This concise history of Germany's panzers and panzerkorps features a generous selection of period photos showing the variety of German tank types used during World War II - from Panzer 1 to Maus. Included is analysis of the technical and operational use of German armor on a variety of war fronts.

Volumes have been written on the equipment of the German Army of World War II, including tanks, trucks, motorcycles, weapons, and personal equipment, but little has been written on the horses that made up 80% of its transportation. Horses pulled everything an army needed in the field by wagon or on its back and more horses were used in World War II than in any other war in history. This book includes text from the U.S. Army Military History Institute publication MS #P-090. The participants of this study were among the most knowledgeable the German army could provide, and their conclusions constitute a critique of what probably was the last mass use of horses in warfare. If one really means to understand the performance and tactics of the Wehrmacht in World War II, one must understand the horse and its logistic requirements. Also, this book presents one of the most comprehensive photo collections of the men and equipment of the horse-mounted troops.

A comprehensive and fully illustrated account of all the vehicles needed to move, use, and maintain communications equipment vital to the success of the U.S. Army during World War II, including trucks, workshop trucks, vans and trailers all designed by the Signal Corps, described in technical detail and illustrated by hundreds of period photos. The Signal Corps was at the forefront of the technological development of communications throughout World War II. Tasked with coordinating all American military activities, the Signal Corps initially had to rely on a communications landline network covering some 1 300 000 km. This was soon overtaken by radio communications. however adaptation remained a priority within the US Army Signal Corps for when landline networks were unavailable or radio silence had to be observed. Almost every large piece of Signal Corps equipment required wheeled transport, and over a hundred vehicles and trailers would be specially designed, many associated with one particular radio or radar installation. This comprehensive and fully illustrated account covers radar and radio vehicles, plus specialised vehicles such as telephone repair trucks, mobile telephone switchboards and homing pigeon units, all described in technical detail and illustrated by hundreds of period photos.

Le nouveau livre "tank hunter world war one" couvre tous les chars construits durant la grande guerre de 1914-1918. Des sections du livre sont entierement consacrees aux debuts du developpement des chars d'assaut Schneider CA et du Saint-Chamond ainsi que du char leger Renault FT. Le char ravitailleur et tracteur d'artillerie Schneider CD est inclus, utilisant le meme chassis. Les tactiques de l'arme blindee Francaise sont dissequees ainsi que l'implementation du concept du general Estienne de la "nuee de guepes". Les batailles et actions ou prirent part ces materiels sont couverts dans un chapitre separe.

Between 1940 and 1944, although large numbers of British troops battled around the littorals of the Mediterranean and Burma, most of the British Army bided its time at home. Between Dunkirk and D-Day, those troops lived in a grey area, neither fully at peace nor properly at war. While they trained under virtually peacetime conditions, their colleagues overseas were gaining up-to-date battle experience. The lessons from that experience should have made the troops who crossed the Channel in summer 1944 the most thoroughly prepared soldiers ever to go into their first battle. Sadly, the results in Normandy confounded any such expectations, as in battle after battle the combat effectiveness of British troops, particularly infantry and armour, proved weak.
In this study, Timothy Harrison Place traces the reasons for the British Army's tactical weakness in Normany to flaws in its training in Britain. The armour suffered from a failure fully to disseminate the lessons of experience in the Mediterranean theatres to troops training at home. Disagreements between General Montgomery and the War Office over basic doctrine for the employment of armour exacerbated matters. The infantry, meanwhile, failed to apply the lessons learned on the Western Front a generation before. They trained according to the habits of 1916, and, despite the efforts of some among their number, the British Army never fully recovered from that error.
This book paints a picture of an untried British Army working hard to learn its trade. Oblivious to the fact that it was always one step behind the enemy, this was an army cruelly let down by poor direction from the top.

Robert Forczyk covers the development of armoured warfare in North Africa from the earliest Anglo-Italian engagements in 1940 to the British victory over the German Afrikakorps in Operation Crusader in 1941. The war in the North African desert was pure mechanized warfare, and in many respects the most technologically advanced theatre of World War II. It was also the only theatre where for three years British and Commonwealth, and later US, troops were in constant contact with Axis forces. World War II best-selling author Robert Forczyk explores the first half of the history of the campaign, from the initial Italian offensive and the arrival of Rommel's Panzergruppe Afrika to the British Operation Crusader offensive that led to the relief of Tobruk. He examines the armoured forces, equipment, doctrine, training, logistics and operations employed by both Allied and Axis forces throughout the period, focusing especially on the brigade and regimental level of operations. Fully illustrated throughout with photographs, profile artwork and maps, and featuring tactical-level vignettes and appendices analysing tank data, tank deliveries in-theatre and orders of battle, this book goes back to the sources to provide a new study of armoured warfare in the desert.

