Download or read book Hitler s U boat Fortresses written by Randolph Bradham and published by Lyons Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A compelling account of the people and events at Lorient and St. Nazaire that recounts the German invasion, nearly five years of occupation and Allied bombardment, and finally liberation after the German surrender. Of importance to all readers of World War II and military history, this book is a must read especially for those interested in the U-boat war."-James P. Duffy, author of Hitler's Secret Pirate Fleet "A most unexpected gift to our nation. I know veterans will want to read this; but I hope all Americans, especially the children, will read it so they understand the sacrifices their grandparents made."-Senator Ernest F. Hollings, D-South Carolina The French naval bases at St. Nazaire and Lorient, occupied by the Germans in June 1940, quickly became the homes of massive U-boat fortresses-nearly indestructible submarine pens, built mostly by slave labor. From these bases, the U-boats struck merchant shipping at will from the Mediterranean to the North Sea. Thousands of vessels were lost, along with vital war material from the U.S. destined for Britain and the Soviet Union. The Royal Air Force began an all-out bombardment of the two ports. Despite their extensive efforts-and those of the Americans who joined them in 1942-the fortresses would survive, surrounded by decimated French towns and countryside. The desperate battle was waged on land, air, and sea. Because the dock at St. Nazaire could house and repair Hitler's powerful warship, the Tirpitz, British commandos carried out a daring raid to destroy it in March of 1942. They succeeded, but with a great loss of life, and the Germans were able to quickly repair much of the damage. The defenses of these fortresses were sostrong that General Eisenhower would ultimately decide to seek containment rather than destruction. The U.S. Army's 66th Infantry Division, on its way to take up the task, lost its troopship Leopoldville to a German torpedo, with 802 men going down with the ship. The French underground movement in the area would spawn a fighting force of 40,000 men to fight alongside the Allies, and the subsequent German reprisals would devastate many families in Brittany. Yet, the fortresses stood-and they continue to stand today.

Download or read book Hitler s Fortresses written by Chris McNab and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-03-20 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive illustrated history of German World War II fortifications, covering the Atlantikwall, Westwall, and myriad other defensive works. Hitler's 'West Wall' was one of the greatest engineering projects of the 1930s. Stretching more than 390 miles and containing some 14,000 pillboxes it was a significant statement of intent. But it was only as World War II progressed that Germany's defensive requirements expanded beyond all previous expectations. Along the Atlantic coastline Germany poured millions of tonnes of concrete into chain batteries, bunkers and minefields, whilst defensive works were sunk into the mountainous terrain of Italy in an attempt to halt the advancing Allies. As well as these large-scale defensive works, Hitler's Fortresses delves into the principles and engineering of basic frontline defences, showing how the average German soldiers prepared their fox-holes and field fortifications, as well as exploring special purpose fortifications like the huge U-boat pens, V-weapon sites and Hitler's own personal constructions, from his sprawling headquarters to his mountain-top lair. This exhaustive study of German wartime fortifications reveals much about the strategic and tactical thinking of the German High Command, and combat accounts explore how effective the defences were in practice. Illustrated throughout with contemporary photographs, cutaway diagrams, artworks and maps, this edition shows exactly how key types of defensive positions looked and functioned, and provides an authoritative record of the Third Reich's defensive mindset.

