eBooks de Disciplinas auxiliares, página 7 de 83

October 1944: Soviet troops launched a powerful attack on Budapest from the south, the culmination of a series of military, political, diplomatic and underground moves undertaken by Hitler, Stalin and Churchill since the collapse of the Axis front in the Balkans two months earlier. However, what had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Hungary out of the war and bring the Red Army as far as Munich quickly became a stalemate. The end result was that Stalins forces failed to reach Bavaria, but the dictator was not disappointed: Soviet pressure against the German southern flank forced Hitler to transfer a considerable number of his armoured reserves to Hungary and thus largely facilitated Zhukovs drive on to Berlin. Here, Kamen Nevenkin tells the fascinating story of this Market Garden-like operation using a number of never before published German and Russian archival documents, including German papers exclusively held in the Russian military archive. The text is dynamic, easy to read and accompanied by previously unpublished photographs. A detailed tactical narrative, Nevenkin also uses first-person accounts to render a human tale of war to create an ultimately fascinating read.

RAF Southend focuses on the airports role in the Second World War, between October 1940 and August 1944, from when it became a fighter station in its own right, until it became an armament practice camp later in the war. It describes the manning and maintenance of the forward fighter station, often under attack, and follows the varying fortunes of the staff and personnel who were posted there, and the highs and lows of the events, occasionally tragic, that occurred on and around the aerodrome. It also gives in-depth details of the numerous defensive and offensive operations carried out by the various RAF fighter squadrons during their time based at Southend. Through interviews with ex-staff and eyewitnesses, and the meticulous cross-referencing of original material, this book makes will make a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in local, aviation or military history. Author Peter Brown is an established local historian, with many years of research in the Southend area.

Nothing prepares a man for war and Private Charles Waite, of the Queens Royal Regiment, was ill-prepared when his convoy took a wrong turning near Abbeville and met 400 German soldiers and half a dozen tanks.The day I was captured, I had a rifle but no ammunition. He lost his freedom that day in May 1940 and didnt regain it until April 1945 when he was rescued by Americans near Berlin, having walked 1,600 kms from East Prussia.Silent for seventy years, Charles writes about his five lost years: the terrible things he saw and suffered; his forced work in a stone quarry and on farms; his period in solitary confinement for sabotage; and his long journey home in one of the worst winters on record, across the frozen river Elbe, to Berlin and liberation. His story is also about friendship, of physical and mental resilience and of compassion for everyone who suffered. Part of that story includes the terrible Long March, or Black March, when 80,000 British POWs were forced to trek through a vicious winter westwards across Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany as the Soviets approached. Thousands died. There are simply no memoirs of that terrible trek except this one.

For two thousand years London has been at the heart of Britains development as a nation, providing a focus for its political life. The military element is now usually visible only through the pageantry which attends royal occasions, but this masks a more serious underlying intent. Frequently the target for both foreign invaders and domestic factions, it has been required to defend itself against everything from seaborne raiders to aerial bombardment and the threat of nuclear war. At the same time, the direction of military affairs has been centred on London, along with the military infrastructure of barracks, depots, magazines, dockyards and munitions factories. The evidence for much of this can be seen in the landscape, from the mediaeval Tower of London and the underground nuclear citadels in the urban centre, to the royal palaces, moated sites, airfields and anti-invasion defences in the suburbs and the green belt. This book describes the various elements of Londons military heritage, and places them in their historical and social context. From the castles and strong-houses of the mediaeval and Tudor monarchs and statesmen, to the pseudo-fortresses of the Victorian militia and rifle volunteers; the airfields of the anti-Zeppelin fighters of the Royal Flying Corps, and the Battle of Britain bases of the RAF, to the pillboxes of the defences against invasion in 1940, and the anti-nuclear defences of the Cold War and beyond.

