Download or read book Cinderella Army written by Terry Copp and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Except for a brief period during the Rhineland battle, the First Canadian Army was the smallest to serve under Eisenhower's command. The Canadian component never totalled more than 185,000 of the four million Allied troops serving in Northwest Europe. It is evident, however, that the divisions of 2nd Canadian Corps played a role disproportionate to their numbers. Their contribution to operations designed to secure the channel ports and open the approaches to Antwerp together with the battles in the Rhineland place them among the most heavily committed and sorely tried divisions in the Allied armies. By the end of 1944 3rd Canadian Division had suffered the highest number of casualties in 21 Army Group with 2nd Canadian Division ranking a close second. In the armoured divisions, 4th Canadian was at the top of the list as was 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade among the independent tank brigades. Overall Canadian casualties were 20 per cent higher than in comparable British formations. This was a direct result of the much greater number of days that Canadian units were involved in close combat."--Jacket.

Download or read book Colossal Cracks written by Stephen Ashley Hart and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2007 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Allied campaign for Northwest Europe as seen from a British and Canadian perspective A reinterpretation of the British Army's conduct in the crucial 1944-45 Northwest Europe campaign, this work examines the "Colossal Cracks" operational technique employed by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's Anglo-Canadian 21st Army Group. Rooted in concerns about morale and casualties, "Colossal Cracks" was a cautious, firepower-laden approach that involved the concentration of massive force at points of German weakness. Hart argues that Montgomery and his two senior subordinates handled this formation more effectively than some scholars have suggested and that "Colossal Cracks" represented the most appropriate weapon the British Army could develop under the circumstances.

Download or read book World War II Northwest Europe 1944 1945 written by Russell Hart and published by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. This book was released on 2010-01-15 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Outlines Allied activities in Western Europe from D-Day in 1944 to the German capitulation in 1945.

Download or read book Spitfire Aces of Northwest Europe 1944 45 written by Andrew Thomas and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-09-20 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the bitter air fighting over Western Europe during the last year of the war, no fewer than 37 pilots became aces flying Merlin-engined Spitfires, whilst 72 other aces increased their scores flying them. This book traces the achievements of the pilots flying the iconic Spitfire in Northwest Europe, and examines how the steady technological improvements that were made throughout the Spitfire's service life improved its capabilities in the air. Based at airfields throughout southern England, Merlin engine Spitfires provided the bulk of the air cover for the D-Day landings and it was an RCAF Spitfire which claimed the first ever ME 262 jet kill. 36 colour profiles covering a broad spectrum of nationalities, units, pilots, theatres and markings complement thorough research throughout this comprehensive account of these crucial fighter aircraft.

Download or read book Monty s Men written by John Buckley and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historian John Buckley offers a radical reappraisal of Great Britain’s fighting forces during World War Two, challenging the common belief that the British Army was no match for the forces of Hitler’s Germany. Following Britain’s military commanders and troops across the battlefields of Europe, from D-Day to VE-Day, from the Normandy beaches to Arnhem and the Rhine, and, ultimately, to the Baltic, Buckley’s provocative history demonstrates that the British Army was more than a match for the vaunted Nazi war machine.div /DIVdivThis fascinating revisionist study of the campaign to liberate Northern Europe in the war’s final years features a large cast of colorful unknowns and grand historical personages alike, including Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery and the prime minister, Sir Winston Churchill. By integrating detailed military history with personal accounts, it evokes the vivid reality of men at war while putting long-held misconceptions finally to rest./DIV

Download or read book An Army of Never Ending Strength written by Arthur W. Gullachsen and published by UBC Press. This book was released on 2021-02-15 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An army may march on its stomach, but it needs more than hot dinners to fight. As Canadians battled through Northwest Europe in the Second World War, how did they reinforce their front lines? An Army of Never-Ending Strength provides detailed insight into the administration, structure, and troop and equipment levels of the First Canadian Army during 1944–45. Captain Arthur W. Gullachsen demonstrates the army’s effectiveness at reinforcing its combat units and draws a powerful conclusion. The administrative and logistical capability of the Canadian Army created a constant state of offensive strength, which made a marked contribution to eventual Allied victory.

Download or read book Busting the Bocage written by Michael Dale Doubler and published by Fort Leavenworth, Kan. : U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. This book was released on 1988 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Second World War written by Antony Beevor and published by Back Bay Books. This book was released on 2012-06-05 with total page 829 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A masterful and comprehensive chronicle of World War II, by internationally bestselling historian Antony Beevor. Over the past two decades, Antony Beevor has established himself as one of the world's premier historians of WWII. His multi-award winning books have included Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945. Now, in his newest and most ambitious book, he turns his focus to one of the bloodiest and most tragic events of the twentieth century, the Second World War. In this searing narrative that takes us from Hitler's invasion of Poland on September 1st, 1939 to V-J day on August 14, 1945 and the war's aftermath, Beevor describes the conflict and its global reach -- one that included every major power. The result is a dramatic and breathtaking single-volume history that provides a remarkably intimate account of the war that, more than any other, still commands attention and an audience. Thrillingly written and brilliantly researched, Beevor's grand and provocative account is destined to become the definitive work on this complex, tragic, and endlessly fascinating period in world history, and confirms once more that he is a military historian of the first rank.

