Download or read book The Filthy Thirteen written by Richard Killblane and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2003-05-19 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true story of the 101st Airborne Division’s most notorious squad of combat paratroopers—the inspiration for the classic WWII film, The Dirty Dozen. Since World War II, the American public has learned of the exploits of the 101st Airborne Division, the paratroopers who led the Allied invasions into Nazi-held Europe. But within the ranks of the 101st, one unit attained truly legendary status. Known as the Filthy Thirteen, they were the real-life inspiration for The Dirty Dozen. Primarily products of the Dustbowl and the Depression, the Filthy Thirteen became notorious within the elite Screaming Eagles for their hard drinking and savage fighting skills. From D-Day until the end of the war, the squad’s heart and soul—and its toughest member—was a half Native American soldier named Jake McNiece. McNiece made four combat jumps, was in the forefront of every fight in northern Europe, yet somehow never made the rank of PFC. The Filthy Thirteen offers a vivid group portrait of hardscrabble guys whom any respectable person would be loath to meet in a dark alley: a brawling bunch whose saving grace was that they inflicted more damage on the Germans than on MPs, the English countryside, and their own officers.

Download or read book D Day 1944 written by Stephen Bourque and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-07-21 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated study of the little-known history of the failed Allied bombing campaign designed to shatter German defenses on D-Day. D-Day is one of the most written-about events in military history. One aspect of the invasion, however, continues to be ignored: the massive pre-assault bombardment by the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF), reinforced by RAF Bomber Command and the US Eighth Air Force on June 6 which sought to neutralize the German defenses along the Atlantic Wall. Unfortunately, this failed series of attacks resulted in death or injury to hundreds of soldiers, and killed many French civilians. Despite an initial successful attack performed by the Allied forces, the most crucial phase of the operation, which was the assault from the Eighth Air Force against the defenses along the Calvados coast, was disastrous. The bombers missed almost all of their targets, inflicting little damage to the German defenses, which resulted in a high number of casualties among the Allied infantry. The primary cause of this failure was that planners at Eighth Air Force Headquarters had changed aircraft drop times at the last moment, to prevent casualties amongst the landing forces, without notifying either Eisenhower or Doolittle. This book examines this generally overlooked event in detail, answering several fundamental questions: What was the AEAF supposed to accomplish along the Atlantic Wall on D-Day and why did it not achieve its bombardment objectives? Offering a new perspective on a little-known air campaign, it is packed with illustrations, maps and diagrams exploring in detail the features and ramifications of this mission.

Download or read book Into Hell written by Herb Moore and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2015-10-24 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spring in coastal Normandy along the French beaches was a magical timeunless it was 1944. There were no gleeful noises of vacationers along the Normandy beaches that spring. Hitler had invaded France several years earlier and the French people were then under the tyrannical influence of German troops, who had taken up residence in the nearby towns and villages around Normandy, building gun turrets and fortifications to bolster the coastal region defenses facing the English Channel. Magic times appeared gone forever. French citizens spoke in hushed tones lest a German sympathizer hear or mistake a comment that could lead to arrest. One never knew who was listening or who was a spy for the feared Germans. No one dared refuse the Germans anything, whether it be their home, their food, or their land, and the German soldiers had a tastes for French wines. The outlook was bleak if you were a Frenchman during those dismal times. Anxious eyes cast out over the English Channel searched the waters for any sign that reported Allied help was coming, only to have those reports cascade into rumors that bore no fruit. Days turned into weeks, then months, and then years, with no sign of help. The spring of 1944 appeared to be a repeat of the previous springs. Such was the life in France under Hitlers reign. But help was coming. And it was to be dramatic. Herein is the story of one man who took part in not only the invasion of Normandy on D-Day (winning the Bronze Star) but also in Holland for Operation Market Garden, where he won the DSC, as well as in the freezing cold December at Bastogne, where the 101st Airborne Division was surrounded and cut off from help. He left there with a Silver Star.

