Deze serie dompelt lezers onder in de cruciale momenten van de Tweede Wereldoorlog met nauwgezette details en historische diepgang. Het biedt een uitgebreid overzicht van de strategische veldslagen die de moderne geschiedenis op het Europese continent hebben gevormd. Duik in epische confrontaties, begrijp de complexiteit van militair leiderschap en waardeer de moed van de soldaten aan het front. Dit is essentieel leesvoer voor elke liefhebber van militaire geschiedenis.
This is the story of the largest armoured battle fought in the campaign for north west Europe. The book guides visitors around the tanks battlefield, showing what remains and what has changed, using present-day images alongside previously unpublished 1944 pictures. schovat popis
Hell's Highway is the dramatic name given to the vital stretch of road that the British 3rd Guards Armoured Division had to advance down rapidly on their route to relieve the American Paras (82d Airborne) at Nijmegen and the British I st Airborne Division at Arnhem. Adopting the clear and successful style of Battleground works this book relies on personal accounts to embellish this dramatic story.
Tells the history of the Nazis' great fortification system along the eastern part of the Channel Coast. Reveals the Allies' ingenious plans and equipment designed to overcome this mighty defensive system. In the popular Battleground Europe style and an invaluable companion on any tour of the area and its sites.
Amongst the veterans that Montgomery brought back with him from the Mediterranean to spearhead the D-day invasion, were West Country infantrymen of 231 Brigade. The Devons, Hampshires and Dorsets had already carried out assault landings in Sicily and in Italy and replaced another brigade that had been provisionally allocated to lead XXX Corps ashore on Jig sector of Gold Beach. Unknown to the Allies, a quality German Division had been moved forward to the coast. This was the same German Division that nearly halted the Americans at OMAHA and the West Countrymen had to fight extremely hard for their objectives. 231 Brigade faced the sternest test of all British troops on D-Day. Selling Points * An essential addition to our best-selling Normandy World War 2 Battleground Series * Jig Beach saw some of the fiercest fighting of the landings * Employs the successful Battleground formula, with lots of illustrations, maps, personal testimony. Ideal for the visitor and student of war at home. Author Tim Saunders is a professional serving soldier. He has led many battlefield tours and is now one of the our most experienced and best-selling authors with Hill 112, Nijmegen, The Island and Hell's Highway in print all in the Battleground series.
By Christmas 1944, the Allies were on the threshold of victory, having remorselessly rolled the Germans back to the very borders of The Fatherland. The schovat popis
This book goes back to original documents: reports and first-hand accounts to establish the story of the three separate Ranger Forces that made-up Rudder s Rangers who assaulted not just Pointe du Hoc, where they held out for over 48 hours before relief, but the Western end of Omaha Beach as well.
The guide will take the visitor beyond the ferry terminal and hypermarkets to reveal the hidden Calais and the actions of individuals and units in this defence.
The narrative unfolds in the aftermath of the D-Day landings, focusing on the Allies' struggle to break free from the Normandy peninsula, particularly the strategic town of Caen. The British forces are determined to capture Caen, which is crucial for advancing their position. Central to this operation is Hill 112, referred to by the Germans as "Kalverienberg," symbolizing the intense military conflict and the significance of this location in the larger context of World War II.
"Juno Beach was a key part of Hitler's vaunted Atlantic Wall. The attack on it was led by the 3rd Canadian Division, supported by the specialist assault tanks of the 79th Armoured Division. However, despite careful planning and rehearsal, poor D Day weather led to a piecemeal landing and heroic individual battles in the streats of the seaside towns."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Covers the joint British/American Landings (SHINGLE) on Italian mainland January 1944. This book describes extremely heavy fighting as the Allies struggled to maintain their foothold. Featuring photographs and maps, it also includes personal accounts.
Fourth in the Dunkirk Campaign 1940 series of books under the Battleground Europe flag, covering a neglected part of the 1940 campaign, although in an area well known to many Battlefield tourers.
Tells the history of the Nazi's great fortification along the western part of the Channel Coast in what became the D Day invasion area. Describes the massive construction effort involved. Reveals the Allies' ingenious plans and equipment designed to overcome this mighty defensive system.
"The infamous SS Das Reich Division was resting in Montauban, South West France when the Allies invaded Normandy in June 1944. When ordered to rush north, they ran into a series of French Resistance, SAS and SOE delaying actions. This ruthless Division reacted violently and their reprisals culminated in the Massacre at Oradour. This book tells the story of those heroic and tragic days from the British, French and German viewpoints."
The destruction of the French village of Oradour and the massacre of its population in June 1944 by the SS Das Reich Division ranks as one of the most notorious atrocities of the Second World War. The scars that were left will never fully heal and there are those that would argue that they should remain as a lesson to future generations. The ruins of the village have been preserved as a memorial to the victims and a new museum has recently been opened by President Chirac.Philip Beck, an Englishman long resident in the area, is very probably the greatest living authority on this appalling event. He has now updated and substantially revised his earlier book and the result makes compelling yet shocking reading.
