Download or read book I Was There on the Nightmare Convoy written by Lund Paul and published by . This book was released on with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Nightmare Convoy written by Paul Lund and published by Conran Octopus. This book was released on 1987 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Arctic Convoys 1941 1945 written by Richard Woodman and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2018-01-30 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Allied merchant ships and crews who braved the frigid far north to extend a lifeline to Russia, filled with “sheer heroism and brazen drama” (Literary Review). During the last four years of the Second World War, the Western Allies secured Russian defenses against Germany by supplying vital food and arms. The plight of those in Murmansk and Archangel who benefited is now well known, but few are aware of the courage, determination, and sacrifice of Allied merchant ships, which withstood unremitting U-boat attacks and aerial bombardment to maintain the lifeline to Russia. In the storms, fog, and numbing cold of the Arctic, where the sinking of a ten thousand–ton freighter was equal to a land battle in terms of destruction, the losses sustained were huge. Told from the perspective of their crews, this is the inspiring story of the long-suffering merchant ships without which Russia would almost certainly have fallen to Nazi Germany.
Download or read book The Convoy written by Angus Konstam and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-10-26 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Convoy represents a fresh approach to the story of the Battle of the Atlantic. It is also the first to deal with the more spectacular story of HG-76, a major turning point in the naval war. HG-76 sailed from Gibraltar to Britain in December 1941 and was specially targeted by the Germans. A wolfpack of U-boats was sent against it, and the Luftwaffe was heavily committed too in a rare example of German inter-service cooperation. German intelligence agents in Gibraltar and Spain also knew every detail of HG-76 before it had even sailed, seemingly stacking the odds in favour of the Kriegsmarine. Despite this the convoy fought its way through. Improved radar and sonar gave the convoy's escorts a slight edge over their opponents, while the escort group was led by Commander Walker, an anti-submarine expert who had developed new, aggressive U-boat hunting tactics. Previous Gibraltar convoys had been mauled by Luftwaffe bombers operating from French airfields. This time, though, HG-76 would be accompanied by HMS Audacity, the Royal Navy's first escort carrier – a new type of warship purpose-built to defend convoys from enemy aircraft and U-boats. Following seven days and nights of relentless attack, the horrors of which are brought home through a series of first-hand accounts, the convoy finally reached the safety of a British port for the loss of only two merchant ships. Its arrival was seen as the first real convoy victory of the war. Brought to life by expert naval historian Angus Konstam, The Convoy combines the story of the technical and tactical developments that won the Battle of the Atlantic for the Allies along with a narrative that reveals both the terror and the stubborn determination that defined the experiences of those that served on convoy duties.
Download or read book Convoy written by Dudley Pope and published by House of Stratus. This book was released on 2013-03-04 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A deadly game of cat and mouse unravels its way out of this spine tingling war story as Lieutenant Yorke must find an answer to one vital question: how are German U-Boats sinking merchant ships from inside the convoys? Only his wit and daring can lead to its survival and his.
Download or read book A Nightmare s Prayer written by Michael Franzak and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-05-24 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2012 Colby Award and the first Afghanistan memoir ever to be written by a Marine Harrier pilot, A Nightmare’s Prayer portrays the realities of war in the twenty-first century, taking a unique and powerful perspective on combat in Afghanistan as told by a former enlisted man turned officer. Lt. Col. Michael “Zak” Franzak was an AV-8B Marine Corps Harrier pilot who served as executive officer of VMA-513, “The Flying Nightmares,” while deployed in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003. The squadron was the first to base Harriers in Bagram in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. But what should have been a standard six-month deployment soon turned to a yearlong ordeal as the Iraq conflict intensified. And in what appeared to be a forgotten war half a world away from home, Franzak and his colleagues struggled to stay motivated and do their job providing air cover to soldiers patrolling the inhospitable terrain. I wasn’t in a foxhole. I was above it. I was safe and comfortable in my sheltered cocoon 20,000 feet over the Hindu Kush. But I prayed. I prayed when I heard the muted cries of men who at last understood their fate. Franzak’s personal narrative captures the day-by-day details of his deployment, from family good-byes on departure day to the squadron’s return home. He explains the role the Harrier played over the Afghanistan battlefields and chronicles the life of an attack pilot—from the challenges of nighttime, weather, and the austere mountain environment to the frustrations of working under higher command whose micromanagement often exacerbated difficulties. In vivid and poignant passages, he delivers the full impact of enemy ambushes, the violence of combat, and the heartbreaking aftermath. And as the Iraq War unfolded, Franzak became embroiled in another battle: one within himself. Plagued with doubts and wrestling with his ego and his belief in God, he discovered in himself a man he loathed. But the hardest test of his lifetime and career was still to come—one that would change him forever. A stunning true account of service and sacrifice that takes the reader from the harrowing dangers of the cockpit to the secret, interior spiritual struggle facing a man trained for combat, A Nightmare’s Prayer brings to life a Marine’s public and personal trials set against “the fine talcum brown soot of Afghanistan that permeated everything—even one’s soul.”
