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.

Using maps, contemporary photographs, and new artwork, this book examines the Hellcat and the naval aviators who flew them. Joining combat in the Pacific in late 1943, the Hellcat squadrons soon demonstrated their ascendency over their Japanese opponents, culminating in the great "Marianas Turkey Shoot" during the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944. The fighter proved to be a dream for pilots to fly, allowing both novice and veteran Naval Aviators alike to prevail in largescale aerial combats. From October 1944 to January 1945, the Fast Carriers supported General MacArthur's invasion of the Philippines. Featuring specially commissioned armament views and battlescenes, this book covers the key role played by Naval Aviators flying the Hellcat into action during the Fast Carrier Task Force's strikes against the Philippines in September and October 1944. Using maps, contemporary photographs, and technical diagrams, the volume examines the highly effective tactics used to prevail against large enemy formations, and reveals the training that underpinned the success enjoyed by the Naval Aviators and their Hellcats. The key combat actions are vividly described through 3D ribbon diagrams providing a step-by-step depiction of the main dogfights featured in the book, as well as action reports, both from previously unknown pilots and from more famous Hellcat aces.

Covers unique variants and original designs of Panzer tanks.

In The Tank Debate, John Stone highlights the equivocal position that armour has traditionally occupied in Anglo-American thought, and explains why - despite frequent predictions to the contrary - the tank has remained an important instrument of war. This book provides a timely and provocative study of the tank's developmental history, against the changing background of Anglo-American military thought.

Rare photographs from SS sources illustrating the armoured formations which took part in this titanic struggle. Includes rare images of the Panther in action.

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II was the most-produced American supersonic military jet with 5,195 aircraft being produced. By any standards the F-4 has been incredibly successful, used not only by the USAF and US Navy but many air forces around the world including Germany, Israel, Turkey and Japan. The F-4 was designed as a long-range fighter interceptor and fighter bomber, excellent in all roles assigned to it. The Phantom has performed leading roles in multiple conflicts around the world from the Vietnam War through to the Gulf War. Although the F-4 left US service in 1996 it has continued in service with other air forces, only just being retired in 2020 from the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force. This new title in Pen & Sword's highly successful Flight Craft series covers the development and operational use of the F-4 Phantom II and brings to life the variety of colour schemes and markings applied by many of the multiple air arms that have operated the Phantom around the world by including quality colour profiles. Multiple model projects are included covering significant variants of the F-4 like the F-4B, F-4D, F-4E, F-4F, F-4G, F-4J, F-4EJ-Kai; British FGR-2 and F-4J(UK). All the popular model scales are represented: 1:72, 1:48 and 1:32A first for scale modellers everywhere - a book aimed at scale modellers of all levels interested in building the F-4 Phantom II.

Reknowned Japanese aircraft historians Richard Bueschel revises and updates his classic series of books on Japanese Naval and Army Air Force aircraft of World War II. \nThe Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa is presented in this volume. All variations and markings are covered in this the second in a projected multi-volume series. The first volume in Bueschels series covers the Mitsubishi A6M-1/2/2-N Zero-Sen(available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).

This is the story of the most successful pilot training jet ever produced: Northrop T-38 Talon. The history od the aircraft is broken down by the roles it has played in over thirty years of service including development and testing, pilot training, flight test support, NASA program support, air combat aggressor, aerial target, Thunderbird-USAF air demonstration team aircraft, companion trainer, and civilian test support. All units flying the T-38, their markings, and paint schemes are covered in over 300 color photographs-including a chart of colors used listing Federal Standard(RS) color numbers. Don Logan is also the author of Rockwell B-1B: SACs Last Bomber, and The 388th Tactical Fighter Wing: At Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base 1972(both titles are available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.)

This new two volume study of Germany's heaviest Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer) is the result of nearly twenty years of exhaustive research. Volume one, Technical History, presents a well-structured and highly detailed technical analysis of this complex tank destroyer. Using manufacturer's documentation, drawings, and photographs combined with Intelligence analysis, this work details the origin, design, construction and assembly of the vehicle. The armor, armaments, engine, transmission, suspension systems, electrical and optical equipment, together with the operation and maintenance procedures are included to complete this definitive analysis.

