This new volume covers development from the VK 45.02(P), VK 45.03(H) to the modifications under design for the Tiger II at the end of the war. All of this illustrated with scale drawings by Hilary L. Doyle combined with drawings, sketches, and photographs depicting external modifications is well as internal views. Over twenty years of intensive research went into finding the original documents needed to create this new history on the development, characteristics, and tactical capabilities of the Tiger series. Tom Jentz has conducted an exhaustive search for suviving records of the design/assembly firms (including Henschel, Krupp, Nibelungenwerk, Porsche, and Wegmann), the Heeres-Waffenamt, the D656 series of manuals on the Tiger, and the war diaries and operations reports from the German units. The written records were supplemented by examining thousands of photos. On-sight research into almost all the surviving Tigers provided details that could only be obtained from actual specimens. New information was found on the evolution of the heavy tank series, the key decisons on the design of the Tigers, the significant modifications made during the production runs, production statistics, the Tigers characteristics and tactical capabilities, an exact accounting of the issue of the Tigers to the combat units, and combat account written directly after the actions. Tom Jentz is also the author of Germany's Tiger Tanks: Tiger I & II - Combat Tactics; Germany's Panther Tank: The Quest for Combat Supremacy; Panzertruppen 1933-1942; and Panzertruppen 1943-1945 (all four titles are available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).

The fifth volume of trucks and cars used by Germany during WWII.

Available in paperback for the first time, The Victorian soldier in Africa re-examines the campaign experience of British soldiers in Africa during the period, 1874-1902 - the zenith of the Victorian imperial expansion - and does so from the perspective of the regimental soldier. The book utilises an unprecedented number of letters and diaries, written by regimental officers and other ranks, to allow soldiers to speak for themselves about their experience of colonial warfare. The sources demonstrate the adaptability of the British army in fighting in different climates, over demanding terrain and against a diverse array of enemies. They also uncover soldiers' responses to army reforms of the era as well as the response to the introduction of new technologies of war. Moreover, the book provides commentary on soldiers' views of commanding officers and politicians alongside assessment of war correspondents, colonial auxiliaries and African natives in their roles as bearers, allies and enemies. This book reveals new insights on imperial and racial attitudes within the army, on relations between soldiers and the media and the production of information and knowledge from frontline to homefront. It will make fascinating reading for students, academics and enthusiasts in imperial history, Victorian studies, military history and colonial warfare. -- .

Men, ideas and tanks reviews the development of British military ideas on armoured forces from 1903 to 1939. Great Britain was the nation which first developed the tank, first used it in action and first gained dramatic results by employment. The British continued to be world leaders in the field of mechanised warfare until the early 1930s. J. P. Harris offers strikingly new interpretations of the early history of British armoured forces and explains why Great Britain had lost the lead by the outbreak of the Second World War. Available in paperback once more, this work will be of interest to all those concerned with British military history in the first half of the twentieth century, with the history of mechanised warfare and with the history of military thought. -- .

Albert Schwenn was called up by the SS Cavalry Replacement Battalion in Warsaw in October 1942, and in March 1943, was seconded to the SS Cavalry Division. Schwenn gives a vivid account of the brutal combat on the Russian front, and especially operations against partisans, where he took part in so-called pacification actions behind the front lines. In August 1943, his division was transferred to the front near Kharkov. After recovering from wounds received during the Soviet offensive, he served as an instructor, lastly with the SS Cavalry Replacement and Training Regiment in Bohemia. In addition to nearly three months of action during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, Schwenn also took part in operations during the Prague Uprising in May 1945. Because of his participation in operations against partisans in 1943, he was given a death sentence, and ultimately served nearly eleven years as a POW in the USSR.

The U.S. Army supply organization for the Normandy Invasion, although very impressive, should have done a better job in the summer of 1944. The supply system suffered from several serious shortcomings which should have been avoided. The purpose of this work is to examine an aspect of military history which, as many military historians have pointed out, has received little attention. As the Gulf War demonstrated, logistics, the supplying of armies, is crucial to achieving victory.

