Download or read book With Recce at Arnhem written by Mike Gallagher and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-09-30 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Determined to 'do his bit' Des Evans absconded from a reserved occupation and joined the newly formed Reconnaissance Corps. He saw action in North Africa and Italy before being evacuated back to England with pneumonia in early 1944. Fully recovered he volunteered as a wireless operator with 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron and after parachute training joined C Troop before the ill-fated but glorious attempt to seize the Rhine Bridge at Arnhem.Des vividly describes the intense action that followed the drop. Ambushed twice and badly wounded he was made a POW and eventually succeeded in escaping.Fresh first-hand accounts of the bitter fighting at Arnhem are rare indeed and this one is brutally honest, at times shockingly so. Des Evans was born in Liverpool in 1923. Despite being in a Reserve Occupation he finally succeeded in joining the Army. This book covers his wartime service in North Africa, Italy and at Arnhem. Post war he served in Italy, Palestine, Germany and the Suez Canal Zone. Cuckolded by his first wife he was convicted of the manslaughter of her lover. On release from prison he met Betty and they enjoyed nearly 40 years together until dementia necessitated residential care. Betty died in March 2010 and Des followed her three months later.
Download or read book Arnhem written by Robert Elliott Urquhart and published by . This book was released on 1958 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Tour of the Arnhem Battlefields written by John Waddy and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This battlefield guide deals almost exclusively with the battle fought by the British and Polish airborne soldiers in the Arnhem, Oosterbeek and Driel areas; but it cannot be too strongly emphasized that to the south around Nijmegen, Grave and Eindhoven the two American airborne divisions fought equally hard and also suffered heavy casualties, together with the men of the British 2nd Army, who battled their war up the long and often treacherous axis of advance towards Arnhem"--P. 10.
Download or read book Blood and Steel 2 written by Donald E. Graves and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2015-06-30 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Overwhelmed by the strength of the Allied air and ground forces, following the D-Day landings and subsequent bitter fighting in Normandy, the Germans were compelled to abandon their efforts to hold France and much of the Low Countries and retreat to the Rhine.??The Wehrmacht Archive helps reveal the experience of German soldiers and armed forces personnel as they withdrew through a remarkable collection of translated original orders, diaries, letters, after-action reports and other documentation. ??The book also draws upon Allied technical evaluations of weapons, vehicles and equipment, as well as transcripts of prisoner of war interrogations. The reader will learn from official documents about the Germans' efforts to cope with Allied air and artillery superiority, create new tactical methods for all arms and maintain discipline in the face of superior numbers.
Download or read book Arnhem 1944 written by Jon Sutherland and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-02-02 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first in a series of game books which put you in command of the forces in engaged in some of history's most famous battles. Your tactical skill and ability to make the right command decision will be tested at every turn of the page. Operation Market Garden in September 1944 was one of the most daring Allied plans of the Second World War. An audacious surprise assault from the air, it was intended to give the Allies a bridgehead across the Rhine, removing the last significant natural barrier on the road to Berlin. If successful it might have shortened the war by months. Will the brave British paratroopers be able to seize the vital bridge at Arnhem and hold it until reinforcements fight their way through? Or will the Germans be able to recover the initiative and crush them in a skillful counterattack? The book presents you with a series of command decisions, aided by situation maps; directing you to the next relevant briefing depending on the option you choose. No dice are necessary to play, just this book and your tactical skill. When you buy this book, the fate of nations is in your hands.
Download or read book The Island written by Tim Saunders and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2008-03-05 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Having fought their way up fifty miles of Hell's Highway and through Nijmegen, XXX Corps was just ten miles from Arnhem and the 1st British Airborne Division. Here it found itself on an island of flat land between the Waal at Nijmegen and the Rhine at Arnhem. The situation was increasingly bad with the remainder of II SS Panzer Corps in the area and German counter attacks on Hell's Highway preventing the Allies applying their material superiority. The Guards Armoured and then 43rd Wessex Infantry Division took turns to lead before reaching the Rhine opposite the paratroopers in the Oosterbeek Perimeter. Attempts to cross the Rhine by the Polish Paras and the Dorset Regiment had little success, but meanwhile, the guns of XXX Corps ensured the survival of the Perimeter. After some desperate fighting on the island, 43rd Wessex Division evacuated just two thousand members of the elite Airborne Division who had landed eight days earlier.