Download or read book Coastal Convoys 1939 1945 written by Nick Hewitt and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2009-04-20 with total page 505 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using official records from the National Archives personal accounts from the Imperial War Museum and other sources, Coastal Convoys 1939 1945: The Indestructible Highway describes Britains dependence on coastal shipping and the introduction of the convoy system in coastal waters at the outset of the war. It beings to life the hazards of the German mining offensive of 1939, the desperate battles fought in coastal waters during 1940 and 1941, and the long struggle against German air and naval forces which lasted to the end of the Second World War. Reference is also made to the important role played by coasters during the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940 and the Normandy landings in 1944.
Download or read book Churchill s Arctic Convoys written by William Smith and published by Pen and Sword Maritime. This book was released on 2022-09-21 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The threat of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s surprise invasion of Russia in June 1941, succeeding prompted Churchill to decide to send vital military supplies to Britain’s new ally. The early sailings to Northern Russia via the Arctic Ocean between August 1941 and February 1942 were largely unopposed. But this changed dramatically during the course of 1942 when German naval and air operations inflicted heavy losses on both merchantmen and their escorts. Problems were exacerbated by the need to divert Royal Navy warships to support the North African landing. Strained Anglo-Soviet relations coupled with mounting losses and atrocious weather and sea conditions led to the near termination of the program in early 1943. Again, competing operational priorities, namely the invasion of Sicily and preparations for D-Day, affected the convoy schedules. In the event, despite often crippling losses of lives, ships and supplies, the convoys continued until shortly before VE-Day. This thoroughly researched and comprehensive account examines both the political, maritime and logistic aspects of the Arctic convoy campaign. Controversially it reveals that the losses of merchant vessels were significantly greater than hitherto understood. While Churchill may not have described the convoys as ‘the worst journey in the world’, for the brave men who undertook he mission often at the cost of their lives, it most definitely was.
Download or read book Arctic Convoys 1942 written by Mark Lardas and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-09-15 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new history of the most crucial few months of the Arctic Convoys, when Germany's air power forced the Allies to retreat to the cover of winter. Between spring and autumn 1942, Germany was winning the battle of the Arctic Convoys. Half of PQ-15 was sunk in May, PQ-17 was virtually obliterated in July, and in September 30 percent of PQ-18 was sunk. The Allies were forced to suspend the convoys until December, when the long Arctic nights would shield them. Mark Lardas argues that in 1942, it was Luftwaffe air power that made the difference. With convoys sailing in endless daylight, German strike aircraft now equipped and trained for torpedo attacks, and bases in northern Norway available, the Luftwaffe could wreak havoc. Three-quarters of the losses of PQ-18 were due to air attacks. But in November, the Luftwaffe was redeployed south to challenge the Allied landings in North Africa, and the advantage was lost. Despite that, the Allies never again sailed an Arctic convoy in the summer months. Fully illustrated with archive photos, striking new artwork, maps and diagrams, this is the remarkable history of the Luftwaffe's last strategic victory of World War II.
