The first hundred days of Armageddon 1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers August-December 1914.

The Royal Army Medical Corps was present during all engagements in the Second World War. From the frozen wastes of Norway through to liberation from the death camps of Germany and the Far East, RAMC personnel were frequently close to the front line, risking their lives to provide medical support to a mobile army in a mechanised war. Nearly 3,000 army medics were killed during the war as a result of enemy action and exposing themselves to dangerous tropical diseases. Using much previously unpublished material from public and private family archives, this book charts the story of those who remained true to the motto of the RAMC: Faithful in Adversity.

On August 15, 1942, the 82nd Airborne became the US Army's first airborne division. Commanded by Major General Matthew B. Ridgway, they trained exhaustively for their new role, which involved parachuting from C-47s and insertion by Waco CG-4A gliders. In April 1943 the 82nd was shipped overseas to Casablanca, North Africa, and on July 9 made its first combat drop as part of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. A second operation-night parachute drops onto the Salerno beachhead on September 13 and 14-provided more experience, and in December the bulk of the division left for the United Kingdom and training for D-Day. Reorganized with two new parachute infantry regiments, the 507th and the 508th, joining the 505th, the division dropped onto the Cotentin peninsula between Ste-Mere-Eglise and Carentan on the night of June 5-6, in a mission codenamed Boston. Their glider-borne component, the 325th GIR, arrived the next day. Widely dispersed on landing, the division overcame its problems and strong German defenses to take the important town of Ste-Mere-Eglise. Further intense action along the Merderet River ensured that the Utah beachhead wasn't compromised, and subsequently the division fought on losing 5,245 troopers killed, wounded, or missing. When withdrawn after 33 days of action, the division could be satisfied it had performed heroically and helped establish the Allied forces' foothold in France. The Past & Present Series reconstructs historical battles by using photography, juxtaposing modern views with those of the past together with concise explanatory text. It shows how much infrastructure has remained and how much such as outfits, uniforms, and ephemera has changed, providing a coherent link between now and then.

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 47th Regiment of Foot served throughout the whole of the American War of Independence. The regiment experienced the transition from peacetime soldiering in Ireland and New Jersey, through the deteriorating political situation, to open rebellion. The officers and men had to alter their tactics and doctrine from peacetime garrison duties, through conventional warfare around Boston to woodland operations in Canada and upper New York. Who were the 47th Foot? How well did they overcome the challenges they faced? What became of them? Where they unthinking automatons lead by an officer class incapable of adapting to the reality of warfare in North America? Paul Knight examines the regiment within the context of a British Army which was neither stuck in the past nor incapable of reform. New uniforms, weapons, and drill manuals reflected the lessons of the previous war within an environment of doctrinally innovative generals. Against this, the regiment had to train in an era of the financial parsimony and where the friction of peacetime soldiering mitigated against training objectives. Nevertheless, the 47th was judged 'A Very Fine Regiment and Fit for Service' before it sailed for New Jersey in 1773. In North America, the 47th served in peaceful New Jersey and New York before joining the Boston Garrison in response to the deteriorating political situation there. After Boston, they were sent to Quebec where they drove American Rebels out of Canada before participating in the ill-fated Saratoga Campaign. Most of the regiment then endured years of captivity as part of the Convention Army. A fortunate part of the regiment avoided this fate and defended Canada's borders for the remained of the war. This period saw the 47th, and the British Army in North America, quickly adapting to the rapidly evolving political and military situations they encountered. They successfully evolved their tactics and doctrine from peaceful garrison duties to conventional warfare in response to open rebellion and then to irregular tactics for woodland fighting. Paul Knight shows how the 47th Foot was able to adapt to the changing threats and operational environment quickly and effectively. These were thinking soldiers led by flexible officers capable of adopting to the prevailing operational environment.

The divisions of the Waffen-SS were among the elite of Hitler's armies in the Second World War. But alongside the Germans in the Waffen-SS fought an astonishingly high number of volunteers from other countries. By the end of the Second World War these foreign volunteers comprised half of all Hitler's Waffen-SS, and filled the ranks of over twenty-four of the nominal thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions. So during the most brutal war that mankind has ever known, hundreds of thousands of men flocked to fight for a country that was not theirs, and for a cause that was one of the most monstrous and barbaric in history. Who were these men, and why did they fight? Hitler's Gauls is an in-depth examination of one of these legions of foreign volunteers, the Charlemagne division, who were recruited entirely from conquered France. The men in Charlemagne, often motivated by an extreme anti-communist zeal, fought hard on the Eastern Front including battles of near annihilation in the snows of Pomerania and the final stand in the ruins of Berlin. This definitive history, illustrated with rare photographs, explores the background, training, key figures and full combat record of one of Hitler's lesser known foreign units of the Second World War.

