Download or read book Final Battles of Patton s Vanguard written by Don M. Fox and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2020-03-05 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By January 1945, Nazi Germany's defeat seemed inevitable yet much fighting remained. The shortest way home for American troops was towards Berlin. General George S. Patton's Third Army would carve its way into the German heartland, the Fourth Armored Division once again serving as his vanguard. This companion volume to the author's Patton's Vanguard: The United States Army Fourth Armored Division covers the final months of combat: the drive to Bitburg; the daring exploitation of the bridgeheads on the Moselle, Rhine and Main Rivers; Patton's ill-fated raid to rescue his son-in-law from a prisoner of war camp deep behind enemy lines; the first liberation of a concentration camp on the Western Front; the drive toward Chemnitz; the controversial push into Czechoslovakia; and the little-known encounter with General Andrey Vlasov's turncoat Russian Liberation Army.
Download or read book Patton s Vanguard written by Don M. Fox and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-08-01 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stirring accounts of the almost legendary campaigns of the United States Fourth Armored Division, universally recognized as "Patton's Best," from its pre-World War II origins up through its famous relief of the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge are presented in this book. The break out of Normandy at Avranches, the isolation of the Brittany peninsula, the armored thrust across France, the tank battles at Arracourt that cemented the reputation of the Fourth Armored, the brutal struggle in Lorraine, and, ultimately, the legendary drive to Bastogne are among the topics. The accounts were assembled through the use of original unit combat diaries and after-action reports, memoirs of key historical figures and abundant supplementary documents and correspondences. But the essence of the book are the first-hand recollections from members of the division gathered by the author. With maps, drawings and photographs.
Download or read book The Commanders written by Lloyd Clark and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 2022-11-15 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From an acclaimed military historian, the interlocking lives of three of the most important and consequential generals in World War II Born in the two decades prior to World War I, George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and Erwin Rommel became among the most recognized and successful military leaders of the 20th century. However, as acclaimed military historian Lloyd Clark reveals in his penetrating and insightful braided chronicle of their lives, they charted very different, often interrupted, paths to their ultimate leadership positions commanding hundreds of thousands of troops during World War II and celebrated as heroes in the United States, Britain, and Germany. Patton was born into a military family and from an early age felt he was destined for glory; following a disjointed childhood, Montgomery found purpose and direction in a military academy; Rommel’s father was a former officer, so his pursuit of a military career was logical. Having ascended to the middle ranks, each faced battle for the first time in World War I, a searing experience that greatly influenced their future approach to war and leadership. When war broke out again in 1939, Montgomery and Rommel were immediately engaged, while Patton chafed until the U.S. joined the Allies in 1942 and the three men, by then generals, collided in North Africa in 1943, and then again, climactically, in France after D-Day in 1944. Weaving letters, diary extracts, official reports, and other documents into his original narrative, recounting dramatic battles as they developed on the ground and at headquarters, Clark also explores the controversies that swirled around Patton, Montgomery, and Rommel throughout their careers, sometimes threatening to derail them. Ultimately, however, their unique abilities to bridge the space between leader and led cemented their legendary reputations.
Download or read book You re a Good Man Sergeant written by Paul S. Porter and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2024-09-12 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sergeant Paul S. Porter experienced combat like few soldiers have lived to write about. Serving with the Fourth Armored Division in Company B, 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion, Porter and his light machine gun squad entered the front line of World War II on July 17, 1944, and were soon in the thick of the action. The Fourth fought through the hedgerows of Normandy before leading Patton's Third Army in its breakout and pursuit toward the German border. The slugfests that followed as the Fourth advanced through the mud and battered villages of the Alsace-Lorraine region were Porter's most difficult of the war. For his heroic actions in combat on December 4, 1944, Sergeant Porter was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. This memoir presents the full story of Porter's extraordinary service in his own candid words, illustrated with family photographs. He paints a vivid portrait of a young man coping with the unique pressures of the battlefield. His candor when describing his officers and fellow soldiers provides a sober view of the dynamics within a team when comprised of individuals with diverse backgrounds and motives. Sergeant Porter has an intense desire to survive yet possesses a resolve to enter the fray and engage in combat eye-to-eye with the enemy.
