Between 1950 and 1955, thousands of veterans from the notorious German-led, Ukrainian 14th Waffen-SS Galicia Division emigrated to North America with the full consent of the governments despite immigration regulations in force at the time that forbade entry to all who served in any branch of the SS. The Jewish community fought a brief, but futile, battle to persuade those governments to deny them entry, denouncing them as a "sinister legion" of "bloodthirsty murderers"--war criminals who had engaged in the mass murder of thousands of innocent civilians.

On the other hand, a well-organized body of Division supporters insisted there was nothing "sinister" or "murderous" about the young men who had volunteered to serve in its ranks. They declared them exceptional soldiers who obeyed the international rules of war, praised them for being dedicated soldiers who harbored no hatred for Jews, guarded no concentration camps, and committed no crimes against humanity.

At issue then was the nature of the Division and its war record. Were they "pure soldiers" as many of their supporters contended, or were they, to use Daniel Goldhagen's phrase, among Hitler's willing executioners?

"Pure Soldiers or Bloodthirsty Murderers "traces the 14th Waffen-SS Galicia Division's fortunes from its formation in April 1943, to its surrender to the British in May 1946, from immigrant farm workers in Britain, Canada and the USA, to Cold War CIA assassins. Along the way, it attempts to shed some light on this acrimonious dispute that has continued to the present day.

Sol Littman is former Canadian Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, author of "War Criminal on Trial," founding editor of "The Canadian Jewish News," the First Director of B'nai Brith Canada's "League for Human Rights," and also served with the Anti-Defamation League in the United States.

As the definitive final volume of the history of The Royal Leicestershire Regiment Marching with The Tigers covers events in that Regiment and its successor, the 4th Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, over the years 1955-75. During this period the Battalions undertook overseas and operational tours in Cyprus, Germany, Hong Kong, Borneo, Aden, Malta and Libya, Bahrain and Northern Ireland. Supported by seventeen maps and many black and white photographs, its lively text describes the Regular battalions' activities up to the disbandment of Tiger Company in 1975, the Territorial Army battalions' up to the disbandment of The Royal Leicestershire Regiment (Territorial) in 1971, the early years of the Leicestershire Companies in the 5th and 7th (Volunteer) Battalions The Royal Anglian Regiment, the Depot, the Museum, the Regimental Chapel in the Cathedral and Affiliations. The final chapter brings The Tigers' History right up to the present day including Royal Tigers' Wood and the dedication of the various national memorials commemorating the Regiment.

Its numerous appendices contain a wealth of information such as lists of Honours and Gallantry Awards (including Long Service and Efficiency Decorations and Medals), Colonels and Commanding Officers and of those who commanded other units and formations, Late Entry Commissions and National Service Officers. Marching with The Tigers is not only comprehensive but lavish as well with the four Cuneo paintings, the cap badges and the Colours all displayed in color.

This new examination of World War One pulls together often untold stories and includes famous names such as Sir Douglas Haig, John Buchan and Lord Kinnaird, known as football's first superstar. These three were all linked with Scottish organisations in London which had to rise to the challenge of World War One. Churches and clubs which looked after Scots who had moved south to work in the capital played an important role on the Home Front. The book, drawing on unpublished articles at the time, describes how St Columba's Church of Scotland in Knightsbridge fed and entertained nearly 50,000 Scottish troops heading home on leave or returning to the trenches. Moving letters from grateful families are quoted. John Buchan was an elder of the church, so too Sir Douglas Haig after the war. The other Scottish Kirk in London, Crown Court numbered Lord Kinnaird among its elders - he lost both his sons during the conflict. Rugby players from London Scottish were quick to join up. More than two thirds of the sixty who turned out for the club in the last season before the war never returned. There was a heavy toll amongst Scots in London who were members of the Caledonian Club. The Club's substantial art collection immortalises its connection to the Great War, some of which is reproduced in the book. Many members and associates of Scottish churches and clubs were quick to join the London Scottish Regiment on the outbreak of war. They became the first territorials to see action after being rushed to the frontline close to Ypres in October 1914. The Scots Guards, too, had longstanding links with the capital. Scottish exiles in Canada joining their local regiments were pleased to remember their roots and traditions as they moved through wartime London. Charities founded by Scottish benefactors in London, which have since evolved into Scots Care and the Royal Caledonian Educational Trust, supported the troops and families and their role is covered. One hundred years on from the final year of conflict this book examines the close links between these organisations and their shared hopes, fears and tragic losses. Scotland's casualties in World War One were disproportionately higher than other parts of the UK. The book reflects how that toll was reflected south of the border in London, through which so many Scottish soldiers would have passed on their way to and from the horrors of war.