Although the prime mission of military UAVs has been reconnaissance and surveillance, there is also consideration for mounting weapons on the vehicles. Surprisingly, just about every type of propulsion system has been considered, and they have used both single and multiple engines, with piston, rotary, turbojet, pulsejet, and rocket engines.

Here for the first time is the story of the 356th Fighter Group which flew in the European Theater of Operations during the Second World War. This 9th Air Force unit spent over two years in England, occupying the airfield at Martlesham Heath, in the county of Suffolk. Originally entering combat flying P-47 Thunderbolts, and later switching to P-51 Mustangs, the 356th dispatched its aircraft on 407 missions across the Channel. Between the time of the first, on October 15, 1943, and the final mission on May 7, 1945, the 356th was credited with destroying 277 enemy planes. As the principle of bomber escort was strictly adhered to by the 356ths leaders, pilots of the group often had to pass up opportunities to engage enemy fighters and increase their scores. While this fact helped earn the 356th a reputation as being a hard luck outfit, due to their low victory to loss ratio, the gratitude and praise from the bomber crews more than offset this misnomer.

The supersonic fighter in the Polish Air Force of the MiG-21MF is described in unparalleled detail. Includes many unpublished photos from the private collections. Color schemes and markings are described and illustrated in a series of specially commissioned color profiles.

This is the fascinating story of the single-engine Lockheeds flown by Charles Lindbergh, Wiley Post and Will Rogers, Amelia Earhart, and Jimmy Doolittle.

While there are many books on logistics which understand the concept of service and supply, none understand the important role of transportation in synchronizing logistics. Delivering Victory: The History of U.S. Military Transportation covers the evolution of military transportation in the U.S. Armed Forces from the Spanish American War until the recent humanitarian missions to Haiti and West Africa to show how military transportation both synchronizes and creates logistics operations and therefore shapes the conduct of contingency and combat operations. Based on a rich selection of both primary and secondary sources, this book explores how the role of military transportation in the U.S has evolved, from disparate organizations to a synchronized logistics approach which connects dots from end to end, from fort and factory, and to the foxhole. Chronicling the birth of a separate branch of the Army during the Second World War and the creation of a strategic logistics technique headed by a single organization, the author demonstrates how transportation created logistics operations due to its inherent moving nature which allowed military operations to change in scale and magnitude. To this end, this book demonstrates how the ability to deploy and sustain mass around the globe became the hallmark of American military transportation capability, and an essential part of delivering victory.

Explores the history of the US Navy's 11 new steel warships, built during the late 19th century to advance American naval supremacy. After the American Civil War, the powerful US Navy was allowed to decay into utter decrepitude, and was becoming a security liability. In 1883, Congress approved four new steel-constructed vessels called the "ABCD" ships. The three protected cruisers Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago were the first steel warships built for the US Navy, whose 1880s-1890s technological and cultural transformation was so total it is now remembered as the "New Navy". This small fleet was joined by a succession of new and distinctive protected cruisers, culminating in the famous and powerful Olympia. These 11 protected cruisers formed the backbone of the early US steel navy, and were in the frontline of the US victory in the 1898 Spanish-American War. It was these warships that fought and won the decisive Battle of Manila Bay. These cruisers also served faithfully as escorts and auxiliaries in World War I before the last were retired in the 1920s. Written by experienced US naval researcher Brian Lane Herder, and including rare photographs, this book explores the development, qualities, and service of these important warships, and highlights the almost-forgotten Columbia-class, designed as high-speed commerce raiders, and to mimic specific passenger liners. All 11 protected cruisers are depicted in meticulously researched color illustrations with one depicting the Olympia deploying her full sail rig.

