It consists usually of the human skull with or without the mandible and often includes two crossed long-bones femurs , most often depicted with the crossbones being behind some part of the skull. Toten-Kopf translates literally to "dead's head", meaning exactly "dead person's head". As a term, Totenkopf connotes the human skull as a symbol, typically one with crossed thigh bones as part of a grouping. Contemporary German language meaning of the word Totenkopf has not changed for at least two centuries.
The common translation of "Totenkopf" as death's head is incorrect; it would be To des kopf , but no such word is in use. The English term death squad is called To des schwadron , not To ten schwadron.
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Use of the Totenkopf as a military emblem began under Frederick the Great , who formed a regiment of Hussar cavalry in the Prussian army commanded by Colonel von Ruesch, the Husaren-Regiment Nr. It adopted a black uniform with a Totenkopf emblazoned on the front of its mirlitons and wore it on the field in the War of Austrian Succession and in the Seven Years' War. The Brunswick corps was provided with black uniforms, giving rise to their nickname, the Black Brunswickers.
After fighting their way through Germany, the Black Brunswickers entered British service and fought with them in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo. The Brunswick corps was eventually incorporated into the Prussian Army in The skull continued to be used by the Prussian and Brunswick armed forces until , and some of the stormtroopers that led the last German offensives on the Western Front in used skull badges.
The Totenkopf was used in Germany throughout the inter-war period, most prominently by the Freikorps. In , it was in use by the regimental staff and the 1st, 5th, and 11th squadrons of the Reichswehr ' s 5th Cavalry Regiment as a continuation of a tradition from the Kaiserreich. Good tactical descriptions on almost minute-by-minute basis.
Reads well, if a little fragmented due to many really short sections between half and page and half on average per chapter. Still, well researched and quite interesting on how the US troops stopped the Germans from taking Bastogne. This just screams out for skirmish- or squad-level wargaming! Standing between the Allies and the Third Reich's industrial heartland was the city of Aachen, once the ancient seat of Charlemagne's empire and now firmly entrenched within Germany's Siegfried Line fortifications.
The city was on the verge of capitulating until Hitler forbade surrender. A History of the Division - Images of War Series Formed in SS-Polizei Division were not considered initially as an SS fighting force, and this status was reflected in the quality of the equipment they were issued. Following operations in France, Greece, and then Russia, it was not until the division was transferred to the Waffen-SS, and eventually upgraded to a Panzergrenadier division, the 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division.
During the last days of the war, it was assigned to Army Detachment Steiner defending Berlin where many soldiers fought to the death. The latest book in the Images of War series uses over rare contemporary photographs to capture the scale, intensity, and brutality of the fighting that was unleashed on June 22, No less than 4. Using previously rare and unpublished photographs, many of which have come from the albums of individuals who took part in the desert campaign, it presents a unique visual account of the famous Afrika-Korps' operations and equipment.
Thanks to an informative caption with every photograph, the book portrays how the German Army fought across the uncharted and forbidding desert wilderness of North Africa. The book also examines how Rommel and his Afrika Korps were so successful and includes an analysis of desert war tactics which Rommel himself had created. These tactics quickly won the Afrika Korps a string of victories between and The photographs that accompany the book are a fascinating collection that depicts life in the Afrika Korps as seen through the lens of the ordinary soldier.
With extensive text and in-depth captions with many rare and unpublished photographs, it describes the fighting tactics, the uniforms, the battles and the different elements that went into making the Waffen-SS such an elite fighting unit. It traces how the Waffen-SS carefully built up their assault forces utilizing all available reserves and resources into a ruthlessly effective killing machine. It depicts how this awesome military formation grew to be used in offensive and then in defensive battles, and provides much historical information and facts about the weapons and all the components that fought on Western Front.
After D-Day they played a key role in Normandy and fought at Arnhem, in the Ardennes and shifted from one disintegrating part of the front to another in a drastic attempt to stabilize the crumbling war effort. The Waffen-SS on the Western Front - provides an excellent insight into one of the most effective fighting formations in military history. With extensive text and in-depth captions with many rare and unpublished photographs it is an absorbing analysis of the part they played on the Eastern Front.
It reveals in detail how this elite band of men fought during the opening phase of Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia, how it supported and took part in the victory at Kharkov, Demyansk and other battles in the Soviet Union. The book reveals the Waffen-SS's role at Kursk and how it was forced to withdraw in the face of overwhelming enemy superiority and was rushed from one danger zone to another to plug gaps in the front. Often these troops faced an enemy 10 times their strength and it was for this reason they were feared and respected by their enemy. Although by early May , the Waffen SS was all but destroyed, having battled across half Russia and gone on to protect the withdrawals of the rest of the German Army to the very gates of Berlin.
The Advance -- Images Of War Series The Advance is a highly illustrated record of the extraordinary feat of arms that saw the Nazi armies drive deep into the vast terrain of the Soviet Union, to the gates of Stalingrad and Moscow. It traces the campaign from these hopeful beginnings until, on the brink of victory, the defenders and the winter contrived to slow and then halt the advance. It vividly conveys the appalling conditions endured by the invaders. By early the German advance finally petered out, leaving some 1. The long and costly retreat was about to begin.
The Retreat -- Images of War After the defeat at Stalingrad in January , the German Army's front lines were slowly smashed to pieces by the growing might of the Soviet Army. Yet these soldiers continued to fight gallantly. Even after the failed battle of the Kursk in the summer of , and then a year later when the Russians launched their mighty summer offensive, code names Operation Bagration, the German Army continued to fight on, withdrawing under constant enemy ground and air bombardments.