In this compelling new study of the disastrous 1940 campaign in France and Flanders, Matthew Richardson reconstructs in vivid detail the British army's defeat as it was experienced by the soldiers of a single battalion, the 2nd/5th Leicesters. These men typified the ill-equipped, under-trained British battalions that faced the blitzkrieg and the might of Hitler's legions. They were thrown into a series of desperate, one-sided engagements that resulted in a humiliating retreat, then evacuation from Dunkirk. This is their story.Matthew Richardson is curator of social history at Manx National Heritage and was formerly assistant keeper of the Liddle Collection at the University of Leeds. He has a long-term interest in military history and research, focusing in particular on the First and Second World Wars and on the history of the Leicestershire Regiment. In addition to writing many magazine articles on military history, he has published the following books: The Tigers and Fighting Tigers. He is currently working on 1914: Clash of Empires.

The Bloody Road to Catania commences with the landings by XIII Corps on 10 July 1943 (Operation Husky) between Avola and Cassibile. The inland advance occurred along the eastern coastal road on the invasion's right flank. The countryside consisted of winding narrow roads flanked by high hills. this terrain favoured the defence and skilful German forces took full advantage of it. Road bridges were held to the last man. These focal points were essential to Montgomery's plan of attack. To reinforce the hard-pressed Herman Goering Division, troops of 1st Fallschirmjaeger Division were air dropped into Sicily on 13th July. These were tough paratroopers who had served in Russia and their inclusion into the German order of battle was a great boost to the defenders. The same night the Fallschirmjaegers were dropped into Sicily, the British 1st Parachute Brigade was dropped on to the same landing zone as that of their enemy equivalents. Paratroopers of both sides fought it out near a bridge called Primosole, which eventually fell to the British in the face of furious counter-attacks by the Herman Goering Division. The 50th Northumbrian Division had great difficulty in fighting its way forward and, despite earlier gains, the beleaguered British paras abandoned the key bridge after sustaining enormous casualties. The 50th Division's supporting armour arrived at Primosole and, at the sight of the approaching tanks, the Germans withdrew to the northern bank. The advancing XIII Corps, having fought their way forward in terrific heat and dust, were in no fit state to mount an attack, but Montgomery would not let them rest as the vital Primosole junction was holding up the Eighth Army advance. The 151st (Durham) Brigade attacked the next day and were cut down like corn before the scythe by German paras. For three days the south bank vineyards echoed to the sounds of battle as Durhams and Germans engaged in fierce close quarter fighting. Once over the Bridge Montgomery wanted XIII Corps to press on to Catania airfield. Numerous attacks were launched, but all ended in disaster and stalemate on the Catania Plain. Montgomery then launched XXX Corps in a left hook around Mount Etna This resulted in numerous other costly actions until they too came to a halt. By now the Germans were preparing to withdraw towards Messina. As they did so, weary British units pressed forward. Withdrawing in stages, the Germans fought delaying actions wherever possible. By early August, the Germans began 'Operation Lehrgang', a plan to evacuate all German forces across the Strait of Messina to the Italian mainland. The retirement was conducted with cool efficiency and precision, Allied naval and air forces offering no effective response. Justifiably termed 'A glorious retreat' by the Germans, for the Allies the invasion of Sicily was a bitter victory that would return to haunt them. Thus, thousands of battle-hardened German troops and war material would be redeployed to face the Allies at Cassino, Anzio and Salerno.

A brilliant young poet, leading a gallant band whose epic adventure ends in defeat, betrayal and execution. Montrose was a doomed King's general who dared to win - and lost it all. The Scottish Royalist armed forces, along with its principal leader, the Marquis of Montrose, have had a romantic veneer that has long obscured their true composition and function. In this work, the author examines the troops and their operational doctrines within the themes of the early modern Military Revolution, and places the Scots Royalists within a greater European context of development. The book is enlivened by specially-commissioned colour uniform plates based on the latest research, showing how Montrose's troops really appeared on the battlefield.

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.

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 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.

