Download or read book VCs of the Second World War written by Stephen Wynn and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2020-08-30 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dramatic accounts of ten Victoria Cross recipients and what they did to earn this highest of honors during WWII. During the Second World War, the Victoria Cross—the highest honor to be given to British or Commonwealth forces—was awarded on 182 occasions to 181 recipients, 85 of which were bestowed posthumously. Presented here are ten examples of those who showed the utmost gallantry and bravery “in the presence of the enemy,” with each individual case and the circumstances in which the award was won examined in close detail. One example is the story of Charles Upham, 2nd Division, New Zealand Expedition Force, who was the only recipient of two Victoria Crosses: the first awarded during the Battle of Crete in 1941, and the second during fighting at El Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt, in 1942. Others include Premindra Singh Bhagat of the Indian Army, who rapidly cleared fifteen minefields despite close enemy fire and personal injury, and RAF pilot Leonard Cheshire, who received the honor after his fourth tour of duty. These and other rousing and dramatic stories are true profiles in courage.

Download or read book VCs of the Second World War written by John Frayn Turner and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2004-09-19 with total page 553 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published for the first time in a single volume, VCs of the Second World War consolidates the accounts of the actions of every recipient. The medal of this ultimate honor is inscribed with the simple words For Valour and this cross of courage was awarded to a total of 180 men - many posthumously.As these stories of bravery are unfolded, they reveal varied exploits of incredible individual actions. And they frequently form part of larger-scale operations, whether on land, in the air, at sea or under the sea. In so doing, the book becomes a unique chronological cross-section of the crucial British and Commonwealth contribution to the war as a whole from Norway; the Battle of Britain; North Africa; the Battle of the Atlantic; the Burma campaign; the Mediterranean theater; the air assault on Germany; Normandy; to victory in Europe and the Far East.

Download or read book Victory written by Associated Press and published by Union Square + ORM. This book was released on 2021-07-20 with total page 700 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume covers WWII from initial outbreak to final victory with news stories and photos from the Associated Press archives. Victory commemorates the day Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allied forces in Europe: May 8, 1945, VE Day. It covers the war through contemporary Associated Press coverage of key events, plus gripping human-interest accounts. The stories and photographs are presented chronologically so that readers can follow the unfolding conflict as it was experienced by ordinary citizens at the time. From Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, to Japan’s ceremonial signing of surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, each event is vividly brought to life through images and text from the original articles; historian Alan Axelrod provides insightful introductory text for each chapter.

Download or read book Victoria Cross Heroes Volume II written by Michael Ashcroft and published by Biteback Publishing. This book was released on 2016-11-08 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foreword by Lance-Sergeant Johnson Beharry VC THE VICTORIA CROSS is Britain and the Commonwealth's most prestigious gallantry medal for courage in the face of the enemy. It has been bestowed upon 1,355 heroic individuals from all walks of life since its creation during the Crimean War. Lord Ashcroft, who has been fascinated with bravery since he was a young boy, now owns 200 VCs, by far the largest collection of its kind in the world. Following on from the bestselling Victoria Cross Heroes, first published in 2006 to mark the 150th anniversary of the award, Victoria Cross Heroes: Volume II gives extraordinary accounts of the bravery behind the newest additions to Lord Ashcroft's VC collection - those decorations purchased in the last decade. With nearly sixty action-packed stories of courageous soldiers, sailors and airmen from a range of global conflicts including the Indian Mutiny of 1857-58, the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 and the First and Second World Wars, this book is a powerful testament to the strength of the human spirit and a worthy tribute to the servicemen who earned the Victoria Cross. Their inspirational deeds of valour and self-sacrifice should be championed and never forgotten.