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 354 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 The Mathews Men written by William Geroux and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-11-01 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Vividly drawn and emotionally gripping." —Daniel James Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat From the author of The Ghost Ships of Archangel, one of the last unheralded heroic stories of World War II: the U-boat assault off the American coast against the men of the U.S. Merchant Marine who were supplying the European war, and one community’s monumental contribution to that effort Mathews County, Virginia, is a remote outpost on the Chesapeake Bay with little to offer except unspoiled scenery—but it sent an unusually large concentration of sea captains to fight in World War II. The Mathews Men tells that heroic story through the experiences of one extraordinary family whose seven sons (and their neighbors), U.S. merchant mariners all, suddenly found themselves squarely in the cross-hairs of the U-boats bearing down on the coastal United States in 1942. From the late 1930s to 1945, virtually all the fuel, food and munitions that sustained the Allies in Europe traveled not via the Navy but in merchant ships. After Pearl Harbor, those unprotected ships instantly became the U-boats’ prime targets. And they were easy targets—the Navy lacked the inclination or resources to defend them until the beginning of 1943. Hitler was determined that his U-boats should sink every American ship they could find, sometimes within sight of tourist beaches, and to kill as many mariners as possible, in order to frighten their shipmates into staying ashore. As the war progressed, men from Mathews sailed the North and South Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and even the icy Barents Sea in the Arctic Circle, where they braved the dreaded Murmansk Run. Through their experiences we have eyewitnesses to every danger zone, in every kind of ship. Some died horrific deaths. Others fought to survive torpedo explosions, flaming oil slicks, storms, shark attacks, mine blasts, and harrowing lifeboat odysseys—only to ship out again on the next boat as soon as they'd returned to safety. The Mathews Men shows us the war far beyond traditional battlefields—often the U.S. merchant mariners’ life-and-death struggles took place just off the U.S. coast—but also takes us to the landing beaches at D-Day and to the Pacific. “When final victory is ours,” General Dwight D. Eisenhower had predicted, “there is no organization that will share its credit more deservedly than the Merchant Marine.” Here, finally, is the heroic story of those merchant seamen, recast as the human story of the men from Mathews.

Download or read book Naval Warfare 1919 45 written by Malcolm H. Murfett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-11-04 with total page 648 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Naval Warfare 1919–45 is a comprehensive history of the war at sea from the end of the Great War to the end of World War Two. Showing the bewildering nature and complexity of the war facing those charged with fighting it around the world, this book ranges far and wide: sweeping across all naval theatres and those powers performing major, as well as minor, roles within them. Armed with the latest material from an extensive set of sources, Malcolm H. Murfett has written an absorbing as well as a comprehensive reference work. He demonstrates that superior equipment and the best intelligence, ominous power and systematic planning, vast finance and suitable training are often simply not enough in themselves to guarantee the successful outcome of a particular encounter at sea. Sometimes the narrow difference between victory and defeat hinges on those infinite variables: the individual’s performance under acute pressure and sheer luck. Naval Warfare 1919–45 is an analytical and interpretive study which is an accessible and fascinating read both for students and for interested members of the general public.

Download or read book The Ghost Ships of Archangel written by William Geroux and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-05-12 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extraordinary story of survival and alliance during World War II: the icy journey of four Allied ships crossing the Arctic to deliver much needed supplies to the Soviet war effort. On the fourth of July, 1942, four Allied ships traversing the Arctic split from their decimated convoy to head further north into the ice field of the North Pole. They were seeking safety from Nazi bombers and U-boats in the perilous white maze of ice floes, growlers, and giant bergs. Despite the many risks of their chosen route, the four vessels had a better chance of reaching their destination than the rest of the remains of convoy PQ-17. The convoy had started as a fleet of thirty-five cargo ships carrying $1 billion worth of war supplies to the Soviet port of Archangel--the only help Roosevelt and Churchill had extended to Joseph Stalin to maintain their fragile alliance against Germany. At the most dangerous point of the voyage, the ships had received a startling order to scatter and had quickly become easy prey for the Nazis. The crews of the four ships focused on their mission. U.S. Navy Ensign Howard Carraway, aboard the SS Troubadour, was a farm boy from South Carolina and one of the many Americans for whom the convoy was a first taste of war; from the Royal Navy Reserve, Lt. Leo Gradwell was given command of the HMT Ayrshire, a British fishing trawler that had been converted into an antisubmarine vessel. The twenty-four-hour Arctic daylight in midsummer gave them no respite from bombers or submarines, and they all feared the giant German battleship Tirpitz, nicknamed the "Big Bad Wolf." Icebergs were as dangerous as Nazis as the remnants of convoy PQ-17 tried to slip through the Arctic to deliver their cargo in one of the most dramatic escapes of World War II. At Archangel they found a traumatized, starving city, and a disturbing preview of the Cold War ahead.

