A complete illustrated study of the German Kriegsmarine throughout World War II. Hamstrung at first by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, during the 1930s, the German Navy underwent a programme of rearmament in defiance of the restrictions, building modern warships under limitations which forced technological innovation. Submarines were strictly prohibited by the treaty, and yet, following years of covert development, they became one of the Kriegsmarine's most deadly weapons. Blooded in the Spanish Civil War, the surface ships of the Kriegsmarine went on to play a crucial role in the opening salvoes of World War II during the invasions of Poland and Norway, although serious losses here set back plans for the invasion of Britain, and by the end of the war, only a handful of surface vessels remained to be divided up among the Allies. From the beginning of the war, but especially after the fall of France, the dreaded and extraordinarily successful U-boats stalked the Atlantic, threatening vital British shipping convoys and choking off the lifeline of munitions and supply from the US. Once Italy and Japan entered the war, German naval operations expanded to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. This highly illustrated volume is a comprehensive study of the German Navy throughout the war, from pocket battleships to torpedo boats.

There are many biographies of former soldiers of the German Wehrmacht, many of whom had fascinating stories to tell, and several of whom were highly decorated. Few, however, can match Hans Sturm in his astonishing rise from a mere private in an infantry regiment, thrown into the bloody maelstrom of the Eastern Front, to becoming a glorified war hero whose role brought him into direct regular contact with Prominenten of the Third Reich. This young man's fearless heroism in combat earned him some of Germany's highest military awards, and yet he was pugnaciously outspoken about bullying and injustice. From striking a member of the feared Sicherheitsdienst in defence of a Jewish woman to refusing to wear a decoration he felt was tainted by its encouragement of inhumane treatment of enemy partisans, Sturm repeatedly stuck to his moral values no matter what the risk. But even when the war was finally over, his travails did not end: he was held in a number of Soviet labour camps, before finally being released in 1953. Hans Sturm: A Soldier's Odyssey on the Eastern Front is an engaging reconstruction of events based on exchanges of correspondence and reminiscences between the author and Hans Sturm himself. It vividly portrays not only a German soldier's experience on the Eastern Front, but the intriguing trajectories that success in the battlefield yielded for him at home under the Nazi regime.

In almost every army in the World, the Military Police rank amongst those who are least liked by other soldiers despite the essential duties that they carry out, often being amongst the first in and last out in any theatre of war. In the German armed forces, however, opinions of the military police were often those of fear as much as dislike, so great were the powers held by these troops. Germany created a plethora of different branches of what were termed 'Ordnungstruppe' - Troops for Maintaining Order. Many wore a distinctive metal gorget plate on a chain around the neck, leading to their pejorative nickname 'Kettenhund' or Chain Dogs. Despite certainly being involved in often brutal treatment of partisans and other unfortunates who fell into their grasp, their skills were sufficiently appreciated by the allies that on Germany's surrender, a number of military police units of the Wehrmacht were allowed to remain in post under allied control to assist in controlling the vast number of now disarmed German troops. Kettenhund!The German Military Police in the Second World War, using primarily previously unpublished photographic material from private sources, provides a detailed study of the organisation of these units and the distinctive uniforms and insignia they wore.

This, the first of two volumes on Germany's World War II U-boats, traces their development through: the early U-boats of the Kaiser's navy; the prohibition on Germany having U-boats following the Armistice in 1918 and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles; the secret development of U-boats using a "cover-firm" in Holland; and culminating in the formation of the 1st U-boat Flotilla in 1935 with the modern Type II. The operational history section includes examples from the classes Type VIIA, Type VIIB, VIID, VIIE and VIIF before concentrating on the mainstay of the U-boat arm, the Type VIIC. Comparisons are also made with the standard Allied submarines, their strength and weakness and U-boat tactics.