World War II marked the zenith of railway gun development. Although many of the railway guns deployed at the start of the conflict were of World War I vintage, Germany's ambitious development programme saw the introduction of a number of new classes, including the world's largest, the 80cm-calibre Schwerer Gustav and Schwerer Dora guns, which weighed in at 1,350 tons and fired a huge 7-ton shell. This book provides an overview of the types of railway guns in service during World War II, with a special focus on the German railway artillery used in France, Italy and on the Eastern Front, and analyzes why railway guns largely disappeared from use following the end of the war.

Between 1941 and 1944, the Germans and the Italians imposed a brutal occupation of Greece. This, as well as the outbreak of famine, drove many Greeks to join a variety of resistance movements in the mountains. The British government anticipated the German occupation of Europe and created the Special Operations Executive (SOE). One directorate of the SOE was responsible for partisan activity in the mountains and another directorate focused on encouraging espionage and sabotage in Greek cities. Over 3000 Greeks and British operated espionage networks that made a significant contribution to the war effort in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately the work of the spy and saboteur working in the shadows remained classified until the end of the twentieth century. The release of SOE documents in the twenty-first century provides an amazing insight into how intelligence operations were a critical part of the Allied victory of the Second World War. The aim of the book is to bring to life the stories of the ghosts of the shadow war.

The best U.S. division at war, from Normandy to the Bulge and beyond The 30th Infantry Division, drawn from the hill country of Tennessee and the Carolinas, was regarded during World War II as the cream of the crop of U.S. fighting units. The Germans agreed, calling the division "Roosevelt's SS" for its tenacity and skill. The 30th fought in Normandy, along the Siegfried Line (where it conducted "the perfect infantry attack"), at the Battle of the Bulge, and in the final operations inside Germany. Baumer relies on primary sources to tell the story of this remarkable unit and its men in what is sure to become a classic World War II division history.

From Afghanistan and Sierra Leone to East Timor, the aftermath of any armed conflict presents a complex set of challenges. Whatever political agreements may have been reached, conflicts are often at risk of reigniting, and the fates of their former participants remain uncertain. Armed groups may not be easily dissuaded from pursuing belligerent activities which they see as both profitable and understandable behaviour. In the face of these difficulties, the process of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) attempts to convince combatants to relinquish their weapons and return to civilian life. It is a crucial first step towards lasting peace."Demobilizing Militias" is the first comprehensive introduction to DDR in the contemporary world. Examining regions as varied as Africa, Asia and Central America, it guides readers through the different stages of the DDR process as well as assessing competing perspectives surrounding its implementation. Attentive to the problems faced by practitioners, Eric Shibuya argues against a 'one size fits all' approach, emphasizing the importance of social and psychological contexts in fostering the trust that is necessary for DDR to succeed. Accessible and incisive, it will be an ideal resource for students of politics, security and conflict studies, as well as anyone interested in the dynamics of peacebuilding today.

In a series of massive military undertakings that stretched from 1095 to 1291, Christendom's armies won, defended, and lost the sacred sites of the Holy Land. Many books have been written about the Crusades, but until now none has described in detail what is was like to take part in medieval Europe's most ambitious wars. This vividly written book draws on extensive research and on a wealth of surviving contemporary accounts to recreate the full experience of crusading, from the elation of taking up the cross to the difficult adjustments at home when the war was over. Distinguished historian Norman Housley explores the staggering logistical challenges of raising, equipping, and transporting thousands of Christian combatants from Europe to the East as well as the complications that non-combatant pilgrims presented. He describes the ordinary crusader's prolonged years of difficult military tasks, risk of starvation and disease, trial of religious faith, death of friends, and the specter of heavy debt or stolen homelands upon arriving home. Creating an unprecedented sense of immediacy, Housley brings to light the extent of crusaders' sacrifices and the religious commitment that enabled them to endure.