Download or read book Hitler s U Boat Bases written by Jak P. Mallmann Showell and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a concise historical background to the rise of the Nazi U-boat fleet, and the part it played in the Second World War. The author examines in detail how and why each of the bases in France, Germany and Norway were designed and built, and how they were defended against attack, while listing which boats were based where and when.

Download or read book To the Last Man written by Randolph Bradham and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2012-07-16 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through thoughtfully constructed research, Bradham vividly presents the battle for Normandy's Cotentin Peninsula – one of the most important and yet understudied operations of the World War II. This book provides a detailed overview of the battles that make up the Cotentin Peninsula Campaign, an important part of the invasion of Normandy. While historians often cite specific examples of the fighting that took place on the peninsula, most treat the battles as individual events or singular parts of the overall Normandy campaign. In this work Bradham takes a different approach, focusing on the unique set of battles that had to be fought in order for the Allies to secure their foothold on Normandy. Bradham not only discusses the strategy used to secure the peninsula, but also gives detailed accounts of the major battles and tactical doctrine that was developed to fight them. Along the way he provides biographical information on the main actors, explaining how key personality traits along with personal relationships influenced their conduct while in battle. In doing so, the author outlines the effect of the campaign on the overall conduct of the war.

Download or read book The Second World Wars written by Victor Davis Hanson and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 775 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A "breathtakingly magisterial" account of World War II by America's preeminent military historian (Wall Street Journal) World War II was the most lethal conflict in human history. Never before had a war been fought on so many diverse landscapes and in so many different ways, from rocket attacks in London to jungle fighting in Burma to armor strikes in Libya. The Second World Wars examines how combat unfolded in the air, at sea, and on land to show how distinct conflicts among disparate combatants coalesced into one interconnected global war. Drawing on 3,000 years of military history, bestselling author Victor Davis Hanson argues that despite its novel industrial barbarity, neither the war's origins nor its geography were unusual. Nor was its ultimate outcome surprising. The Axis powers were well prepared to win limited border conflicts, but once they blundered into global war, they had no hope of victory. An authoritative new history of astonishing breadth, The Second World Wars offers a stunning reinterpretation of history's deadliest conflict.

Download or read book World War II 5 volumes written by Spencer C. Tucker and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 4723 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With more than 1,700 cross-referenced entries covering every aspect of World War II, the events and developments of the era, and myriad related subjects as well as a documents volume, this is the most comprehensive reference work available on the war. This encyclopedia represents a single source of authoritative information on World War II that provides accessible coverage of the causes, course, and consequences of the war. Its introductory overview essays and cross-referenced A–Z entries explain how various sources of friction culminated in a second worldwide conflict, document the events of the war and why individual battles were won and lost, and identify numerous ways the war has permanently changed the world. The coverage addresses the individuals, campaigns, battles, key weapons systems, strategic decisions, and technological developments of the conflict, as well as the diplomatic, economic, and cultural aspects of World War II. The five-volume set provides comprehensive information that gives readers insight into the reasons for the war's direction and outcome. Readers will understand the motivations behind Japan's decision to attack the United States, appreciate how the concentration of German military resources on the Eastern Front affected the war's outcome, understand the major strategic decisions of the war and the factors behind them, grasp how the Second Sino-Japanese War contributed to the start of World War II, and see the direct impact of new military technology on the outcomes of the battles during the conflict. The lengthy documents volume represents a valuable repository of additional information for student research.

Download or read book Germany at War 4 volumes written by David T. Zabecki and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-10-28 with total page 3312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by experts for use by nonexperts, this monumental work probes Germany's "Genius for War" and the unmistakable pattern of tactical and operational innovation and excellence evident throughout the nation's military history. Despite having the best military forces in the world, some of the most advanced weapons available, and unparalleled tactical proficiency, Germany still lost both World Wars. This landmark, four-volume encyclopedia explores how and why that happened, at the same time examining Germany as a military power from the start of the Thirty Years' War in 1618 to the present day. Coverage includes the Federal Republic of Germany, its predecessor states, and the kingdoms and principalities that combined to form Imperial Germany in 1871. The Seven Years' War is discussed, as are the Napoleonic Wars, the Wars of German Unification (including the Franco-Prussian War), World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. In all, more than 1,000 entries illuminate battles, organizations, leaders, armies, weapons, and other aspects of war and military life. The most comprehensive overview of German military history ever to appear in English, this work will enable students and others interested in military history to better understand the sociopolitical history of Germany, the complex role conflict has played in the nation throughout its history, and why Germany continues to be an important player on the European continent.