Usual plethora of photos. A History of the Division on the Western and Eastern Fronts -- Images at War Another Images of War volume collects many unpublished photographs with in-depth captions to describe the Division's history, fighting tactics, weapons, and uniforms as it battled its way through Poland, the Low Countries, the Balkans, on the Eastern Front, and then to Normandy and the carnage of the Falaise Pocket before being transferred back to the Eastern Front. A History of the Division on the Western and Eastern Fronts -- Images of War series Another in the marvelous series covers the Das Reich Division with extensive text and over rare and unpublished photographs that describe the fighting tactics, uniforms, battles, and different elements that went into making the Das Reich Division such a formidable fighting force.
Finally the Das Reich defended Normandy before falling back to Germany. It earned this for its actions throughout the Second World War, first in during the blitzkrieg in Northern France and then on the Eastern Front. The battles at Kharkov and Kurst saw some of the fiercest fighting of that long and terrible campaign. During the long retreat back to the Fatherland the Division fought with customary dogged determination, nay fanaticism.
This superbly illustrated work, drawing on images taken by participants, portrays the SS Totenkopfs history from formation through training to the battles in northern France and in Russia. The men of the division were recruited from foreign volunteers in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Belgium under the command of German officers. Not all were collaborators - the choice they were all too often presented with was join up or be locked up - or worse. During the course of the war, the division served on the Eastern Front in , and eventually surrendered in May to the American forces in Austria.
It suffered heavy losses in the Operation Nordwind in January and in early April , the division was destroyed by the US forces near Budingen, Germany. Images of War' series The Deutsche Afrika Korps best known as simply Afrika Korps built up a well-deserved reputation as a superb fighting machine. While this was founded on the leadership and tactical genius of its legendary commander Erwin Rommel and the fighting skills of its officers and men, another vital element was its equipment in general and armor in particular.
This superbly illustrated Images of War book reveals the full range of German armored vehicles that saw service in North Africa over the two year period to mid As well as the formidable panzers, such as the Tiger and Panther tanks, there were Sturmartillerie equipments, reconnaissance vehicles, half- tracks, armored cars, Panzers, and motor cycles. Raymond Collishaw and the Western Desert Campaign, Canadian-born flying ace Raymond Collishaw served in Britain's air forces for 28 years. It was in Egypt and Libya in , during the Britain's Western Desert campaign, that he demonstrated the tenets of an effective air-ground cooperation system.
It was only after the chastening failure of Operation Battleaxe in June , fought according to army doctrine, that Winston Churchill shifted strategy on the direction of future air campaigns-ultimately endorsing the RAF's view of mission and target selection. This book examines his contribution to the British system of tactical air support-a pattern of operations that eventually became standard in the Allied air forces and proved to be a key factor in the Allied victory.
Thanks to more than ten years of research and analysis of military archives, pictures, and equipment, Bellec reviews all the uniforms, weapons, and equipment used by infantrymen, gunners, troopers, sappers, and medics in the continental and Scandinavian theaters of operations. The items are shown in color with all the details needed for clear identification. Because of the unequaled range and the variety of the items presented -- some of which are very rare -- this work is a must for all French memorabilia collectors. This book is also important for those interested in WWI equipment because of the numbers of items inherited from this period and the detailed presentation of the tools, harnesses, small items of equipment, and collective weapons.
France Army Catalog Uniforms, Equipments, Weapons, and Insignia Thanks to more than 10 years of research and analysis of military archives, pictures, and equipment, Bellec reviews all the uniforms, weapons, and equipment used by infantrymen, gunners, troopers, sappers, and medics in the continental and Scandinavian theaters of operations.
Oversized at 9 x 12 inches, it contains a whopping images. Failuer of Market Garden Known as Hitler's last victory by some, this is a complete, balanced and comprehensive account of all the combatants including all three Corps of the British 2nd Army. The attack came through the Ardennes, the hilly and forested area in eastern Belgium and Luxembourg that the Allies had considered a 'quiet' sector. Instead, for the second time in the war, the Germans used it as a stealthy avenue of approach for their panzers.
Much of US First Army was overrun, and thousands of prisoners were taken as the Germans forged a mile bulge into the Allied front. But in one small town, Bastogne, American paratroopers, together with remnants of tank units, offered dogged resistance. Meanwhile the rest of Eisenhower's broad front strategy came to a halt as Patton, from the south, and Hodges, from the north, converged on the enemy incursion. Yet it would take an epic, six-week-long winter battle, the bloodiest in the history of the US Army, before the Germans were finally pushed back. Includes re-evaluations of tank and personnel casualties and the most accurate picture yet of what really transpired.
The Ardennes Offensive has often been described from the American point of view; however, this balanced book devotes equal attention to the perspectives of both sides. With nearly photos, numerous maps, and 32 superb color profiles of combat vehicles and aircraft, it provides perhaps the most comprehensive look at the battle yet published. Volume 1 -- The History of the Royal Hungarian Armed Forces The Hungarian armed forces known as the Honvedseg were built up in the s, their expansion gaining momentum once Hungary became free of the strict post-WWI Trianon treaty limitations in August Politically, Hungary was looking for a strong ally, who would help it to recover at least some of the territories containing sizable Magyar ethnic populations that had been lost after the First World War.
