Download or read book US Army Special Forces 1952 84 written by Gordon L. Rottman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-09-20 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From its very inception the United States Army Special Forces has been enmeshed in controversy, its mission misunderstood to varying degrees, and its very existence opposed by some of the Army hierarchy. Nevertheless it continues to serve in a highly specialised role in all manner of differing conditions. There can be few better qualified to chronicle the history of this unique organisation than former Special Forces Group weapons specialist Gordon Rottman, whose expert knowledge is clearly evident in this authoritative text. This volume also contains 12 full page colour plates by one of the world's most respected military artists, Ron Volstad.
Download or read book Army Commandos 1940 45 written by Mike Chappell and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 1996-09-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The period from early 1940 to the end of 1942 was a time of gloom and uncertainty for the British, who stood alone against the assembled might of the Axis powers. They badly needed a champion, and were to find this in a small force of soldiers who inspired them with a series of daring raids against the coasts of 'occupied Europe', becoming the heroes of the British public and of the British Prime Minister who had created them. This title explores the wartime history of the British Army Commandos whose bravery did so much to raise the morale of the British public during World War II (1939-1945).
Download or read book X Troop written by Leah Garrett and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WALL STREET JOURNAL BOOK OF THE MONTH "This is the incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now." —Wall Street Journal “Brilliantly researched, utterly gripping history: the first full account of a remarkable group of Jewish refugees—a top-secret band of brothers—who waged war on Hitler.”—Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The Longest Winter and The Liberator The incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now June 1942. The shadow of the Third Reich has fallen across the European continent. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees who have escaped to Britain. The resulting volunteers are a motley group of intellectuals, artists, and athletes, most from Germany and Austria. Many have been interned as enemy aliens, and have lost their families, their homes—their whole worlds. They will stop at nothing to defeat the Nazis. Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, this top secret unit becomes known as X Troop. Some simply call them a suicide squad. Drawing on extensive original research, including interviews with the last surviving members, Leah Garrett follows this unique band of brothers from Germany to England and back again, with stops at British internment camps, the beaches of Normandy, the battlefields of Italy and Holland, and the hellscape of Terezin concentration camp—the scene of one of the most dramatic, untold rescues of the war. For the first time, X Troop tells the astonishing story of these secret shock troops and their devastating blows against the Nazis. “Garrett’s detective work is stunning, and her storytelling is masterful. This is an original account of Jewish rescue, resistance, and revenge.”—Wendy Lower, author of The Ravine and National Book Award finalist Hitler’s Furies
Download or read book Special Forces Berlin written by James Stejskal and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-02-15 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The previously untold story of a Cold War spy unit, “one of the best examples of applied unconventional warfare in special operations history” (Small Wars Journal). It is a little-known fact that during the Cold War, two US Army Special Forces detachments were stationed far behind the Iron Curtain in West Berlin. The existence and missions of the two detachments were highly classified secrets. The massive armies of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies posed a huge threat to the nations of Western Europe. US military planners decided they needed a plan to slow the expected juggernaut, if and when a war began. This plan was Special Forces Berlin. Their mission—should hostilities commence—was to wreak havoc behind enemy lines and buy time for vastly outnumbered NATO forces to conduct a breakout from the city. In reality, it was an ambitious and extremely dangerous mission, even suicidal. Highly trained and fluent in German, each of these one hundred soldiers and their successors was allocated a specific area. They were skilled in clandestine operations, sabotage, and intelligence tradecraft, and were able to act, if necessary, as independent operators, blending into the local population and working unseen in a city awash with spies looking for information on their every move. Special Forces Berlin left a legacy of a new type of soldier, expert in unconventional warfare, that was sought after for other deployments, including the attempted rescue of American hostages from Tehran in 1979. With the US government officially acknowledging their existence in 2014, their incredible story can now be told—by one of their own.
