This detailed, highly-illustrated study presents a unique and comprehensive collection of uniforms, insignia, and equipment used by the French Foreign Legion in Indochina from 1946 to 1956. More than 400 original pieces are shown in over 1,000 high-quality, color photographs. Over 200 rare war-era photographs of the Legion in Indochina show the vast variety of uniforms and equipment in use. Much of the information included here is presented for the first time in English. This book will become a standard reference for Foreign Legion collectors and historians.

Volume 4 of The Other Side of the Wire looks at the events that occurred in preparation for the German Offensives of 1918; the last attempt to bring victory to the German Army. The book describes the experiences of the men of the 26th and 28th Reserve Divisions as the men prepared for the Spring Offensives, the attacks and the subsequent events that took place until November 1918. The book continues to follow the events of these divisions following the series of offensives and the eventual collapse of the German armies in the west, up through the final months of the war until the Armistice and the journey home. The book looks at the collapse of the structure of the German forces; from a powerful force until it was no more than an empty shell of its former self. In the past it was assumed that the German Army was not defeated in the field, and as such the events of the last months of the war helped to spread the concept of the army being stabbed in the back by the events that occurred inside Germany with political unrest. This volume will show what truly happened within the army ranks. While many books end at the Armistice on 11 November 1918, this volume will take the reader into the post-war years, the creation of the veteran organizations, the rise of the Nazi Party, and the decades that followed the end of the Second World War. One major event that is described in detail is what happened to the Jewish veterans of the Great War during the reign of Adolf Hitler. The book, the final volume in the series, completes the story of the men who went off to war in 1914 with the flush of victory, and who ultimately faced defeat four years later. It is unique in the sense that the books follow the XIV Reserve Corps throughout the war and into the post-war years, giving the reader a personal glimpse into a piece of history that is all too often ignored; the personal aspect of this important aspect of world history.

The town of Skagway was born in 1897 after its population quintupled in under a year due to the Klondike gold rush. Balanced on the edge of anarchy, the U.S. Army stationed Company L, a unit of Buffalo Soldiers, there near the end of the gold rush. Buffalo Soldiers in Alaska tells the story of these African American soldiers who kept the peace during a volatile period in America’s resource-rich North. It is a fascinating tale that features white officers and Black soldiers safeguarding U.S. territory, supporting the civil authorities, protecting Native Americans, fighting natural disasters, and serving proudly in America’s last frontier. Despite the discipline and contributions of soldiers who served honorably, Skagway exhibited the era’s persistent racism and maintained a clear color line. However, these Black Regulars carried out their complex and sometimes contradictory mission with a combination of professionalism and restraint that earned the grudging respect of the independently minded citizens of Alaska. The company used the popular sport of baseball to connect with the white citizens of Skagway and in the process gained some measure of acceptance. Though the soldiers left little trace in Skagway, a few remained after their enlistments and achieved success and recognition after settling in other parts of Alaska.  

It was 1862, the second year of the Civil War, though Kansans and Missourians had been fighting over slavery for almost a decade. For the 250 Union soldiers facing down rebel irregulars on Enoch Toothman's farm near Butler, Missouri, this was no battle over abstract principles. These were men of the First Kansas Colored Infantry, and they were fighting for their own freedom and that of their families. They belonged to the first black regiment raised in a northern state, and the first black unit to see combat during the Civil War. Soldiers in the Army of Freedom is the first published account of this largely forgotten regiment and, in particular, its contribution to Union victory in the trans-Mississippi theater of the Civil War. As such, it restores the First Kansas Colored Infantry to its rightful place in American history. Composed primarily of former slaves, the First Kansas Colored saw major combat in Missouri, Indian Territory, and Arkansas. Ian Michael Spurgeon draws upon a wealth of little-known sources - including soldiers' pension applications - to chart the intersection of race and military service, and to reveal the regiment's role in countering white prejudices by defying stereotypes. Despite naysayers' bigoted predictions - and a merciless slaughter at the Battle of Poison Spring - these black soldiers proved themselves as capable as their white counterparts, and so helped shape the evolving attitudes of leading politicians, such as Kansas senator James Henry Lane and President Abraham Lincoln. A long-overdue reconstruction of the regiment's remarkable combat record, Spurgeon's book brings to life the men of the First Kansas Colored Infantry in their doubly desperate battle against the Confederate forces and skepticism within Union ranks.

