Download or read book Operation Tonga written by Jon Cooksey and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2023-06-30 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The seizure of Pegasus Bridge by six glider borne platoons of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry under Major John Howard very early 6th June 1944, is one of the better-known stories of D-Day. Landing just yards from vital bridges over the River Orne and the Caen Canal near Bnouville, Howard's men took and held the bridges in a remarkable coup de main operation with minimal casualties. The 7th Parachute Battalion dropped in soon afterwards to relieve Howard's men and the action remains, by any standards, a remarkable feat of arms. But it was only one act in a much grander production put on by 6th Airborne Division that night to secure and protect the eastern flank of the Allied landings inland from Sword, the British landing beach. Key bridges over the Dives had to be blown to foil possible German counter attacks and to north east, at Merville, a battery of guns which the allied planners thought could wreak havoc on the beaches and ships at sea, had to be eliminated. The task fell to the men of the 9th Parachute Battalion, whose actions in assaulting the Merville Battery became another D-Day epic - but for very different reasons.

Download or read book One Night in June written by Kevin Shannon and published by . This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Operation Tonga written by Jon Cooksey and published by Pen & Sword. This book was released on 2014-06-30 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The seizure of Pegasus Bridge by six glider borne platoons of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry under Major John Howard very early 6th June 1944, is one of the better-known stories of D-Day. Landing just yards from vital bridges over the River Orne and the Caen Canal near Benouville, Howard's men took and held the bridges in a remarkable coup de main operation with minimal casualties. The 7th Parachute Battalion dropped in soon afterwards to relieve Howard's men and the action remains, by any standards, a remarkable feat of arms. But it was only one act in a much grander production put on by 6th Airborne Division that night to secure and protect the eastern flank of the Allied landings inland from Sword, the British landing beach. Key bridges over the Dives had to be blown to foil possible German counter attacks and to north east, at Merville, a battery of guns which the allied planners thought could wreak havoc on the beaches and ships at sea, had to be eliminated. The task fell to the men of the 9th Parachute Battalion, whose actions in assaulting the Merville Battery became another D-Day epic - but for very different reasons."

Download or read book One Night In June written by Kevin Shannon and published by Crowood Press UK. This book was released on 2005-04-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One Night in June is an account of the Glider Pilot Regiment's role in Operation Tonga, the first stage of the airborne assault in the Normandy landings in June 1944. The story is told through the eyes of those who were there - glider pilots, paratroops, pathfinders, tug crews and passengers and covers the Operation from training through to evacuations after D-Day. Operation Tonga was vital to the success of D-Day and included the now famous attacks on the Merville Battery and the bridges over the Orne River and the Caen Canal. The equally important, though less well-known, part of the Operation was to provide an anti-tank screen to protect the southern and eastern flanks of the invasion beaches from counter attacks. The account includes stories of crew who evaded capture by the Germans and pays tribute to the help they received from local Resistance fighters. The contribution of the nine gliders which took part in the 'Coup de Main' landings has been well-documented but of the other eighty-nine gliders which took part little has been written. This book tells the full story.

Download or read book Operation Tonga written by Kevin Shannon and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Operation Tonga - The Glider Assault: 6 June 1944 is an account of the Glider Pilot Regiment's role in Operation Tonga, the first stage of the airborne assault in the Normandy landings in June 1944. The story is told through the eyes of those who were there - glider pilots, paratroopers, pathfinders, tug crews and passengers - and covers the operation from training through to evacuations after D-Day. Operation Tonga was vital to the success of D-Day and included the now famous attacks on the Merville Battery and the bridges over the Orne River and Caen Canal. The equally important, though less well known, part of the operation was to provide an antitank screen to protect the southern and eastern flanks of the invasion beaches from German counter attacks. The account includes stories of crew who evaded capture by the Germans and pays tribute to the help they received from local resistance fighters. The contribution of the nine gliders which took part in the 'Coup de Main' landings has been well-documented, but of the other eighty-nine gliders which took part, little has been written. Operation Tonga - The Glider Assault: 6 June 1944 tells the full story.

Download or read book Tracing Your Second World War Ancestors written by Phil Tomaselli and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2011-12-13 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Second World War was the defining conflict of the twentieth century and it is one of the most popular and fascinating areas for historical research and for family historians. More records than ever are available to researchers whose relatives served during the war. And this new book by Phil Tomaselli is the perfect guide to how to locate and understand these sources and get the most out of them. He explains how, and from where, service records can be obtained, using real examples showing what they look like and how to interpret them. He also examines records of the military units relatives might have served in so their careers can be followed in graphic detail. The three armed services are covered, along with the merchant navy, the Home Guard, civilian services, prisoners of war, gallantry and campaign medals, casualties, womens services and obscure wartime organizations. Also included are a glossary of service acronyms, information on useful websites, an introduction to the National Archives and details of other useful sources.