Given the merciless way in which the war on the Eastern Front of World War II was conducted, it is difficult to envisage anyone changing sides during the conflict. Yet after the German invasion of Russia in Operation Barbarossa, well over 400,000 former Soviet citizens went on to fight for Nazi Germany. These included not only the 'legions' recruited from non-Russian ethnic groups eager for freedom from Stalin's dictatorship, but also some 100,000 Russians and Cossacks. What began as small local security units of 'Ostruppen', enrolled for the ongoing campaigns against Soviet partisans, were later reorganized, given special systems of uniform and insignia, amalgamated into larger formations, and eventually committed to the front line. This book offers up an essential guide to the appearance, formation and equipment of the myriad Russian and Soviet units that fought for the Germans. It uses rare photographs and revealing colour illustrations to create a peerless visual reference to the troops who switched from one ruthless superpower to another and met with a horrific fate when the fighting was over.

It's spring 1920 in the small military town of Nandagiri in southeast India. Colonel Aylmer, commander of the Royal Irish Kildare Rangers, is in charge. A distance away, decently hidden from view, lies the native part of Nandagiri with its heaving bazaar, reeking streets, and brothels. Everyone in Nandagiri knows their place and the part they were born to play--with one exception. The local Anglo-Indians, tainted by their mixed blood, belong nowhere. When news of the Black and Tans' atrocities back in Ireland reaches the troops, even their priest cannot cool the men's hot-headed rage. Politics vie with passion as Private Michael Flaherty pays court to Rose, Mrs. Aylmer's Anglo-Indian maid, but mutiny brings heroism and heartbreak in equal measure. Only the arrival of Colonel Aylmer's grandson Richard, some 60 years later, will set off the reckoning, when those who were parted will be reunited, and those who were lost will be found again.

Soldiers to the Last Day: Rhineland- Westphalian 6th Infantry Division, 1935-1945 recounts the history of the German 6th Infantry Division from its formation in 1935 to its destruction at Babruysk in July 1944; then its resurrection and continued fighting until the end of the war. Among the first divisions established by the Wehrmacht, the 6th Infantry Division had one of the longest and bloodiest records of continuous combat of any division-Allied or Axis. Engaging in combat within weeks of the outbreak of WWII, the division fought to the last hour of the war. Based primarily on German sources, in particular the rare divisional and regimental histories and war diaries, and on personal accounts and letters of its soldiers, Soldiers to the Last Day presents the German view of the war from inside divisional headquarters and down to the individual Landser as the division marches across France in 1940, advances to the Volga during Operation Barbarossa, fights the brutal battles of Rzhev, Kursk, Babruysk; and makes last desperate attempts to defend the homeland in 1945. It is a tale of courage, determination, suffering, and in the end-betrayal.

Vivid and lively letters from a young Confederate in Lee’s Army. In the spring of 1861 a 22yearold Alabamian did what many of his friends and colleagues were doing he joined the Confederate Army as a volunteer. The first of his family to enlist, William Cowan McClellan, who served as a private in the 9th Alabama Infantry regiment, wrote hundreds of letters throughout the war, often penning for friends who could not write home for themselves. In the letters collected in John C. Carter’s volume, this young soldier comments on his feelings toward his commanding officers, his attitude toward military discipline and camp life, his disdain for the western Confederate armies, and his hopes and fears for the future of the Confederacy. McClellan’s letters also contain vivid descriptions of camp life, battles, marches, picket duty, and sickness and disease in the army. The correspondence between McClellan and his family dealt with separation due to war as well as with other wartime difficulties such as food shortages, invasion, and occupation. The letters also show the rise and fall of morale on both the home front and on the battlefield, and how they were closely intertwined. Remarkable for their humour, literacy, and matteroffact banter, the letters reveal the attitude a common soldier in the Army of Northern Virginia had toward the daytoday activity and progression of the war. John C. Carter includes helpful appendixes that list the letters chronologically and offer the regimental roster, casualty/enlistment totals, assignments, and McClellan’s personal military record.