When you arrived at work today, what was on your to-do list? On 6 February 1944, this landed on the desk of General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, a request from General Dwight D Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe: Count up all the divisions that will be in the Mediterranean, including two newly arrived U.S. divisions, consider the requirements in Italy in view of the mountain masses north of Rome, and then consider what influence on your problem a sizable number of divisions, heavily engaged or advancing rapidly in southern France, will have on OVERLORD. It puts that late delivery or forgotten invoice into perspective. Eyes Only is not a history of the campaigns that swept across Europe between June 1944 and May 1945 it is military command at its rawest, in real time and with no benefit of hindsight. It follows the planning, execution and aftermath of the campaigns through the highest security level day-to-day correspondence between the two Generals; the Eyes Only cables. These candid words passed over their desks between December 1943 and December 1945, here fully annotated with background information. The cables start with the fraught six-month planning period for D-Day, followed by the establishment of the beachhead and the exhilarating advance across France. A difficult winter followed, culminating in attack and counterattack in the Ardennes. As Germanys collapse became imminent, attention focused on how to conclude the war without coming into conflict with the Soviet Army. After V-E Day, the problems of occupying Germany, de-Nazification, redeployment and humanitarian efforts are all on the agenda. Messages from the key politicians Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin are included. The two Generals have to deal with differences between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the British Chiefs of Staff, the effect of the Mediterranean battles on the Western Front campaign and of course man management of figures such as Patton, Montgomery and de Gaulle. Judge for yourself how two of the United States greatest military leaders dealt with the burden of command in the eye of the storm of history.

The Battle of Flodden in 1513 was the largest battle ever to take place between England and Scotland. James IV himself led an army of 30,000 men over the border into England, ostensibly in revenge for the murder of a Scotsman, but in reality to assist their ally the French by diverting the forces of Henry VIII. Yet the Scots were hampered by old-fashioned weapons and tactics, whereas the English deployed more accurate artillery and their vaunted longbowmen. When King James IV was killed while leading a charge, and many of their officers died, the Scots were left in disarray and the English victory was decisive. As the first new history of the battle in a decade, this authoritative and eye-opening account marks the 500th anniversary and brings our knowledge of the conflict up to date. Expert knowledge and detailed maps look at the key events, the 1135 campaign and the minor battles of Millfield and Norham, and a full profile of the respective forces and deployments, and convey the battles course concisely and clearly. A key read for those interested in military history or the period in general.

A history of Gibraltar.

In Search of a Better Life challenges the traditional histories of British and Irish migration, the stories of oppression and exile that form an essential part of the existing literature. By no means were all migrants forced to leave their country by circumstances; many looked forward to a better life abroad. They were largely opportunists rather than victims, whether financed by the state or by landlords or philanthropists, or, as was the case for the majority, by themselves or their families. This was a huge movement of people that formed part of a European exodus to the New World. In placing British and Irish migration alongside each other, there is recognition of the commonalities among both sets of emigrants that will surprise many readers. The poor condition of labourers in 1840s Dorset and Wiltshire were akin to those found in County Cork during the Famine years. British and Irish emigrants were commonly found on the same ships en route to the Americas and Australasia, both settling in predominantly English-speaking countries. With case studies by a variety of contributors, set within the broader context of current scholarship, this compilation features new research on a popular subject which still resonates today. It will prove particularly useful for family historians.

Conventional histories of the Battles of Mons and Le Cateau describe how, although the British were massively outnumbered, precise and rapid rifle fire mowed down rows of German troops: the staggering casualties inflicted made both British victories, and set the stage for the Battle of the Marne. But neither encounter has ever been described in English from the German point of view. Using German tactics manuals and regimental histories, Terence Zuber re-examines the battles at Mons and Le Cateau, subjecting British tactics to a critique that goes beyond admiration for rapid rifle fire and presenting new and startling perspectives, showing how the Germans employed a high degree of tactical sophistication in conducting combined-arms operations. The odds were, in fact, even, and German casualties never reached the levels described in the standard histories. The Mons Myth is the first history of these battles to take this approach in ninety years, and completely changes our understanding of what actually happened.

In the early days of the First World War, Lord Kitchener made his famous appeal for volunteers to join the New Army. Men flocked to recruiting offices to enlist, and on some days tens of thousands of potential soldiers responded to his call. Men had to be at least eighteen years old to join up, and nineteen to serve overseas, but in the flurry of activity many younger boys came to enlist: some were only thirteen or fourteen. Many were turned away, but a lot were illegally conscripted, and as many as 250,000 underage boys found themselves fighting for King and Country in the First World War. Over half would never return home. In this groundbreaking new book, John Oakes - whose own father-in-law walked out of the Welsh valleys to join the Royal Navy at the age of fourteen - delves into the complex history of Britains youngest Great War recruits. Focusing on the recruitment crisis of 1914, he reveals why boys joined up, what their experiences were and how they survived to endure a lifetime of memories. For those who didnt, an unknown grave awaited, and in some cases their mothers never knew what had become of their children.