Download or read book Victoria Cross Winners of the Korean War written by Stephen Wynn and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2021-08-26 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Korean War (1950-53) is often referred to by many British and Commonwealth veterans who took part in it as the 'forgotten war', a reference which does not include themselves or the families and friends of those who were killed. On 15 August 1945, US and Soviet forces liberated Korea from the Japanese and the country was subsequently divided along the 38th parallel, with the Soviets administering the northern part of the country and the Americans the south. Tensions between the two states continued, with both governments claiming to be the legitimate government of Korea. This came to a head on 25 June 1950, when the Korean People’s Army of North Korea crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea. For nearly four months the fighting swung first one way then the other, before forces from South Korea and other UN countries chased the North Koreans towards the Chinese border, which in turn saw China enter the war on the side of North Korea on 19 October. Having initially refused to send troops to Korea due to commitments in Malaya, the British government was worried about the possibility of China threatening Hong Kong, which at the time was under British control. A combination of the worsening situation in Korea, concerns about its position as a major global power, and the potential damage to its relationship with the US, caused a change of heart and, on 29 August, British forces finally arrived in South Korea. During the course of the Korean War, the Victoria Cross was awarded on just four occasions, although two other men were also awarded the equivalent George Cross. The Victoria Cross was twice awarded posthumously, with a third recipient dying in 1986 and the fourth dying in July 2018. Each of the actions which led to the awards are discussed in this book, which in the case of Bill Speakman, includes an interview he gave to the author in 2017.

Download or read book Anders Lassen VC MC of the SAS written by Mike Langley and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Anders Lassen is one of the most amazing and heroic of the Second World War – indeed in the history of the British armed services. He was awarded no less than three Military Crosses and the SAS regiment’s only Victoria Cross. From the day he stalked and killed a stag armed only with a knife, Lassen had been recognized as quite unique. He took part in a series of extraordinary strikes against the Axis powers in West Africa, Normandy, the Channel Islands, the Aegean and Greece, the Balkans and, finally, in Italy. This classic biography of a remarkable warrior, which was first published in 1988, is based on interviews with Lassens fellow soldiers and a wealth of original research. It covers each stage of Lassens short, brilliant career in vivid detail and offers a penetrating insight into the exceptional courage, confidence and single-minded motivation that lay behind Lassens extraordinary exploits. Mike Langley also reconstructs, using the testimony of survivors, the operation in which Lassen was killed and for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Download or read book The Forgotten VCs written by Brian Best and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-10-30 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fought amid the most challenging terrain of any theater during the Second World War, the campaign in the Far East saw heroic actions against the unyielding Japanese that resulted in the awarding of more than forty Victoria Crosses greater than a fifth of all the VCs of the war.Such actions include that of Major Frank Blaker, whose battalion of the Gurkha Rifles was held up by Japanese machine-guns on 9 July 1944. After climbing for five hours up a 2,100-foot hill, Blaker crawled on his hands and knees through dense jungle alone until he was close enough to stand up and charge the strong enemy position. Though mortally wounded, he urged his men to follow and the hilltop was taken.During the famous Chindit operations, Lieutenant George Cairns was with the South Staffordshire Regiment as it attacked a Japanese position on top of Pagoda Hill. The Chindits reached the summit and, charging into the Japanese, a vicious hand-to-hand battle ensued. In the fighting a Japanese officer hacked off Cairns left arm but, astonishingly, the young Londoner then killed the enemy officer, picked up the sword with his right hand and carried on fighting. He died the next day.The Gurkhas are renowned for their courage and it is unsurprising that many of the Fourteenth Armys VCs were won by these tough Nepalese soldiers. Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung found his battalion of the 2nd Gurkha Rifles pinned down by an enemy sniper. So he stood up in the open and killed the Japanese soldier. As his battalion advanced again, it once more came under enemy fire. Bhanbhagta Gurung charged the enemy positions, taking five Japanese foxholes, one by one in the face of almost pointblank fire.The wide-ranging nature of the conflict in the Far East saw awards being granted for actions not just in Burma but also in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Borneo, New Guinea and even off the coast of Japan itself. The recipients came from across the Commonwealth, including Australia, Canada, Fiji, Great Britain, India and Nepal.These VC actions are told in great detail in The Forgotten VCs, the first book to examine in depth the Victoria Crosses of the war in the Far East. Brian Best brings to life the daring deeds of a group of courageous men in the most inhospitable of battlefield conditions, filling a glaring gap in the historiography of Britains most prestigious award for valor.

Download or read book British VCs of World War 2 written by John Laffin and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes the 106 deeds that merited the award of the Victoria Cross during the Second World War.