Download or read book Publications of the U S Army Center of Military History written by Center of Military History and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Soldier Sailor Frogman Spy Airman Gangster Kill or Die written by Giles Milton and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2019-03-12 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A ground-breaking account of the first 24 hours of the D-Day invasion told by a symphony of incredible accounts of unknown and unheralded members of the Allied – and Axis – forces. An epic battle that involved 156,000 men, 7,000 ships and 20,000 armoured vehicles, D-Day was, above all, a tale of individual heroics – of men who were driven to keep fighting until the German defences were smashed and the precarious beachheads secured. This authentic human story – Allied, German, French – has never fully been told. Giles Milton’s bold new history narrates the events of June 6th, 1944 through the tales of survivors from all sides: the teenage Allied conscript, the crack German defender, the French resistance fighter. From the military architects at Supreme Headquarters to the young schoolboy in the Wehrmacht’s bunkers, Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die lays bare the absolute terror of those trapped in the front line of Operation Overlord. It also gives voice to those who have hitherto remained unheard – the French butcher’s daughter, the Panzer Commander’s wife, the chauffeur to the General Staff. This vast canvas of human bravado reveals “the longest day” as never before – less as a masterpiece of strategic planning than a day on which thousands of scared young men found themselves staring death in the face. It is drawn in its entirety from the raw, unvarnished experiences of those who were there.

Download or read book The Americans at Normandy written by John C. McManus and published by Forge Books. This book was released on 2013-05-28 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Americans at D-Day, the first volume of this series, John C. McManus showed us the American experience in Operation Overlord. Now, in this succeeding volume, he does the same for the Battle of Normandy as a whole. Never before has the American involvement in Normandy been examined so thoroughly or exclusively as in The Americans at Normandy. For D-Day was only one part of the battle, and victory came from weeks of sustained effort and sacrifices made by Allied soldiers. Presented here is the American experience during that summer of 1944, from the aftermath of D-Day to the slaughter of the Falaise Gap, from the courageous, famed figures of Bradley, Patton, and Lightnin' Joe Collins to the lesser-known privates who toiled in torturous conditions for their country. What was this battle really like for these men? What drove them to fight against all sense and despite all obstacles? How and why did they triumph? Reminiscent of Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day, The Americans at Normandy takes readers into the minds of the best American strategists, into the hearts of the infantry, into hell on earth. Engrossing, lightning-quick, and filled with real human sorrow and elation, The Americans at Normandy honors those Americans who lost their lives in foreign fields and those who survived. Here is their story, finally told with the depth, pathos, and historical perspective it deserves. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book The Normandy Battlefields written by Leo Marriott and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2014-03-19 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experience the battlefields of D-Day in this beautiful book combining historical images, full-color aerial photography, and informative text. The D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied Normandy was the most dramatic turning point of World War II. With a combination of historic and contemporary photography, along with maps and other illustrations, The Normandy Battlefields takes readers “on-site” to the sacred battlegrounds. The armada that attacked from Britain left behind many signs of their passage. The Normandy Battlefields details what can be seen on the ground today using a mixture of media to provide a complete overview of the campaign. Maps old and new highlight what has survived and what hasn’t; then-and-now photography allows fascinating comparisons with the images taken at the time, and computer artwork provides graphic details of things that can’t be seen today. The book describes the area from Cherbourg to Le Havre by way of the key D-Day locations, providing a handbook for the visitor and an overview for the armchair traveler. It covers the forces from both sides and the memorials to those young men who fought so many years ago.

Download or read book Arn s War written by Edward C. Arn and published by The University of Akron Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Arn writes in a straightforward and engaging manner that avoids false sentimentality or romanticism. Instead, he gives readers keen insights into the daily life of soldiers locked in gruesome events far beyond their experience and describes how it feels to be under fire, to suffer a wound, to agonize over the deaths of friends, to endure true suffering, to sacrifice, and to survive. Edited and annotated by Jerome Mushkat, this memoir is an account of a citizen-soldier who survived his baptism by fire during World War II."--BOOK JACKET.