This cogent global history traces the evolution of land warfare since the start of the Crimean War. Jeremy Black argues that although it has always been critical to the outcome of conflicts worldwide, land warfare has become undervalued in comparison to air power in modern military thinking. In practice, land warfare was crucial during the American Civil War, the two world wars, and the conflicts of the Cold War. Indeed, the revival of great power confrontation has led to an urgent need to re-examine the entire contemporary period. Looking to the future, the book shows convincingly that we must consider the nature of the military for non-state actors as well for as the major powers. Ultimately, Black contends, there is no substitute for the control over territory provided by boots on the ground.

How have the U.S. Army Rangers acted as special operations forces in military operations since 1942? Hogan's study examines the nature and purpose of the Rangers over the past fifty years and shows how they have served as scouts, raiders, assault troops, and elite infantry. They have spearheaded amphibious landings, raided enemy prison camps, patrolled behind enemy lines in Korea, served alongside Green Berets in Vietnam, and carried out special missions in Grenada. Professional officers, military historians, students, and general readers will find this a fascinating history. This analytical account opens with a short description of the origins of the Ranger legend in America and then moves to a discussion of their use in World War II, as commandos in 1942, then as spearheaders in 1943 and 1944, as line infantry in Europe and as special operations forces in the Pacific. This provocative assessment also traces the development of Ranger raider units in Korea, the special training and use of Green Berets as Rangers in Vietnam, and the shifting of Ranger roles into more complex and varied types of operations in Vietnam and Grenada and in a world of increasing terrorism and changing combat situations. Illustrations, maps, and a lengthy bibliography add to the usefulness of the study.

Based on extensive Japanese-language materials, this book is the first to examine the development of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force. It addresses: how the GSDF was able to emerge as the post-war successor of the Imperial Japanese Army despite Japan's anti-militarist constitution; how the GSDF, despite the public skepticism and even hostility that greeted its creation, built domestic and international legitimacy; and how the GSDF has responded to changes in international and domestic environments. This path-breaking study of the world's third-largest-economic power's ground army is timely for two reasons. First, the resurgence of tensions in Northeast Asia over territorial disputes, and the emphasis recent Japanese governments have placed on using the GSDF for defending Japan's outlying islands is driving media coverage and specialist interest in the GSDF. Second, the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami has focused global attention on the GSDF as Japan's lead disaster relief organization. This highly informative and thoroughly researched book provides insight for policy makers and academics interested in Japanese foreign and defense policies.

Downsizing has become one of the defining phenomena of the post-Cold War era, a trend affecting few sectors of American life more than the armed forces. Between 1989 and 1996, the active duty Army was cut back by more than a third, from 770,000 soldiers to fewer than half a million. Additional cuts are virtually certain to follow.

How has the Army implemented this mandate to downsize? What common threads exist between past post-war cutbacks and today's redistribution of the "peace dividend"? How has downsizing affected the morale, devotion, and disposition of the Army's officers, whose commitment to the institution profoundly determines its effectiveness? Crucially, is it truly possible to institute the radical transformation that downsizing requires without affecting the Army's ability to fight and win future wars?

As David McCormick demonstrates in this authoritative volume, the Army's downsizing is a story of both failure and success. Unable to make a persuasive case for a larger force, the Army's leaders made dramatic reductions, particularly among the officer corps. Though executed with compassion and precision, these cuts have taken their toll, undermining morale and resulting in dangerous pathologies which threaten the Army at its core. While the downsizing of the Army is unique in that it was externally mandated, the Army's experience is instructive for all organizations--government, corporate, and nonprofit alike--faced with the need to streamline their operations.

Basing his conclusions on hundreds of in-depth interviews with officers across all ranks and senior civilian and military leaders, as well as exhaustive research with Pentagon documents, McCormick has given us a definitive portrait of today's U.S. Army in transition, one that will transform our thinking about both downsizing and the military.

The final part of the Lion and the Rose trilogy detailing the TF battalions of the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment in the Great War. Established in August 1914, the 2/5th spent the next thirty months in England perfecting their ability to `form fours'; engaged in almost every sort of training other than that which they would need at the Front. When they deployed to France in February 1917, they were pitted against an aggressive and experienced foe. This book tells the story of their struggle to learn the skills necessary to survive in the pitiless arena of modern warfare and their progress to become the fighting equals of any by the end of the war. With no history written for either 57 Division or the 2/5th, this book-based on dozens of contemporary and unpublished sources, tells their story for the first time. The book contains sketch maps of the sectors the battalion fought in and accurate coordinates for all positions; previously unpublished photographs of men from the battalion; the most complete battalion roll yet compiled and narrates the individual parts played by 1,000 of the officers and men during the war.