Initially, in the mids, Italy gave political assistance and supplied military material, then - on the eve of WWII - Germany also lent support. In November , Hungary managed to peacefully recover a chunk of its former territory from Czechoslovakia, followed by the Sub-Carpathian area during a brief border war in March , then the northern part of Transylvania from Rumania in August Later, in April , the Bachka region and parts of Baranya were also taken back from the dismembered Yugoslavia in a swift military action.
The rub was that Hungary was sucked into the cauldron of the Eastern front, and soon the Honveds Hungarian soldiers found themselves deep in Soviet territory, outgunned and outnumbered by the Red Army. Later on, from August , the beleaguered Honvedseg had to fight against the mighty Soviet army in defense of its own territory. Alongside tiny Croatia, Hungary remained the last German ally up to the bitter end. The History of the Royal Hungarian Armed Forces This comprehensive reference, to be published in two volumes, and the fruit of over 20 years of research, strives to provide a complete picture of the Hungarian armed forces between the years It starts with a brief history of the Magyars, describes the political situation in Hungary before and during WWII, the building of the armed forces, the growth of domestic arms manufacturers, the organization of the armed forces units, and how they changed during the war.
The various campaigns of the war are described in great detail, illustrated with many photographs and maps.
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This first volume contains approximately photographs, many previously unpublished, as well as numerous tables and maps of the various campaigns. The authors drew on official Hungarian and German archives, and a multitude of private sources, both from individuals living in Hungary and Hungarian emigres from the Western Diaspora. Volume 2 will cover all small arms, artillery, soft-skin and armored vehicles, motorcycles, aircraft, insignia, markings, and camouflage of armored vehicles and aircraft, both of Hungarian indigenous design and those supplied by Germany and Italy, complete with technical data, production and delivery figures.
The Hungarian armed forces known as the Honvedseg were built up in the s, their expansion gaining momentum once Hungary became free of the strict post-WWI Trianon treaty limitations in August Politically, Hungary was looking for a strong ally, who would help it to recover at least some of the territories containing sizable Magyar ethnic populations lost after WWI. Later, in April , the Bachka region and parts of Baranya were also taken back from the dismembered Yugoslavia, in a swift military action. In spite of large numbers, they were halted by the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitierjugend, who managed to block the armored vehicles.
During one of the German counter-attacks, several Tiger tanks were destroyed, including that of panzer ace, Michael Wittmann, who was killed in the process. The offensive was relaunched a few days later under the name Operation Tractable, the intention this time being to capture the strategically important town of Falaise and close the Falaise Pocket, also known as the Corridor of Death. This book provides the reader with a day-by-day account of this forgotten battle, while also acting as a field guide, including maps and both contemporary and modern photographs.
The book also acts as a field guide, including maps and both contemporary and modern photographs. This book is the best synthesis, day by day, from 6 June to 30 August, with a clear narrative, an exceptional report illustrated with the best photographs , 22 armor and aircraft profiles and above all, 79 maps enabling the reader to follow this very complex battle more easily.
Two days later they cut the Cotentin peninsula at Barneville, before heading north towards Cherbourg. Includes maps and both contemporary and modern photographs. Battle of Debrecen Following the combats around Turda in September , Malinovsky receives the order from Stavka to attack in the direction of Budapest. To do this, he assembles a great force, albeit slightly weakened by previous combat: All told, more than tanks will face off over the course of three weeks and on a front of nearly km!
In 24 hours, the spearhead of the attack, the Cavalry Mechanized Group under Pliev, advances more than 50 km. The northern pincer - 6th Armored Guards Army - throws itself full force against the counter attacks of the 1st and 23rd Panzer around Nagyvarad and cannot break through to the Hungarian plain. Redirecting Pliev's group toward the northeast, Malinovski hopes to make a pincer attack on Nagyvarad's defenders and open up the route toward Debrecen, Nyiregyhaza and Tokaj, cut Army Group South in two and isolate the 8th Army, retreating before the 4th Ukrainian Front. On 9 October the southwestern barrier of Debrecen falls but the Germans engage reinforcements and launch two divisions, a Panzer and a Panzer Grenadier division, supported by a Tiger II battalion - Operation Zigeuner Baron - at the flank of the Soviet penetration on 19 October.
Debrecen finally falls on 20 October, Nyiregyhaza the 22nd, thereby isolating the 8th Army. Is it all over? No - taking advantage of the advanced position of Pliev's cavalry corps, the Germans launch an assault with the units of the 8th Army and the Panzer in order to reopen the Soviet trap and destroy the mobile group. As the Soviet, will you be able to best use your powerful armored forces to surround the enemy, and as a member of the Axis can you save the 8th Army and protect the outskirts of Budapest?
Frank account of the infantry experience in Northern Europe. A brutally honest depiction of day-to-day combat in WWII, maps. Written using primary and secondary sources, it covers all the engagements. The major part of the book covers the Flandern-Schlacht of July to November ; a battle viewed by the Germans as harder fought and more costly than the Somme, Arras, and Verdun. Each phase and aspect of the period is detailed from the German point of view. The book will be in four sections: Where relevant material from the German home front is included and the illustrations, many of which have not been published before, also show how the towns and villages of the area have changed.