Download or read book The Tattie Lads written by Ian Dear and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-06-02 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enduring great danger and often terrible conditions in heavy seas, the Rescue Tug Services worked tirelessly to bring to port damaged vessels and keep up the supply of food and essential items during two world wars.They were first deployed towards the end of the First World War to support and if necessary to salvage merchant shipping that had been damaged by U-boat attacks. During the Second World War they were needed even more urgently when ships bringing food and other essential supplies to a beleaguered Britain were attacked by both air strikes and submarines. Although part of the Royal Navy, the contribution of the Rescue Tug Service remained curiously absent from the naval history of the Second World War. Yet the Service had developed what a wartime American newspaper called 'a new type of naval vessel – the British fighting escort tug' and had saved millions of tons of shipping, both warships and merchant ships, not to mention the crews and the precious cargoes. The official history of the Merchant Navy did not mention the Service either, nor did numerous other books on the war at sea. In 2014 author Ian Dear was given access to the archives of the Deep Sea Rescue Tug Service which were about to be disbanded. His research, here and elsewhere produced a view of the war at sea from an entirely new angle. The result, The 'Tattie Lads' explores why the service might have been omitted from the official story, and reveals its fascinating history in a full-length book for the first time.
Download or read book Fight Another Day written by J M Langley and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2013-08-19 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a young subaltern in the Coldstream Guards, the author lost his arm at Dunkirk and was captured but eventually escaped via Lille, Paris, Marseilles, Spain and Gibraltar. He describes the fierce fighting outside Dunkirk, his captivity, escape and extraordinary life in Vichy France, before the Germans controlled it. His fellow escapees and the French who sheltered them make a rich cast of characters. On return to London, Langley is recruited into the Secret Service and told to organize the safe return of allied soldiers, sailors and airmen who had succeeded in either escaping from or evading the Germans. He describes the astonishing courage and sacrifice of the heroic underground operators who ran these escape lines across Belgium and France. Despite betrayal and infiltration from Germans, collaborators and traitors, over 3000 men were safely brought back to ïfight another dayÍ. Langley and Airey Neave, who joined him after his historic home run from Colditz, had to wrestle with rival secret organizations for resources to carry out their vital work. All this and more is brilliantly described in this gripping, beautifully written book.
Download or read book Bletchley Park s Secret Source written by Peter Hore and published by Greenhill Books. This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A captivating history of the highly secret group of women who helped win the Second World War. The World War II codebreaking station at Bletchley is well known and its activities documented in detail. Its decryption capabilities were vital to the war effort, significantly aiding Allied victory. But where did the messages being deciphered come from in the first place? This is the extraordinary untold story of the Y-Service, a secret even more closely guarded than Bletchley Park. The Y-Service was the code for the chain of wireless intercept stations around Britain and all over the world. Hundreds of wireless operators, many of them who were civilians, listened to German, Italian and Japanese radio networks and meticulously logged everything they heard. Some messages were then used tactically but most were sent on to Station X—Bletchley Park—where they were deciphered, translated and consolidated to build a comprehensive overview of the enemy’s movements and intentions. Peter Hore delves into the fascinating history of the Y-service, with particular reference to the girls of the Women’s Royal Naval Service: Wrens who escaped from Singapore to Colombo as the war raged, only to be torpedoed in the Atlantic on their way back to Britain; the woman who had a devastatingly true premonition that disaster would strike on her way to Gibraltar; the Australian who went from being captain of the English Women’s Cricket team to a WWII Wren to the head of Abbotleigh girls school in Sydney; how the Y-service helped to hunt the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic, and how it helped to torpedo a Japanese cruiser in the Indian Ocean. Together, these incredible stories build a picture of World War II as it has never been viewed before. “We get to see how the work of individual Wrens helped in such operations as the interception and sinking of the Bismarck, the Slapton Sands disaster, several naval battles (Channel Dash, Matapan, etc.), the ongoing small warship clashes in coastal waters, convoy defense, and more. A good read for anyone interested in the naval side of the war in Europe or in the role of women in military service.” —The NYMAS Review “Will reward a patient reader with a remarkably intimate view into the lives and times of these hidden heroes.” —Naval Historical Foundation
Download or read book Storm Over Saturn written by Mack Maloney and published by Speaking Volumes. This book was released on 2015-02-24 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 7205 A.D. After almost seven centuries of iron-fisted rule, the Fourth Galactic Empire is in the midst of catastrophic warfare following a rebel attack led by its sworn foe-that charismatic enigma, gifted strategist, and pilot named Hawk Hunter.After rebels unexpectedly defeat the Fourth Galactic Empire's Rapid Engagement Fleet, Hawk Hunter's "special help" is suspected. To destroy the rebels, the Empire's storm troopers are going to seize the source that generates all power in the galaxy-a move that will make them invincible and cost trillions of lives.To prevent that, Hawk must undertake his most hazardous mission ever: to seek out the one man who can stop the Empire-before it starts the worst Dark Age in history...