The enduring popularity of the BBC TV series Dad's Army has focused attention on one of the strangest and least military armies ever formed - the British Home Guard. What started as an improvised band of volunteers had grown by 1942 into a conscripted, disciplined and well-equipped force with a strength of nearly two million men. Norman Longmate, himself a Home Guard veteran and an authority on wartime Britain, has collected together a wealth of hilarious anecdotes as well as all the unlikely facts to produce the first popular history of the Home Guard to be written since the war. Longmate, ex-Private 'F' Company, 3rd Sussex Battalion, Home Guard, joined 'Dad's Army' at the same age as the fictional character 'Pike', and to this day he contends that the much-loved sitcom was remarkably accurate in its portrayal of life in the Home Guard.

Whilst many books have been written on the history of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces in the Second World War, none of them have concentrated solely on the story of the 1st Parachute Brigade in North Africa between 1942 and 1943. 'Tunisian Tales' covers the raising of the Brigade in 1941 and training in the UK before their transfer to the Mediterranean theatre of operations. It also covers the three airborne operations carried out by the Brigade there - Bone, Souk-el-Arba and Depienne/Oudna - in great detail. The book is complemented by around 90 photos many never published before, several maps (including one used by Lieutenant Colonel Pearson when in command of the 1st Parachute Battalion) and coverage of the Airborne Medical Services in the area, besides extensive appendices. This is Niall's third book for Helion following on from his highly successful previous titles - 'Most Unfavourable Ground' and 'Striking Back'. As in his previous works, detailed research has been carried out using official reports, war diaries and veterans' accounts. The book has the full approval of 'Airborne Assault', the Museum of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces at Duxford, and we are delighted that its curator, Jon Baker, has contributed the Foreword. 'Tunisian Tales' represents a notable contribution to new research into the history of Britain's airborne forces.

Choice Outstanding Title Scorned by allies and enemies alike, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was one of the most maligned fighting forces in modern history. Cobbled together by U.S. advisers from the remnants of the French-inspired Vietnamese National Army, it was effectively pushed aside by the Americans in 1965. When toward the end of the war the army was compelled to reassert itself, it was too little, too late for all concerned. In this first in-depth history of the ARVN from 1955 to 1975, Robert Brigham takes readers into the barracks and training centers of the ARVN to plumb the hearts and souls of these forgotten soldiers. Through his masterly command of Vietnamese-language sources-diaries, memoirs, letters, oral interviews, and more-he explores the lives of ordinary men, focusing on troop morale and motivation within the context of traditional Vietnamese society and a regime that made impossible demands upon its soldiers. Offering keen insights into ARVN veterans' lives as both soldiers and devout kinsmen, Brigham reveals what they thought about their American allies, their Communist enemies, and their own government. He describes the conscription policy that forced these men into the army for indefinite periods with a shameful lack of training and battlefield preparation and examines how soldiers felt about barracks life in provinces far from their homes. He also explores the cultural causes of the ARVN's estrangement from the government and describes key military engagements that defined the achievements, failures, and limitations of the ARVN as a fighting force. Along the way, he explodes some of the myths about ARVN soldiers' cowardice, corruption, and lack of patriotism that have made the ARVN the scapegoat for America's defeat. Ultimately, as Brigham shows, without any real political commitment to a divided Vietnam or vision for the future, the ARVN retreated into a subnational culture that redefined the war's meaning: saving their families. His fascinating book gives us a fuller understanding not only of the Vietnam War but also of the problems associated with U.S. nation building through military intervention.

The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard is the world's oldest surviving royal bodyguard, having been founded by Henry VII in 1485. Today it is purely a ceremonial body, but in the past it was a true bodyguard and the nucleus of a fighting force at a time when England had no standing army. Even in its early years its ceremonial role was of great importance, supplying a richly arrayed retinue to enhance the King's status. In this first comprehensive study of the early years of the Yeomen of the Guard during the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII, Anita Hewerdine examines the variety of roles performed by the Guard, both within and outside the Court, as well as detailing the apparel worn by the yeomen and the weaponry with which they were equipped. Hewerdine's book is the result of intensive research, using numerous unpublished documents, as well as a variety of printed sources not readily accessible to the general public. It will be essential reading for researchers of Early Modern Military History and sheds light on a previously overlooked aspect of the Tudor Court.