A study of the design, development and eventual fates of the uncompleted super-battleships intended to be built before and during World War II. At the start of World War II the battleship was still king, and all the major powers were designing even mightier battleships to surpass their most modern and powerful classes. But when World War II broke out, aircraft carriers would dominate naval warfare, and none of these monster warships were completed. In this book, naval expert Mark Stille uncovers these lost battleships as they are reconstructed with superb new full-colour artwork. The US Navy wanted five Montana-class ships, based on the Iowas but with a heavier main battery and improved protection, and the Royal Navy began work on three 16in-gun Lion-class fast battleships. The German Navy developed its H-class designs: initially an improved Bismack-class, they became more fantastical, culminating in the 141,500-ton, 20in-gun H-44. The Japanese A-150 was based on the Yamato-class but with 20.1in guns, while the 15 ships planned for the USSR's Sovetsky Soyuz-class would have rivalled the Montanas in size. Explaining the design, intended roles and fate of these ships, this is the story of the last battleship designs in history.

A fascinating exploration of how between February 1 and March 10, 1942, three small US task forces launched several unexpected raids across the Japanese defensive perimeter in the Central and South Pacific.

After the devastating Japanese blows of December 1941, the Allies found themselves reeling with defeat everywhere in the Pacific. Although stripped of his battleships and outnumbered 10:3 in carriers, the US Navy commander-in-chief Admiral Ernest J. King decided to hit back at Japan’s rapidly expanding Pacific empire immediately, in an effort to keep the Japanese off-balance.

On February 1, 1942, Vice Admiral Bill Halsey led the US Pacific Fleet carriers on their first raid, using high-speed hit-and-run tactics to strike at the Japanese, at a time when most of the Japanese carrier fleet was in the Indian Ocean. Halsey’s aggressive commitment inspired its American participants to invent the mythical Haul Ass With Halsey" club. The last of the 1942 US carrier raids in March 1942 would form a defining moment in the Pacific War, prior to a new phase of high-seas battles between the opposing fleets.

This superbly illustrated book documents for the first time in a single volume this little-known but important World War II naval campaign. The fabulous illustrations, including maps and colour artworks, bring to life the US air and naval raids on the Japanese bases in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, Rabaul, Wake Island, Marcus Island, and Lae and Salamaua in northern New Guinea."

The Fw 190D-9 - the 'long-nosed' Dora - represented the cutting edge and pinnacle of wartime Germany's piston-engine aviation development. This new history by leading German aviation specialist Robert Forsyth reveals what it was like to pilot her in combat as Germany desperately battled to remain in the war. Arguably one of the finest piston-engined fighters ever built, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 raised the bar in terms of aircraft design and operational capability during World War II. Designed by Kurt Tank, the 'long-nosed' Fw 190D9 'Dora' bettered most of the fighters that the Allied and Soviet air forces could field when it first appeared in the skies over the Western and Eastern Fronts in 1944. Indeed, with experienced German pilots at the controls it proved to be an immediate match for even the later-mark Griffon Spitfire and the P-51D/K. Well-armed, with two 13mm machine guns and two 20mm cannon, the D-9 began to equip Luftwaffe units from August 1944. Later on in the war, one of the key missions of the D-9 was to provide top cover for Me 262 jet fighters when they were at their most vulnerable during take-off and landing. Featuring first-hand accounts, photographs, artwork and innovative and colourful 3D ribbon diagrams, this fascinating volume portrays what it was like to fly the superlative Fw 190D-9 in combat, providing a realistic insight in to how German pilots used the superb Focke-Wulf aircraft in combat against American, British and Russian fighters in the Defence of the Reich in 1944-45.