Download or read book D Day written by Spencer C. Tucker and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-11-03 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This outstanding overview of D-Day makes clear its great importance in military and world history, identifies mistakes committed on both sides, and explains all aspects of the 1944 Allied invasion of France and the Normandy Campaign that followed. The beach landings at Normandy, France, in June of 1944 were of critical importance in the outcome of World War II, and as a consequence, served to determine the economic and political state of the modern world as we know it. This latest reference book edited by esteemed historian Spencer C. Tucker supplies easy-to-understand overview entries on the Normandy Invasion ("Operation OVERLORD") and the European Theater in World War II as well as entries treating specific topics such as key individuals, technical innovations, weapons systems, command structures, terrain and logistical difficulties, and the role played by weather. Readers will come to understand why the eventual success of the Allied forces in the D-Day operations was so hard-fought and came at a tremendous cost of life. The book addresses the immense difficulty of supplying tens of thousands of soldiers—many of them inexperienced in combat—and countless tons of equipment and vehicles to the invasion force from over the beaches, after most of the teams landed in the wrong locations, and when many command structures were wiped out almost immediately upon landing; and it explains how these factors impacted the combat on the ground and resulted in the Allied forces' careful planning going awry. The book also describes the elaborate deception carried out by the Allies regarding the invasion landing site and how these efforts impacted battle developments, and it presents nine primary documents that treat various aspects of the battle, including the lengthy Allied plan for the invasion and primary sources of directives regarding the battle and technical innovations.

Download or read book Co operation Between the European Community and the Kingdom of Tonga Covering the Period written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Co operation Between the European Union and the Kingdom of Tonga Covering the Period written by and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Operation Heartbreak written by Duff Cooper and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2024-02-13 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A perfectly told tale of defeat and glory—and a paean to gallantry in the face of the absurd—inspired by a real-life secret mission during World War II. Orphaned in the first months of World War One, when his father is killed in action, Willie Maryington dreams only of joining the same cavalry regiment and going to the front. The Armistice dashes seventeen-year-old Willie’s plans, but not his dreams of glory, and he makes the regiment the center of his adult existence. Yet, as the years go by, Willie falls increasingly out of step, not only with civilian life, but with the modern military, where horse charges are a thing of the past, and where a gulf yawns between those who saw action and those who did not. When hostilities break out again between Germany and England, Willie has become a relic. No one could guess that he will be chosen for a mission whose outcome might well decide the course of the Second World War. Inspired by a real-life triumph of British counterintelligence (codenamed “Operation Mincemeat”), and based on classified sources, Operation Heartbreak was suppressed by the British government until 1950. A work of “jewel-like brevity and intensity” (New York Herald Tribune), it is a study in nostalgia and bewildered idealism to place beside the novels of Joseph Roth and Ford Madox Ford.

Download or read book Britain s Victory Denmark s Freedom written by Mikkel Plannthin and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2017-08-19 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Evolution of Airborne Operations 1939 1945 written by Colonel Roy Stanley II USAF and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-10-30 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The development of air transport in the early 20th Century led military strategists to examine the concept of inserting light infantry at key points behind enemy lines by air landing and air drop. The Germans were first off-the-mark with assaults in Norway and at Eben Emael in 1940. Crete saw a larger scale attack but while ultimately victorious the cost of men and equipment involved deterred any further Axis operation. The Allies on the other hand developed the concept dramatically with the large scale operation HUSKY in Sicily. While only partially successful – there was massive loss of life and aircraft – airborne operations were a key, if relatively minor, element of Op OVERLORD – The D-Day Invasion. The most famous airborne operation was the large scale but ill-fated MARKET GARDEN. Almost successful the Arnhem battle goes down as a heroic defeat. The culmination of WWII airborne operations was the multi-division Rhine Crossing VARSITY. Expert author and collector Roy Stanley traces the history of airborne landings in words and pictures.

Download or read book Ma afu Prince of Tonga Chief of Fiji written by John Spurway and published by ANU Press. This book was released on 2015-02-23 with total page 735 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enele Ma`afu, son of Aleamotu`a, Tu`i Kanokupolu, grew up during a time of unprecedented social and political change in Tonga following the advent of Christianity. Moving to Lau, Fiji, in 1847 when he was about 21, he skilfully exploited kinship links to establish a power base there and in eastern Cakaudrove. His achievements were recognised in 1853 when his cousin King Tupou I appointed Ma`afu as Governor of the Tongans in Fiji. Acting as a putative champion of the lotu, Ma`afu undertook successful military campaigns elsewhere in Fiji and, after adding the Yasayasa Moala and the Exploring Isles to the nascent Lauan state, he was able to establish the Tovata ko Lau, a union of Lau, Cakaudrove and Bua, with himself as head. His power was formally recognised in 1869 when the Lauan chiefs appointed him as Tui Lau, a new title in the polity of Fiji. Ma`afu was now able to challenge Cakobau for the mastery of Fiji. After serving as Viceroy during the farcical planter oligarchy known as the Kingdom of Fiji, Ma`afu underwent a severe humiliation when, in order to maintain his power in Lau, he was forced to accede to the wishes of Fiji’s other great chiefs in offering their islands to Great Britain. He would end his days as Roko Tui Lau, a ‘subordinate administrator’ in the Crown Colony of Fiji, presiding over a province characterised by corruption and maladministration but where the legacy of his earlier innovative land reforms has endured.