Hitler's Foreign Divisions is an in-depth examination of the approximately , foreign who opted to fight for the Third Reich. A unit-by-unit history, structure and combat records. Alexander's light and diplomatic touch oiled the wheels of this uneasy arrangement but inevitably, there were tensions and disagreements that threatened success. Seen as a backwater, crack units were taken away and insufficient resources allocated to the Italian Campaign. This combined with the tenacity of the Germans, the difficult terrain and the harsh climate caused real problems. Allied morale was at times particularly brittle and suffered from high desertion rates.
In fact, capturing this small coral island in the Palaus with its strategic airstrip took two months and involved some of the bloodiest fighting of WWII in the Pacific. Rather than the easy conquest they were led to expect, the Marines who landed on Peleliu faced a war of attrition from the island's Japanese defenders, who had dug tunnels and fortified the island's rugged terrain.
When the Marines' advance stalled after a week of heavy casualties, the 'Wildcats' of the 81st Infantry Division were called in, at first as support. Eventually, the 1st Marines Division was evacuated and the 81st Infantry secured the island. Previous accounts of the battle have focused on the 1st Marines, but Blair and DeCioccio offer a revised assessment of the contributions of the 81st.
The design supports both strict historical and alternative history explorations. That is, at the end of July, when the AGC offensive was historically shut down in favor of supporting extended drives by the flanking army groups, it's possible that, if you've done better up to then than your historical counterpart, Hitler may authorize a continued and immediate advance on Moscow. You command the German forces while the system directs the handling of Soviet forces. You win or lose based on the timely seizure of key areas on the map.
Each game turn equals one-third of a month. Each hexagon represents 16 miles 24 km from side to opposite side. It has diplomatic, economic, technological and military components, and can be won by gaining economic hegemony or technological supremacy A-bomb , or by vanquishing a rival militarily.
The 22xinch area map covers Eurasia to India and the Urals, with the Americas and the eastern British Empire represented abstractly. The mix of approximately blocks allows great flexibility of force composition. There is a card Action deck and a card Investment deck, plus 30 Peace Dividend chits and 50 markers of various types. The game starts in , with all three Great Powers virtually disarmed: Germany has repudiated the Versailles Peace Treaty, initiating an arms race in Europe.
The game may end peacefully or there may be war. There are game sanctions for attacking neutral minors or declaring war on an opponent, and rewards for remaining peaceful you get a Peace Dividend chit of value for every year you remain at Peace. Triumph and Tragedy is a true 3-sided game: Table talk is allowed and encouraged but agreements are not enforceable. Alliances are shifting and cooperation is undependable. The game can continue as an economic battle of attrition or a sudden military explosion can change everything.
There is immense replayability as players can pursue dominance in Europe via land, sea or air military superiority, technological supremacy, or economic hegemony without rivals realizing their strategy until it is too late! It is a highly interactive, tense, fast-moving game with little downtime between player turns, covering the crucial geopolitical decade of the 20th century in hours. The description above only touches on the cleverness of the design. In the summer of the same year they fought a defensive battle in Estonia in the region of Dorpat, and in February were directed to Western Pomerania, where until the last days of the war they put up a stubborn resistance to the armies of Stalin.
This book, which was originally published in Polish, is based on the unpublished memoirs of participants of these events, and is the first account to describe the Walloons' participation in the mysterious Pomeranian campaign in such a detailed manner. It tells the tragic story of the Walloon volunteers, who at all costs tried to stop the onrush of the enemy standing at the gates of the Third Reich. The Pomeranian odyssey led by the controversial and infamous Volksfuhrer Leon Degrelle went on for three months, and the trial meant death and courage. Stargard, Altdamm, Neu Rosow -- these are locations, that became synonyms for unconditional sacrifice.
They are also a symbol of kameradschaft, of a group of tough guys and daredevils, who were determined to stake everything on one throw of the dice. Illustrated with unique photographs and complemented by a special comic created by the French artist Godus showing silhouettes of the Walloon soldiers.
It is worth noting that some of these were made in the same location where the fighting raged in April The author's aim has been to include as much information as possible, without making any claim to exhaustivity, along clear and simple guidelines. Special emphasis has been given to the organization of units, a key element in the correct understanding of other chapters.
Those readers who have an interest in contemporary history will then have within their easy reach a reference to data which if frequently referred to, are rarely made explicit in historical works, to which The British Tommy brings but a compliment. Even though this book is not meant for their sole use, the collectors, reenactment groups, modelers or simple military enthusiasts should find here basic documents in the form of articles, which many will probably have read already, summarized from Militaria Magazine, a specialized French publication of International renown.
US Airborne Divisions Oversized at 9x12 inches, illustrated throughout in full color. Includes orders of battle and insignia for 82nd and st Airborne Divisions dropped on D-Day in While historians often cite specific examples of the fighting that took place on the peninsula, most treat the battles as individual events or singular parts of the overall Normandy campaign. Bradham takes a different approach, focusing on the unique set of battles that had to be fought in order for the Allies to secure their foothold on Normandy.
He discusses the strategy used to secure the peninsula and gives detailed accounts of the major battles and tactical doctrine that was developed to fight them. Along the way, he provides biographical information on the main actors, explaining how key personality traits along with personal relationships influenced their conduct while in battle. Opening with the pivotal air-sea battle of the Bismarck Sea, this important title recounts the fierce land campaign that was fought for the ridges that guarded the Japanese base at Salamaua.
From the strategic background of the campaign and the heated conflicts, to the mud and blood of the front lines, this is the extraordinary story. Phillip Bradley draws on the recollections of over 70 veterans from the campaign and on his own first-hand knowledge of the region.