Considered by many to be the finest American combat memoir of the First World War, Hervey Allen’s Toward the Flame vividly chronicles the experiences of the Twenty-eighth Division in the summer of 1918. Made up primarily of Pennsylvania National Guardsmen, the Twenty-eighth Division saw extensive action on the Western Front. The story begins with Lieutenant Allen and his men marching inland from the French coast and ends with their participation in the disastrous battle for the village of Fismette. Allen was a talented observer, and the men with whom he served emerge as well-rounded characters against the horrific backdrop of the war. As a historical document, Toward the Flame is significant for its highly detailed account of the controversial military action at Fismette. At the same time, it easily stands as a work of literature. Clear-eyed and unsentimental, Allen employs the novelist’s powers of description to create a harrowing portrait of coalition war at its worst.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In 1919, the 369th infantry regiment - the Harlem Hellfighters as the Germans called them - marched home triumphantly from World War I. They had spent more time in combat than any other American unit, never losing a foot of ground to the enemy and winning countless decorations. Though they returned home from the trenches of France as heroes, this overlooked that the African American unit faced tremendous discrimination, even from their own government. Based on true events and featuring artwork from acclaimed illustrator Caanan White, The Harlem Hellfighters delivers an action-packed and powerful story of how a group of exceptional individuals showed extraordinary courage, honour and heart in the face of terrible prejudice and in the midst of the unprecedented horrors of the Great War.

The Royal Armoured Corps' composition may have changed dramatically during the four and a half decades of The Cold War but its role in the nation's defence has been predominant. This highly informative book focuses on the deployment of the British Army's armoured regiments from the end of the Second World War, their vehicles and equipment, the creation of the British Army of the Rhine, NATO commitments and other peripheral missions. The characteristics and variants of the Centurion, the powerful but short lived Conqueror, the Chieftain and Challenger are covered in expert text and by numerous images. The RAC in the Cold War is a tribute to the men who served in these famous regiment and their stories make fascinating reading.

Lion Rampant is Robert Woollcombe's graphic account of his experiences as a front-line infantry officer with the King's Own Scottish Borderers during the desperate battle for Normandy and the Allied advance into Germany. Vividly evoking the confusion, horror and comradeship of war - from the killing fields of Normandy bocage, through house-to-house fighting in shattered Flemish towns, to the final Rhine crossing - Lion Rampant is a powerful, authentic and moving story, telling with extraordinary clarity how the author, his fellow officers and the men of his company lived through one of the most bitter campaigns in history.

"Lyuba Vinogradova is a historian with a writer's dramatic eye. By personally interviewing many of the Russian women who as teenagers during WW2 took up arms to defend the motherland, her story becomes undeniably poignant and powerful" MARTIN CRUZ SMITH, author of Gorky Park The girls came from every corner of the U.S.S.R. They were factory workers, domestic servants, teachers and clerks, and few were older than twenty. Though many had led hard lives before the war, nothing could have prepared them for the brutal facts of their new existence: with their country on its knees, and millions of its men already dead, grievously wounded or in captivity, from 1942 onwards thousands of Soviet women were trained as snipers. Thrown into the midst of some of the fiercest fighting of the Second World War they would soon learn what it was like to spend hour upon hour hunting German soldiers in the bleak expanses of no-man's-land; they would become familiar with the awful power that comes with taking another person's life; and in turn they would discover how it feels to see your closest friends torn away from you by an enemy shell or bullet. In a narrative that travels from the sinister catacombs beneath the Kerch Peninsula to Byelorussia's primeval forests and, finally, to the smoking ruins of the Third Reich, Lyuba Vinogradova recounts the untold stories of these brave young women. Drawing on diaries, letters and interviews with survivors, as well as previously unpublished material from the military archives, she offers a moving and unforgettable record of their experiences: the rigorous training, the squalid living quarters, the blood and chaos of the Eastern Front, and those moments of laughter and happiness that occasionally allowed the girls to forget, for a second or two, their horrifying circumstances. Avenging Angels is a masterful account of an all-too-often overlooked chapter of history, and an unparalleled account of these women's lives. Translated from the Russian by Arch Tait