Download or read book The Elite written by Ranulph Fiennes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-10-17 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Riveting stuff. Through the prism of his experience of the military elite, Fiennes presents a dazzling history of the world's best fighting units to amaze and enthral the reader." Damien Lewis, Bestselling author of Zero Six Bravo Inspired by the heroic war time escapades of his father, as well as drawing on his own experiences in the special forces, acclaimed adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes thrillingly explores the history of elite military units, from ancient Sparta to the War on Terror. The best of the best, these elite units have frequently been immortalised on the big screen, and in computer games, for their daring deeds. Whether it be fighting on the battlefield, storming forts and castles, rescuing hostages, high stakes reconnaissance missions or the dramatic assassination of enemy leaders, these are the men who are relied upon to undertake dangerous missions of the highest stakes. While celebrating the heroics of groups such as the SAS and Navy Seals, Sir Ranulph also reveals the true stories of infamous organisations such as The Assassins and Templar Knights. Uncovering their origins, and examining their weapons and tactics, Sir Ranulph showcases these units most famous missions, and reveals the men behind them. Showing incredible courage, often in the face of impossible odds, these units have also changed the course of history along the way. Sir Ranulph discusses the reasons behind their success and failures, with many notorious conflicts often being decided by these elite units facing off against each other, with the victor not only evolving warfare, but also consigning their opponent to history. While these units traditionally prefer to operate in the shadows, Sir Ranulph brings their remarkable histories to the fore, told with his trademark ability to weave a story which has seen him become one of Britain’s most beloved bestselling authors.

Download or read book World War 2 In Review No 26 American Fighting Vehicles quot quot written by and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Stout Hearts written by Ben Kite and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2016-08-19 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “At last a book has been written that forensically examines how the British Armed Forces fought its way through Normandy . . . utterly absorbing.” —James Holland, bestselling author of Brothers in Arms Stout Hearts is a book which offers an entirely new perspective on the British Army in Normandy. This fresh study explores the anatomy of war through the Army’s operations in the summer of 1944, informing and entertaining the general nonfiction reader as well as students of military history. There have been so many books written on Normandy that the publication of another one might appear superfluous. However most books have focused on narrating the conduct of the battle, describing the factors that influenced its outcome, or debating the relative merits of the armies and their generals. What was missing from the existing body of work on Normandy specifically and the Second World War generally is a book that explains how an army actually operates in war and what it was like for those involved; Stout Hearts fills this gap. Stout Hearts is essential reading for those who wish to understand the “mechanics” of battle. How does an Army care for its wounded? How do combat engineers cross obstacles? How do tanks fight? How do Air and Naval Forces support the Army? But to understand what makes an Army “tick” you must also understand its people. Therefore explanations of tactics and techniques are not only well illustrated with excellent photographs and high quality maps but also effectively combined with relevant accounts from the combatants themselves. These dramatic stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things are the strength of the book, bringing the campaign to life and entertaining the reader.

Download or read book Merville Battery the Dives Bridges written by Carl Shilleto and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2011-04-30 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This battlefield guide is the companion work to Pegasus Bridge & Horsa Bridge. Together, these two books form the fully revised and updated edition of the previous best selling Battleground Europe Series book Pegasus Bridge & Merville Battery.This book examines, in great detail, the attack by 9 Para Bn of the British 6th Airborne Division on the German gun emplacement known as the Merville Battery on D-Day, 6 June 1944. The actions of 8 Para, 12 Para, Canadian 1 Para, attached engineer and support units, and commando raids in this area of Normandy are also told. In particular, the importance of destroying the five bridges, and a drainage culvert, in the Dives valley are explained along with the importance of taking and holding the high ground to the north-east of Caen. These combined actions resulted in the protection and securing of the left flank of the greatest combined military operation in history; Operation OVERLORD.In addition to explaining how these objectives were achieved, this battlefield guide relates the battles to the area as it is today. The book contains details of the museums, memorials, cemeteries and associated organizations. All of which will unravel the history of the area to the visitor and armchair traveler alike.To further aid the battlefield tourist, GPS data is also provided for either satellite navigation by vehicle or for viewing on Google Earth.