Stirring accounts of the almost legendary campaigns of the United States Fourth Armored Division, universally recognized as ""Patton's Best,"" from its pre-World War II origins up through its famous relief of the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge are presented in this book. The break out of Normandy at Avranches, the isolation of the Brittany peninsula, the armored thrust across France, the tank battles at Arracourt that cemented the reputation of the Fourth Armored, the brutal struggle in Lorraine, and, ultimately, the legendary drive to Bastogne are among the topics. The accounts were assembled through the use of original unit combat diaries and after-action reports, memoirs of key historical figures and abundant supplementary documents and correspondences. But the essence of the book are the first-hand recollections from members of the division gathered by the author. It comes with maps, drawings and photographs.

Toc Walsh was conscripted into intake 138 Depot Rhodesia Regiment on 18 April 1974 and endured a year of what he deemed to be `military mayhem’. In July 1976, he was drafted again with the 10th Battalion Rhodesia Regiment to continue his wild ride into the maniacal world of combat. The country was in a state of national emergency and all available men were called up on continuous service. Mampara is a no-holds-barred look at one man’s lived experience of war. The title of the book stems from the Shona word mampara that is said to originate from the slurred bark of the male Chacma baboon. The baboon indulges in alcohol-laden fermented fruit in an attempt to attain courage for difficult endeavours such as courting a female. In many ways, us as humans indulge in the same practise especially in times of intense stress or hardships. Young men experiencing the intense stresses of combat become, like the baboon, hungry for a way to cope.

One of only fifty infantry battalions to see action with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I, the 58th nevertheless had no official history. Second to None tells the story of this important, yet forgotten, battalion. The soldiers who formed the 58th exemplified the ideal citizen soldiers and later evolved into the tough, battle-savvy veterans who destroyed the cream of the German Imperial Army and won battle honours. The author uses the men's letters and diaries and family oral histories to amplify the terse account of the 58th's war diary, bringing to life once more the men who paid the price for freedom.

It hardly seems credible today that a nineteenyear- old boy, just commissioned into the Seaforth Highlanders, could lead a platoon of men into the carnage of the Battle of the Somme. Or that, as the machine gun bullets whistled past and shells exploded, he could maintain his own morale to lead a platoon, keeping its discipline and cohesion, in spite of desperate losses. Norman Collins, the author of this superb memoir, was this remarkable man.Using Norman's own words, Last Man Standing follows him from his childhood in Hartlepool to his subsequent service in France. The book also covers such shattering events as the German naval assault on Hartlepool in December 1914 when, as a seventeen-year-old, Norman was subjected to as big a bombardment as any occurring on the Western Front at that time. Norman's love for, and devotion to, the men under his command shine out in this book and his stories are gripping and deeply moving. They are illustrated by a rare collection of private photographs taken at or near the front by Norman himself, although the use of a camera was strictly proscribed by the Army. Most of the images have never been published before.

'Combines elements of In Cold Blood and Black Hawk Down with Apocalypse Now as it builds towards its terrible climax...Extraordinary' New York Times Iraq's 'Triangle of Death', 2005. A platoon of young soldiers from a U.S. regiment known as 'the Black Heart Brigade' is deployed to a lawless and hyperviolent area just south of Baghdad. Almost immediately, the attacks begin: every day another roadside bomb, another colleague blown to pieces. As the daily violence chips away, and chips away at their sanity, the thirty-five young men of 1st Platoon, Bravo Company descend into a tailspin of poor discipline, substance abuse, and brutality -- with tragic results. Black Hearts is a timeless true story of how modern warfare can make or break a man's character. Told with severe compassion, balanced judgement and the magnetic pace of a thriller, it looks set to become one of the defining books about the Iraq War. 'Black Hearts is the obverse of Band of Brothers, a story not of combat unity but of disharmony and disarray' Chicago Sun-Times 'A riveting picture of life outside the wire in Iraq, where "you tell a guy to go across a bridge, and within five minutes he's dead."' Kirkus Reviews (starred)

The 'Pals' battalions were a phenomenon of the Great War, never repeated since. Under Lord Derby's scheme, and in response to Kitchener's famous call for a million volunteers, local communities raised (and initially often paid for) entire battalions for service on the Western Front. Their experience was all too frequently tragic, as men who had known each other all their lives, had worked, volunteered, and trained together, and had shipped to France together, encountered the first full fury of modern battle on the Somme in July 1916. Many of the Pals battalions would not long survive that first brutal baptism, but their spirit and fighting qualities have gone down into history - these were, truly, the cream of Britain's young men, and every single one of them was a volunteer.

