulley gets under the skin of these two distinctive and unconventional women, giving a full—and as yet largely unknown—account of their contrasting yet strangely parallel lives, against a changing backdrop of the 1936 Olympics, the Eastern Front, the Berlin Air Club, and Hitler’s bunker. Told with brio and great narrative flair, The Women Who Flew for Hitler is an extraordinary true story, with all the excitement and color of the best fiction.

Download or read book Hitler s Third Reich in 100 Objects written by Roger Moorhouse and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-01-06 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hitler's Third Reich is still the focus of numerous articles, books and films: no regime of the twentieth century has prompted such interest or such a body of literature. Collated and presented by one of the world's leading historians of Nazi Germany and illustrated with photographs throughout, this book is an accessible, compelling and often revelatory guide to the Third Reich. Ranging from documents and postcards to weapons and personal effects, these objects include Pervitin, Hitler's Mercedes, Hitler's grooming kit, the Messerschmitt 262, the Luger pistol, the Tiger Tank, Eva Braun's lipstick case, the underpants of Rudolf Hess, and, of course, the Swastika and Mein Kampf.

Download or read book Fighting Hitler s Jets written by Robert F. Dorr and published by Quarto Publishing Group USA. This book was released on 2013-11-15 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fighting Hitler's Jets brings together in a single, character-driven narrative two groups of men at war: on one side, American fighter pilots and others who battled the secret “wonder weapons” with which Adolf Hitler hoped to turn the tide; on the other, the German scientists, engineers, and pilots who created and used these machines of war on the cutting edge of technology. Written by Robert F. Dorr, renowned author of Zenith Press titles Hell Hawks!, Mission to Berlin, and Mission to Tokyo, the story begins with a display of high-tech secret weapons arranged for Hitler at a time when Germany still had prospects of winning the war. It concludes with Berlin in rubble and the Allies seeking German technology in order to jumpstart their own jet-powered aviation programs. Along the way, Dorr expertly describes the battles in the sky over the Third Reich that made it possible for the Allies to mount the D-Day invasion and advance toward Berlin. Finally, the book addresses both facts and speculation about German weaponry and leaders, including conspiracy theorists’ view that Hitler escaped in a secret aircraft at the war’s end. Where history and controversy collide with riveting narrative, Fighting Hitler’s Jets furthers a repertoire that comprises some of the United States’ most exceptional military writing.