Jochen Prien, author of the definitive Messerschmitt Bf 109 F/G/K Series, and the extensive three volume study of JG 53, presents JG 3 in its complete history from formation to the end of World War II. This second volume presents the unit history of the "Udet" Geschwader's second Gruppe, II./JG 3, beginning with its formation in 1938 and the subsequent service of the newly formed Gruppe in the Campaign in the West from 1940-1941. Next the Gruppe's 1941 tour of duty in Russia is dealt with, followed by a short spell in the Mediterranean theatre of war, where II./JG 3 was involved in the fighting over Malta in the spring of 1942. In June 1942, the Gruppe was again shifted to the east where it took part in the advance on Stalingrad where it suffered serious losses. 1943 saw the Gruppe still in Russia until it was recalled to the Reich to see further service in the defence of Germany between August 1943 and early June 1944. After its return to the Reich and a short period of rest and re-equiping, II./JG 3 was again called upon for service in the Reichsverteidigung, this coming to an abrupt end when in November 1944 the Gruppe was separated from its parent Geschwader in order to re-equip with the new Me 262 jet fighter and become part of the first jet fighter Geschwader of the Luftwaffe, JG 7. Vol. II then takes up the history of the newly formed II./JG 3, a former bomber unit that was transformed into a fighter Gruppe at the end of 1944; this new Gruppe came too late to see significant service against the Western Allies but was transferred to the east at the beginning of 1945 in order to counter the massive Soviet offensive that overran the eastern parts of the Reich since mid-January 1945. Hopelessly outnumbered, its operations being curtailed now by a lack of fuel, the new II./JG 3 struggled on until the collapse of the Reich.

This is a country-by-country guide to 130 landing ships and landing craft, with over 210 wartime and modern photographs. It features a complete guide to landing ships, detailing conventional personnel and cargo carriers, welldeck dock ships and modern multi-function ships accommodating helicopters, landing craft, military personnel, their vehicles and equipment. It also features a country-by-country directory of landing craft, from ramped beaching craft to present-day high-speed air-cushion craft, including amphibious tracked landing vehicles and peripheral activities such as minesweeping and obstacle clearance. Specification boxes provide at-a-glance information about each vessel's country of origin, displacement, dimensions, armament, machinery, power and endurance. It includes a technical glossary explaining naval acronyms, abbreviations and key terminology. Amphibious warfare vessels are ships that travel from shore to shore, and craft moving from ship to shore. This authoritative book consists of two illustrated directories, the first covering landing ships - the ocean-going vessels that transport personnel, cargo or vehicles - and then landing craft, the majority of which are transported aboard specialist ships. From float-on, float-off welldeck ships to high-speed air-cushion landing craft, 130 types from around the world are included. With over 210 photographs from museums, libraries and other historical sources, this instructive volume provides enthusiasts with a lively and engaging guide to a fascinating subject.

This book is the second in a series that will delve in to the inner workings of Germany's most fearsome panzers of the Second World War, the Tiger and Tiger II. There are many books already in publication that deal with various aspects of the Tiger series of tanks but few include more than minimal biographical information of the men who crewed these battlefield behemoths. Based mainly on interviews, personal diaries, and recollections, the series will present to the reader the German Tiger and King Tiger crewmen as soldiers who had the opportunity to serve as a member of a crew and unit that fielded an extraordinary and deadly weapon. The series will include all levels of soldiers from the Tiger-abteilung commanders, down to the drivers, loaders, gunners, and radio-operators. As with the first book in this series covering the experiences of Alfred Rubbel, this second book is strictly the story of one man: Horst KrAnke. The story combines the experiences of KrAnke with approximately 400 photographs (most which are unpublished), hand-drawn maps, and original documents, to tell the story of a veteran of Germany's elite panzerwaffe and feared Tiger tanks. His initial experience was in training with Panzer Ersatz Abteilung 5. From there he was assigned to Panzer Regiment 6, of the 3rd Panzer Division and experienced the opening of the war in Russia. KrAnke was in action on the Eastern Front through the end of 1942 at which time he was sent back to Germany to attend officer cadet and then officer's schools. Upon his return to the front and Panzer Regiment 6 he was sidetracked by an old comrade and was incorporated into schwere Panzer Abteilung 503. At that point, Horst was introduced to the new Tiger tank and served with a Tiger unit, transferring to schwere Panzer Abteilung 505 to serve with his brother, until the end of the war.

Covers the wide variety of vehicles used by the German police during World War II, as well as units and organization.

First book ever published on this little known aspect of German military equipment. Shown is the wide variety of horsedrawn equipment on a variety of war fronts.

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.