Download or read book Luftwaffe Victorious written by Mike Spick and published by Greenhill Books. This book was released on 2005 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the outbreak of World War II the Luftwaffe was considered by many to be the world's most powerful air force. However, during the summer of 1940 they suffered a dramatic defeat during the Battle of Britain, and by May 1945 the Germans had surrendered to the Allies and the Third Reich collapsed. What went wrong? How could things have been different? In this most engagingly written and thought provoking addition to the fascinating Greenhill alternate history series, aviation historian Mike Spick asks these very questions, envisaging a dramatic alternate reality in which the Luftwaffe succeeded in defeating Allied forces.
Download or read book Third Reich Victorious written by Peter G. Tsouras and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a stimulating and entirely plausible insight into how Hitler and his generals might have defeated the Allies, and a convincing sideways look at the Third Reich's bid at world domination in World War II. What would have happened if, for example, the Germans captured the whole of the BEF at Dunkirk? Or if the RAF had been defeated in the Battle of Britain? What if the U-Boats had strangled Britain with an impregnable blockade, if Rommel had been triumphant in North Africa or the Germans had beaten the Red Army at Kursk? The authors, writing as if these and other world-changing events had really happened, project realistic scenarios based on the true capabilities and circumstances of the opposing forces. Third Reich Victorious is a spirited and terrifying alternate history, and a telling insight into the dramatic possibilities of World War II.
Download or read book Luftwaffe in Colour The Victory Years 1939 1942 written by Christophe Cony and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2016-10-31 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A photo-packed look at the men and machines of one of history’s legendary air forces. This remarkable work explores the Luftwaffe as it truly existed day-to-day, underneath the propaganda of their own regime and the stories of their enemies. In Hitler’s Germany, color photography was primarily co-opted for state purposes, such as the military publication Signal or the Luftwaffe’s own magazine, Der Adler. But a number of men had cameras of their own, and in this painstakingly acquired collection, we can witness true life on Germany’s airfields during the period of the Luftwaffe’s ascendancy. Not only do we see famous planes such as the Me-109, Ju-87, and He-111, but the wide variety of more obscure types with which the Germans began the war. The array of Arados, Dorniers, Heinkels—not to mention elegant four-engine Condors—that were initially employed in the war are here in plain sight and full color, providing not only an insight into WWII history but a model maker’s dream. Just as fascinating are the shots of the airmen themselves, along with their ground crews—full of confidence and cheer as they bested every other air force in Europe during these years, with the single exception of the RAF’s Fighter Command in late summer 1940. But that was no big stumbling block to the Luftwaffe, which had bigger fish to fry in Russia and North Africa the following year. “Both volumes [The Victory Years and From Glory to Defeat] are a fantastic addition to your aviation library. The reproduction quality is superb.” —War History Online
Download or read book Rising Sun Victorious written by Peter Tsouras and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2001 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here is a sideways look at World War II in the Pacific, which gives an exciting view of how the Japanese could have won. Expert military historians examine what would have happened if, for example if the Japanese had conquered India and knocked Britain out of the Pacific War; More...or if Japanese landings in Australia had severed the strategic link between the US and its Southwest Pacific base. The authors, writing as if these world-changing events had really happened, project realistic possibilities based on the true capabilities and circumstances of the forces involved. Rising Sun Victorious is essential and stimulating reading for anyone interested in how chances of history affected the outcome of World War II. Scenarios include: Pearl Harbor: Irredeemable Defeat, by Frank Shirer; The Coral Sea Runs Purple: The Japanese Codes are Cracked, by James Arnold; Nagumo's Luck: The Japanese Find The US Navy First at Midway, by Rick Lindsey; Australian Conquest, by John H. Gill; Guadalcanal Evacuation, by John Burtt; and Victory Rides the Wind: The Kamikaze Prevents Defeat at Kyushu, by Dennis Giangreco.
Download or read book Luftwaffe Fighter Aces written by Mike Spick and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2011-07-19 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this exciting book Mike Spick shows how the Luftwaffe's leading fighter pilots were able to outscore their allied counterparts so effectively and completely during the Second World War. When the records of the Jagdflieger pilots became available after the war, they were initially greeted with incredulity _ the highest claim was for 352 kills, and more than 100 pilots had recorded more than 100 victories. However postwar research proved that these claims had in fact been made in good faith and confirmation had only been given after rigorous checking. To discover the secret of this success, aviation history expert Mike Spick examines the exploits of these aces and sets out the context in which it took place. Every major theater is covered in detail including the conditions peculiar to each: climate, relative numerical and qualitative strengths, the presence or absence of radar and other measures, and the relative merits of the planes being flown. He focuses on the methods and tactics used by individual aces and uses firsthand sources wherever possible to put the reader right alongside the pilot in the cockpit.