Beginning with the early commando operations in Salamaua, the story unfolds with the burning of Wau, the clashes around Mubo, the Japanese convoy to Lae and the United States air operation to Wau. The book climaxes with the fortitude of Captain Sherlock's outnumbered company. Desperately fighting an enemy regiment debouching from the rugged unguarded ranges to the east, Sherlock's men fought to hold Wau airfield open for the arrival of vital reinforcements.
However, to date little has been heard of Fox Company of that same regiment-the men who fought alongside Easy Company through every step of the war in Europe, and who had their own stories to tell. Notably this book, over a decade in the making, came about for different reasons than the fame of the Band of Brothers.
Along the way he met Terry Poyser, who was on a similar mission to research the combat death of a Fox Company man from his hometown. Together, the two authors proceeded to locate and interview every surviving Fox Company vet they could find. The result was a wealth of fascinating firsthand accounts of WWII combat as well as new perspectives on Dick Winters and others of the 'Band,' who had since become famous.
Told primarily through the words of participants, Fighting Fox Company takes the reader through some of the most horrific close-in fighting of the war, beginning with the chaotic nocturnal paratrooper drop on D-Day. After fighting through Normandy the drop into Holland saw prolonged ferocious combat, and even more casualties; and then during the Battle of the Bulge, Fox Company took its place in line at Bastogne during one of the most heroic against-all-odds stands in US history.
As always in combat, each man's experience is different, and the nature of the German enemy is seen here in its equally various aspects. From ruthless SS fighters to meek Volkssturm to simply expert modern fighters, the Screaming Eagles encountered the full gamut of the Wehrmacht. The work is also accompanied by rare photos and useful appendices, including rosters and lists of casualties, to give the full look at Fox Company which has long been overdue.
Stern's catchy s lingo, honest and intimate observations, and humor, paired with his striking combat photography, transport the reader 70 years back in time to meet the hardscrabble Rangers and experience some of the key battles of the Mediterranean Theater. Snapdragon is an artifact of that time, told not by a man reminiscing in his twilight years, but by a young soldier fresh from the battlefields.
How were tank operations organized and carried out, what was the actual experience of combat, and what were the qualities that made the difference between success and failure - and what were the chances of survival? Vasiliy Pavlovich Bryukhov's vivid, detailed and gripping memoir of his wartime service gives a fascinating and authentic insight into these questions. In addition, it provides an accurate, unsentimental record of the day-to-day life of a tank man whose unit fought in the forefront of the Red Army throughout the conflict across the western Soviet Union and into Eastern Europe.
His first-hand eyewitness account is a memorable personal story, and it gives a powerful insight into the reality of tank warfare seventy years ago. Bryukhov was born in in Osa. In April , after graduation from tank school, he was given command of a T tank, and he took part in the Battle of Kursk. He served continuously until the end of the war, fighting through Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania, Hungary, to Austria. In one action his crew destroyed nine German panzers and in another he led the vanguard of his tank brigade through German lines to capture bridges and cut off the German retreat.
In , he was promoted to battalion commander. For his actions at the end of and , he was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union, but this nomination was not fulfilled until when he was given the title of a Hero of the Russian Federation for the courage and gallantry he displayed in battle during the Great Patriotic War. On D-Day - June 6, - the st and 82nd Airborne divisions dropped onto the Cotentin peninsula hours before the landings, tasked with capturing bridges and positions, taking out German strongpoints and batteries, and securing the exits from Utah and Omaha Beaches.
Things did not initially go smoothly for st Airborne, with cloud and antiaircraft fire disrupting the drops, resulting in some units landing scattered over a large area outside their designated drop zones and having to waste time assembling-stymied by lost or damaged radio equipment-or trying to achieve their objectives with severely reduced numbers. Casualties were high in some areas due to heavy pre-registered German fire. Nevertheless, the paratroopers fought on and they did manage to secure the crucial beach exits, even if they only achieved a tenuous hold on some other positions.
A few days later, st Airborne were tasked with attacking the German-held city of Carentan as part of the consolidation of the US beachheads and establishment of a defensive line against the anticipated German counteroffensive. The st forced their way into Carentan on 10 and 11 June. The Germans withdrew the following day, and a counteroffensive was rebuffed by elements of the 2nd Armored Division. This fully-illustrated book details the planning of the airborne element of D-Day, and the execution of the plans until the troops were withdrawn to prepare for the next big airborne operation, Market Garden.
In between it was switched back-and-forth between east and west depending on the crisis, and it fought in nearly every major campaign, from Barbarossa to Normandy, and from Kharkov to the Ardennes. The Eastern Front - Part of the Casemate Illustrated series, this volume outlines how it was that, less than a year after their defeat at Moscow, the German army had found a way to make the Soviet troops waver in their defense, with their persistence eventually leading to the Battle of Stalingrad.
The successful expulsion of the German troops from Moscow in the winter of came at a cost for the Red Army. Weaknesses in the Soviet camp inspired the Wehrmacht, under Adolf Hitler's close supervision, to make preparations for offensives along the Eastern Front to push the Russians further and further back into their territory. With a complex set of new tactics and the crucial aid of the Luftwaffe, the German army began to formulate a deadly two-pronged attack on Stalingrad to reduce the city to rubble.
Initially only on the periphery of operations, German ambitions soon focused on Stalingrad. In the lead up to this, Timoshenko's failed attack on Kharkov followed by the Battle of Sebastopol in June prompted Operation Blue, the German campaign to advance east on their prized objective. This volume includes numerous photographs of the ships, planes, tanks, trucks, and weaponry used by both sides in battle, alongside detailed maps and text outlining the constantly changing strategies of the armies as events unfolded.