It was in 1794 that the Duke of Argyll deputed his kinsman Campbell of Lochnell to raise a Regiment of Argyllshire Highlanders. In 1881 the Cardwell Reforms twinned the 91st with the 93rd, raised by Major General William Wemyss in 1800. The 93rd came into prominence in the Crimean War where it formed the Thin Red Line at Balaklava before seeing action in the Indian Mutiny, notably at the Relief of Lucknow where the Regiment won no less than six VCs. These two units were brought together to form the Argyll Sutherland Highlanders. The new Regiment was given an area comprising the counties of Argyll and Bute, Stirlingshire, Clackmannan, Renfrew and Dumbarton. They saw action in Palestine before taking part in Korea where Major Muir won the Regiment's last VC. They took part in the Suez operation in 1956, were on active service in Cyprus in 1958-9 and were among the last troops out of Aden in 1969 after their famous retaking of Crater.

Beaten Paths are Safest - was the motto of The Reconnaissance Regiment. This book tells the story of the 61st Recce Regiment whose own official history was never completed for the period 23rd Feb 1944 to 1st October 1944. Roy Howard who compiled the book served with the Regiment through the period in question which saw 61st Recce land on "Gold Beach" on D-Day followed by continuous active service up to and including the German Ardennes offensive when the 50th Northumbrian Division, of which the Regiment was a part, disbanded. Roy's book consists of personal memoirs of events together with a considerable amount of material from The Old Comrades Association newsletter. Sadly, the author died in 1996 but the book has been completed by his son Mark, as a tribute to his father and all the members of the 61st Reconnaissance Regiment.

While the 6th Airborne Division had landed in France on D-Day and covered itself in glory, its counterpart, the 1st Airborne Division, had last seen action during an amphibious assault at Taranto on September 9, 1943, as part of the invasion of Italy. Returned to the UK in December 1943, it was held in reserve during the battle of Normandy and spent three months waiting for action, as plan after plan was proposed and then discarded, such was the speed of the Allied pursuit of the Germans. In September 1944, however, 1st Airborne played a leading role in Operation Market-the air component of Operation Market Garden, an audacious attempt by the Allies to bypass the Siegfried Line and advance into the Ruhr. It was to be 1st Airborne's last action of the war. Encountering more resistance than expected, including II SS Panzer Corps, the division landed too far from Arnhem bridge, and fought bravely but in vain. Held up en route, particularly at Nijmegen, XXX Corps' advance to Arnhem stuttered and ran late. After nine days of fighting, 1st Airborne had lost 8,000 men around Arnhem when the survivors retreated across the Lower Rhine to safety. During those nine days, however, they had created a legend: first as the small unit under Lt-Col John Frost held the "bridge too far" and then as the Oosterbeek perimeter came under sustained attack waiting for XXX Corps to arrive. The Past& Present Series reconstructs historical battles by using photography, juxtaposing modern views with those of the past together with concise explanatory text. It shows how much infrastructure has remained and how much such as outfits, uniforms, and ephemera has changed, providing a coherent link between now and then.

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.

"Nisei Soldiers Break Their Silence" is a compelling story of courage, community, endurance, and reparation. It shares the experiences of Japanese Americans (Nisei) who served in the U.S. Army during World War II, fighting on the front lines in Italy and France, serving as linguists in the South Pacific, and working as cooks and medics. The soldiers were from Hood River, Oregon, where their families were landowners and fruit growers. Town leaders, including veterans' groups, attempted to prevent their return after the war and stripped their names from the local war memorial. All of the soldiers were American citizens, but their parents were Japanese immigrants and had been imprisoned in camps as a consequence of Executive Order 9066. The racist homecoming that the Hood River Japanese American soldiers received was decried across the nation.

Linda Tamura, who grew up in Hood River and whose father was a veteran of the war, conducted extensive oral histories with the veterans, their families, and members of the community. She had access to hundreds of recently uncovered letters and documents from private files of a local veterans' group that led the campaign against the Japanese American soldiers. This book also includes the little known story of local Nisei veterans who spent 40 years appealing their convictions for insubordination.

Linda Tamura is professor of education at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. She is the author of "The Hood River Issei: An Oral History of Japanese Settlers in Oregon's Hood River Valley."

"An important book about significant wartime events, a group of heroic World War II veterans, and the anguished experience of a community coming to grips with its own social sins. It is a superb oral history, a compelling community history, and a cautionary story about what happens when a democracy goes to war." -William L. Lang, Portland State University

""Nisei Soldiers Break Their Silence" speaks to contemporary concerns about multiculturalism and diversity with an absorbing and powerful story that encompasses both U.S. military and civilian life and strategically links the past with the present in a manner that vivifies what William Faulkner meant when he said that 'the past is not dead, it is not even past.'" -Arthur A. Hansen, Professor Emeritus of History and Asian American Studies, California State University, Fullerton