Overwhelmed by the German Blitzkreig, the British Expeditionary Force faced annihilation. Miraculously, and thanks to decisive generalship, over 300,000 troops got back to our island fortress to fight another day. There was much more to the Dunkirk story than evacuating the beaches in the little ships and boats.
By late March 1945, Second British Army and Ninth US Army were poised to carry out an assault. In the British part of the operations, Montgomery's best assault divisions were assembled to carry out the British and Canadian part of the attack between Emmerich and Wesel.
In the first of three books covering the battles on the road to Arnhem, Tim Saunders describes the US 82nd Airborne Division's daring seizure of the Grave Bridge and their battles for the Grossbeek Heights, and the struggle for the vital Nijmegen Bridge. schovat popis
The BEF s 1940 Campaign - part of a series of Battleground Europe books on the performance of the British Expeditionary Force during the successful German Blitzkrieg conquest of northern Europe.
Boulogne - 23 May, 1940. A town under siege. A rampant German panzer division hammers at its gates. Panic in the street and chaos on the docks. Air Raids. Frightened refugees and dispirited Allied soldiers scramble to escape. Churchill sends battalions of the Irish and the Welsh Guards, to help the French garrison stem the German tide. schovat popis
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.
Normandy - British 3rd Infantry Division - 27th Armoured Brigade
The narrative details the intense armored combat during Operation Bluecoat in Normandy, highlighting the shift from static warfare to dynamic movement. It chronicles the British 11th Armoured, Guards Armoured, and 15th (Scottish) Divisions as they engage with German forces, including the formidable 21. Panzer and elite SS divisions. The account showcases a variety of armored vehicles and tactics, providing insights into the experiences of both British and German troops amidst the chaos of battle under the summer sun.
This book covers the development of radar, the search for German radar in World War II, the discovery of W rzburg radar at Bruneval, the preparations for the raid, its successful execution and the aftermath. Many colorful characters are involved; most importantly, the ordinary people involved doing extraordinary things to win the war against Hitler
In spring 1945 one final hurdle faced the American and British Armies under Ike's supreme command - the Rhine. The river was the last ditch for the defence of Hitler's Germany. Crossing it would be a major military undertaking. The race was on to find intact crossings that could save many lives and precious time. schovat popis
Operation EPSOM was General Montgomery's third attempt to take the City of Caen, which had been a key British D-Day objective. Delayed by a storm, the attack, designed to envelop Caen from the west, eventually began at the end of June 1944. The Territorial Army battalions of 15th Scottish Division spearheaded the attacks through the well developed positions of 12th Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Division.It was slow going and when tanks of the 11th Armoured Division dashed to the Odon Bridges they ran into the concentrated fire of dug-in panzers. However, the following day the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders slipped through the German defenses and seized a vital bridge. Armor poured across but, rather than pushing home their advantage, the British prepared to beat off a powerful counterattack from II SS Panzer Corps.
The world famous monastery at Monte Cassino was a key strongpoint on the Nazis Gustav Line blocking the Allied advance on Rome. From January to March 1944 there were four distinct battles for Cassino which was fiercely defended by German elite forces. Troops from USA, Britain, Poland, Canada, France and India were all thrown into the fray with appalling loss of life."
The only part of the British Isles that can answer the question 'What was it like to be invaded and occupied in World War 2?’ are the holiday islands of Jersey, Alderney, Guernsey and Sark. Left undefended in 1940, they fell like ripe plums into German hands.Thereafter they were turned into the most heavily defended parts of the Nazi Atlantic Wall, with massive fortifications, gun emplacements and underground storage tunnels. An army of foreign 'slave workers' was brought in as well as the 27,000 German troops (known as the 'Canada Division' as it was widely assumed that they would eventually become POWs!)Amid the routine of occupation came periods of danger and action from raiding parties. After D-Day the German garrison was cut off and 'the Hunger winter' resulted. In May 1945 the Germans surrendered amid much rejoicing.
This battlefield guide is the companion work to Pegasus Bridge & Horsa Bridge. Together, these two books form the fully revised and updated edition of the previous best selling Battleground Europe Series book Pegasus Bridge & Merville Battery.
In the second of his two Battleground guides, Frank Steer concentrates on the battle in the town itself and particularly for the vital bridge. Seized at a comparatively early stage, the bridge became the focus for prolonged and vicious fighting. The fact that this battle was lost in no way diminished the extent of the achievement of the Paras.
This book guides the reader through the battle for the V Corps beachhead, the fiercest and bloodiest of the Landings. A must for those inspired by Saving Private Ryan and many more.