Following the success of Nice One Centurion the second volume in the Centurion series, 'Are You Tittering Centurion?' chronicles the true, personal and hilarious antics of an RAF Regiment Gunner and his fellow Penguin counterparts. Featuring more illustrations from Tim Parker, this volume continues the tales of the nitty-gritty life of training, exercises, deployment, war, and the general mayhem that followed the RAF Regiment wherever it went.Born out of an idea to help fellow service members who suffer with PTSD, a percentage of proceeds is going to Help 4 Heroes, the RAF Regiment Museum and the RAF Benevolent Fund.

The 1st Texas Cavalry Regiment, also known as the 1st Texas Mounted Rifles, was Texas' first contribution of soldiers to the Civil War. The regiment was the first Confederate unit organized in Texas and the longest to serve, participating in Indian skirmishes on the frontier as well as in full battles against the Union. In Horse Sweat and Powder Smoke, Stanley S. McGowen describes and honors one of the most unique and successful military units in Texas history. He provides the first complete history of the 1st Texas Cavalry Regiment, documenting their origins from the Confederate Committee on Public Safety's request for mounted units to the appointment of Henry McCulloch to colonel of cavalry. McCulloch, a former Texas Ranger, was swift and effective at motivating his fellow Texans to arms, notably Captains James B. "Buck" Barry and Thomas C. Frost. The regimental commanders, McCulloch, Augustus Buchel, and William Yager, were acknowledged for their emphasis on precise discipline and gentlemanly conduct, and their training methods were valuable in that soldiers learned both cavalry and infantry maneuvers, as well as saber fighting and the proper care of horses and equipment. As many commanders maintained lax rules of propriety and organization, the 1st Texas Mounted Rifles remained a cohesive and loyal unit, disbanding only under the proper orders. Even after, as the Confederacy fell around them, the troops remained steadfastly loyal to their fellow fighters. McGowen examines the vast range of territory that the unit covered, including Louisiana swamps, the Red River Valley, along the Rio Grande, as well as the Gulf Coast line. He discusses their involvement in the controversial campaign known as the Battle of the Nueces, casting doubts on the common interpretation of the German immigrants, sympathetic to the Union, as defenseless farmers. McGowen asserts that while there was bloodshed on both sides, the Germans were not the innocent victims that many historians have claimed, and that the cavalry was not the bloodthirsty gang many thought. Horse Sweat and Powder Smoke clearly portrays the heroism and individuality of Texas' first mounted unit in the Civil War. By combining the history of the unit with profiles of the men who led it and who gave it its unique spirit and character, as well as accounts of the battles, raids, and skirmishes in which the unit participated, McGowen provides a valuable history of men whose recognition is long overdue from those whose homes, values, and way of life were defended by their actions.

It was November 1806. The explorers had gone without food for one day, then two. Their leader, not yet thirty, drove on, determined to ascend the great mountain. Waist deep in snow, he reluctantly turned back. But Zebulon Pike had not been defeated. His name remained on the unclimbed peak-and new adventures lay ahead of him and his republic. In Citizen Explorer, historian Jared Orsi provides the first modern biography of this soldier and explorer, who rivaled contemporaries Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Born in 1779, Pike joined the army and served in frontier posts in the Ohio River valley before embarking on a series of astonishing expeditions. He sought the headwaters of the Mississippi and later the sources of the Arkansas and Red Rivers, which led him to Pike's Peak and capture by Spanish forces. Along the way, he met Aaron Burr and General James Wilkinson; Auguste and Pierre Couteau, patriarchs of St. Louis's most powerful fur-trading family, who sought to make themselves indispensible to Jefferson's administration; as well as British fur-traders, Native Americans, and officers of the Spanish empire, all of whom resisted the expansion of the United States. Through Pike's life, Orsi examines how American nationalism thinned as it stretched west, from the Jeffersonian idealism on the Atlantic to a practical, materialist sensibility on the frontier. Surveying and gathering data, Pike sought to incorporate these distant territories into the republic, to overlay the west with the American map grid; yet he became increasingly dependent for survival on people who had no attachment to the nation he served. He eventually died in that service, in a victorious battle in the War of 1812. Written from an environmental perspective, rich in cultural and political context, Citizen Explorer is a state-of-the-art biography of a remarkable man.

Military Working Dogs have played a vital role in the United States armed forces throughout history. In this celebration of their contributions to our nation, Lisa Rogak profiles these heroic dogs and showcases them in vivid photographs that capture the devotion and respect these amazing canines, their devoted handlers, and fellow soldiers share for each other. A heart-warming collection for dog lovers everywhere, this is the first illustrated tribute to America's Military Working Dogs.