Download or read book World War Two at Sea written by Philip Kaplan and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-02-19 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This wide-ranging naval history features rare wartime battleship images combined with thrilling first person accounts from servicemen. During the Second World War, big-gun battleships represented the ultimate power of the world’s greatest navies. In this book, veteran battleship crew members describe their unforgettable experiences aboard these iconic vessels. Here are the vivid recollections of a Royal Navy officer at Jutland; tales of the loss of the German warship Scharnhorst in the arctic; combat experience inside a sixteen-inch gun turret aboard an Iowa-class battleship during the Gulf War; and many others. Included too is the story of the great German battleship Bismarck, which sank the pride of the British fleet; the story of HMS Hood; and that of the USS Missouri,on whose deck the final surrender document of the Second World War was signed. The text is combined with a compelling selection of historic images representing the era of the great battleships from the early years through the First and Second World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and the preservation of a handful of these vessels as museum pieces today.
Download or read book The Royal Navy s Home Fleet in World War 2 written by J. Levy and published by Springer. This book was released on 2003-10-23 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book marks the first comprehensive history of Britain's naval bulwark, the Home Fleet. It illuminates the vital role that fleet played in preserving Britain as a base of operations against Hitler. We see portrayed the hard days of blockade, patrol, and battle that encompassed the Home Fleet's war. And we see how that war was made harder by weaknesses at the Admiralty and by the damaging interference of the Minister of Defence - Winston Churchill.
Download or read book The Army Air Forces in World War II Europe argument to V E Day January 1944 to May 1945 written by and published by . This book was released on 1948 with total page 1036 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Crisis of British Sea Power written by James Levy and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-02-20 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work is a close examination of the conditions surrounding and precipitating the last gasp of British naval hegemony and events that led to its demise. Great Britain undertook a massive naval building program in the late-1930s in order to deter aggression and secure dominance at sea against her nascent enemies, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. But the failure of the policy of Appeasement to deter war or delay it into the early 1940s left the building program only partially complete, and the exigencies of war led to the cancellation of the critical but costly and time-consuming “Lion” class battleships, and the slow delivery of the “1940 battlecruiser” (HMS Vanguard) and two vital fleet carriers. Adding to these issues, the fall of France spurred the USA to initiate her own, even larger, naval building program, and together with the entry of the powerful and capable Imperial Japanese Navy completely overwhelmed Britain’s position as the world’s premier naval power. This book will be of value to those interested in the history of the Second World War, British strategy, and the British navy.
Download or read book The Right of the Line written by John Terraine and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2010-04-06 with total page 861 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditionally, the right of the line is the vanguard, the place of honour and greatest danger in battle. In this history of the Royal Air Force during the European War of 1939-45, John Terraine shows how the RAF, which in 1939 was small and inadequate for the task it was called upon to perform had, by the end of the war, taken up its proper position. He describes the build-up to war, the early tests in France and at Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic, the RAF in North Africa and the Mediterranean, the strategic air offensive over Germany and eventual victory in Europe.His best book yet The TimesJohn Terraine is a fine historian but he also believes that history should be exciting and readable The Listener
Download or read book The Strategic Air Offensive Against Germany written by Sir Charles Kingsley Webster and published by . This book was released on 1961 with total page 570 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Infantry Journal written by and published by . This book was released on 1947 with total page 1084 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book JG 26 Luftwaffe Fighter Wing War Diary written by Donald Caldwell and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2012-04-15 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Day-by-day account of a German fighter squadron, one of only two Luftwaffe units to spend the entire war in the West Covers the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain, the Dieppe raid, and more JG 26 was known as "The Abbeville Boys" and seen by the Allies as an elite squadron Unit flew Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Focke-Wulf Fw 190s
Download or read book Royal Navy Handbook 1939 1945 written by David Wragg and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2005-08-25 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Overstretched from the start of the Second World War in 1939, the Royal Navy acquired First World War surplus destroyers from the United States Navy and embarked on a massive programme of construction, building and buying aircraft carriers, escort carriers and frigates and corvettes, building up a powerful submarine arm and, almost from scratch, re-creating the naval air arm taken from it in 1918. The service had to learn fast. It soon became clear that the Germans would not provide an opportunity for a major battleship to battleship fleet action along the lines of Jutland, but that submarine warfare and surface raiders were to be just as effective at undermining the British war effort. The Royal Navy was expected to be active in the North Atlantic and in British waters, and then after the Soviet Union was invaded by Germany, it had to protect the Arctic convoys. Meanwhile, it also had to keep control of the Mediterranean, alone after the fall of France, supporting ground forces in North Africa and then in Greece, send convoys to Malta and disrupt the Axis supply lines both in the Mediterranean and off the coast of Norway, and then it had to face the Japanese in the Far East. By the war's end the Royal Navy had grown from its pre-war strength of 129,000 to 863,000 men. Its fleet had also grown from 12 to 61 battleships and cruisers, seven to 59 aircraft carriers, and 100 to 846 destroyers, by 1945.