By the outbreak of World War II, Germany had done much to replace the Kaiser's High Seas Fleet, which was scuttled following the German surrender at the end of World War I. Forced to build her fleet anew, although small, the Kriegsmarine possessed some of the most modern and technically innovative warships in existence. Although the heavy units of the fleet were too small in number to pose much of a threat to huge fleets such as the Royal Navy, Germany was particularly well served by her Navy's smaller vessels, in particular two specific branches - the U-Boats and the S-Boats. Known to the allies as the E-Boats (E being indicative of 'Enemy'), they performed sterling duties in both the Black Sea and the English Channel, where they became a particular scourge. Their achievements can also be gauged by the high number of successful commanders who were decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, in recognition of the tonnage they had sunk.

'The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril,' wrote Winston Churchill in his history of the Second World War. 'I was even more anxious about this battle than I had been about the glorious air fight called the Battle of Britain." In reality, the Kriegsmarine had been woefully unprepared for the war into which it was thrown. The Command-in-Chief of submarines, Karl Donitz, himself a verteran U-boat captain from the First World War, felt that he could bring Britain to its knees with a fleet of 300 U-Boats. But when war broke out, he had just twenty-four available for operational use. Despite this, the U-Boat arm scored some incredible successes in the early part of the war, raising the status of the submarine commanders and crews to that of national heroes in the eyes of the German people. The 'Grey Wolves' had become super-stars. Small wonder then that the U-Boat war has fascinated students of military history ever since. This book, using a carefully selected range of both wartime images and colour images of surviving U-boat memorabilia from private collections, describes 100 iconic elements of the U-Boat service and its campaigns. The array of objects include important individuals and the major U-Boat types, through to the uniforms and insignias the men wore. The weapons, equipment and technology used are explored, as are the conditions in which the U-boat crews served, from cooking facilities and general hygiene down to the crude toilet facilities. Importantly, the enemy that they faced is also covered, examining the ship-borne and airborne anti-submarine weaponry utilised against the U-boats. The U-Boats began the war, though small in number, more than a match for the Allies and created carnage amongst merchant shipping as well as sinking several major warships. The pace of technological development, however, failed to match that of Allied anti-submarine warfare weaponry and the U-Bootwaffe was ultimately doomed to defeat but not before, at one point, coming close to bringing Britain to its knees.

An examination of the 'small boat' war between the Germans and the British in the English Channel. During the Second World War, German E-Boats were so active in the English Channel that the narrow stretch of water became known as 'E-Boat Alley'. To counter the threat of these E-Boats, Britain brought its coastal forces to bear - flotillas of small Motor Torpedo and Gun Boats (MTBs and MGBs) and Motor Launches (MLs). As the Germans sought to maintain their supremacy in Channel waters, they continued to develop their E-Boat designs to accommodate more armor and more firepower. Rather than matching the newer E-Boats for armament, the British developed several types to fulfill the varied roles for which the Kriegsmarine were attempting to use the E-Boat. Illustrated with high-quality photographs and battlescene artworks, this book details this developing conflict, examining the evolution of the boats involved, and covering their battles from fights in the Thames Estuary to the build-up for D-Day.

The German destroyer fleet of World War II consisted of nine classes: the Diether Von Roeder Class, the Leberecht Maas Class and the wartime classes Z23, Z35, Z37, Z40, Z43, Z46 and Z52. These vessels, though fewer in number than the British destroyer fleet, tended to be much bigger and more powerful than their allied counterparts. They served their country well in operations in the Channel, North Sea, the Far North and in the rescue of civilians from East Prussia during the final days of the war. This title describes their design, development and operational use from the fjords of Narvik to the final days of the war.

Osprey's study of the German Afrikakorps of World War II (1939-1945). The campaign in North Africa between September 1940 and May 1943 holds not only an enduring fascination for postwar generations; but also a perhaps unique degree of nostalgia for some surviving participants. The campaign was no less costly in terms of human lives and material than many others; but regret at the cost is accompanied by positive memories in the minds of many veterans. This is not to suggest that the dead have been forgotten; but an almost mystical bond nevertheless exists, even between former enemies, amongst veterans of the desert campaign. Gordon Williamson examines the history, organisation and uniforms of Rommel's Afrikakorps.