From the beginning in 1935 this attractive book describes the different elements that went into the Panzer-Divisions. It describes how the Germans carefully built up their assault forces utilizing all available reserves and resources into making an effective fighting machine. It depicts how these awesome formations grew to be used four years later in war, and provides much historical information and facts about the vehicles and its components that fought in all the campaigns of the war from the early victorious Blitzkrieg in Poland and France to the last ditch defense in Germany in 1945. Each chapter features unseen photographs of light tanks, main battle tanks, assault guns, anti-tank destroyers, artillery, reconnaissance units, support vehicles, pioneers with their bridge building platforms and the motorized infantry or Panzergrenadiers.

This book is a visual treat for the military enthusiast and collector and a worthy addition to the Images of War series.

The Diary of Lt.Col. allen Whitty Worcestershire Regiment 1914-1919

The First World War had a devastating impact on the Russian state, yet relatively little is known about the ways in which ordinary Russians experienced and viewed this conflict. Melissa Kirschke Stockdale presents the first comprehensive study of the Great War's influence on Russian notions of national identity and citizenship. Drawing on a vast array of sources, the book examines the patriotic and nationalist organizations which emerged during the war, the role of the Russian Orthodox Church, the press and the intelligentsia in mobilizing Russian society, the war's impact on the rights of citizens, and the new, democratized ideas of Russian nationhood which emerged both as a result of the war and of the 1917 revolution. Russia's war experience is revealed as a process that helped consolidate in the Russian population a sense of membership in a great national community, rather than being a test of patriotism which they failed.

Monty's desert legions - 7th Armoured Division, 51st Highland Division and 50th Northumbrian Division - helped him win at El Alamein and throughout North Africa, and eventually in North West Europe after D-Day. Monty's Northern Legions is the story of two distinguished formations who played significant roles in the liberation of North West Europe. 50th Tyne Tees Division was a fine infantry division first blooded at El Alamein and later in Sicily. Monty gave 50th Division the dangerous honour of attacking on D-Day in the first wave ashore on 'Gold' Beach. The only D-Day Victoria Cross was awarded to CSM Hollis of the Green Howards. The division fought through the Normandy campaign up towards the German border before disbandment in late 1944. 15th Scottish Division's three brigades swept into Normandy in Operation 'Epsom', Monty's first great battle for Caen. They fought their way through France and the Low Countries and were one of two assault divisions entrusted with storming across the Rhine in Operation 'Plunder'.

Irish troops had fought for Louis XIV in the 1670s, under Irish officers who had little choice but to fight in foreign service, with the blessing of Charles II. With the accession of James II, and the religious politics of who might earn the English crown, they became embroiled in the Jacobite succession crisis, fighting in Ireland, then sent to France under Lord Mountcashel in 1689. With the fall of Limerick in 1691, Patrick Sarsfield led the second 'flight' of 'Wild Geese' to the continent, to fight in a war for the French, against the Grand Alliance of Europe, in the vain hope that their loyalty might warrant French support in a return to Ireland under a Jacobite king. From the Nine Years War, through the War of the Spanish Succession, and beyond, their descendents would be present at Fontenoy, Culloden and in the Americas, forever destined to fight for a cause and land which had changed beyond recognition. D.P.Graham explains the origins of the brigade and its regiments, the personalities who led them and formed their reputation, and the circumstances of their final dissolution in the aftermath of French Revolution.

This riveting book follows a small group of Australian front-line soldiers from their enlistment in the dark days of 1940 to the end of World War II. No ordinary soldiers, they were members of Don Company of the Second 43rd Battalion, part of the famous 9th Australian Division, which during campaigns in Tobruk, El Alamein, New Guinea and Borneo sustained more casualties and won more medals than any other Australian division. It is an evocative and detailed account of the dayto-day war of three infantry soldiers whose experiences included night patrols at Tobruk, advancing steadily through German barrages at Alamein, charging enemy machine guns in New Guinea, and repelling Japanese charges on Borneo. Inspired by American historian Stephen Ambrose's landmark book, Band of Brothers, about the US Army's Easy Company of the 506th Regiment, Mark Johnston, one of our best military historians, here gives an Australian company the same treatment. Using the frank and detailed personal letters, diaries and memoirs of three Australian soldiers, he brings to life their campaigns, battles and interactions with their comrades and enemies. His book is a unique and powerful account of the everyday experiences of a small unit of soldiers on the front line.