Download or read book The Kill Zone written by Gerald L. Hunt and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2007-09 with total page 89 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a civilian contract driver for K.B.R. (a Halliburton company), Gerald Hunt transported supplies through Iraq from Kuwait to Turkey.
Download or read book A Game of Birds and Wolves written by Simon Parkin and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2020-01-28 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As heard on the New Yorker Radio Hour: The triumphant and "engaging history" (The New Yorker) of the young women who devised a winning strategy that defeated Nazi U-boats and delivered a decisive victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. By 1941, Winston Churchill had come to believe that the outcome of World War II rested on the battle for the Atlantic. A grand strategy game was devised by Captain Gilbert Roberts and a group of ten Wrens (members of the Women's Royal Naval Service) assigned to his team in an attempt to reveal the tactics behind the vicious success of the German U-boats. Played on a linoleum floor divided into painted squares, it required model ships to be moved across a make-believe ocean in a manner reminiscent of the childhood game, Battleship. Through play, the designers developed "Operation Raspberry," a counter-maneuver that helped turn the tide of World War II. Combining vibrant novelistic storytelling with extensive research, interviews, and previously unpublished accounts, Simon Parkin describes for the first time the role that women played in developing the Allied strategy that, in the words of one admiral, "contributed in no small measure to the final defeat of Germany." Rich with unforgettable cinematic detail and larger-than-life characters, A Game of Birds and Wolves is a heart-wrenching tale of ingenuity, dedication, perseverance, and love, bringing to life the imagination and sacrifice required to defeat the Nazis at sea.
Download or read book Battle for the North Atlantic written by John R. Bruning and published by Zenith Press. This book was released on 2013-06-13 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIVFrom 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, Allied ships and planes fought U-boats and other German warships to protect merchant shipping on the unforgiving North Atlantic./div
Download or read book The Missing The True Story of My Family in World War II written by Michael Rosen and published by Candlewick Press. This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An award-winning author and poet traces the history of his relatives lost in the Holocaust in a personal, powerful narrative with resonance for readers today. “They were there at the beginning of the war, but they were gone by the end. I suppose they died in the camps.” That’s all young Michael Rosen, born in England just after the end of the Second World War, was told about the six great-aunts and great-uncles who had been living in Poland or France at the beginning of that war. This wasn’t enough for him. So, as an adult, he started to search. He asked relatives for any papers they might have. He read book after book. He searched online, time and again, as more information was digitized and suddenly there to be found. In a unique mix of memoir, history, and poetry, scholar and children’s literature luminary Michael Rosen explores his family history, digging up more details than he ever thought he would and sharing them with readers so that now, a lifetime after the Nazis tried to make the world forget the Rosen family and the rest of Europe’s Jews, his readers can do something essential: remember. With an extensive list of titles for further reading, maps of France and Poland, a family tree, and an introduction by lauded author and anthologist Marc Aronson, this immensely readable narrative offers a vital tool for talking to children about the Holocaust against the background of the ongoing refugee crisis.