Download or read book US Armored Divisions written by Steven J. Zaloga and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-01-20 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The armored divisions were the shock force of the US Army's combat formations during the fighting in Northwest Europe in the final year of the war. Of the 16 such divisions formed during the war, all but one served in the European Theater of Operations. This book examines the organizational structure, operational doctrine and combat mission of these divisions from D-Day onwards, describing how doctrines and tactics were changed as the divisions were forced to adapt to the battlefield realities of combat against an experienced foe. The lessons drawn by the armored divisions from the bitter fighting in Northwest Europe from 1944 to 1945 strongly shaped postwar US Army doctrine.

Download or read book Tiger vs Churchill written by Neil Grant and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-01-20 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fully illustrated study assesses the origins, development, and combat record of the legendary Tiger and Churchill Tanks during World War II. The Tiger and the Churchill are two of the most recognizable heavily armoured tanks of World War II. Both were designed hastily in the early years of the war, and both witnessed inauspicious debuts in battle in August 1942 (the Churchill in the disaster at Dieppe, the Tiger near Leningrad). Despite their heavy weight, both tanks, which were intended to serve in breakthrough operations, had surprisingly good tactical mobility. Yet there were key differences between them too, chiefly in the effectiveness of their main armament. This fascinating and detailed work explores the design and development of these famous tanks and its influence on their head-to-head encounters, the effectiveness of the support services each tank relied upon, and the skills and experiences of the crews that fought in them. The specific battlefield conditions of Normandy in June and July 1944 are also examined, exploring the effect they had on the duels between these two heavyweight AFVs.

Download or read book Civilians at the Sharp End written by David A. Borys and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2021-02-18 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mitigating the destruction and chaos wrought upon the civilian populations of northwest Europe during the latter years of the Second World War became the focus of Civil Affairs, a little-known branch of the First Canadian Army. Comprising a motley collection of civilians-turned-soldiers – too old for combat yet too valuable to remain off the front lines – the members of Civil Affairs served as liaisons between Canadian combat forces and the civilians they encountered on the ground. Civilians at the Sharp Endfollows the story of the Civil Affairs branch through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany in 1944-45. David Borys highlights how Civil Affairs helped civilians caught in the jaws of war by delivering food and medicine, providing shelter for refugees and displaced persons, establishing law and order, dealing with resistance groups, and aiding in the reconstruction of infrastructure in damaged urban areas. Once in Germany the branch was further challenged as it transformed into a military government and became a force of occupation, rehabilitating a war-torn Germany and purging the state of its Nazi leadership, while at times having to protect German civilians from the recently liberated prisoners of the Nazi state. Borys demonstrates that while the Canadian Army was indeed concerned for the welfare of civilians, military operations took priority over civilian needs. Civil Affairs was forced to negotiate this complex terrain, assisting civilian populations while ensuring that they never impeded the work of the Canadian military and the ultimate defeat of Nazi Germany.

Download or read book Nineteen Forty five written by Newt Gingrich and published by Baen Books. This book was released on 1995 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the world that would have existed in 1945 if Adolf Hitler had not declared war on the United States after Pearl Harbor.

Download or read book The Guns at Last Light written by Rick Atkinson and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2013-05-14 with total page 897 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The magnificent conclusion to Rick Atkinson's acclaimed Liberation Trilogy about the Allied triumph in Europe during World War II It is the twentieth century's unrivaled epic: at a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his bestselling Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson recounted how the American-led coalition fought through North Africa and Italy to the threshold of victory. Now, in The Guns at Last Light, he tells the most dramatic story of all—the titanic battle for Western Europe. D-Day marked the commencement of the final campaign of the European war, and Atkinson's riveting account of that bold gamble sets the pace for the masterly narrative that follows. The brutal fight in Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the disaster that was Operation Market Garden, the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and finally the thrust to the heart of the Third Reich—all these historic events and more come alive with a wealth of new material and a mesmerizing cast of characters. Atkinson tells the tale from the perspective of participants at every level, from presidents and generals to war-weary lieutenants and terrified teenage riflemen. When Germany at last surrenders, we understand anew both the devastating cost of this global conflagration and the enormous effort required to win the Allied victory. With the stirring final volume of this monumental trilogy, Atkinson's accomplishment is manifest. He has produced the definitive chronicle of the war that unshackled a continent and preserved freedom in the West. One of The Washington Post's Top 10 Books of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2013