Download or read book Vietnam Studies written by Col Francis J. Kelly and published by . This book was released on 2016-12-10 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As long ago as 1957, U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers were in the Republic of Vietnam. going about their business of training, advising, and assisting members of the Vietnamese Army. Despite the old Army witticism about never volunteering for anything, the Special Forces soldier is. in fan, a double volunteer, having first volunteered for airborne training and then again for Special Forces training. From a very meager beginning but sustained by a strong motivation and confidence in his mission, the Special Forces soldier has marched through the Vietnam struggle in superb fashion. In 1957 some fifty-eight Vietnamese soldiers were given military training by Special Forces troops. Ten years later the Special Forces were advising and assisting over 40,000 paramilitary troops, along with another 40,000 Regional Forces and Popular Forces soldiers. This monograph traces the development and notes the progress, problems. successes, and failures of a unique program undertaken by the U.S. Army for the first lime in its history. It is hoped that all the significant lessons learned have been recorded and the many pitfalls of such a program uncovered. I am responsible for the conclusions reached, yet my thought processes could not escape the influence of the many outstanding officers and men in the Special Forces who joined in the struggle. Particularly, I must lake note of the contributions of the Special Forces noncommissioned officers, without question the most competent soldiers in the world. With the withdrawal of the Special Forces from Vietnam in 1971, the Army could honestly lay claim to a new dimension in ground warfare-the organized employment of a paramilitary force in sustained combat against a determined enemy. I know I speak for my predecessors and successors in claiming that the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was the finest collection of professional soldiers ever assembled by the U.S. Army, anywhere, anytime. Francis John Kelly Colonel, Armor 1972
Download or read book Commando Tactics written by Stephen Bull and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2011-06-13 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: British commandos are among the most celebrated soldiers of the Second World War. Their daring, ingenuity and bravery have given rise to an almost legendary reputation that makes it difficult to appreciate fully their role and their true value as fighting men.Stephen Bull, in this in-depth study of commando tactics and history, seeks to dispel the myths and the misunderstandings that surround them, and he places these elite troops of 70 years ago in the context of their times. He also demonstrates that the idea of the commando took time to develop and that commando operations were far from always successful. Commando tactics amphibious, mountain, close quarter were forged through the often-painful experience of raids and combined operations. And commando tactics and organization remained in a state of flux throughout the war as new situations and challenges arose.Stephen Bulls vivid account will be essential reading for anyone who is interested in commando fighting techniques and the early history of special forces.
Download or read book The Perfect Soldier written by James F. Dunnigan and published by Citadel Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this authoritative, in-depth account, military author and historian James F. Dunnigan uncovers the fascinating evolution of the world's deadliest warriors, from skilled prehistoric hunters, through Stoss Truppen', British SAS, Russia's Spetnaz, the Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrols of the Vietnam War, antiterrorism commandos, SWAT teams, and the commando wars of Afghanistan and Iraq. With brilliant analysis and gripping descriptions, Dunnigan explores the minds, methods and decisive battles of elite forces. This inside look shows the way warfare has changed forever.'
Download or read book Commandos written by Douglas Waller and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-07-09 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A precursor to American Sniper or Seal Team Six, The Commandos is a heart-pounding look at what it takes to fight alongside the very best of America’s armed forces. In The Commandos, veteran Pentagon correspondent for Newsweek Douglas Waller gives a behind-the-scenes look at the most secret and elite of clandestine warriors. Offering inside details of the U.S. special operations forces, including Green Berets, Navy SEALs, and Delta Force, Waller reveals the excruciating training and dangerous missions of America's elite fighting forces as he follows them following them into battle in Operation Desert Storm.
Download or read book U S Army Special Forces written by Fred J. Pushies and published by . This book was released on with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the year 2002, the U.S. Army Special Forces will celebrate a half-century of exemplary service. This illustrated look at the training and work of the U.S. Army Special Forces as it is today includes a brief history of these fighting elite followed by an up-close look at the advanced weaponry, high-tech gadgetry and fear-inspiring vehicles and aircraft at their disposal. Also discussed are special functions and duties like sniping, military free-fall, SCUBA and linguistic and cultural training. Color photographs of U.S. Army Special forces in training and in the field, are accompanied by appendices detailing their service history and the specifications of their specialized weaponry and equipment.