Throughout the summer of , the Allied forces readily employed tanks and armored vehicles to gain ground in the bloody campaign of Normandy. Heavily armed, they provided a kind of support which no number of infantrymen could offer, battling their way through enemy lines with their guns blazing. This volume of the Casemate Illustrated series explores the Normandy invasion from the perspective of the Allied Armored divisions, looking at how armored vehicles played a central role in the many battles that took place.
It includes over 40 profiles of tanks and armored vehicles, from the American Sherman and Stuart tanks to the bulldozers and amphibious vehicles designed for the beach. June For many, the Waffen-SS soldier represents the archetype of the combatant, if not the warrior: However, is this picture true? In the case of the Battle of Normandy, opinions diverged, not only among today's historians, but also amongst the German generals at the time.
But they were by no means a single homogenous entity, for with the exception of II SS-Panzerkorps, the divisions arrived at the front one after another and were immediately thrown into battle. This volume in the Casemate Illustrated series examines the Waffen-SS in Normandy during the fierce fighting of June , when they struggled to hold back the Allied advance on Caen, though the picture was by no means one-sided. Extensively illustrated with photographs, tank profiles, maps, and accompanied by biographies of key personnel and explanatory text boxes, this volume gives a clear and accessible account of events, challenging some popular perceptions along the way.
The Germans were no exception. Within just ten weeks they would be defeated. This volume of Casemate Illustrated starts by exploring the initial struggle to gain control of Caen after the Allies had landed on the beaches of Normandy which resulted in the ferocious German Tiger tanks hammering the 7th Armored Division.
The subsequent strategies the commanders devised for the Panzer tanks during Operations Goodwood and Cobra were not so successful, ultimately ending in disaster for the Germans as the Allies broke through the German line by the end of July. With over photos, diagrams showing the composition of German armored divisions, and color profiles of tanks and other armored vehicles, this is a detailed examination of the German armored forces in Normandy in , focusing on the organization of the 10 Panzer divisions that took part, the vehicles they relied on and the battles they fought in and why ultimately their combined strength was not enough.
The Battle of the Bulge German army deficiencies are often cited as the reason for the failure of the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes region of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg in December of to January which the Germans called Operation Wacht am Rhein.
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The Allies named it the Ardennes Counteroffensive, and it was also commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge. The three German armies were in differing states when they regrouped for the offensive - only the 5th Panzer Army assembled in good condition, with the 6th and the 7th mediocre at best. The divisions were also often not mobile enough because of the lack of automotive equipment and were short on tanks and artillery. But these cannot be considered the only reasons for the German failure: This volume in the Casemate Illustrated series, with over photographs and 24 color profiles describes in detail the different events that caused the German defeat, from the beginning of the offensive on December 16, to the retreat behind the Siegfried Line.
It looks at several topics in particular: Vith; the resistance of the st Airborne in Bastogne; German obstinacy in persisting with the siege at Bastogne; the airlift and the intervention of the 9th US Air Force; the rapid regrouping of the 3rd US Army; Patton's counterattack; the British counterattack; and finally how the Allies failed to transform the German withdrawal into rout, missing an opportunity to cross the Siegfried line and the Rhine on the heels of the Germans, leading to an incomplete victory.
His close analysis of the rules of engagement, the tactical manuals, the training and equipment is balanced by vivid descriptions of the tactics as they were tested in action. Germany's Assault on the Soviet Union, Strategic-level, two-player 'mini-monster' wargame by Ty Bomba of intermediate complexity that covers the entire Russo-German War. Play may end sooner than the historic termination time, if the German player is able to do significantly better than his historic counterparts by advancing so quickly he causes the overall political, social, economic, and military collapse of the Soviet Union.
Likewise, if the Soviet player is able to carry out his strategic comeback more efficiently than did his historic counterparts during the second half of the real war, the game may again end earlier than it did historically. Each extra-large hexagons on the on two-sheet map represents 55 miles. The full order of battle is easily the most complete ever published in any simulation at this level, including every corps, corps equivalent, army, army detachment, fortress command, Tiger battalion, cavalry mechanized group, and ad hoc large-size unit that took part.
Also includes air army and air fleet counters in the order of battle, as well as the entire Soviet arsenal of Breakthrough Artillery corps. Each full turn represents one to two months, depending on the time of year. Manstein's Gambit, ; and What If: Both the multi-year scenarios can be played out in a long day of gaming, while the one-year scenarios can each be completed in under four hours.
Two 22xinch map, die-cut counters, One full-color Rules booklet, page campaign analysis includes 20 maps Also includes: Presented in pages is a chronologic textual and cartographic analysis of that terrible conflict's first half, from the day the Germans first crossed the border to the surrender of their Sixth Army in the Stalingrad pocket early in Includes over two dozen full-color and highly detailed maps, along with orders of battle and dozens of period photographs.
Hopelessly outnumbered by the human wave of the Red Army, the Wehrmacht fought on with determination, but was gradually beaten back. This book describes the great battles that marked the Soviet conquest of Prussia, from Memel to Konigsberg, the Heiligenbeil Pocket to Danzig.
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Using accounts never before published in English, Prit Buttar looks at the campaign both from a command level, and from the perspective of normal soldiers on the front line. Over the course of the war these states were repeatedly occupied by different forces, and local government organizations and individuals were forced to choose between supporting the occupying forces or forming partisan units to resist their occupation.