Download or read book Patton s Third Army at War written by George Forty and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2015-04-19 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Gen. George S. Patton’s magnificent Third Army as it advanced across Nazi-occupied Europe and into Hitler’s redoubt. Includes photos. As America’s own answer to the Blitzkrieg, Third Army’s actions from the Normandy coast across France and Germany to Austria gave a new dimension to the term “fluid warfare.” They only needed one general order—to seek out the enemy, trap, and destroy them. This they did, relentlessly overcoming every obstacle thrown in their way. Third Army’s story is one of teamwork, of armor, infantry, and aircraft working together with a perfection that amazed even the Germans, who’d always considered themselves the masters of the mobile offensive. Though Third Army is often remembered for its tank spearheads, like the 4th Armored Division, these pages also give credit to the brave infantry divisions which butted their heads against fortresses such as Metz with ultimate success. It is also the story of a triumph of administration as thousands of trucks carried forward the vital supplies to keep the army on the move and fighting. When a German counteroffensive nearly burst through the US lines in the Ardennes, it was Patton’s Third Army that turned on its heel and immediately drove in the “Bulge,” ending Hitler’s last great hope for success in the west. Afterward nothing could stop it as it crossed the Rhine and overran the Reich. Much of Third Army’s greatness, driving force, and will to win, was owed to one man—Gen. George Smith Patton Jr.—and a significant part of this book is devoted to him alone. In these pages, a renowned military historian gives a vivid impression in words and pictures of what it was like to live and fight with Patton’s men. Full of eyewitness accounts, photographs, and maps, it relates the full story of how America’s most dynamic fighting formation led the Allied effort against the Nazis’ seemingly invincible European empire.
Download or read book Patton at the Battle of the Bulge written by Leo Barron and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-10-28 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Patton at the Battle of the Bulge, Army veteran and historian Leo Barron explores one of the most famous yet little-told clashes of WWII, a vitally important chapter in one of history’s most legendary battles. Includes photographs! “Barron captures the fiery general’s command presence and the pivotal commitment of his Third Army tanks to relieve the embattled crossroads town of Bastogne.”—Michael E. Haskew, Author of West Point 1915: Eisenhower, Bradley, and the Class the Stars Fell On December 1944. For the besieged American defenders of Bastogne, time was running out. Hitler’s forces had pressed in on the small Belgian town in a desperate offensive designed to push back the Allies. The U.S. soldiers had managed to repel repeated attacks, but as their ammunition dwindled, the weary paratroopers of the 101st Airborne could only hope for a miracle. More than a hundred miles away, General George S. Patton was putting in motion the most crucial charge of his career. Tapped to spearhead the counterstrike was the 4th Armored Division, a hard-fighting unit that had slogged its way across France. But blazing a trail into Belgium meant going up against some of the best infantry and tank units in the German Army. And failure to reach Bastogne in time could result in the overrunning of the 101st and turn the tide of the war against the Allies.
Download or read book 4th Armored Division in World War II written by George Forty and published by . This book was released on with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
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 Patton at the Battle of the Bulge written by Leo Barron and published by Dutton Caliber. This book was released on 2015-11-03 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hitler's forces had pressed in on the small Belgian town in a desperate offensive designed to push back the Allies, starting the Battle of the Bulge. So far, the US soldiers had managed to repel waves of attackers and even a panzer onslaught, but as their ammunition dwindled, the weary paratroopers of the 101st Airborne could only hope for a miracle--a miracle in the form of General George S. Patton and his Third Army. More than a hundred miles away, Patton, ordered to race his men to Bastogne, was already putting in motion the most crucial charge of his career. Tapped to spearhead his counterstrike against the Wehrmacht was the Fourth Armored Division, a bloodied but experienced unit that had fought and slogged its way across France. But blazing a trail into Belgium meant going up against some of the best infantry and tank units in the German Army. Failure to reach Bastogne in time could result in the overrunning of the 101st--a catastrophic defeat that could turn the tide of the war and secure victory for the Nazis.
Download or read book VanGuard of Valor Volume Ii written by Combat Studies Institute Press and published by Military Bookshop. This book was released on 2012-09-01 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the foreword: "The present volume, Vanguard of Valor II, offers six accounts of US Soldiers at the tip of the spear during the Afghan campaign. The Combat Studies Institute's Vanguard of Valor series is intended to document small unit actions in Afghanistan. These books play an equally important role by offering insights to Soldiers who may find themselves in the years ahead under similar conditions, whether in Afghanistan or in some other troubled land where they have been deployed to conduct the dangerous business of defending the national interest in a theater of war."
Download or read book Air Support for Patton s Third Army written by John J. Sullivan and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2003-03-31 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the United States Third Army's tanks moved through Avranches, no one, not even the Third Army's commander, Lieutenant General George S. Patton, could have foreseen that it was the start of one of the most successful offensives of World War II--an offensive that received a great deal of help from the air. As Patton later wrote to the chief of the Army Air Forces, "For about 250 miles I have seen the calling cards of the fighter-bombers, which are bullet marks in the pavement and burned tanks and trucks in the ditches." This book covers the units in the Ninth Air Force, which gave close air support to the Third Army, and the Third Army's campaign in France from August to November 1944, with special emphasis on how support from the air helped the Third Army continue pushing toward the German border. The difficult logistics of the operation are discussed in detail: Both the Ninth Air Force and the Third Army were hurt by a lack of materiel, especially gasoline, and this affected the offensive.