Download or read book Commando written by Kenneth Macksey and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-07-20 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Commando', the history Commandos and small-scale raids during World War II, is a gripping narrative, tracing the actions of the fearless men who served as Allied commandos for the Combined Operations department during the war. Kenneth Macksey offers the details of St Nazaire, Bruneval, Dieppe as well as the key players, such as Stirling, Lovat and Carlson. Macksey skilfully provides a study of the lesser-known figures, such as Edson, Appleyard and Pickney, bringing to life their courage and determination while celebrating the sailors who enabled the raiders to reach their destinations.
Download or read book When Shall Their Glory Fade written by James Dunning and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2011-04-11 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by a Commando veteran of World War II, this is a remarkable, vivid and honest account of the battles and actions behind the award of the thirty eight Battle Honours that were awarded to the Army Commandos by Her Majesty the Queen in 1958. These Battle Honours are emblazoned on the Commando Flag that hangs in Westminster Abbey in London, almost opposite the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. The story of each honour is presented in the most direct way, using the stories and experiences of the commandos, officers and men who actually took part in the fighting. It should be emphasised that the operations mentioned as battle honours recognised only those deemed to be thoroughly outstanding feats of arms and represent only a fraction of the raids and battles fought by the Commandos in their five years of active service. The formation of the Commandos was due to Winston Churchill, who proposed their formation in a directive dated 18 June 1940, which advocated limited offensive action against the enemy's extended and vulnerable coastline. This compilation includes photographs of training and combat in Norway, Dieppe, Normandy, Flushing and many more locations.
Download or read book U S Army Special Forces Medical Handbook written by Glen K Craig and published by paladin Press. This book was released on 2011-08-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handy guide is packed with the all the info you need to stay alive and well in the field, including disease diagnosis and treatment, drugs and dosages, emergency paramedical skills and preventive medicine. Special sections cover wartime emergencies (burn and blast injuries; nuclear, biological and chemical warfare; and emergency surgery) as well as primitive and veterinary medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics and orthopedics. Also includes practical survival techniques.
Download or read book It Had to be Tough written by James Dunning and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-05-19 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tells the fascinating story of the origins of the Commandos (Britain's first Special Service troops and the forerunners of today's Parachute Regiment, the SAS and the SBS) and the development of their special training in World War II. The commandos were raised on the specific and personal orders of the prime minister, Winston Churchill, in the dark days of the summer of 1940 when these islands faced the real threat of a Nazi invasion. It was a bold, but typically Churchillian, decision.The book traces the formation of the Commandos and the development of the extreme and often unorthodox training methods and techniques used to prepare the volunteers from all branches of the British Army for subsequent world-wide-operations from 'bolt and butcher' raids to the 'great raids' on Norway and France and finally their employment in the full scale invasions of North Africa. Sicily, Italy, Normandy, the Crossing of the Rhine and finally in Burma, whilst at all times fostering that indomitable fighting spirit with which the name 'Commando' became synonymous. So great was the Commandos' contribution in that war that the Army Commandos were awarded thirty eight Battle Honors and these are emblazoned on the Commando Flag which hangs in Westminster Abbey. Arguably the Army Commandos were disbanded too hastily after the War but their legacy, traditions and fighting spirit lives with those artillery, engineer and corps troops who today win their coveted 'Green Berets' and serve alongside their comrades of the Royal Marines on active service today.
