Download or read book Rays of the Rising Sun Armed Forces of Japan s Asian Allies 1931 45 written by John Berger and published by . This book was released on 2012-06-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the Japanese Empire went to war with the Allies in December 1941, it had already been fighting in China for 10 years. During that time it had conquered huge areas of China, and subjugated millions of people. The Japanese needed to control the Chinese population in these occupied territories, and for this reason they set up governments from amongst the leaders of the Chinese who were willing to cooperate with them. These so-called 'puppet' governments were designed to rule on behalf of the Japanese while firmly under their overall control. In turn, the puppet governments needed their own armed forces to help them maintain control over the populace and so they raised their own 'independent' armed forces. These puppet armies were large in number, reaching a total of well over 1 million before 1945. Although poorly armed and equipped, these forces had an influence on the Japanese war effort through sheer numbers.The Chinese puppet soldiers ranged from the well-drilled and trained regular Army of the Last Emperor of China, Pu Yi, who ruled the newly-formed state of Manchukuo, 1932-45, to the irregular Mongol cavalry who served alongside Japanese troops in the 'secret war' waged in the Mongolian hinterlands. The troops were dismissed as traitors by the Chinese fighting the Japanese, and they were equally despised by the Japanese themselves. The troops were motivated by a range of reasons, from simple survival to a loyalty to their commander. The fact that so many Chinese were willing to fight for the Japanese was embarrassing to all sides, and for this reason has been largely ignored in previous histories of the war in the East. In the first of a three-volume series, Philip Jowett tell the story of the Chinese who fought for the Japanese over a 14 year period. He describes in detail the organization, training, actions, uniforms and equipment of these forces, including detailed orders-of-battle. Volume 1 contains many rare and previously unpublished photos, as well as color plates illustrating the uniforms and insignia of the armies. The air forces and navies of these states are also described in detail, incl. color aircraft profiles. In a series of appendices, the author provides selected orders of battle as well as biographies of notable military commanders. This is a fascinating insight into a hitherto-neglected aspect of Second World War and Asian military history. This is a limited edition reprint of just 500 copies, each copy numbered and signed by the author.

Download or read book Rays of the Rising Sun written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Rays of the Rising Sun written by John Berger and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2013-01-19 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first of a three-volume series examining the history of Chinese “puppet” soldiers fighting for the Japanese before and during World War II. When the Japanese Empire went to war with the Allies in December 1941. it had already been fighting in China for 10 years. During that time, it had conquered huge areas of China, and subjugated millions of people. The Japanese needed to control the Chinese population in these occupied territories, and for this reason they set up governments from amongst the leaders of the Chinese who were willing to co-operate with them. These so-called “puppet” governments were designed to rule on behalf of the Japanese while firmly under their control. In turn, the “puppet” governments needed their own armed forces to help them maintain control over the populace and so they raised their own 'independent' armed forces. These “puppet” armies were in large number, reaching a total of well over 1 million before 1945. Although poorly armed and equipped, these forces had an influence on the Japanese war effort through sheer numbers. The Chinese “puppet” soldiers ranged from the well-drilled and trained regular Army of the Last Emperor of China, Pu Yi, who ruled the newly formed state of Manchukuo, 1932–45, to the irregular Mongol cavalry who served alongside Japanese troops in the “secret war” waged in the Mongolian hinterlands. The troops were dismissed as traitors by the Chinese fighting the Japanese, and they were equally despised by the Japanese themselves. The troops were motivated by a range of reasons, from simple survival to a loyalty to their commander. The fact that so many Chinese were willing to fight for the Japanese was embarrassing to all sides, and for this reason has been largely ignored in previous histories of the war in the East. In the first of a three-volume series, Philip Jowett tells the story of the Chinese who fought for the Japanese over a fourteen-year period.