Devastated during the German invasion, these states then became the site of some of the most vicious fighting during the Soviet counter-attack and push towards Berlin. Many would be caught up in the bitter fighting in the region and, in particular, in the huge battles for the Courland Bridgehead during Operation Bagration, when hundreds of thousands of soldiers would fight and die in the last year of the war. By the end of the war, death and deportation had cost the Baltic States over 20 per cent of their total population and Soviet occupation was to see the iron curtain descend on the region for four decades.
Using numerous first-hand accounts and detailed archival research, Prit Buttar weaves a magisterial account of the bitter fighting on the Eastern Front and the three small states whose fates were determined by the fortunes and misfortunes of war. The encirclement of Paulus' Sixth Army in Stalingrad trapped a significant portion of the Wehrmacht's combat forces in the ruins of the devastated city, where they would ultimately die or be taken prisoner, but at the same time the entire German position was left in a catastrophic state.
The year's campaign had seen the Germans advance first east, but then increasingly to the south and southeast; the Soviet counter-offensive not only isolated Sixth Army, it also raised the possibility of the collapse of the entire front. The ultimate failure of the Red Army to achieve this is due in no small part to the efforts of one of the Wehrmacht's greatest commanders: Erich von Manstein, who rebuilt the German front line and fought a mobile campaign, in which all the strengths of the German forces, and all the weaknesses of their Soviet opponents, were revealed.
It contained the line: He refused to answer any further questions, leaving instead a memoir of his life during World War II. Joining up aged 19, within six months he was in No. For almost two years he lived in West Africa, fighting Germany's Vichy French allies, as well as protecting the Southern Atlantic supply routes. Returning home at Christmas , he retrained as a fighter-bomber pilot flying Typhoons and was one of the first over the Normandy beaches on D-Day. On 25 July , he was shot down, spending the rest of the war in a POW camp -- Stalag Luft 3 -- where he was held in solitary confinement, interrogated by the Gestapo, and imprisoned in the infamous, and suffered the winter march of before being liberated by the Russians.
Fleshing out Bob's careful third-person memoir with detailed research, his daughter Suzanne Campbell Jones tells the gripping story of a more or less ordinary man, who came home with extraordinary memories which he kept to himself for more than 50 years. Barbarossa The Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June pitted Nazi Germany and her allies against Stalin's forces in a mighty struggle for survival. Fighting alongside the spearhead Panzer divisions were Germany's highly skilled and veteran motorized infantrymen - including the German Army's premier unit, Infanterie-Regiment mot.
Opposing these German mobile forces, the Soviets deployed the often ill-trained and poorly equipped men of the rifle regiments, who fought tenaciously and with the threat of savage reprisals from their own side. Three bruising clashes during the first seven weeks of the campaign are assessed - a bloody encounter battle at Zhlobin, the struggle for the destroyed city of Smolensk, and then a prolonged clash along a dangerously stretched German defensive perimeter at Vas'kovo-Voroshilovo.
Introduction, The opposing sides, Zhlobin: Winter War The Winter War was supposed to be a quick and easy conflict; instead it proved to be a bitter war that destroyed the international reputation of the Soviet Red Army. The diminutive Finnish force was desperately outnumbered by almost half a million Russian troops, but rather than sweeping across their neighbors the Soviet troops stumbled blindly, constantly wrong-footed and then bloodied by their seemingly insignificant foe.
Drawing on a wide range of sources this study looks at three key battles, drawing a stark contrast between the poorly prepared Russian troops and the Finns, who made excellent use of terrain and innovative guerrilla tactics as they defended their homeland. Detailed maps and specially commissioned artwork highlight key moments in the Winter War, a David-and-Goliath conflict that saw the Soviet Union suffer horrendous losses as they tried to recover from each disastrous defeat. Vimy Ridge to Passchendaele In the soldiers of the Canadian Corps would prove themselves the equal of any fighting on the Western Front, while on the other side of the wire, the men of the Royal Bavarian Army won a distinguished reputation in combat.
Employing the latest weapons and pioneering tactics, these two forces would clash in three notable encounters: Featuring carefully chosen archive photographs and specially commissioned artwork, this study assesses these three hard-fought battles in on the Western Front, and offers a new take on the evolving nature of infantry combat in World War I. Sicily, Normandy, and Operation Market Garden, The US Airborne force fielded some of the toughest, best-trained and most resourceful troops of World War II -- all necessary qualities in a force that was lightly armed and which would in most operational circumstances be surrounded from the moment it landed on the battlefield.
The German Wehrmacht grew to rely on a series of defensive measures to combat the airborne threat, including fortifications, localized reserves, and special training to help intercept and disrupt airborne troops both in the air and on the ground. Despite such methods, it was cool-headed command and control that would prove to be the real key to blunting the Airborne's edge. Using specially commissioned artwork, this book examines the development of the American airborne forces that spearheaded the Allied effort in Sicily, Normandy, and Operation Market Garden, and the German countermeasures that evolved in response to the threat of Allied airborne landings.
In that blood-soaked invasion, a single company of Sherman tanks, of which only two survived, played a pivotal role in turning the tide from looming disaster to legendary victory. This study uses official documents, memoirs, interviews with veterans, and personal and aerial photographs to follow Charlie Company from its formation, and trace the movement, action-and loss-of individual tanks in this horrific four-day struggle. It is a story of escapes from drowning tanks, and even more harrowing escapes from tanks knocked out behind Japanese lines. It is a story of men doing whatever needed to be done, from burying the dead to hand-carrying heavy cannon ammunition forward under fire.
