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.

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.

At the end of the Second World War, the Polish Allied Forces under British Command refused to stand down when America, the Soviet Union and Britain decided that Poland would be part of Russia's new sphere of interest in Europe. This defiant gesture became known as the 'Polish problem' and was extremely symbolic, for it threatened to embarrass Britain's entry into the War on behalf of Polish independence. To resolve the issue Britain established the Polish Resettlement Corps, under the country's first ever mass immigration legislation. The initiative was just as much a face saving exercise, as it was a noble act of one ally on behalf of another. This book describes the methods and the legacy of the resettlement programme, which not only required the support of the Trade Unions, Professional Associations and the Departments of Employment, Health and Pensions amongst others, but also the lobbying of the Vatican City, the governments of Argentina, Brazil and southern Africa, as well as the Commonwealth countries. Britain's solution to the Polish problem eventually became a heroic, as well as a tragic act; often referred to but rarely explained. The book contains three sections and comprises 33 chapters which are fully referenced. Numerous images and photographs are included to illustrate this history.

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.

Rugby was played constantly during World War II by service teams. Whenever soldiers met or gathered, sport and games developed. Rugby in the armed forces was often an exuberant reaction from the stern reality of war. It was played with knee-pads on the dusty, gritty sand of the desert and on grass beside the Nile river. This is the story of rugby matches played by the 6th South African Armoured Division in Egypt and Italy, and their tour of Europe.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) supported the British Army throughout the First World War treating sick and wounded military personnel. The RAMC also had a range of sanitation responsibilities. The military nursing services and voluntary medical personnel provided vital support to RAMC medical units and hospitals, ensuring the effective treatment of casualties. The size of the armies, the intensity of the combat, the power of modern weaponry and the global nature of conflict meant the number of casualties proved challenging for the medical services of all combatants, including the RAMC. Consequently a number of innovative solutions were needed, and one such innovation developed by British medical services was the use of barges for the evacuation of seriously wounded casualties. A range of previously unpublished photographs, in thematic chapters considering aspects such as service in the United Kingdom, global warfare and commemoration, illustrate experiences of RAMC and medical personnel during the First World War. The book contributes to wider understanding of the RAMC and medical services in the First World War, and as such will be of relevance to readers with an interest in medical, social and photographic history.

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.

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.

"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 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

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.

An inventive study of relations between the National Guard and the Regular Army during World War II, Guard Wars follows the Pennsylvania National Guard's 28th Infantry Division from its peacetime status through training and into combat in Western Europe. The broader story, spanning the years 1939 1945, sheds light on the National Guard, the U.S. Army, and American identities and priorities during the war years. Michael E. Weaver carefully tracks the division s difficult transformation into a combat-ready unit and highlights General Omar Bradley's extraordinary capacity for leadership which turned the Pennsylvanians from the least capable to one of the more capable units, a claim dearly tested in the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest. This absorbing and informative analysis chronicles the nation's response to the extreme demands of a world war, and the flexibility its leaders and soldiers displayed in the chaos of combat."

This is the compelling story of West Belfast's involvement fighting on the Western Front throughout the First World War. This is the story of men from either side of West Belfast's sectarian divide during the Great War. This dramatic book tells the story of the volunteers of the 36th and 16th divisions who fought on the Somme and side-by-side at Messines. Grayson also brings in forgotten West Belfast men from throughout the armed forces, from the retreat at Mons to the defeat of Germany and life post-war. In so doing, he tells a new story which challenges popular perceptions of the war and explains why remembrance remains so controversial in Belfast today.