Download or read book Rays of the Rising Sun written by John Berger and published by . This book was released on 2024-02-28 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the Japanese Empire went to war with the Allies in December 1941. it had already been fighting in China for 10 years. During that time it had conquered huge areas of China, and subjugated millions of people. The Japanese needed to control the Chinese population in these occupied territories, and for this reason they set up governments from amongst the leaders of the Chinese who were willing to cooperate with them. These so-called 'puppet' governments were designed to rule on behalf of the Japanese while firmly under their control. In turn, the 'puppet' governments needed their own armed forces to help them maintain control over the populace and so they raised their own 'independent' armed forces. These 'puppet' armies were in large number, reaching a total of well over 1 million before 1945. Although poorly-armed and equipped, these forces had an influence on the Japanese war effort through sheer numbers. The Chinese 'puppet' soldiers ranged from the well-drilled and trained regular Army of the Last Emperor of China, Pu Yi, who ruled the newly-formed state of Manchukuo, 1932-45, to the irregular Mongol cavalry who served alongside Japanese troops in the 'secret war' waged in the Mongolian hinterlands. The troops were dismissed as traitors by the Chinese fighting the Japanese, and they were equally despised by the Japanese themselves. The troops were motivated by a range of reasons, from simple survival to a loyalty to their commander. The fact that so many Chinese were willing to fight for the Japanese was embarrassing to all sides, and for this reason has been largely ignored in previous histories of the war in the East. In the first of a three-volume series, Philip Jowett tells the story of the Chinese who fought for the Japanese over a 14 year period. - The first book to relate the story of the Chinese and Manchukoan forces which were raised by, or allied to, the Japanese Imperial Army in China, 1931-45 - Describes in detail the organization, training, actions, uniforms and equipment of these forces, including detailed orders-of-battle - Contains many rare and previously unpublished photos - color plates illustrate the uniforms and insignia of the armies - The air forces and navies of these states are also described in detail, incl. color aircraft profiles - Also includes biographies of notable military commanders

Download or read book Rays of the Rising Sun written by Philip S. Jowett and published by . This book was released on 2012-06-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This second volume of three covering Japan's Asian Allies tells the story of the Burmese and Indian nationalists who fought on the side of the Japanese Empire from 1941 until 1945. Although achieving mixed results the Indian and Burmese who fought with Japan had the ultimate aim of independent homelands. Burmese aspirations were at least superficially met with the independence of Burma within the Japanese co-prosperity sphere in 1943. Her fledgling independence army had fought initially in the campaign to 'liberate' Burma from the control of Britain and was to go on to form the 15,000 national army of an independent Burma 1943-45. In 1945 the Burmese National Army was to turn against its Japanese sponsors and change sides to support the Allied advances into its country. Indian nationalists under the leadership of the enigmatic nationalist politician Subias Chandra Bose were never to achieve even a fleeting independence. Based in Singapore, Thailand and finally Burma as a virtual army in exile the most they could achieve was to fleetingly capture a tiny part of their motherland. Raised mainly from amongst the vast number of British Indian troops captured at the fall of Singapore in February 1942, the Indian National Army was a 40,000 strong force which spent much of its existence in the vain hope of leading a 'liberating' invasion of India. Its heavy defeat fighting alongside the Japanese army in the bitter Imphal campaign of 1944 virtually spelled the end of the army. The death of Subias Chandra Bose in a plane crash at the end of the war closed the chapter on the nationalist's military attempts at achieving independence from India.

Download or read book Handbook of WWII German Military Symbols Abbreviations 1943 45 written by Terrence Booth and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2008-03-05 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive reference guide to German military symbols used on documents, maps, orders of battle and elsewhere. To the uninitiated, German military symbols can appear indecipherable. Yet understanding their meaning is essential to any serious research of the WWII German Armed Forces. This book provides a clear and comprehensive reference to these symbols, as seen in photos, tables of organization and maps for the period May 1943 onwards. The first two parts of the book feature an overview of how the German Armed Forces used the symbols in the field. Parts III, IV and V deal with specific forms and categories of symbols used. The format provides an image of each symbol, accompanied by the relevant German term and its English translation, along with any pertinent information that will aid the reader’s understanding of the symbol and the unit that it represented. The final part of the book, containing a list of over 500 abbreviations and their German terms, supplemented by English translations, should prove invaluable to any reader who has more than a passing interest in the Second World War German Armed Forces.

Download or read book The Silent General Horne of the First Army written by Don Farr and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2007-06-08 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether or not Henry Sinclair Horne was the ‘silent’ General he might certainly, if he were still alive, lay claim to being the ‘forgotten’ General of the Western Front. His self-effacement in a profession not renowned for shrinking violets undoubtedly made its contribution to his relative anonymity - he wrote no memoirs nor kept anything more than sketchy diaries - but it is still surprising that such an important contributor to the defeat of the German army in the Great War has not until now received the attentions of a biographer. After a customary slow start in the late Victorian army, Henry Horne first made an impact during the Boer War, fortuitously as it was to turn out, under the eyes of a Colonel Douglas Haig. By the outbreak of the Great War, Henry Horne was a Brigadier General. Two years later he was a full General in command of the BEF’s First Army. His was one of the most rapid elevations to top rank recorded in the war. In the two years he spent as an army commander he commanded the brilliant capture of Vimy Ridge, the desperate defensive Battle of the Lys, the successful assault on the Drocourt-Quéant Switch, the outstanding crossing of the Canal du Nord and the liberation of Douai, Cambrai, Lens, Valenciennes and Mons. Napoleon always sought to ensure that his generals were lucky. In that respect Henry Horne would have suited him. He was lucky in having a long-standing close professional relationship with the Commander-in-Chief, FM Haig; in having under his command at First Army the elite Canadian Corps and some distinguished British divisions; and in having as his Chief of Staff one of the outstanding staff officers of the war. But there was more to Henry Horne than just luck. This belated biography assesses Henry Horne’s relationship with Haig and the Canadian Corps. It also evaluates his contribution to the technical advances of the artillery during the war and describes the battles which he conducted. It attempts to accord to Henry Horne the recognition and credit that he deserves but which has for so long been withheld.