Download or read book The Bombing Of Brittany Solving The Wrong Problem written by Major Jeremiah S. Heathman and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a result of the Allied bombing campaign against Nazi submarine bases during the Second World War, the cities of Brest, Lorient, and Saint Nazaire were nearly completely destroyed. Despite thousands of bombing missions, all three submarine bunkers still stand today. This monograph examines the effectiveness of the Allied bombing campaign against German submarine bases in Brittany by analyzing the campaign through the use of a design methodology. Research is broken down into three frames: the operational approach, the operational environment and the problem frame. The first frame provides an account of the bombing missions and effects. Next, an overview of the operational environment is conducted by exploring the historical context of Brittany, German construction efforts and Allied institutional barriers. The study concludes by examining the problem frame, which entails how the Allies perceived their operational problem and developed an approach based on their understanding. Ultimately, the Allies failed to accurately identify their problem and developed an ineffective approach towards defeating the threat. Had the Allies incorporated design thinking into their planning and execution, they may have developed an effective campaign towards defeating the Nazi U-boat threat rather than solving the wrong problem.

Download or read book The Petticoat Parade written by Leigh Straw and published by Fremantle Press. This book was released on 2021-09-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Josie de Bray, aka Madam Monnier, aka Marie Louise Monnier, was a brothel madam who owned most of Roe Street, Perth from WWI up to the 1940s. A returned soldier tried to shoot her dead in her brothel in 1917 and her 'bungalow' was at the centre of underworld violence in the 1920s. She returned to France before WWII to visit family and was bombed repeatedly out of homes there and captured by the Germans. She was a prisoner of war and one story has her in a concentration camp. She survived, returned to Perth in 1947, and took up business again in Roe Street, having made a fortune from the rent collected from her brothels while she was a prisoner of war, up until her death in 1953.

Download or read book The Washingtons Volume 2 written by Justin Glenn and published by Savas Publishing. This book was released on 2014-07-29 with total page 1066 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the second volume of a comprehensive history that traces the “Presidential line” of the Washingtons. Volume one began with the immigrant John Washington who settled in Westmoreland Co., Va., in 1657, married Anne Pope, and was the great-grandfather of President George Washington. It continued the record of their descendants for a total of seven generations. Volume two is a collection of notable descendants of the next eight generations of John and Anne Washington’s descendants, including such luminaries as General George S. Patton, the author Shelby Foote, and the actor Lee Marvin. Future volumes will trace generations eight through fifteen, making a total of over 63,000 descendants. Although structured in a genealogical format for the sake of clarity, this is no bare bones genealogy but a true family history with over 1,200 detailed biographical narratives. These in turn strive to convey the greatness of the family that produced not only The Father of His Country but many others, great and humble, who struggled to build that country. The Washingtons includes the time-honored John Wright line which in recent years has been challenged largely on the basis of DNA evidence. Volumes one and two form a set, with a cumulative bibliography appearing at the end of volume two.

Download or read book Panthers Under the Rainbow written by William P.L. Maynard III and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2008-01-07 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is literally two books in one. Not only is this a story of the 66th Infantry in France and what happened to the men after their transfers but, the reader can get an understanding as to what it is like trying to research a family members military history. "Panthers Under the Rainbow" gives a detailed description of how the 66th Division was formed. From its activation on April 15, 1943, training at Camp Blanding , Camp Robinson and Camp Rucker . Dates when troops from the 66th where transferred and when new recruits arrived. Finally when the 66th was alerted to be sent overseas the book covers Camp Shanks , NY . crossing the Atlantic with many depth charges being dropped to more training in England . The disaster of crossing the English Channel, combat in France with first hand accounts from veterans. The surrender of the Lorient and St. Nazaire is covered, the occupation of Germany as well as the cigarette camps in Marsailles , France . The deactivation of the Panther Division. After WWII officially ended many Pantherman did not have enough points to go home so they were transferred to occupation duty with the Famous 42nd Rainbow Division. This topic is also covered. The 8.5x11 book was heavily researched and is printed in full color with 116 pages, both from the 66th as well as occupation duty with the 42nd. Many photos are of original documents, soldiers and places which I collected during my research. A breakdown of a WWII division, how many men in a division, regiment, battalion, platoon etc. A detailed description of the Armys "ASR Point System" and timetables to troop movements of the 66th division. Interviews with 66th Veterans. A WWII casualty listing appears in the back of the book.