From the evacuation of France in 1940 to the final dash to Hamburg in 1945, the 5th Royal Tank Regiment were on the front line throughout the Second World War. Theirs was a war that saw them serve in Africa as part of the Desert Rats, before returning to Europe for the Normandy landings. Wherever they went, the notoriety of the 'Filthy Fifth' grew - they revelled in their reputation for fighting by their own rules. The Tank War explains how Britain, having lost its advantage in tank warfare by 1939, regained ground through shifts in tactics and leadership methods, as well as the daring and bravery of the crews themselves. Overturning the received wisdom of much Second World War history, Mark Urban shows how the tank regiments' advances were the equal of the feats of the German Panzer divisions. Drawing on a wealth of new material, from interviews with surviving soldiers to rarely seen archive material, this is an unflinchingly honest, unsentimental and often brutal account of the 5th RTR's wartime experiences. Capturing the characters in the crews and exploring the strategy behind their success, The Tank War is not just the story of an battle hardened unit, but something more extraordinary: the triumph of ordinary men, against long odds, in the darkest of times.

Diocletian and Constantine were the greatest of the Late Roman emperors, and their era marks the climax of the legionary system. Under Constantine's successors the legions were reduced in size and increasingly sidelined in favour of new units of elite auxilia, but between AD 284 and 337 the legions reigned supreme. The legionaries defeated all-comers and spearheaded a stunning Roman revival that humbled the Persian Empire and reduced the mighty Goths and Sarmatians to the status of vassals. This title details the equipment, background, training and combat experience of the men from all parts of the empire who made up the backbone of Rome's legions in this pivotal period.

With names like Zemke, Schilling, Gabreski, Mahurin and Johnson, the 56th Fighter Group was, and still is, one of the legendary fighter units of World War II.\nBEWARE THE THUNDERBOLT ( the apt official motto of the 56th) is the story of the 56th Fighter Group in a chronological narrative of their combat missions. Composed of heroic pilots that aggressively took the air war into the enemy heartland in 1943, the "Wolfpack\s" P-47 Thunderbolt contrails crossed high in the upper stratosphere as they escorted heavy bomber missions, or fell upon the enemy on the ground as their pilots destroyed over 1000 Luftwaffe aircraft.\nThe story is also coupled with their post-war history of innovative Mustang missions to Alaska, and the first trans-Atlantic jet fighter missions in the P-80 Shooting Star.\nThe foreword is by Hub Zemke, former commander of the 56th Fighter Group. \nDavid McLaren is also the author of Lockheed F-94 Starfire (with Marty Isham), available from Schiffer Publishing.

Here is the remarkable story of the foreigners who volunteered to join the guerrilla war against Germans and Fascists in Second World War Italy. The fighters included Britons, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Americans, Russians, Poles and Yugoslavs. Most were escaped prisoners of war who fled their camps after the Italian armistice and surrender in September 1943. From the summer of 1944 the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) built on information from their compatriots in enemy territory to send in agents to help arm and train the partisans and to coordinate airdrops. Against the backdrop of twenty months of savage warfare on the mainland, this is the full story of the Allied servicemen who took part in the Italian Resistance, which became one of the greatest insurgent movements in Western Europe. Partisan forces hit enemy communications, tied down seven German divisions and provided tactical support for the Allied armies. 'Among the Italian Partisans' is a celebration of brave men and great events.

In these articles Professor Bachrach starts by looking at aspects of the 'barbarian' occupation of the land of the Roman Empire, from Britain to the Alan settlements in southern Gaul. His particular interest, however, is in the political and, above all, in the military structures that grew out of the Early Middle Ages. He has sought to demonstrate that there was a fundamental continuity in military organisation and tactics from the Merovingian through the Carolingian period. As he shows, there is no reason to connect the origins of 'feudalism' with Charles Martel's wish to create a force of cavalry, and it is a fallacy that he grasped the potential of the stirrup for enabling mounted shock combat. On the contrary, its use in the West progressed only slowly, and it had nothing to do with the origins or growth of feudalism. Le professeur Bachrach debute par l'analyse de certains aspects de l'occupation barbare des terres de l'empire romain, de la Grande-Bretagne aux campements alans en Gaule meridionale. Il s'attache en suite aux structures politiques et, surtout, militaires qui furent issues du Haut Moyen Age. Selon lui, et il tente d'en faire ici la demonstration, l'organisation et les tactiques militaires ont fait preuve d'une continuite fondamentale de l'epoque merovingienne A celle des Carolingiens. Comme il le demontre, il n'y a pas lieu d'etablir de liens entre l'origine du feodalisme et le desir qu'avait Charles Martel de creer une cavalerie; il est egalement tout A fait errone de dire que ce dernier s'etait rendu compte du potentiel de l'etrier en tant que facteur de mener des combats A cheval de choc. Bien contraire, l'utilisation de l'etrier A l'Ouest ne fit que progresser lentement et aucun rapport n'existe entre cet instrument et l'origine ou la croissance de la feodalite.