Download or read book The Military Life Times of General Sir Miles Dempsey GBE KCB DSO MC written by Peter Rostron and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2010-08-19 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Miles Dempsey, Commander of the British Second Army in the invasion of Europe 1944-45, is almost unknown to the general public. Yet his part in Britains contribution to that campaign was second only to Montgomerys in importance. Dempsey survived two and a half years of bitter fighting as an infantry officer on the Western Front before accompanying his beloved Royal Berkshire Regiment in the little-known North West Persia campaign of 1920-21. In six years he rose from Major to command over half a million men in the largest combined operation in history, and led them to victory a year later.Based on sources which include some of Dempseys previously unpublished work and the views of those who knew him, the book traces his career as a soldier of rare distinction, a talented sportsman and a man of huge charm and shrewd intellect, dedicated to his beloved regiment and ever mindful of the lives of his soldiers. Peter Rostron examines his methods of command and his relationships with Montgomery, his Corps commanders, the Americans and the RAF. It highlights his crucial role in the Dunkirk evacuation, the training of the Canadian Army, and the invasion of Sicily, Italy, and North West Europe, and analyses why his army performed so brilliantly on D Day. Lasly, Rostron examines his contribution to the campaign in Europe, focussing on the controversial operations of EPSOM, GOODWOOD, Arnhem and the Rhine Crossing.
Download or read book 1st Airborne written by Simon Forty and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-08-19 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An interesting introductory read . . . [on] this infamous ‘bridge too far’ division” in the series that brings World War II battles to life (Classic Military Vehicle). After being held in reserve during the battle of Normandy and spending three months waiting for action, 1st Airborne played a leading role in Operation Market—the air component of Operation Market Garden, an audacious attempt by the Allies to bypass the Siegfried Line and advance into the Ruhr in September 1944. It was to be 1st Airborne’s last action of the war. Encountering more resistance than expected, including II SS Panzer Corps, the division landed too far from Arnhem bridge, and fought bravely but in vain. Held up en route, particularly at Nijmegen, XXX Corps’ advance to Arnhem stuttered and ran late. After nine days of fighting, 1st Airborne had lost 8,000 men around Arnhem when the survivors retreated across the Lower Rhine to safety. During those nine days, however, they had created a legend: first as the small unit under Lt-Col John Frost held the “bridge too far” and then as the Oosterbeek perimeter came under sustained attack waiting for XXX Corps to arrive. The Past & Present Series reconstructs historical battles by using photography, juxtaposing modern views with those of the past together with concise explanatory text. It shows how much infrastructure has remained and how much such as outfits, uniforms, and ephemera has changed, providing a coherent link between now and then.
Download or read book Market Garden Then and Now Boxed Set written by Karel Margry and published by After the Battle. This book was released on 2002-08-30 with total page 752 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Both volumes of Operation 'Market Garden' Then and Now in a presentation slip case.
Download or read book Bolt Action Campaign Market Garden written by Warlord Games and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-02-22 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Market Garden was a bold plan, designed to capture the Rhine crossings along the Dutch–German border and establish a foothold for an advance into Germany. A massive combined arms operation involving airborne landings and an armoured thrust, it was one of the most dramatic and controversial operations of the war. This new Campaign Book for Bolt Action allows players to command the forces facing each other across the Rhine, fighting key battles and attempting to change the course of history. New, linked scenarios, rules, troop types and Theatre Selectors provide plenty of options for novice and veteran players alike.