Download or read book The Battle of the Hedgerows written by Leo J. Daugherty and published by Ian Allan Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings, was an unqualified success and in the days after the allied invasion of northern France, tens of thousands of troops were landed inland. General Omar Bradley's First Army has superior mobility, plus lavish quantities of stream-crossing and bridging equipment. However, as they headed inland, the Americans had to cope with terrain that largely negated their mobile superiority - the Bocage. The Battle of the Hedgerows is an account of the US First Army over seven gruelling weeks in June and July 1944. The book makes it clear that, although German defenders were outnumbered and out gunned, they had a crucial advantage: hedges. The Bocage is divided in a multitude of earthen-walled enclosures, all of which are surrounded by high, dense hedgerows. All but the most important roads are sunken lanes, with foliage arching over them. Each field and hedgerow was turned into a defensive position by the Germans, and their 88s, machine guns and mortars took a heavy toll of US troops in the fighting. In addition, many of the US soldiers and their commanders were inexperienced, Having never seen combat.Their opponents, on the other hand, the troops of II Parachute Corps, though deficient in air and artillery support, were seasoned veterans, especially the all important NCOs. As the book shows, the fighting consisted of thousands of field-by-field infantry battles that were sometimes disturbingly reminiscent of the western front in World War 1. The Bocage was a soldier's battle in every sense, as US troops embarked on a bloody learning curve to master the skills of close combat riflemen and nearly 150% casualties among its officers during the Period Although it is often perceived that there was an inevitability about the allied victory once D-Day proved successful, the reality of the Normandy campaign - as revealed through the pages of The Battle of the Hedgerows - shows that the ultimate Allied victory was wrought only after stern German defence. As such the book will be of interest to all military historians and those fascinated by the course of World War 2.

Download or read book The Americans at D Day written by John C. McManus and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2005-05 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Impressively researched, engrossing, lightning quick, and filled with human sorrow and elation, John C. McManus's The Americans at D-Day honors those Americans who lost their lives on D-Day, as well as those who were fortunate enough to survive. June 6, 1944 was a pivotal moment in the history of World War II in Europe. On that day the climactic and decisive phase of the war began. Those who survived the intense fighting on the Normandy beaches found their lives irreversibly changed. The day ushered in a great change for the United States as well, because on D-Day, America began its march to the forefront of the Western world. By the end of the Battle of Normandy, almost one of every two soldiers involved was an American, and without American weapons, supplies, and leadership, the outcome of the invasion and ensuing battle could have been very different. In the first of two volumes on the American contribution to the Allied victory at Normandy, John C. McManus (Deadly Brotherhood, Deadly Sky) examines, with great intensity and thoroughness, the American experience in the weeks leading up to D-Day and on the great day itself. From the build up in England to the night drops of airborne forces behind German lines and the landings on the beaches at dawn, from the famed figures of Eisenhower, Bradley, and Lightin' Joe Collins to the courageous, but little-known privates who fought so bravely, and under terrifying conditions, this is the story of the American experience at D-Day. What were the battles really like for the Americans at Utah and Omaha? What drove them to fight despite all adversity? How and why did they triumph? Thanks to extensive archival research, and the use of hundreds of first hand accounts, McManus answers these questions and many more. In The Americans at D-Day, a gripping narrative history reminiscent of Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day, McManus takes readers into the minds of American strategists, into the hearts of the infantry, into hell on earth.

Download or read book His Father s Son written by Tim Brady and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-01-03 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., a fortunate son who proved himself on the battlefields of two world wars. General Omar Bradley said of him, “I have never known a braver man or a more devoted soldier.” But for much of his life, Theodore Roosevelt’s son Ted seemed born to live in his father’s shadow. With the same wide smile, winning charm, and vigorous demeanor, Ted possessed limitless potential, with even the White House within his reach. In the First World War, Ted braved gunfire and gas attacks in France to lead his unit into battle. Yet even after returning home a hero, he was unable to meet the expectations of a public that wanted a man just like his father. A diplomat, writer, and man of great adventure, Ted remained frustrated by his lack of success in the world of politics, witnessing instead the rise of his cousin, Franklin, to the office that had once seemed his for the taking. Then, with World War II looming, Ted reenlisted. In his mid-fifties with a gimpy leg and a heart condition, he was well past his prime, but his insistence to be in the thick of combat proved a vital asset. Paired with the irascible Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr., Ted soon distinguished himself as a front-line general in a campaign that often brought him into conflict with another hard fighter, George Patton. On D-Day, Ted became the oldest soldier and the only general in the Allied forces to storm the beach in the first wave, hobbling across the sand with his cane in one hand and a pistol in the other. His valor and leadership on Utah Beach became the stuff of legends—and earned him the Medal of Honor. His Father's Son delves into the life of a man as courageous, colorful, and unwavering as any of the Roosevelt clan, and offers up a definitive portrait of one of America’s greatest military heroes. INCLUDES PHOTOS

Download or read book A Command Post at War written by David W. Hogan and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2000 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the first Army headquarters in the European theater, from its activation in October 1943 to V-E Day in May 1945. Shows the Army headquarters of World War 2 as a complicated organization with functions ranging from the immediate supervision of tactical operations to long-range operational planning and the sustained support of frontline units. CMH Pub 70-60.