It is the story of how the two surviving tanks and their crews expanded a perilously thin beachhead, and cleared the way for critical reinforcements to come ashore. But most of all it is a story of how a few unsung Marines helped turn near disaster into epic victory. The Russo-German war From the siege of Leningrad to the boarders of East Prussia, maps, illust, biblio, index. Originally intended as a very long-range fighter escort for the Boeing B Superfortress during World War II, it arrived too late to see combat and evolved into a night and all-weather fighter during the post-war years.
Combat operations in the Korean War followed, along with a host of other dynamic episodes of deployment. This work traces the developmental, operational, and combat history of this unique American fighter and features photographs and illustrations, many of which have never been published before. Seven chapters, all extensively illustrated, cover the aircraft's development, descriptions of the variants and subtypes, details of initial entry into service, three chapters covering the F's service in the Korean War, and a final chapter detailing the type's removal from the Korean War Theater in February , to see out its operational days in the Alaskan Air Defense Command.
An appendix section follows, featuring tables of the different variants, an illustrated list of known nose art applied to Fs, and an entry of losses suffered in the Korean War. All these additional details bring new points of interest to the popular Images of War format, making for a richer, more informative reading experience. Focusing on an overlooked type, deployed in a conflict often sidelined within mainstream war histories, this publication offers a much deserved platform upon which to appreciate this dynamic and immensely interesting aircraft.
Without warning, as Italian forces poured over the frontier from Albania, the RHAF's paltry effective lineup of battle worthy aircraft, most of them obsolete, were pitted against the fielded by the Regia Aeronautica, whose pilots had honed their skills in the Spanish Civil War. On the Greek side, though, aces such as Marinos Mitralexis, with his audacious ramming of an Italian bomber on the fifth day of the war ensured that morale in the RHAF remained high.
Though the RAF pitched in with whatever help it could provide in machines and manpower, the aerial war was unequal from the beginning. By the end of the RHAF was seriously depleted, though individual pilots and crews continued to fight valiantly. The end came in April when Germany rescued Italy.
After the end of World War II the RHAF was called upon to confront the threat of an attempted communist takeover of Greece and played a major part in overcoming the rebellion and saving the country for the West. This aggression was prompted by Mussolini's desire for a quick victory to rival Hitler's rapid conquest of France and the Low Countries. On paper, Greek forces were poorly equipped and ill prepared for the conflict but Mussolini had underestimated the skill and determination of the defenders.
Within weeks the Italian invasion force was driven back over the border and Greek forces actually advanced deep into Albania. A renewed Italian offensive in March was also given short shrift, prompting Hitler to intervene to save his ally. German forces invaded Greece via Bulgaria on 6 April. The Greeks, now assisted by British forces, resisted by land, sea and air but were overwhelmed by the superior German forces and their blitzkrieg tactics.
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Despite a dogged rearguard action by Anzac forces at the famous pass of Thermopylae, Athens fell on the 27th April and the British evacuated 50, troops to Crete. This island, whose airfields and naval bases Churchill considered vital to the defense of Egypt and the Suez Canal, was invaded by German airborne troops the following month and eventually captured after a bitter thirteen-day battle. The remaining British troops were evacuated and the fall of Greece completed. John Carr's masterful account of these desperate campaigns, while not disparaging the British and Commonwealth assistance, draws heavily on Greek sources to emphasize the oft-neglected experience of the Greeks themselves and their contribution to the fight against fascism.
Combat in Norway and Finland New edition reprint covers the German campaigns in the northern theater of operations encompassing Denmark, Norway, Finland, and the far north of Russia are detailed in this long neglected account of the campaign as described from the German point of view. Based mainly on original German records captured in alongside the postwar military recollections of veterans, this fascinating account encompasses the lessons and conclusions drawn from these German sources. The life and death of the Waffen SS can be traced in the surviving photographs, and the brooding saga of the decline from triumph into disaster is told through these powerful images which clearly document the reality of combat on the Russian Front.
However, Hitler only spent a few hours in Paris before heading to Flanders to revisit the sites of the battlefields where he had served during the Great War. He was on a propaganda mission to publicize his own war service and a full photographic record of Hitler's visits to France and Flanders was produced by Heinrich Hoffman, Hitler's personal photographer. Those photographs from have now been collected together for the first time and are reproduced here along with all of the most important surviving images of Hitler in the Great War.
Featuring rare and previously unpublished images of Hitler in France and Flanders from to , this important photographic study documents a vital but often overlooked chapter in the story of Adolf Hitler.
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Images Of War Series Rare photographs from both official and unofficial SS sources illustrate the role of the individual in this epic struggle. This is a candid and comprehensive picture of warfare on the Russian Front at the sharp end.
These were the men who manned the trenches, climbed mountains, and marched across the endless steppe in all seasons. Today there are very few surviving vehicles from the Wehrmacht. Images of War Series The SS divisions included Cavalrymen, Paratroopers, Mountain, and Ski Battalions and these rare photographs illustrate the unique role played by specialist units in action. Against all expectations, the neutral nations were quickly overrun, and the British Expeditionary Corps was forced to be evacuated, almost miraculously, from the channel port of Dunkirk.
France capitulated in two months.