Download or read book The Waffen SS at Arnhem written by Ian Baxter and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2022-02-03 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This pictorial WWII history examines the brutal Battle of Arnhem with particular focus on the SS units that fought the Allied push into the Netherlands. The 1944 Arnhem airborne operation, immortalized by the film A Bridge Too Far, will forever be remembered as a great British feat of arms. British and Polish paratroopers displayed outstanding courage and tenacity in a desperate last stand situation. And yet, as this book describes, the plan was fatally flawed as the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions were recuperating and concealed nearby. What followed was a bloody battle of attrition the result of which was arguably inevitable. Drawing on rare and unpublished photographs, this volume in the Images of War series reveals the historical combat record of the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg divisions. It describes the intensity of the fighting in and around Arnhem between these elite SS and supporting units against a lightly armed yet equally determined enemy. In spite of the increasing certainty of German defeat, the SS soldier remained fanatically motivated. This superbly illustrated book with its well-researched text and full captions captures the drama of that historic battle for a bridge over the Rhine.
Download or read book British Army Communications in the Second World War written by Simon Godfrey and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-05-09 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence form the backbone of the Army's operating system. But while much attention has been given in the literature to the other three elements, Communications in the British Army during World War II have been widely ignored. This book rectifies the omission. It shows that failures in front line communications contributed to several of the set backs suffered by the Army but also that ultimate victory was only achieved after a successful communications system was in place. It explains how the outcome of the main campaigns in Europe and North Africa depended on communications, how the system operated and how it evolved from a relatively primitive and inadequately supplied state at Dunkirk to a generally effective system at the time of the Rhine crossings. Problems still occurred however, for example at infantry platoon level and famously with paratrooper communications at Arnhem, often simply due to the shortcomings of existing technology. The book concludes that it is only very recently that advances in technology have allowed those problems to be solved.
Download or read book XIX Tactical Air Command And Ultra Patton s Force Enhancers In The 1944 Campaign In France written by Major Bradford J. “BJ” Shwedo USAF and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gen George S. Patton Jr. remains one of the most storied commanders of World War II. Patton’s spectacularly successful drive across France in August-September 1944 as commander of the US Third Army was perhaps his greatest campaign. Drawing heavily on declassified ULTRA intelligence reports, the records of XIX Tactical Air Command, and postwar interrogations of German commanders, Maj Bradford J. Shwedo’s XIX Tactical Air Command and ULTRA: Patton’s Force Enhancers in the 1944 Campaign in France sheds new light on Patton’s generalship and suggests that Patton’s penchant for risk and audacity may have been less the product of a sixth sense than of his confidence in ULTRA and tactical airpower. Timely and highly accurate ULTRA intelligence afforded Patton knowledge of German capabilities and enabled him to shape his operations to exploit mounting German weakness. Airpower provided top cover, punched through German concentrations, guarded Patton’s right flank, and furnished crucial airlift support while disrupting enemy lines of communication. Whatever Patton’s personal intuitive gifts, he deserves full marks for skillfully integrating the ground scheme of maneuver, airpower, and intelligence into the overall strategy of the Third Army and XIX TAC from Normandy to within 50 miles of the German border in less than 45 days. General Patton’s masterful employment of armor, airpower, and intelligence in a campaign fought more than 50 years ago is a textbook example of the sophisticated fusion of airpower, ground power, and information in the planning and execution of a fast-moving military operation. It is also a case study in flexibility, innovation, and boldness at the operational level of war. For all those reasons, Patton’s campaign in France merits the attention of latter-day air and ground warriors who must meet the security challenges of the twenty-first century.