The British Eighth Army, which played a decisive role in defeating the Axis in North Africa, was one of the most celebrated Allied armies of the Second World War, and this photographic history is the ideal introduction to it. The carefully chosen photographs show the men, weapons and equipment of the army during campaigns in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. The battles the army fought in the Western Desert in 1941 and 1942 are the stuff of legend, as is the second Battle of El Alamein when, under Montgomery, it defeated the German and Italian forces commanded by Rommel. The book gives a vivid insight into the fighting and the desert conditions, and it shows what a varied, multinational force the army was, for it brought together men from Britain, the British Empire and Commonwealth as well as Free French, Greeks and Poles.

On October 24, 1944, more than two hundred American soldiers realized they were surrounded by German infantry deep in the mountain forest of eastern France. As their dwindling food, ammunition, and medical supplies ran out, the American commanding officer turned to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team to achieve what other units had failed to do. Honor Before Glory is the story of the 442nd, a segregated unit of Japanese American citizens, commanded by white officers, that finally rescued the "lost battalion." Their unmatched courage and sacrifice under fire became legend- all the more remarkable because many of the soldiers had volunteered from prison-like "internment" camps where sentries watched their mothers and fathers from the barbed-wire perimeter.In seven campaigns, these young Japanese American men earned more than 9,000 Purple Hearts, 6,000 Bronze and Silver Stars, and nearly two dozen Medals of Honor. The 442nd became the most decorated unit of its size in World War II: its soldiers earned 18,100 awards and decorations, more than one for every man. Honor Before Glory is their story- a story of a young generation's fight against both the enemy and American prejudice- a story of heroism, sacrifice, and the best America has to offer.

The 5th Battalion of the 60th (Royal American) Regiment was the first rifle battalion in the regular British Army. Raised in 1797, it marked a significant step in the development of British light infantry and rifle corps. Lieutenant Colonel Francis de Rottenburg, the battalion's commander for almost 10 years, formulated the first British Army light infantry manual. After serving in Ireland during the 1798 rebellion, in the West Indies, and in the Americas, the battalion rose to fame during the Peninsular War. It was one of only three battalions to be present from the initial landings in Portugal through to the invasion of France, and victory six years later. Divided between the brigades of Wellington's army to provide specialist rifle and skirmishing capability, the riflemen often formed advance or rear guards, patrols and outposts. Frequently praised by Wellington and his divisional commanders, the battalion won 16 battle honours. Drawing on official records, memoirs, court martial transcripts, inspection reports, and unpublished letters, Riflemen recounts not only the campaigns in which the battalion fought, but also many personal stories of the soldiers who served with it. Riflemen includes tales of murder, promotion from the ranks, desertion, prisoners of war, and small actions that are often overlooked. As the first history of the battalion written in almost 100 years, it sheds new light on a vital component of Wellington's army and its important place in the history of the British Army.

On the morning of December 16, 1944, eighteen men of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon attached to the 99th Infantry Division found themselves directly in the path of the main thrust of Hitler's massive Ardennes offensive. Despite being vastly outnumbered, they were told to hold their position "at all costs." Throughout the day, the platoon repulsed three large German assaults in a fierce day-long battle, killing hundreds of German soldiers. Only when they had run out of ammunition did they surrender to the enemy. But their long winter was just beginning. As POWs, the platoon experienced an ordeal far worse than combat-surviving in wretched German POW camps. Yet miraculously the men of the platoon survived-all of them-and returned home after the war. More than thirty years later, when President Carter recognized the platoon's "extraordinary heroism" and the U.S. Army approved combat medals for all eighteen men, they became America's most decorated platoon of World War II. With the same vivid and dramatic prose that made The Bedford Boys a national bestseller, Alex Kershaw brings to life the story of these little-known heroes-an epic tale of courage, duty, and survival in World War II and one of the most inspiring episodes in American history. The Longest Winter is an intensely human story about young men who find themselves in frightening wartime situations, who fight back instinctively, survive stoically, and live heroically.