Download or read book Victory in Papua written by Samuel Milner and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-07-11 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a companion volume to the one on Guadalcanal in the series on the war in the Pacific. Both record the operations designed to halt the advance of the enemy toward the vital transpacific line of communications with Australia and secure Australia as a base. Success in Papua and Guadalcanal, achieved in February 1943, put the Allied forces in a position to neutralize Rabaul and, this accomplished, to advance to the Philippines. The present volume concentrates on the action of one United States Army division. In telling the story of a comparatively limited number of troops, the author has been able to present the combat experience of small units in sharper focus than has been possible in most of the other full-scale campaign volumes. The campaign abounds in lessons. Of these one of the most vital is the frequent necessity for all commanders to evaluate their own actions by asking themselves this question: "How could I have helped, how should I have helped, how can I help my subordinates to accomplish their assigned tasks?"

Download or read book The Phoney Victory written by Peter Hitchens and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-09-06 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Was World War II really the `Good War'? In the years since the declaration of peace in 1945 many myths have sprung up around the conflict in the victorious nations. In this book, Peter Hitchens deconstructs the many fables which have become associated with the narrative of the `Good War'. Whilst not criticising or doubting the need for war against Nazi Germany at some stage, Hitchens does query whether September 1939 was the right moment, or the independence of Poland the right issue. He points out that in the summer of 1939 Britain and France were wholly unprepared for a major European war and that this quickly became apparent in the conflict that ensued. He also rejects the retroactive claim that Britain went to war in 1939 to save the Jewish population of Europe. On the contrary, the beginning and intensification of war made it easier for Germany to begin the policy of mass murder in secret as well as closing most escape routes. In a provocative, but deeply-researched book, Hitchens questions the most common assumptions surrounding World War II, turning on its head the myth of Britain's role in a `Good War'.

Download or read book Double Victory written by Cheryl Mullenbach and published by Chicago Review Press. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: &“Allow all black nurses to enlist, and the draft won't be necessary. . . . If nurses are needed so desperately, why isn't the Army using colored nurses?&” &“My arm gets a little sore slinging a shovel or a pick, but then I forget about it when I think about all those boys over in the Solomons.&” Double Victory tells the stories of African American women who did extraordinary things to help their country during World War II. In these pages young readers meet a range of remarkable women: war workers, political activists, military women, volunteers, and entertainers. Some, such as Mary McLeod Bethune and Lena Horne, were celebrated in their lifetimes and are well known today. But many others fought discrimination at home and abroad in order to contribute to the war effort yet were overlooked during those years and forgotten by later generations. Double Victory recovers the stories of these courageous women, such as Hazel Dixon Payne, the only woman to serve on the remote Alaska-Canadian Highway; Deverne Calloway, a Red Cross worker who led a protest at an army base in India; and Betty Murphy Phillips, the only black female overseas war correspondent. Offering a new and diverse perspective on the war and including source notes and a bibliography, Double Victory is an invaluable addition to any student's or history buff's bookshelf.

Download or read book The Making of Billy Bishop written by Brereton Greenhous and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2002-05-01 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's a war story that is told every time the career of Billy Bishop is discussed: On June 2, 1917, the young pilot single-handedly took out a German airfield in an early morning raid at the height of the Great War. For this, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, and a place in Canadian history. And yet, the attack never happened. In this explosive new biography, Brereton Greehous exposes the myth of Billy Bishop. While his bravery never comes into question (Bishop was as courageous as any of the men who risked their lives in those early warplanes) his credibility as a storyteller does. From exaggerations and half-truths to flat-out lies, stories of Bishop's legendary exploits contain as much fiction as they do fact. Greenhous reveals many startling truths: he presents evidence that some of the medals Bishop wore late in his career were unearned, uncovers a number of examples of Bishop embellishing or inventing combat stories, and, most significantly, shows that the only account of the ace's raid on the German airfield came from Bishop himself. Even official German records of casualties fail to corroborate the Canadian's claims. The Making of Billy Bishop is a book certain to stir up controversy. Twenty years ago, a documentary film questioning Bishop's credentials as a hero was considered so blasphemous that a senate investigation was launched in an attempt to restore the pilot's name. Now, Greenhous's research vindicates the claims of the filmmakers, and re-ignites an argument once thought settled.