Download or read book Wild Bill Donovan written by Douglas Waller and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-02-21 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Entertaining history...Donovan was a combination of bold innovator and imprudent rule bender, which made him not only a remarkable wartime leader but also an extraordinary figure in American history" (The New York Times Book Review). He was one of America's most exciting and secretive generals--the man Franklin Roosevelt made his top spy in World War II. A mythic figure whose legacy is still intensely debated, "Wild Bill" Donovan was director of the Office of Strategic Services (the country's first national intelligence agency) and the father of today's CIA. Donovan introduced the nation to the dark arts of covert warfare on a scale it had never seen before. Now, veteran journalist Douglas Waller has mined government and private archives throughout the United States and England, drawn on thousands of pages of recently declassified documents, and interviewed scores of Donovan's relatives, friends, and associates to produce a riveting biography of one of the most powerful men in modern espionage. William Joseph Donovan's life was packed with personal drama. The son of poor Irish Catholic parents, he married into Protestant wealth and fought heroically in World War I, where he earned the nickname "Wild Bill" for his intense leadership and the Medal of Honor for his heroism. After the war he made millions as a Republican lawyer on Wall Street until FDR, a Democrat, tapped him to be his strategic intelligence chief. A charismatic leader, Donovan was revered by his secret agents. Yet at times he was reckless--risking his life unnecessarily in war zones, engaging in extramarital affairs that became fodder for his political enemies--and he endured heartbreaking tragedy when family members died at young ages. Wild Bill Donovan reads like an action-packed spy thriller, with stories of daring young men and women in his OSS sneaking behind enemy lines for sabotage, breaking into Washington embassies to steal secrets, plotting to topple Adolf Hitler, and suffering brutal torture or death when they were captured by the Gestapo. It is also a tale of political intrigue, of infighting at the highest levels of government, of powerful men pitted against one another. Donovan fought enemies at home as often as the Axis abroad. Generals in the Pentagon plotted against him. J. Edgar Hoover had FBI agents dig up dirt on him. Donovan stole secrets from the Soviets before the dawn of the Cold War and had intense battles with Winston Churchill and British spy chiefs over foreign turf. Separating fact from fiction, Waller investigates the successes and the occasional spectacular failures of Donovan's intelligence career. It makes for a gripping and revealing portrait of this most controversial spymaster.
Download or read book True Stories Of The Commandos written by Robin Hunter and published by Random House. This book was released on 2013-03-31 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Raised in the dark, post-Dunkirk days of 1940 to carry the war to the enemy, in five short and violent years the British Army Commandos established a reputation that has made the name ‘Commando’ the mark of the fighting man. The Commandos began as small-scale raiders but their operations grew in size and destruction as the war progressed until, in the end, there were four full Commando Brigades; superb units which fought in every theatre of war, from Norway to Burma, from the coast of France to the islands of Yugoslavia. The Commandos were disbanded in 1945-46 but reformed in the 1970s, and in 1982, about 1000 army Commandos set sail to fight in the Falklands War. The long and proud history of the army contains accounts of many fine and distinguished units but few can equal – and none exceed – the story of the British Army Commandos.
Download or read book Army Commandos written by Mike Chappell and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2001-01-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The period from early 1940 to the end of 1942 was a time of gloom and uncertainty for the British, who stood alone against the assembled might of the Axis powers. They badly needed a champion. It was a small force of soldiers who inspired the British with a series of daring raids against the coasts of 'occupied Europe' becoming the heroes of the British public and of the British Prime Minister who had created them. In this book Mike Chappell explores the wartime history of the daring Army Commandos whose bravery inspired hope in Britain's darkest hour.
Download or read book Special Forces written by Tom Clancy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2001-02-01 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They are sent to the world's hot spots-on covert missions fraught with danger. They are called on to perform at the peak of their physical and mental capabilities, primed for combat and surveillance, yet ready to pitch in with disaster relief operations. They are the Army's Special Forces Groups. Now follow Tom Clancy as he delves into the training and tools, missions and mindset of these elite operatives. Special Forces includes: The making of Special Forces personnel: recruitment and training A rare look at actual Special Forces Group deployment Exercises Tools of the trade: weapons, communications and sensor equipment, survival gear Roles and missions: a mini-novel illustrates a probable scenario of Special Forces intervention Exclusive photographs, illustrations and diagrams Plus: an interview with General Hugh Shelton, USA, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (and the former Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command-USSOCOM)