Download or read book On the Precipice written by Peter Mezhiritsky and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-09-13 with total page 558 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nominated for the 2013 PushkinHouse/Waterstone's Russian Book Prize. Like some astronomers, who discover cosmic objects not by direct observation, but by watching the deviations of known heavenly bodies from their calculated trajectories, Peter Mezhiritsky makes his findings in history through thoughtful reading and the comparison of historical sources. This book, a unique blend of prosaic literature and shrewd historic analysis, is dedicated to events in Soviet history in light of Marshal Zhukov's memoirs. Exhaustive knowledge of Soviet life, politics and censorship, including the phraseology in which Communist statesmen were allowed to narrate their biographical events, gave Peter Mezhiritsky sharp tools for the analysis of the Marshal's memoirs. The reader will learn about the abundance of awkward events that strangely and fortuitously occurred in good time for Stalin's rise to power, about the hidden connection between the purges, the Munich appeasement and the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, and about the real reason why it took so long to liquidate Paulus' Sixth Army at Stalingrad. The author presents a clear picture of the purges which promoted incompetent and poorly educated commanders (whose most prominent feature was their personal dedication to Stalin) to higher levels of command, leaving the Soviet Union poorly prepared for a war against the Wehrmacht military machine. The author offers alternative explanations for many prewar and wartime events. He was the first in Russia to acknowledge a German component to Zhukov's military education. The second part of the book is dedicated to the course of the Great Patriotic War, much of which is still little known to the vast majority of Western readers. While not fully justifying Zhukov's actions, the author also reveals the main reason for the bloody strategy chosen by Zhukov and the General Staff in the defensive period of the War. In general, the author shares and argues Marshal Vasilevsky's conviction - if there had been no purges, the war would not have occurred. The book became widely known to the Russian-reading public on both sides of the Atlantic, and in the last ten years its quotations have been used as an essential argument in almost all the debates about the WWII. The book is equally intended for scholars and regular readers, who are interested in Twentieth Century history.

Download or read book A Long Long War written by Ken Wharton and published by Grub Street Publishers. This book was released on 2008-05-16 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of Bloody Belfast delivers “a vivid and unforgettable record” of the Northern Irish conflict that captures the “true horrors of war” (Best of British). There are stories from some of the most seminal moments during the troubles in Northern Ireland—the Crossmaglen firefights, the 1988 corporals killings, the Ballygawley bus bombing, and more—told from the perspective of the British soldiers who served there between 1969 and 1998. This was a war against terrorists who knew no mercy or compassion; a war involving sectarian hatred and violent death. Over 1,000 British lives were lost in a place just thirty minutes flying time away from the mainland. The British Army was sent into Northern Ireland on August 14, 1969, by the Wilson government as law and order had broken down and the population (mainly Catholics) and property were at grave risk. Between then and 1998, some 300,000 British troops served in Northern Ireland. This is their story—in their own words—from first to last. Receiving a remarkable amount of cooperation from Northern Ireland veterans eager to tell their story, the author has compiled a vivid and unforgettable record. Their experiences—sad and poignant, fearful and violent, courageous in the face of adversity, even downright hilarious—make for compelling reading. Their voices need to be heard. “One of the first and only books to offer the perspective of regular British soldiers serving in the Northern Irish conflict . . . a valuable addition to the extensive literature about the Irish Troubles.” —Choice

Download or read book Franco Prussian War 1870 1871 Volume 2 written by Quintin Barry and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2007-03-19 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second volume of this comprehensive military history examines the fall of the Second French Empire and the founding of a unified Germany. Helmuth von Moltke’s victory over France in the Battle of Sedan resulted in the capture of Napoleon III. But the war against the Government of National Defense presented quite different problems to von Moltke and his staff. Although the Siege of Paris loomed large during the second phase of the war, historian Quintin Barry fully explores events in other parts of France, including the siege of Strasbourg, the activities of the Francs Tireurs, the investment of Metz, and the battle against the French armies of the Loire, the North, and the East. As with the first volume of this study, Barry has made full use of an extensive number of German and French language sources. His detailed text is accompanied by a number of black and white illustrations and newly drawn battle maps. Orders of battle are also provided.