Download or read book The Invasion of Hitler s Third Reich written by Patrick Delaforce and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2017-05-17 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early in 1945 the British Liberation Army (BLA), who had battled their way from the Normandy beaches to the borders of Germany, embarked on Operation Eclipse. This was the end-game of the Second World War, the unique military campaign to invade and conquer Hitler s Third Reich and liberate 20 million enslaved nationals from Holland, Denmark and Norway; to free multitudes of displaced persons (DPs) or slaves; and inter alia to free the survivors of twenty concentration camps and many Allied POW camps. The Allied Military Government (AMG) brought law and order to 23 million German nationals in the allocated British zone of occupation (BAOR) and appropriate retribution too. A thrilling race with Stalin s Red Army ensued to reach the Baltic. A matter of a few hours and Denmark and Norway would have been swept into the evil Soviet empire. The author fought vigorously as a junior RHA officer in the five great river battles Rhine, Dortmund-Ems, Weser, Aller and the Elbe. Soon after VE Day he was the junior officer in War Crimes Tribunals in Hamburg and Oldenburg and witnessed Mr Alfred Pierrepoint administering the hanging of prison camp guards. Illustrations: 75 black-and-white photographs
Download or read book Spitfire Photo Recce Units of World War 2 written by Andrew Fletcher and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-08-17 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating exploration of the feats of the RAF's photographic reconnaissance aircraft. The photographic reconnaissance (PR) versions of the Supermarine Spitfire saw service against the Axis Tripartite throughout World War 2. Its superior performance even led to the USAAF adopting the type for the Eighth Air Force's reconnaissance needs in Europe. PR Spitfires were responsible for some of the most significant intelligence finds of the war – from low-level oblique photographs of new German radars in France to locating the battleship Bismarck off the Norwegian coast before it attempted to sortie into the Atlantic. It has been estimated that as much as 80 per cent of Allied intelligence was gathered from aerial photographs, many of which were taken by cameras installed in PR Spitfires. In this volume, RAF PR specialist Andrew Fletcher details the important part played by the small number of 'photo-recce' Spitfires in the key theatres of World War 2. His detailed text, which includes numerous first-hand accounts, chronicles operations from the first months of the conflict through to VJ Day.
Download or read book Tony s war written by Britta von Zweigbergk and published by Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Pu. This book was released on 2007 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These 'British Isles' of ours are populated by people who originate from throughout the world; from North, South, East and West. Individually, or as family groups, they will have come to start a new life; to escape from persecution, hunger or despair. It is our strength because somehow we learn to adapt ourselves to meet our own, and other's needs, no matter how daunting they may be. Tony and Nita Zweigbergk learned to do just that during their, very different, childhood and teenage years. Then they met and fell in love. Then along came World War II. We are privileged to share these experiences, plus by reading between the lines we are able to share the boredom, depression, comradeship, fun, fear and sorrow that became the life of those who lived 'on the edge of life and death' to ensure our precious freedom.
Download or read book Battles of a Gunner Officer written by John Philip Jones and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-05-31 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What was it like to serve as an artillery officer during the Second World War? How did he view the battlefield and experience combat? And how did his work with the guns combine with that of the other arms - the infantry, the tanks? Peter Pettit's diary, covering his entire wartime career in the Royal Artillery, edited and with an extensive introduction by John Philip Jones, offers a rare insight into the day-to-day existence of a gunner at war, and it is a valuable record of the role played by the Royal Artillery during the conflict. Since Peter Pettit served as a field officer in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy and during the Allied advance across France and Belgium into Germany, his account shows the wide range of challenges that confronted the artillery in different conditions at each stage of the war. Although the landscapes and battlefields changed, the practical problems and acute dangers he faced remained much the same, and he recorded them in the same open and forthright way. His authentic record, combined with John Philip Jones's meticulous description of the planning and progress of each campaign, provide a rounded view the nature of the artillery war and the men who fought it.General Sir Richard Barrons, Commander, Joint Forces Command: 'Professor John Philip Jones breaks new ground as he brings into the light for the first time the private record of one rather special participant. Peter Pettit's personal and contemporaneous notes detail his journey from the first encounters with a determined enemy in Tunisia, through the difficult invasion of Sicily, and finally on to the outstanding events of Normandy in 1944 . . .. . . This story is made much more interesting and accessible for the general reader by the accompanying succinct historical overview of the events. . .. . . For anyone looking for a rare insight into the hard business of field soldiering in the crucible of war, these diaries paint a very colourful, accurate and illuminating picture.'