Download or read book Battle of Britain The Gathering Storm written by Dilip Sarkar and published by Air World. This book was released on 2023-07-30 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dilip Sarkar has studied the Battle of Britain period for a lifetime and is renowned for his meticulous research and evidence-based approach, setting events within the broadest possible context. In doing so, he has helped enrich our appreciation and understanding of the past. In this, the first of a new seven volume series on the Battle of Britain, we have the background to the aerial conflict of the summer of 1940 revealed in great detail and told comprehensively as never before. No stone has been left unturned, no angle unexplored. This meticulous approach the research, combined with the human stories and events, many revealed for the first time, tells what Dilip calls ‘the Big Story’. The development of air power, the creation of Britain’s defenses, the German side, the Home Front and political events are all covered – and much more. After considering the background threads prior to the outbreak of war in 1939, this book then describes the developing conflict on land, sea and in the air. The German invasion of Norway, the Fall of France and the air fighting over Dunkirk are all explored, along with Hitler’s actual preferred policy towards Britain, which at first was one of blockade – not invasion. The author, with justification, questions the validity of the Battle of Britain’s official start-date being 10 July 1940, evidencing the fact that the fighting actually began eight days earlier. From that date onwards, a day-by-day, hour-by-hour, account of the fighting is provided, giving due recognition to those aircrew lost or wounded before 10 July 1940, and whose names are not, therefore, found amongst ‘The Few’. Due accord is also given to the Royal Navy, and efforts of both Bomber and Coastal commands, emphasizing just what a ‘big’ story this actually is – far from simply concerning a handful of Spitfire and Hurricane pilots. Through diligent research with crucial official primary sources and personal papers, Dilip unravels many myths, often challenging the accepted narrative. This is not, however, simply another dull record of combat losses and claims, far from it. Drawing upon unique first-hand accounts from a wide-range of combatants and eyewitnesses, along with the daily Home Intelligence Reports and the papers of politicians such as Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano, this really is an unprecedented approach to understanding the build-up to and times of the Battle of Britain.
Download or read book 806 Naval Air Squadron written by Brian Cull and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2019-09-08 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 806 Squadron was formed in early 1940 and was equipped with Skuas and Rocs, both outdated as fighters and dive-bombers, the latter hampered by a gunner's turret, and most unsuited for modern warfare. However, 806 was fortunate to have at its head the volatile but skilful and aggressive Lt-Cdr Charles Evans, a 30-year-old born-leader with ten years experience flying with both the RAF and RN. With the aid of his equally experienced Senior Observer, Lt Desmond Vincent-Jones, the young fledgling pilots, mainly straight from training school, were soon receiving expert instruction. Having survived early ops over Norway and Dunkirk, 806 was selected to fly the new fleet-fighter, the underrated Fulmar, with which it went to war in the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carrier Illustrious and won its spurs. The young pilots, led by the CO, wreaked havoc amongst the Italian navy's spotter seaplanes and bombers. This is their story.
Download or read book The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe 1939 1945 written by David Hobbs and published by Seaforth Publishing. This book was released on 2022-03-30 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive history of the Royal Navy’s naval aviation component’s campaigns during World War II. For the first time, this book tells the story of how naval air operations evolved into a vital element of the Royal Navy’s ability to fight a three-dimensional war against both the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. An integral part of RN, the Fleet Air Arm was not a large organization, with only 406 pilots and 232 front-line aircraft available for operations in September 1939. Nevertheless, its impact far outweighed its numbers—it was an RN fighter that shot down the first enemy aircraft of the war, and an RN pilot was the first British fighter “ace” with 5 or more kills. The Fleet Air Arm’s rollcall of achievements in northern waters went on to include the Norwegian Campaign, the crippling of Bismarck, the gallant sortie against Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as they passed through the Channel, air attacks on enemy E-boats in the narrow seas, air cover for the Russian convoys, air attacks that disabled Tirpitz, and strikes and minelaying operations against German shipping in the Norwegian littoral that continued until May 1945. By the end of the war in Europe the FAA had grown to 3243 pilots and 1336 aircraft. This book sets all these varied actions within their proper naval context and both technical and tactical aspects are explained with “thumbnail” descriptions of aircraft, their weapons and avionics. Cross reference with the Fleet Air Arm Roll of Honour has been made for the first time to put names to those aircrew killed in action wherever possible as a mark of respect for their determination against enemy forces on, above and below the sea surface which more often than not outnumbered them. The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe completes David Hobbs’s much-praised six-volume series chronicling the operational history of British naval aviation from the earliest days to the present. Praise for The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe “In this masterly addition to his series on the Fleet Air Arm at war, David Hobbs addresses naval air operations in the Atlantic, the North Sea, the Arctic, and the English Channel.” —Professor Andrew Lambert, Warship 2023 “With lots of action it rattles along and is a very good read.” —The Armourer Magazine, May 2022