Former soldier Ken Wharton witnessed the troubles in Northern Ireland first hand. Bloody Belfast is a fascinating oral history given a chilling insight into the killing grounds of Belfasts streets.Whartons work is based on first hand accounts from the soldiers. The reader can walk the darkened, dangerous streets of the Lower Falls, the Divis Flats and New Lodge alongside the soldiers who braved the hate-filled mobs on the newer, but no less violent streets of the Murph, Turf Lodge and Andersonstown. The author has interviewed UDR soldier Glen Espie who survived being ambushed and shot by the IRA not once, but twice, and Army Dog Handler Dougie Durrant, who, through the incredible ability of his dog, tracked an IRA gunman fresh from the murder of a soldier to where he was sitting in a hot bath in the Turf Lodge, desperately trying to wash away the forensic evidence.Whartons reputation for honesty established from previous works has encouraged more former soldiers of Britains forgotten army to come forward to tell their stories of Bloody Belfast. The book continues the story of his previous work, presenting the truth about a conflict which has sometimes been deliberately underplayed by the Establishment.

This is good honest history. Soldiers and civilians alike owe the author a debt of gratitude for telling it like it was. - Patrick Bishop, best-selling author of 3 ParaKen Whartons latest book on the Northern Ireland Troubles is, as always, written from the perspective of the British soldier. Here he chronicles the worst year of The Troubles - 1972 - a year in which 172 soldiers died as a direct consequence of the insanity that would grip Ulster for almost 30 years. His empathy lies firstly with the men who tramped the streets and countryside of Northern Ireland - but also with the good folk of the six counties who never wanted their beautiful land to be the terrorists battleground. Ken Wharton is utterly condemnatory of the Provisional IRA and INLA but he certainly pulls no punches in his assessment of the Loyalist paramilitaries and terror gangs who sought to outdo the barbarism of their republican counterparts. Based on the testimony of the men who were there during that terrible year, the author tries to investigate every loss in as much detail as time and space permit, with longer chapters to describe Bloody Friday the appalling tragedy of Claudy and - with the 12-year public inquiry finally over - the terrible events of Bloody Sunday. The Bloodiest Year is written with passion and a detailed knowledge in particular of Belfast and the experience of the ordinary squaddie on the streets. The Troubles have become Britains forgotten war and so long as he is able, Ken will do his best to keep the memory of Operation Banner alive.

By the time the guns fell silent on 11 November 1918, vast tracts of the European landscape had been so utterly devastated by artillery fire that they were virtually unrecognisable. Of all the many weapons invented by man for the purpose of waging war, artillery must rank among the most destructive of all. Through detailed research, John Norris has traced the development of artillery through the ages and up to the dawn of the twenty-first century, to provide a fascinating study of this principal weapon of warfare. From its earliest recorded use in battle about a millennium ago, up to the recent Gulf War, Balkan and Afghanistan conflicts, artillery has often been the deciding factor in battle. And yet its origins are somewhat vague. The Chinese had been working with gunpowder since the tenth century, yet it was another 200 years before the compound was used to propel a projectile from a long-barrelled bamboo piece of apparatus. Not long after this, the use of artillery spread to Europe and changed the art of warfare. This book traces the development of artillery and its use in battle through the ages.

For nearly 700 years debate has raged over the true nature of William Wallace and his role in Scotlands turbulent history. Was he the Braveheart of Blind Harrys legendary account, the bold, but savage, hero of the Scottish wars? Or, as some contemporary chroniclers attested, nothing but a villainous thief and vagrant fugitive? This book draws on a wide range of contemporary and modern sources to look behind the figure of legend to find Wallaces true character. Through superb photographs, we trace the journey of Wallace from his modest upbringing in south-west Scotland and his first victory as a guerilla leader and military commander at Stirling Bridge to his painful death seven years later. We see his invasion of Northumberland and Cumberland. This is an essential travelling companion for a journey through Wallaces kingdom and to learn more about the myth and the man.