This book, translated from the original Spanish, is the primary academic and historical study of the Blue Division -- a Falangist initiative involving the dispatch of some forty-thousand Spanish combatants (over a half of whom paid with their lives, health, or liberty) to the Russian Front during the Second World War. Xavier Moreno Julia does not limit himself to relating their deeds under arms, but also analyses -- for the first time -- the political background in detail: the complex relations between the Spanish government and Hitler's Germany; the internal conflicts between the Falangists and the Army; the rise and fall of Franco's brother-in-law, Minister Ramon Serrano Suner, who inspired the Blue Division and became the second most powerful person in Spain; and the attitude of General Agustin Munoz Grandes, commander of the Blue Division, who was encouraged by Berlin to seriously consider the possibility of taking over the reins of Spanish power. In the end, there were 45,500 reasons that led to joining the Blue Division -- one for each young man who decided to enlist. To understand all of the complex reasons behind their military service under German command is impossible at this juncture. It is an irrecoverable past that lies in Spanish cemeteries and on the Russian steppes. This book, based on massive documentation in German, British and Spanish archives, is an essential source of information to understand Spain in the 1940s -- an epoch when the Caudillo's power and the regime's good fortune were less secure than is often believed. Published in association with the Canada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies, LSE.

This book has been written with intent of echoing a fact that the defence of a nation is a right of every one of its citizens. It tries to apprise countrymen about the availability of an efficient and flexible citizen-friendly tool the Territorial Army (TA) existing in our country for everyone to fulfill this right. It has been attempted to highlight the potential of TA as a national reserve and the identity crisis it is presently facing. Can Army be everywhere? Do we really need a force like TA when adequate standing army is there? How large a reserve force can our country afford? An attempt has been made to address all such issues and bring out answers.

The Jacobite Rising of 1745 could not have taken place without French support. French ships carried Charles Edward Stuart to Scotland, French gold financed his campaign, and French weapons equipped many of his troops. Yet the actual French military contribution to the campaign was small, and its role is frequently neglected. This book seeks to redress this balance by looking in detail at the French military contribution to the Jacobite '45: the first detachment of troops to sail with the Prince - who instead of landing in Scotland found themselves caught up in an intense naval battle; the staff officers and professionals who helped Charles organise his army on modern European lines; and the Irish and Scots regulars who fought with distinction at Inverurie, Falkrik, and Culloden. As with many aspects of the '45, myths and misconceptions aplenty have arisen about the nature and significance of the French contribution. New archival research enables a better picture to be obtained than ever before of the men who made up the rank and file of this contingent, and of the background and fates of those who led them. New analysis is offered, too, as to details of the uniforms worn by the detachments serving in Scotland, re-considering existing sources and also bringing out new information. Taken together, the result is to fill an important gap in our understanding of these dramatic events, one of the last occasions that foreign troops fought on British soil.

Winner, 2008 General Wallace M. Greene Jr. Award, presented by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation Peter F. Owen offers a tautly worded, historically rigorous, and intensely human survey of the agonizing burden shouldered by the Second Battalion of the Sixth Regiment of US Marines from its formation in Quantico, Virginia, in 1917 until the cessation of hostilities in November of the following year. In places like Belleau Wood and Soissons, these young men, led by dedicated officers, died in staggering numbers-primarily because of the outmoded tactics they had learned. Owen shows how the battalion regrouped after these campaigns, however, and embarked on a period of intense retraining, molding themselves into a coldly efficient military machine. ." . . the maps, figures, and photographs are excellent . . . a timely, original, and important contribution to the record. I highly recommend it to the infantry professional operating at the tactical level of war or to any Marine who is interested in our rich and storied history."--Marine Corps Gazette "This is one of the most useful 'soldier's eye' stories published during the last few years. Built on interviews, archival deposits, memoirs, printed documents, and appropriate secondary sources, it catches in the words of the actual participants the grim realities of rain, mud, bad food, lost friends, and a formidable adversary characteristic of Great War literature. . . . a serious addition to the study of the American military experience in the Great War."--Journal of Military History PETER F. OWEN retired from the US Marine Corps as a lieutenant colonel. His first command was a weapons platoon in the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines. During his research for this book, he walked every battlefield on which 2/6 fought during the Great War. Owen previously annotated Carl Brannen's World War I memoir, Over There. Number Nine: C. A. Brannen Series