George VI's biographer, Sir John Wheeler Bennett wrote "The actual turning of the tide in the 2nd World War may be accurately determined as the first week of July 1942." This book argues that it is possible to be even more exact: the tide turned at about 21.00 hrs on 2 July 1942, when Rommel's tanks withdrew for the first time since the fall of Tobruk on 20 June, or arguably since 14 January 1942 at El Agheila. At dusk on Wednesday 1 July 1942, Rommel broke through the centre of the British defences at Alamein. His tanks had overwhelmed the gallant defence of the 18th Indian Infantry Brigade in the Deir el Shein at the foot of the Ruweisat Ridge. At that moment, and for the next twelve hours, there was no further organised defence between the spearhead of the Afrika Korps and Alexandria. Throughout the next day, only a handful of men and guns stood between Rommel and his prize. In Cairo, black clouds of smoke from burning files showed that many people believed Rommel would not stop short of the Suez Canal, his stated objective. But, on Friday 3 July at 22.56 hrs, only 48 hours later, Rommel called off his attack and ordered his troops to dig in where they stood. The Delta was saved. Just a few weeks earlier, the 18th Indian Infantry Brigade, which took the brunt of the initial attack on 1 July, and the guns of the small column known as Robcol that stopped Rommel on 2 and 3 of July, had been in northern Iraq. General Auchinleck's desperate measure, pulling them 1,500 miles from Iraq into the Western desert, just succeeded but it greatly increased the price of failure. If Robcol had failed, it is doubtful that Rommel would have stopped at the canal; it does not require much imagination to see his forces threatening to link up with Barbarossa in the Ukraine. This vivid account of the battle of Ruweisat Ridge, the beginning of the battle of Alamein, was written by an officer who was part of Robcol on the fateful day.

In 1915-18, ANZAC and Ottoman soldiers clashed on numerous battlefields, from Gallipoli to Jerusalem. This illustrated study investigates the two sides' fighting men. The Gallipoli campaign of 1915-16 pitched the Australian and New Zealand volunteers known as the ANZACs into a series of desperate battles with the Ottoman soldiers defending their homeland. In August 1915, the bitter struggle for the high ground known as Chunuk Bair saw the peak change hands as the Allies sought to overcome the stalemate that set in following the landings in April. The ANZACs also played a key part in the battle of Lone Pine, intended to divert Ottoman attention away from the bid to seize Chunuk Bair. The Gallipoli campaign ended in Allied evacuation in the opening days of 1916. Thereafter, many ANZAC units remained in the Middle East and played a decisive role in the Allies' hard-fought advance through Palestine that finally forced the Turks to the peace table. The fateful battle of Beersheba in October 1917 pitted Australian mounted infantry against Ottoman foot soldiers as the Allies moved on Jerusalem. In this book, noted military historian Si Sheppard examines the fighting men on both sides who fought at Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and Beersheba. The authoritative text is supported by specially commissioned artwork and mapping plus carefully chosen archive photographs.

The account of the fateful bridge too far...'It was a bridge too far and perhaps the whole plan was doomed to failure from the start, but we had to try, didn't we?' 17 September 1944: 30,000 airborne soldiers prepare to drop 64 miles behind enemy lines into Nazi-occupied Holland; tens of thousands of ground troops race down Hell's Highway in tanks and armoured cars, trucks and half-tracks to link up with them. The goal - to secure eight bridges across the Rhine and end the war by Christmas. Ten days later, over 15,000 of these soldiers have died, 6,000 have been taken prisoner. Operation Market Garden was the daring plan to stage a coup de main in occupied territory, gain control of those bridges, and obtain a direct route into Hitler's Germany. But the operation failed and the allied forces suffered a brutal military defeat. In the 75 years since, tactics have been analysed and blame has been placed, but the heart of Arnhem's story lies in the selflessness and bravery of those troops that fought, the courage and resilience of the civilians caught up in confrontation, and the pure determination to fight for their lives and their freedom. This is the story of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. In Ballantyne's Arnhem, we go into battle with not only the famous commanders in the thick of the action, but also with all those whose fates were determined by their decisions. Based on first-hand interviews, military records, and diaries, we witness the confusion and mayhem of war - from the horrific and devastating to the surreal and mundane. But most of all, we witness the self-sacrifice and valour of the men who gave their lives to liberate strangers in a foreign country. Praise for Arnhem: Ten Days in the Cauldron 'Reminiscent of Stephen Ambrose at his best... some remarkable stories, which Ballantyne neatly dovetails into a rolling epic' Dr Harry Bennett, University of Plymouth 'Breath-taking... I thoroughly enjoyed reading this account of Arnhem, adding, if you like, a trench-level perspective to those other accounts written from more senior, and sometimes more detached, points of view. Thoroughly recommended' British Journal for Military History