Download or read book Bloodstained Sands written by Michael G. Walling and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-04-20 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bloodstained Sands tells the untold story of the men who stormed beaches around the globe during World War II, from the Sword and Juno Beaches on D-Day to the sands of Iwo Jima. For the men who served in America's Amphibious Forces during World War II, the conflict was an unceasing series of D-Days. They were responsible for putting men ashore in more than 200 landings throughout the conflict, most against well-entrenched enemy positions. Bloodstained Sands: US Amphibious Operations in World War II tells the story of these forgotten men for the first time, tracing their operational history from Guadalcanal to Casablanca, Sicily, Normandy, Iwo Jima and finally Okinawa. The men's stories are told in their own voices, with fascinating accounts from Underwater Demolition Teams, Attack Transport crews and many other unsung heroes of World War II. First-hand interviews, entries from personal diaries and Action Reports create a unique history, perfectly complemented by historic illustrations and detailed maps. These are timeless tales of determination, sacrifice, and triumph of the human spirit - tales of US Amphibious Forces that for too long have gone forgotten and untold.

Download or read book The Normandy Campaign 1944 written by John Buckley and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-07-29 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With essays from leading names in military history, this new book re-examines the crucial issues and debates of the D-Day campaign. It tackles a range of core topics, placing them in their current historiographical context, to present new and sometimes revisionist interpretations of key issues, such as the image of the Allied armies compared with the Germans, the role of air power, and the lessons learned by the military from their operations. As the Second World War is increasingly becoming a field of revisionism, this book sits squarely within growing debates, shedding new light on topics and bringing current thinking from our leading military and strategic historians to a wider audience. This book will be of great interest to students of the Second World War, and of military and strategic studies in general.

Download or read book The Paratrooper Generals written by Mitchell Yockelson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-06-14 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A military history detailing the key role two US Army special forces commanders and their infantry divisions played in during the second world war. Generals during World War II usually stayed to the rear, but not Matthew Ridgway and Maxwell Taylor. During D-Day and the Normandy campaign, these commanders of the 82nd “All-American” and the 101st “Screaming Eagle” Airborne Divisions refused to remain behind the lines and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their paratroopers in the thick of combat. Jumping into Normandy during the early hours of D-Day, Ridgway and Taylor fought on the ground for six weeks of combat that cost the airborne divisions more than forty percent casualties. The Paratrooper Generals is the first book to explore in depth the significant role these two division commanders played on D-Day, describing the extraordinary courage and leadership they demonstrated throughout the most important American campaign of World War II.

Download or read book Utah Beach to Cherbourg 6 June 27 June 1944 written by United States. Department of the Army. Office of Military History and published by . This book was released on 1948 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Glider Infantryman written by Donald J. Rich and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-18 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A member of the famed Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division, Donald J. Rich went ashore on D-Day at Utah Beach, was wounded in the bloody conflict at Carentan, landed in a flimsy plywood-and-canvas glider on the battlefields of Holland, and survived the grim siege with the "Battling Bastards of Bastogne" during the Battle of the Bulge. Glider Infantryman is his eyewitness account of how he, along with thousands of other young men from farms, small towns, and cities across the United States, came together to answer the call of their nation. It is also a heartfelt tribute to the many thousands who gave their lives in this struggle. Coauthored by Kevin Brooks, the son of Rich's best friend and World War II comrade, Glider Infantryman covers a span of nearly three years; his return home, five months after the war's end, as a toughened bazooka gunner and veteran of five campaigns. Rich's first-person narrative includes vivid coverage of the action, featuring an especially rare account of arriving on a combat landing zone by glider. Detailed, day-to-day depiction of some of the heaviest fighting in Holland follows, including the action at Opheusden, the center of the infamous "Island." Later highlights include the Battle of the Bulge, where Rich recounts his experiences in some of the hottest defensive fighting of the European Theater, including the epic tank battles at Marvie, Champs, and Foy.