The siege of Kut is a story of blunders, sacrifice, imprisonment and escape. The allied campaign in Mesopotamia began in 1914 as a relatively simple operation to secure the oilfields in the Shatt-al-Arab delta and Basra area. Initially it was a great success, but as the army pressed towards Baghdad its poor logistic support, training, equipment and command left it isolated and besieged by the Turks. By 1916 the army had not been relieved, and on 29 April 1916, the British Army suffered one of the worst defeats in its military history. Major-General Sir Charles Townshend surrendered his allied force to the Turks in the Mesopotamian (now Iraq) town of Kut-al-Amara. Over 13,000 troops, British and Indian, went into captivity; many would not survive their incarceration.In Kut 1916, Colonel Crowley recounts this dramatic tale and its terrible aftermath.

Formed in 1868, and already possessors of a proud history by the outbreak of the First World War, the men of the 9th (Glasgow Highland) Battalion, The Highland Light Infantry, were right at the heart of the cataclysmic events that unfolded between 1914 and 1918 on the Western Front.One of the first Territorial units to be rushed to France in 1914, they participated in almost all the major British battles, including the Somme in 1916 and Ypres in 1917. Altogether, around 4,500 men served with the Glasgow Highlanders in the First World War. The composition of the Glasgow Highlanders changed dramatically over five years of fighting, as the original Territorial members were replaced. Despite this change, the ethos of the battalion, built up over half a century of peace and many months of warfare, survived.Alec Weir has steeped himself in the proud history of the Glasgow Highlanders in the First World War. His accessible, informal style, employing many first hand accounts, and his rigorous research combine here to produce a fascinating and detailed account of how ordinary men from all walks of life confronted and mastered the hellish conditions of trench warfare.

For the first time, the story of Jersey in the First World War is revealed. Whilst the islands role in the Second World War is well documented, a generation earlier another devastating war had struck Jersey, jeopardising the lives and liberties of its people. In 1915, a band of 300 young men known as the Jersey Company volunteered to fight for king and country in a war beyond the comprehension of many. Feted as heroes, they proudly took their place in the trenches of the Western front. But the war was to have a devastating effect - both on the Jersey Company and their island. Soon the volunteers were not only fighting the enemy, but also waging a bitter struggle for continued recognition and support from home. Accompanied by some incredible rare photographs, this book tells the moving but ultimately tragic story of one small and unique unit caught in the maelstrom of the Great War. This is an eye-opening account of one of the most important periods in Jerseys history and promises to fascinate anyone interested in the islands extraordinary past.

Most of the Germans and Austrians who fought with the British were Jews but a significant number were political opponents of the Nazi regime and so-called degenerate artists. They arrived in Britain between 1933 and 1939, and at the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939 became enemy aliens. They volunteered to serve in the British forces, donned the Kings uniform, swore allegiance to George VI and became affectionately known as the Kings most loyal enemy aliens. This compelling story includes previously unpublished interviews with veterans and an impressive selection of archive photographs, many of which are reproduced for the first time.

On the night of 9/10 July 1943, an Allied armada of 2,590 vessels launched one of the largest combined operations of the Second World War - the invasion of Sicily, Operation Husky. Over the next thirty-eight days, half a million British, Canadian, American and French soldiers, sailors, and airmen grappled with their German and Italian counterparts for control of this rocky outcrop of Hitlers Fortress Europe. The Allied assault on Sicily featured airborne and amphibious landings; mountain warfare; international rivalry; poorly performing troops; tenacious German resistance; and, improvements in tactical air support and the ultimate Allied victory on the island. Almost the whole of the progress of the Second World War is illustrated by this one campaign. It was the only action where the whole Allied war effort was brought to bear on a single objective, with one army commanded by Patton and one army commanded by Montgomery. Both men were insufferable egoists and insubordinate commanders; they always chose to do their own thing, regardless of others sensibilities and always with one eye on how history would see them.The seeds of rivalry between these two key Allied commanders that were sown in the Sicily campaign eventually grew to fruition in the battles for Normandy and the Ardennes.

Discussing the background, weapons and tactics of the ancient Greeks, this title describes the weapons, armour, chariots and other military equipment used from 1550 to 150 BC. It traces how and when various pieces of equipment came into use; where they were introduced from; the effectiveness of the equipment; and when and why things changed.