Download or read book Congo Unravelled written by Andrew Hudson and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2012-07-19 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise, gripping history of the resource-rich yet poverty-wracked nation’s instability and military conflict in the 1960s. Includes maps and photos. Post-independence events in the Republic of the Congo are a veritable Gordian knot. The ambitions of Congolese political leaders, Cold War rivalry, Pan-Africanism, Belgium’s continued economic interests in the country’s mineral wealth, and the strategic perceptions of other southern African states all conspired to wrack Africa’s second largest country with uprisings, rebellions, and military interventions for almost a decade. Congo Unravelled solves the intractable complexity of this violent period by dispassionately outlining the sequence of political and military events in the troubled country. It systematically reviews the first military attempts to stabilize Congo after independence, and the two distinguishing campaigns of the decade—the United Nations military operations to end the secession of the Katanga Province, and the Dragon Operations led by Belgian paratroopers, supported by the US Air Force, launched to end the insurgency in the east—are chronicled in detail. Finally, the mercenary revolt—which tainted the reputation of the modern mercenary in Africa—is described. Lesser known military events—Irish UN forces cut off from the outside world by Katangese gendarmes and mercenaries, and a combined operation in which Belgian paratroopers were dropped from US Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft and supported by a mercenary ground force to achieve humanitarian ends—go far toward resolving the enigma surrounding post-independence Congo. Praise for the Africa@War books: “A groundbreaking series concept . . . They are recommended as professional military education references.” —Charles D. Melson, Chief Historian, U.S. Marine Corps “Splendid . . . admirably balanced, handy histories.” —Cybermodeler

Download or read book Franco Prussian War 1870 1871 Volume 1 written by Quintin Barry and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2007-03-19 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first volume of this comprehensive study of the Franco-Prussian War presents a detailed account of Germany Confederation’s decisive victory over France. In the first part of this two-volume military history, Quintin Barry examines the war against the French Imperial Army waged by the armies of the German Confederation, directed by that supreme military mind, Helmuth von Moltke. Barry places Moltke and his strategic planning in the context of the European balance of power following the ending of the Austria Prussian War in 1866. He then explores the initial mobilization and deployment of the armies in 1870. All the battles of this opening round of the war are described in detail, including Weissenburg, Worth, Spicheren, Borny-Colombey, Mars la Tour, Gravelotte, Beaumont and, of course, Sedan. The book ends as the Second Empire of Napoleon III lies defeated, crushed by the German armies. Barry has made full use of an extensive number of German and French language sources. His detailed text is accompanied by a number of black and white illustrations and newly drawn battle maps. Orders of battle are also provided.

Download or read book Hitler s Last Levy written by Hans Kissel and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2005-06-19 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth account of the formation Nazi Germany’s militia army as a desperate attempt to delay its defeat during the waning days of WWII. A companion volume to the very successful In a Raging Inferno—Combat Units of the Hitler Youth, Hans Kissel’s study offers a highly detailed account of the German Volkssturm, or Home Guard. Formed from men unfit for military service, the young, and the old, this ad-hoc formation saw extensive combat during the desperate defense of the Reich, 1944–45. The author describes the Volkssturm’s training, leadership, organization, armament, and equipment, in addition to its active service on both the Eastern and Western fronts. The text is supported by an extensive selection of appendices, including translations of documents and many fascinating eyewitness combat reports. This edition also includes over 150 previously unpublished black-and-white photos, and four pages of specially commissioned color uniform plates by Stephen Andrew.

Download or read book Wasted Years Wasted Lives Volume 1 written by Ken Wharton and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2013-07-19 with total page 619 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first volume in this two-part oral history brings to life the experiences of British Army soldiers during the Troubles in the mid 1970s. British Army veteran Ken Wharton has written extensively on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland, shedding light on the experiences and sacrifices of British military and police. Though often overlooked by historians, many of these committed soldiers and peacekeepers lost their lives in the fighting. Combining his own personal experience with meticulous research and firsthand testimonies from fellow soldiers, Wharton takes reders into the dangerous streets of the Ardoyne and New Lodge, of Andersonstown, Turf Lodge and Ballymurphy, and of the Creggan in Londonderry and the Derrybeg in Newry. He is equally candid and critical of the Loyalist paramilitaries and the Republicans, as well as the Irish-Americans and their political stooges in the US Government. This book is for anyone who wishes to look back and try to understand the madness inflicted upon several generations of innocent Irish and British people.