Download or read book The Washingtons Volume 6 Part 2 written by Justin Glenn and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2014-09-05 with total page 1194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the sixth volume of Dr. Justin Glenn’s comprehensive history that traces the “Presidential line” of the Washingtons. Volume One began with the immigrant John Washington, who settled in Westmoreland Co., Va., in 1657, married Anne Pope, and became the great-grandfather of President George Washington. It continued the record of their descendants for a total of seven generations. Volume Two highlighted notable family members in the next eight generations of John and Anne Washington’s descendants. Volume Three traced the ancestry of the early Virginia members of this “Presidential Branch” back in time to the aristocracy and nobility of England and continental Europe. Volume Four resumed the family history where Volume One ended, and it contained Generation Eight of the immigrant John Washington’s descendants. Volume Five treated Generation Nine. Volume Six now presents Generation Ten, and it includes over 12,000 descendants. Future volumes will add generations eleven through fifteen, making a total of over 63,000 descendants. Although structured in a genealogical format for the sake of clarity, this is no bare bones genealogy but a true family history with over 1,200 detailed biographical narratives. These in turn strive to convey the greatness of the family that produced not only The Father of His Country but many others, great and humble, who struggled to build that country. ADVANCE PRAISE “I am convinced that your work will be of wide interest to historians and academics as well as members of the Washington family itself. Although the surname Washington is perhaps the best known in American history and much has been written about the Washington family for well over a century, it is surprising that no comprehensive family history has been published. Justin M. Glenn’s The Washingtons: A Family History finally fills this void for the branch to which General and President George Washington belonged, identifying some 63,000 descendants. This is truly a family history, not a mere tabulation of names and dates, providing biographical accounts of many of the descendants of John Washington who settled in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1657. . . . Each individual section is followed by extensive listings of published and manuscript sources supporting the information presented and errors of identification in previous publications are commented upon as appropriate.” John Frederick Dorman, editor of The Virginia Genealogist (1957-2006) and author of Adventurers of Purse and Person “Decades of reviewing Civil War books have left me surprised and delighted when someone applies exhaustive diligence to a topic not readily accessible. Dr. Glenn surely meets that standard with the meticulous research that unveils the Washington family in gratifying detail—many of them Confederates of interest and importance.” Robert K. Krick, author of The Smoothbore Volley that Doomed the Confederacy and Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain

Download or read book Letters Home written by Philip M. Coons and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2012-03-30 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During World War II, nothing connected a serviceman and his sweetheart back home like a handwritten letter. It was a link to hometo the life a soldier had left behind. In Letters Home, Philip M. Coons shares the almost daily letters that his father, Harold M. Coons, wrote to his mother, Margaret Richman Coons, during basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Camp Rucker, Alabama; and his subsequent deployment with the United States Armys 66th Division to the European Theater of Operations. Comprised of more than 500 letters, Coons traces his fathers remarkable journey from green soldier to seasoned vet and shares how this war affected the world on both a global and individual scale. As part of the 66th Division, Coons crossed the Atlantic on the HMS Britannic, stopped for a short while in southeastern England, crossed the English Channel on Christmas Eve, 1944, and ended his journey in Brittany, France. Here the 66th guarded the German submarine base pockets at LOrient and St. Nazaire. Through it all, Coons documents a soldiers daily life with its sometimes grueling days and nights, revealing moments of despair, hope, friendship, and courage within the midst of war. A poignant, intimate look at the on-the-ground experiences of a member of the Greatest Generation, Letters Home is a worthy addition to any World War II bookshelf.