Protecting the Empire's Frontier tells stories of the roughly eighty officers who served in the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot, which served British interests in America during the crucial period from 1767 through 1776. The Royal Irish was one of the most wide-ranging regiments in America, with companies serving on the Illinois frontier, at Fort Pitt, and in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, with some companies taken as far afield as Florida, Spanish Louisiana, and present-day Maine. When the regiment was returned to England in 1776, some of the officers remained in America on staff assignments. Others joined provincial regiments, and a few joined the American revolutionary army, taking up arms against their king and former colleagues. Using a wide range of archival resources previously untapped by scholars, the text goes beyond just these officers' service in the regiment and tells the story of the men who included governors, a college president, land speculators, physicians, and officers in many other British regular and provincial regiments. Included in these ranks were an Irishman who would serve in the U.S. Congress and as an American general at Yorktown; a landed aristocrat who represented Bath as a member of Parliament; and a naval surgeon on the ship transporting Benjamin Franklin to France. This is the history of the American Revolutionary period from a most gripping and everyday perspective. An epilogue covers the Royal Irish's history after returning to England and its part in defending against both the Franco-Spanish invasion attempt and the Gordon Rioters. With an essay on sources and a complete bibliography, this is a treat for professional and amateur historians alike.

This book has been written with intent of echoing a fact that the defence of a nation is a right of every one of its citizens. It tries to apprise countrymen about the availability of an efficient and flexible citizen-friendly tool the Territorial Army (TA) existing in our country for everyone to fulfill this right. It has been attempted to highlight the potential of TA as a national reserve and the identity crisis it is presently facing. Can Army be everywhere? Do we really need a force like TA when adequate standing army is there? How large a reserve force can our country afford? An attempt has been made to address all such issues and bring out answers.

The book tells the story of the 10th Australian Light Horse during World War One. It takes the reader on a journey with the first enlisted men from West Australia from their enlistment, through training at Black Boy Hill, their encampment at Meadi, Egypt, the call to Gallipoli and then the slow process of taking the Sinai, the drive through Beersheba to Jerusalem and finally their capture of Damascus. The war for the 10th did not stop here because they had to maintain the peace. Eventually the men returned home. The story is told through the eyes of the author's father, Trooper Herman John Murphy. With a mixture of well researched fact added to a little fiction the Author takes a fresh look at an old topic capturing the essence of the Anzac: Courage, Mateship, Initiative, Self Reliance, Sense of Humour and very little respect for authority and military protocol. The underlying message of the book is the meaningless waste of human life in war

"Trained as an assault brigade, the 56th landed on D-Day and successfully liberated Bayeux the following day. It was then employed in the crossing of the River Seine and the assault on Le Havre, before fighting across Belgium and Holland culminating in the final assault on Arnhem in April 1945, by which time the brigade had served in four different divisions. No previous study has sought to explain how an infantry brigade is used in battle, let alone one holding the title Independent. Holborn considers the styles of war as carried out by British forces and casts new light on the effectiveness of British infantry units and their contribution to war effort. Extensive use has been made of previously unseen primary evidence from The National Archives, IWM Archive and Regimental Museums. The evidence is used to explore issues pertinent to life in the Army at home during the war, training for war and the Campaign in North West Europe, as well as the role of the battalion."

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

Of all the military assignments in Vietnam, perhaps none was more challenging than the defense of the Mekong River Delta region. Operating deep within the Viet Cong--controlled Delta, the 9th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army was charged with protecting the area and its population against Communist insurgents and ensuring the success of the South Vietnamese government's pacification program. Faced with unrelenting physical hardships, a tenacious enemy, and the region's rugged terrain, the 9th Division established strategies and quantifiable goals for completing their mission, effectively writing a blueprint for combating guerilla warfare that influenced army tacticians for decades to come. In The 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam: Unparalleled and Unequaled, Ira A. Hunt Jr. details the innovative strategies of the 9th Division in their fight to overcome the Viet Cong. Based on Hunt's experience as colonel and division chief of staff, the volume documents how the 9th Division's combat effectiveness peaked in 1969. A wealth of illustrative material, including photos, maps, charts, and tables, deepens understanding of the region's hazardous environment and clarifies the circumstances of the division's failures and successes. A welcome addition to scholarship on the Vietnam War, The 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam will find an audience with enthusiasts and scholars of military history.