Download or read book Derrick VC in his own words written by Mark Johnston and published by NewSouth Publishing. This book was released on 2021-04-01 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tom 'Diver' Derrick VC DCM was Australia's most famous fighting soldier of World War II. Derrick fought in five campaigns, won the highest medals for bravery, and died of wounds sustained while leading his men in the war's last stages. His career reached its climax on the jungle-clad heights of Sattelberg in New Guinea, where he won the Victoria Cross by spearheading the capture of seemingly impregnable Japanese defences. The diaries Derrick kept throughout his campaigns, from Tobruk to Tarakan, are among the most important writings by any Australian soldier. Those diaries and all his other known wartime correspondence and interviews are published here for the first time in their entirety. 'Diver' had only a rudimentary education, but his intelligence, humour, ambition and fighting outlook shine through his words. Edited and annotated by Mark Johnston, one of Australia's leading authorities on World War II, this book provides unprecedented insights into the mind and the remarkable career of one of Australia's most decorated and renowned servicemen. 'Australia's leading World War II historian reveals Australia's most intriguing Victoria Cross winner – an enticing and informative pairing!' — Professor Peter Stanley 'Brilliantly researched – a wonderful, enlightening insight into the life of Australia's most remarkable frontline soldier of World War II.' — Professor David Horner 'Few historians would be better suited to writing about the soldiers' battles, weapons and equipment during the Second World War than Mark Johnston. Over the past decade he has become the leading historian on the experience of Australian soldiers during the war.' — Karl James, Wartime Magazine

Download or read book VC written by Tom Nicholas and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-06-03 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From nineteenth-century whaling to a multitude of firms pursuing entrepreneurial finance today, venture finance reflects a deep-seated tradition in the deployment of risk capital in the United States. Tom Nicholas’s history of the venture capital industry offers a roller coaster ride through America’s ongoing pursuit of financial gain.

Download or read book Magennis VC written by George Fleming and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Symbol of Courage written by Max Arthur and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2005 with total page 750 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Victoria Cross can only be awarded for most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy. It has been awarded only 1,354 times since the Crimean War, the majority going to British and Commonwealth troops. Symbol of Courage vividly brings the story of the medal to life, giving a narrative history from the Crimean War to the recent war in Afghanistan. It includes many first-hand accounts of individual acts of bravery and describes what happened to the VC holders, some of whom found it was harder wearing the medal than winning it. It also gives a complete listing of every VC holder with details of the action in which they won the medal. Written by acclaimed military historian Max Arthur, this is a fascinating and comprehensive study that will appeal to everyone who is interested in military history.The Victoria Cross is Britains most famous medalit has a great emotional appeal and this book is full of stories of remarkable courage. Max Arthurs last book, Forgotten Voices of the Great War, sold over 84,000 copies in paperback for Ebury. The first book for many years to give a complete history of the medal. There are many Commonwealth holders so there should be a market outside the UK.

Download or read book The First Wave written by Alex Kershaw and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of Against All Odds, returns with an utterly immersive, adrenaline-driven account of D-Day combat. “Meet the assaulters: pathfinders plunging from the black, coxswains plowing the whitecaps, bareknuckle Rangers scaling sheer rock . . . Fast-paced and up close, this is history’s greatest story reinvigorated as only Alex Kershaw can.”—Adam Makos, New York Times bestselling author of Spearhead and A Higher Call Beginning in the predawn darkness of June 6, 1944, The First Wave follows the remarkable men who carried out D-Day’s most perilous missions. The charismatic, unforgettable cast includes the first American paratrooper to touch down on Normandy soil; the glider pilot who braved antiaircraft fire to crash-land mere yards from the vital Pegasus Bridge; the brothers who led their troops onto Juno Beach under withering fire; as well as a French commando, returning to his native land, who fought to destroy German strongholds on Sword Beach and beyond. Readers will experience the sheer grit of the Rangers who scaled Pointe du Hoc and the astonishing courage of the airborne soldiers who captured the Merville Gun Battery in the face of devastating enemy counterattacks. The first to fight when the stakes were highest and the odds longest, these men would determine the fate of the invasion of Hitler’s fortress Europe—and the very history of the twentieth century. The result is an epic of close combat and extraordinary heroism. It is the capstone Alex Kershaw’s remarkable career, built on his close friendships with D-Day survivors and his intimate understanding of the Normandy battlefield. For the seventy-fifth anniversary, here is a fresh take on World War II's longest day. Praise for The First Wave: “Masterful... readers will feel the sting of the cold surf, smell the acrid cordite that hung in the air, and duck the zing of machine-gun bullets whizzing overhead. The First Wave is an absolute triumph.”—James M. Scott, bestselling author of Target Tokyo “These pages ooze with the unforgettable human drama of history's most consequential invasion.”—John C. McManus, author of The Dead and Those About to Die