Download or read book Three Sips of Gin written by Timothy Bax and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2013-08-19 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The memoir of a special forces veteran of the Rhodesian War, with over a hundred photos included. Nothing terrorized Russian and Chinese-backed guerillas fighting Rhodesia’s bush war in the 1970s more than the famed Selous Scouts. The name of the unit struck fear in the hearts of even the most battle-hardened—rather than speak it, they referred to its soldiers simply as Skuzapu, or pickpockets. History has recorded the regiment as being one of the deadliest and most effective killing machines in modern counter-insurgency warfare. In this book, a veteran of the unit shares his stories of childhood in colonial Africa with his British family, documenting a world where Foreign Service employees gathered at “the club” to find company and alcohol, leopards prowled the night, and his mother knew how to use a gun. Eventually he would move to Canada, only to feel drawn back to the continent where he grew up. There he would be recruited into the Selous Scouts, comprised of specially selected black and white soldiers of the Rhodesian army, supplemented with hardcore terrorists captured on the battlefield. Posing as communist guerrillas, members of this elite Special Forces unit would slip silently into the night to seek out insurgents in a deadly game of hide-and-seek played out between gangs and counter-gangs in the harsh and unforgiving landscape of the African bush. By the mid-1970s, the Selous Scouts had begun to dominate Rhodesia’s battle space. Working in conjunction with the elite airborne assault troops of the Rhodesian Light Infantry, the Selous Scouts accounted for an extraordinarily high proportion of enemy casualties. Not content with restricting themselves to hunting guerrillas inside Rhodesia, they began conducting external vehicle-borne assaults against camps situated deep inside neighboring countries. Recounting his experiences while surviving in this cauldron of battle, while also relating with dry wit the day-to-day details and absurdities of the world that surrounded him, Timothy Bax provides a rare look at this time and place.

Download or read book Hongkongers in the British Armed Forces 1860 1997 written by Chi Man Kwong and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-02-10 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hong Kong has been caught between empires ever since the First Opium War (1839-1842). As a result, the study of Hong Kong history has been subjected to the influence of the empires that controlled or laid claims over it. The historical experience of the Hongkongers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is unique, with Hong Kong as a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society, an international trading hub, and a geopolitically crucial British colony until 1997. In recent decades, historians produced works on different aspects of the Hong Kong history, but one particular group has remained obscure: the more than 30,000 Hong Kong men and women who served in the British armed forces from the Opium Wars to the end of the British rule. This is the first systematic study of the experience of the Hong Kong servicemen in the British armed forces during the colonial period. It puts the Hong Kong servicemen in the contexts of Hong Kong history, the history of overseas Chinese, the history of the British Empire, and the military history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It details the agency of Hongkongers, who were often portrayed as victims or beneficiaries during the two world wars and the Cold War, and highlights the relevance of Hong Kong in the modern history of East Asia. The author also looks at how the intertwined issues of class and race played out among these servicemen, who came from a variety of ethnic, cultural, and social backgrounds. The study reveals the complexity of the colonial Hong Kong society by illustrating the interplay between the colonizers and the colonized of different classes and ethnicities, and informs the ongoing discussion about colonial Hong Kong by providing concrete examples of the collaboration between ethnic groups.

Download or read book Flying for Freedom written by Alois Siska and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2008-10-30 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alois Siska was born in Czechoslovakia and learnt to fly. He escaped to the UK after the German invasion and joined the R.A.F. He describes his experiences flying Wellington bombers. In December 1943 he was shot down and he and surviving members of the crew were adrift in the North Sea for 7 days in appalling conditions. Picked up by the Germans he underwent surgery to his badly wounded legs and became a POW. He suffered at the hands of the Gestapo and was held in numerous camps including Colditz. His injuries were so extensive that he was put under the care of Archibald McIndoe. Siska chose to return to his native country to join their air force but fell foul of the Communist authorities. His persecution is described in the closing chapters. His rank was restored only in 1991 on the collapse of the Communist regime. Despite his injuries he remained active until 2003 when he died just short of his 90th birthday. He was as an active member of the Czech Ex-R.A.F. Association, the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund in his country, and the Sue Ryder Homes for which he raised considerable funds. His death was marked with a fly-past of the Czech Air Force and he was posthumously awarded the highest military decoration—The Order of the White Lion.