Covers the variety of captured weapons and equipment used by the Wehrmacht.

Here, for the first time, the fighting done by Hilliard's Legion, a part of Archibald Gracie's Brigade of Alabama Confederates, is examined in detail. Lee Elder's research shows conclusively that Gracie's command was never forced from the berm at the top of the Horseshoe Ridge and that some men from Hilliard's Legion penetrated to the top of the Ridge. Using period sources not generally cited by other researchers, including letters from Legion members, this study sheds new light on the Legion's role in the conclusion of the battle. It spotlights the previously untold history of a small number of Gracie's men who joined another Confederate brigade in the final movement of the battle that resulted in the surrender of more than 200 Union soldiers. Readers will explore some of the controversies surrounding the Battle of Chickamauga, and follow the Legion's history before and after it climbed Horseshoe Ridge. The notation on a Congressional Medal of Honor is corrected and the Legion's post-war contributions are explored. The text is followed by a complete roster of Hilliard's Legion with biographical notes on most of the soldiers.

In late 1943, 362. Infanterie-Division was formed around the remnants of 268. Infanterie-Division, which had been disbanded after high casualties on the Eastern Front. It fought at Anzio in early 1944, overrun when the Allied broke through the German lines in April. During its time at Anzio, the division was involved in the Benedicta massacre. The unit was withdrawn to Rome. Facing the Allied advance, it suffered further losses and had to be rebuilt once more. Returning to the front, it then fought until late April 1945, when it surrendered. This account focuses on the efforts of 362. Infanterie-Division to turn back the Allied forces from their advance north in late 1944 and early 1945. Its commander, Heinz Greiner led the division in a series of counterattacks against Allied forces outside Rome that slowed Allied progress. While Greiner did not have access to the unit war diary while writing this account his experience as commander of 362. Infanterie-Division thoughout this period means that it offers a unique insight into the battle from the German perspective well as a thorough account of the reestablishment, training and combat performance of a German division.

This edited volume presents the latest multidisciplinary research that delves into developments related to contemporary Okinawa (a.k.a Ryukyu Islands), and also engages with contemporary debates on American hegemony and Empire in a larger geographical context. Okinawa, long viewed as a marginalized territory in larger historical processes, has been characterized solely by the U.S. military presence in the islands, despite having embraced a multiplicity of social and cultural transformations since the end of the Pacific War. In this timely academic revision of Okinawa, occurring at the time of numerous debates over the building of yet another military base in the island, this volume's contributors tell a story that situates Okinawa in the context of other militarized territories and thus, goes beyond the limits of Okinawa prefecture. Indeed, the book examines the ways in which studies on Okinawa have evolved, moving away from the direct problems brought by the establishment of foreign military bases. Previous studies have explicated how Okinawa has fallen prey to power politics of more dominant nations. In expanding on these themes, this volume examines the unique social and cultural dynamics of Okinawa and its people that had never been intended by the political authorities.

Riding East details the history of the previously unexamined SS Cavalry Brigade. Beginning with a background of the General SS mounted units, from which personnel formed part of the Brigade's cadre, the author details the organizations, units and commanders of these pre-war formations. A detailed biography of Hermann Fegelein, commander of the Brigade, is followed by a chapter devoted to the SS command in Poland where the Brigade operated during 1939-40 as an occupational force. The units themselves are next examined from first creation in 1939 until they divided into two regiments in 1941, including all duties and operations in Poland. Assigned to the Headquarters Staff "Reichsfuhrer-SS" at the start of the invasion of Russia, the regiments the combined with other units to form the SS-Cavalry Brigade and conducted anti-partisan warfare operations for most of the remainder of 1941. All the summer 1941 operations are examined in depth, including the massive Pripet marshes actions, using original documents from American and European archive sources. Subordinated on 1942 to Army Group "Center" the SS-Cavalry Brigade fought at the front during the massive Russian offensive in 1942 and was almost completely annihilated in the Rshev area before finally being withdrwan and used as cadre for the new SS-Kavallerie-Division. Heavily documented, the detailed text is supplemented by 109 photographs, most of which are previously unpublished. In addition, six maps, six Order of Battle charts, complete officer rosters 1939-142, feldpost numbers, details of primary commanders within the Brigade, as well information on the units and commanders it was subordinated to, complete a comprehensive history of first combat mounted unit of the SS.

