Grenadier Guards in the War of 1939-1945
Grenadier Guards in the War of 1939-1945

Author: Nigel Nicolson

Publisher:

Published: 2016-10-26

Total Pages: 790

ISBN-13: 9781845748760

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Written by renowned author Nigel Nicholson - who served in the Grenadier Guards in the war, this official history is a quite outstanding example of the genre. The first volume tells the story of the campaigns in north-west Europe, in which four Battalions of the Regiment took part, beginning with the battles fought during the retreat to Dunkirk in 1940, and ending with the advance into the heart of Germany in 1945.The second volume tells the story of the Grenadiers' campaigns in the Mediterranean from the Mareth Line to the Austrian frontier, between 1942 and 1945.

British Army Communications in the Second World War
British Army Communications in the Second World War

Author: Simon Godfrey

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2013-05-09

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1441181431

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Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence form the backbone of the Army's operating system. But while much attention has been given in the literature to the other three elements, Communications in the British Army during World War II have been widely ignored. This book rectifies the omission. It shows that failures in front line communications contributed to several of the set backs suffered by the Army but also that ultimate victory was only achieved after a successful communications system was in place. It explains how the outcome of the main campaigns in Europe and North Africa depended on communications, how the system operated and how it evolved from a relatively primitive and inadequately supplied state at Dunkirk to a generally effective system at the time of the Rhine crossings. Problems still occurred however, for example at infantry platoon level and famously with paratrooper communications at Arnhem, often simply due to the shortcomings of existing technology. The book concludes that it is only very recently that advances in technology have allowed those problems to be solved.

The Waffen SS
The Waffen SS

Author: George H. Stein

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 1966

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 9780801492754

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This landmark study, first published by Cornell University Press in 1966, shows how Hitler's elite army grew from a praetorian guard of barely 28,000 men at the beginning of the Second World War to a combat-hardened army of more than 500,000 in 1945. George H. Stein examines in detail the structure and organization of the Waffen SS and describes the rigid personnel selection and intensive physical, military, and ideological training that helped to create the tough and dedicated cadre around which the larger force of the later war years was built.

Churchill's Army
Churchill's Army

Author: Stephen Bull

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-09-22

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1844863980

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Winston Churchill, Britain's iconic war time Prime Minister, is inextricably linked with the victorious British Army of 1939 to 1945. Yet hindsight, propaganda, and the imperative of the defeat of Hitler and Imperial Japan, have led to a tendency to oversimplify the image of Churchill the war leader, and 'his' Army. For whilst Churchill was undeniably a towering statesman, his relations with both the Army and War Office were ambiguous and altered considerably not only with the progress of the Second World War, but over decades. In this comprehensive book, Stephen Bull examines every aspect of the British Army during the Second World War, and considers in detail the strengths and weaknesses of an organisation that was tested to its limits on many fronts but made an immense contribution to the successful Allied outcome. The book explores the structure of military power from the men who ran it, the Generals to the detail of the regiments they commanded. It looks at the uniforms the soldiers wore and the badges and insignia they bore on their uniforms. The weaponry Churchill's army used is discussed in detail, from small arms including rifles, bayonets, grenades, carbines and machine guns to the massed firepower of the artillery along with the increasing sophistication of tanks and other military vehicles during the period. Finally the role of auxiliary and special forces and their contribution to the campaign is considered. The comprehensive text is enhanced by more than 200 contemporary photographs.

Stafford at War, 1939–1945
Stafford at War, 1939–1945

Author: Nick Thomas

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2009-06-18

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 1473818540

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Stafford at War is a vivid many-sided portrait of a county town during one of the extraordinary periods in English history. In his wide-ranging narrative Nick Thomas looks at the impact of the Second World War on the townspeople - how it affected their daily lives, their work, their families. And he recalls the contribution Stafford made to the war effort at home and abroad. The story he tells gives a fascinating insight into wartime life and it is a moving record of the sacrifices made by local people. His detailed and fully illustrated account will be fascinating reading for everyone who knows Stafford and wants to find out about its history.

Battle for the Escaut, 1940
Battle for the Escaut, 1940

Author: Jerry Murland

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2016-11-30

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1473852625

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On 10 May 1940 the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), under the command of Lord Gort, moved forward from the Franco-Belgian border and took up positions along a 20-mile sector off the River Dyle, to await the arrival of the German Army Group B. Their expected stay was considerably shorter than planned as the German Army Group A pushed its way through the Ardennes and crossed the Meuse at Sedan, scattering the French before them. Little did the men of the BEF realise that the orders to retire would result in their evacuation from Dunkirk and other channel ports.The line of the River Escaut was seen as the last real opportunity for the Allied armies to halt the advancing German Army, but the jigsaw of defence was tenuous and the allied hold on the river was undone by the weight of opposing German forces and the speed of the armoured Blitzkrieg thrust further south. As far as the BEF were concerned, the Battle for the Escaut took place on a 30-mile sector from Oudenaarde to Blharies and involved units in a sometimes desperate defence, during which two Victoria Crosses were awarded. This book takes the battlefield tourist from Oudenaarde to Hollain in a series of tours that retrace the footsteps of the BEF. With the help of local historians, the author has pinpointed crucial actions and answered some of the myriad questions associated with this important phase of the France and Flanders campaign of 1940.

A Bibliography of Regimental Histories of the British Army
A Bibliography of Regimental Histories of the British Army

Author: Arthur S. White

Publisher: Andrews UK Limited

Published: 2013-02-04

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 178150539X

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This is one of the most valuable books in the armoury of the serious student of British Military history. It is a new and revised edition of Arthur White's much sought-after bibliography of regimental, battalion and other histories of all regiments and Corps that have ever existed in the British Army. This new edition includes an enlarged addendum to that given in the 1988 reprint. It is, quite simply, indispensible.