Fully illustrated, this study assesses the Soviet and Waffen-SS troops who contested the cities of Kharkov and Rostov-on-Don on the Eastern Front during 1942-43. As the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union unfolded, two places that suffered exceptionally severely were Kharkov (now Kharkiv) in Ukraine and Rostov-on-Don in Russia. In total, Kharkov would change hands violently four times between October 1941 and August 1943, and Rostov-on-Don also four times between November 1941 and February 1943. In this book, Chris McNab examines the fighting men of the Red Army and the Waffen-SS who clashed in three battles - one for Rostov (July 1942) and two for Kharkov (February-March and August). He clearly explains the key differences between these two opponents - training, tactics, weaponry, ideology and motivation - and examines how these differences played out in the three engagements, which ranged from open-terrain combined-arms battles to close-quarters street fighting in major urban zones. The text is complemented by specially commissioned artwork and mapping and carefully chosen archive photographs.

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.

The military intervention by NATO in Kosovo was portrayed in American media as a necessary step to prevent the Serbian armed forces from repeating the ethnic cleansing that had so deeply damaged the former Yugoslavia. Serbia trained its military on Kosovo because of an ongoing armed struggle by ethnic Albanians to wrest independence from Serbia. Warfare in the Balkans seemed to threaten the stability of Europe, as well as the peace and security of Kosovars, and yet armed resistance seemed to offer the only possibility of future stability. Leading the struggle against Serbia was the Kosovo Liberation Army, also known as the KLA.

"Kosovo Liberation Army: The Inside Story of an Insurgency" provides a historical background for the KLA and describes its activities up to and including the NATO intervention. Henry H. Perritt Jr. offers firsthand insight into the motives and organization of a popular insurgency, detailing the strategies of recruitment, training, and financing that made the KLA one of the most successful insurgencies of the post-cold war era. This volume also tells the personal stories of young people who took up guns in response to repeated humiliation by "foreign occupiers," as they perceived the Serb police and intelligence personnel. Perritt illuminates the factors that led to the KLA's success, including its convergence with political developments in eastern Europe, its campaign for popular support both at home and abroad, and its participation in international negotiations and a peace settlement that helped pave the long road from war to peace.

Between the reigns of Augustus and Septimius Severus, the Eastern provinces of the Roman Empire frequently saw brutal fighting, most notably during the conquest of Dacia by Trajan, the suppression of the Great Revolt in Judea and intermittent clashes with Rome's great rival Parthia. In these wars, Roman soldiers had to fight in a range of different climates and terrains, from the deserts of the Middle East to the islands of the eastern Mediterranean. Using full-colour artwork, this book examines the variation of equipment and uniforms both between different military units, and in armies stationed in different regions of the Empire. Using evidence drawn from recent archaeological finds, it paints a vivid portrait of Roman army units in the Eastern provinces in the first two centuries of the Imperial period.

The Soviet T-80 Standard Tank was the last tank fielded before the Soviet collapse, and the most controversial. Like the US M1 Abrams tank, the T-80 used a turbine power plant rather than a conventional diesel. Although the design was blessed with some of the most sophisticated armament, fire controls, and multi-layer armor ever fielded on a Soviet tank, its power plant remained a source of considerable trouble through its career. It saw very little service in the Chechen War, though T-80 tanks were used in some of the regional conflicts in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s.
Although the collapse of the Soviet Union might seem the end of the story, the T-80 lived on in Ukraine where one of its tank plants was based. A diesel powered version of the T-80 was developed, the T-84, which was successfully exported, including a major sale to Pakistan to counterbalance the Indian Army's Russian T-90 tanks. Steven J Zaloga charts the little-known history of the T-80, covering the initial construction, through the development to the subsequent variants, the T-84 and Russia's enigmatic "Black Eagle Tank." Accompanying detailed cut-away artwork illustrates the unusual design features that made the T-80 so controversial.