The U.S. Army evolved into a truly modern fighting force during World War I. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, the infantry was its primary offensive arm. Training focused mainly on target practice, bayonet charges and marching drills. Antiquated tactics emphasized massive attack waves relying on ferocity to achieve battlefield objectives. Heavy casualties resulted when inexperienced American troops encountered entrenched German veterans trained in the use of modern artillery and machine guns. By war's end the American Expeditionary Force had progressed along a bloody learning curve, developing sophisticated techniques-small flexible formations, fire-and-maneuver and infiltration-for breaking the trench warfare stalemate. Eventually, the AEF integrated new weapons like poison gas, tanks and aircraft into its offensive tactics and pioneered the mechanized combined arms warfare still practiced by the U.S. Army. The exploits of the Fifth ""Red Diamond"" Division exemplify this critical period of development.

No war has caused greater human suffering than the Second World War on Germany's Eastern Front. Victory in the war cost the Red Army over 29 million casualties, whose collective fate is only now being properly documented. Among the many millions of soldiers who made up that gruesome toll were an unprecedented number of Red Army general officers. Many of these perished on the battlefield or in prison camps at the hands of their German tormentors. Others fell victim to equally terrifying Stalinist repression. Together these generals personify the faceless nature of the war of the Eastern Front - the legions of forgotten souls who perished in the war. Covered up for decades, the saga of these victims of war can now be told and in this volume, A A Maslov begins the difficult process of memorializing these warrior casualties. Using formerly secret Soviet archival materials and personal interviews with the families of the officers, he painstakingly documents the fate of Red Army generals who fell victim to wartime enemy action.

Using only original official period documents from the Second World War this book tries to provide the reader with the same information on the Panzer V Panther tank that was available to British and Commonwealth senior officers and tank crews during the war. As soon as intelligence reports confirmed the existence of the Panther tank the hunt was on to find reliable information on how to knock out this new German tank. Most people believe that the only way to stop a Panther was to penetrate its armour with an armour piercing A.P. round. Luckily the British 17 pdr anti-tank gun could do that but the British were also looking how to knock them out by using other weapons. They tested using high explosive artillery rounds and 20 mm air attack aircraft canon rounds to penetrate and damage the tank's rear engine deck and puncture the vehicle's radiators. Loss of water would cause the engine to overheat and stop working. Tank radiators were large and spares were not carried on the tank. If the Panther could not be recovered back to a maintenance depot the crew would have to abandon the tank and disable it by setting off internal explosive charges.

Luftwaffe Panzer division formed from the paratroop corps was one of the elite units in the Wehrmacht and fought in North Africa and Italy.

Tzoref-Ashkenazi presents a detailed study of two German regiments which served in India under the British between 1782 and 1791. He asks if the Germans identified with the goals of the British colonial power, how they felt about local people and whether they adopted the colonial ideologies of their British employers.

This book covers the development and usage of the Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) during WWII.

Covered are the radio and wire controlled vehicles as used by the Wehrmacht in 1940-1943.

A virtual army of those heroic "dolls for boys" is covered in this colorful volume. Starring well-known figures and rarities alike, from Hasbro's GI Joe and Mego's Star Trek figures to Tomland's Star Raiders and Marx's Safari Adventure Series, this lively text and more than 400 color illustrations present the figures, their outfits, vehicles, and accessories. Complete details are provided on every series listed. Combining forces with the Adventure Team are super heroes, science fiction stars, and characters from television and film that will delight aficionados of all stripes. Rounding out the book are up-to-date values for the figures and their accessories. The book is sure to bring back exciting childhood memories of happy hours spent living out the adventures of favorite heroes.