Download or read book Brittany 1944 written by Steven J. Zaloga and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-04-19 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the prime objectives for the Allies following the D-Day landings was the capture of sufficient ports to supply their armies. The original Overlord plans assumed that ports along the Breton coast would be essential to expansion of the Normandy beach-head. This included the major ports at Brest and on Quiberon Bay. The newly arrived Third US Army (TUSA) under Lt. Gen. George S. Patton was delegated to take on the Brittany mission. In one of the most rapid mechanized advances of the war, TUSA had the ports of Avranches and Quiberon encircled by the second week of August 1944. But changing priorities meant that most of TUSA was redeployed, meaning only a single corps was left to take the Breton port cities. The fight would drag into 1945, long after German field armies had been driven from France. Using full colour maps and artwork as well as contemporary accounts and photographs, Brittany 1944 is the fascinating story of the siege of Germany's last bastions on the French Atlantic coast.
Download or read book Generals of the Ardennes written by Jerry D. Morelock and published by . This book was released on 2010-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Institute for National Strategic Studies"--Cover of pbk. printing.
Download or read book Patton s First Victory written by Leo Barron and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-10-20 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American troops invaded North Africa in November 1942, but did not face serious resistance until the following February, when they finally tangled with Rommel’s Afrika Korps—and the Germans gave the inexperienced Americans a nasty drubbing at Kasserine Pass. After this disaster, Gen. George Patton took command and reinvigorated U.S. troops with tough training and new tactics. In late March, at El Guettar in Tunisia, Patton’s men defeated the Germans. It was a morale-boosting victory—the first American success versus the Germans and the first of Patton’s storied World War II career—and proved to the enemy, the British, and the Americans themselves that the U.S. Army could fight and win.
Download or read book The Biography Book written by Daniel S. Burt and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2001-02-28 with total page 636 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Marilyn to Mussolini, people captivate people. A&E's Biography, best-selling autobiographies, and biographical novels testify to the popularity of the genre. But where does one begin? Collected here are descriptions and evaluations of over 10,000 biographical works, including books of fact and fiction, biographies for young readers, and documentaries and movies, all based on the lives of over 500 historical figures from scientists and writers, to political and military leaders, to artists and musicians. Each entry includes a brief profile, autobiographical and primary sources, and recommended works. Short reviews describe the pertinent biographical works and offer insight into the qualities and special features of each title, helping readers to find the best biographical material available on hundreds of fascinating individuals.
Download or read book Vanguard of Valor written by Combat Studies Institute Press and published by www.Militarybookshop.CompanyUK. This book was released on 2012-02 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the foreword by Genral (ret.) David Petraeus: "In 2010, as the scale and tempo of Coalition operations in Afghanistan increased, so did the need for historical accounts of small-unit actions. As commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), I commissioned the Combat Studies Institute to research and write the cases collected in this volume and in those that will follow. By capturing key insights from both lethal and non-lethal operations, I hoped these accounts would be of immediate utility to sergeants and lieutenants at the center of future operations. The eight actions described in these pages take the reader through a wide range of platoon-level operations, from an intense firefight near Kandahar to an intricate civic action project in Kunar Province. Drawing from dozens of Soldier interviews, these accounts vividly depict the actions themselves and offer critical insights of greatest benefit to the small-unit actions leaders of today and tomorrow. The US Army always has prided itself as an institution of constant learning, strongly committed to drawing lessons from its past. This volume from the Combat Studies Institute is an excellent example of that long and honorable tradition. I hope that you will find the actions n Vanguard of Valor to be both instructive and compelling. I am sure that you will find them to be inspirational."
Download or read book Those who Hold Bastogne written by Peter Schrijvers and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2014-01-01 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new telling of the brutal siege of Bastogne, where vastly outnumbered American forces held off a savage German onslaught and sealed the fate of the Third Reich Hitler's last gamble, the Battle of the Bulge, was intended to push the Allied invaders of Normandy all the way back to the beaches. The plan nearly succeeded, and almost certainly would have, were it not for one small Belgian town and its tenacious American defenders who held back a tenfold larger German force while awaiting the arrival of General George Patton's mighty Third Army. In this dramatic account of the 1944-45 winter of war in Bastogne, historian Peter Schrijvers offers the first full story of the German assault on the strategically located town. From the December stampede of American and Panzer divisions racing to reach Bastogne first, through the bloody eight-day siege from land and air, and through three more weeks of unrelenting fighting even after the siege was broken, events at Bastogne hastened the long-awaited end of WWII. Schrijvers draws on diaries, memoirs, and other fresh sources to illuminate the experiences not only of Bastogne's 3,000 citizens and their American defenders, but also of German soldiers and commanders desperate for victory. The costs of war are here made real, uncovered in the stories of those who perished and those who emerged from battle to find the world forever changed.