Download or read book The Boys Crusade written by Paul Fussell and published by Modern Library. This book was released on 2005-09-13 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Boys’ Crusade is the great historian Paul Fussell’s unflinching and unforgettable account of the American infantryman’s experiences in Europe during World War II. Based in part on the author’s own experiences, it provides a stirring narrative of what the war was actually like, from the point of view of the children—for children they were—who fought it. While dealing definitively with issues of strategy, leadership, context, and tactics, Fussell has an additional purpose: to tear away the veil of feel-good mythology that so often obscures and sanitizes war’s brutal essence. “A chronicle should deal with nothing but the truth,” Fussell writes in his Preface. Accord-ingly, he eschews every kind of sentimentalism, focusing instead on the raw action and human emotion triggered by the intimacy, horror, and intense sorrows of war, and honestly addressing the errors, waste, fear, misery, and resentments that plagued both sides. In the vast literature on World War II, The Boys’ Crusade stands wholly apart. Fussell’s profoundly honest portrayal of these boy soldiers underscores their bravery even as it deepens our awareness of their experiences. This book is both a tribute to their noble service and a valuable lesson for future generations.

Download or read book Panzer Lehr Division 1944 45 written by Frederick P. Steinhardt and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Panzer Lehr Division was one of the most élite German armoured formations in existence in early 1944. Its baptism of fire was in the deadly Normandy bocage. Although suffering heavy losses in Normandy, the Division continued to fight in North-West Europe until the end of the war, seeing particularly notable service during the Ardennes Offensive and in the Ruhr. The first volume in the new Helion series WWII German Military Studies prints an extensive number of reports written by former officers of the Division, principally its commander Fritz Bayerlein. Virtually all of these reports have remained unpublished since they were written soon after the end of WWII. They cover all aspects of the Division's history, although with particular emphasis upon events in Normandy, the Ardennes and Germany. A number of the reports include detailed order-of-battle and other organisational data. A very large number of situation maps are also featured. Important though the reprinting of these documents is, this book is made doubly important thanks to the linking text and expert annotations from editor Fred Steinhardt. In effect, this book provides an extremely detailed chronological history of the Division's activities, in greater detail than has yet appeared in print before. / This new series is designed at bringing into print previously unavailable archival material covering all aspects of the German Armed Forces during the 1933-45 period. / Volume 1 contains an extensive series of previously unpublished reports covering all aspects of Panzer Lehr Division's combat history, especially in Normandy, the Ardennes and Germany 1944-45. / Many reports feature detailed order-of-battle data and are supported by a large number of situation maps. / Extensive linking commentary and annotations from the editor mean the book as a whole provides an extremely detailed narrative of the Division's activities 1944-45. / Publication marks a major contribution to the history of the Panzertruppen during the final year of WWII.

Download or read book What Soldiers Do written by Mary Louise Roberts and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-05-17 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do you convince men to charge across heavily mined beaches into deadly machine-gun fire? Do you appeal to their bonds with their fellow soldiers, their patriotism, their desire to end tyranny and mass murder? Certainly—but if you’re the US Army in 1944, you also try another tack: you dangle the lure of beautiful French women, waiting just on the other side of the wire, ready to reward their liberators in oh so many ways. That’s not the picture of the Greatest Generation that we’ve been given, but it’s the one Mary Louise Roberts paints to devastating effect in What Soldiers Do. Drawing on an incredible range of sources, including news reports, propaganda and training materials, official planning documents, wartime diaries, and memoirs, Roberts tells the fascinating and troubling story of how the US military command systematically spread—and then exploited—the myth of French women as sexually experienced and available. The resulting chaos—ranging from flagrant public sex with prostitutes to outright rape and rampant venereal disease—horrified the war-weary and demoralized French population. The sexual predation, and the blithe response of the American military leadership, also caused serious friction between the two nations just as they were attempting to settle questions of long-term control over the liberated territories and the restoration of French sovereignty. While never denying the achievement of D-Day, or the bravery of the soldiers who took part, What Soldiers Do reminds us that history is always more useful—and more interesting—when it is most honest, and when it goes beyond the burnished beauty of nostalgia to grapple with the real lives and real mistakes of the people who lived it.

Download or read book The World War II Tommy written by Martin Brawley and published by Crowood Press UK. This book was released on 2007-08-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A paperback edition of this classic work, which describes and illustrates the uniforms and equipment of the WWII British soldier using original items worn by live models in authentic settings. A huge range of subjects is covered, from the uniforms and equipment of the front line infantryman, to the officers' and men's walking-out dress, the special kit issued to tank crews, air-landed and mountain troops, motorcyclists, medics, arctic clothing, anti-gas kit and assault kit, even down to the demob suits issued to discharged soldiers in 1945.