D-Day Gunners
D-Day Gunners

Author: Frank Baldwin

Publisher: Pen and Sword Military

Published: 2022-07-20

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 1473873711

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Part history book and part travel guide, D-Day Gunners is aimed at anyone interested in the artillery on the D-Day beaches and landing grounds. While the heritage of the D-Day beaches and landing sites is well documented, this rarely includes the artillery story. The author of this book aims to correct this by providing a visitors' guide to the artillery stories associated with the battlefield heritage that remains on the D-Day beaches, mapping the fire-plan for D-Day against the known German locations, and looking at what happened at these places. There is relatively little explanation about the role of the artillery in general or the deeds of artillerymen, in particular those of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. This book tells of the significance of artillery on D-Day and the part it played in the outcome. Initial reports published stressed that the coastal defences were effectively neutralized by the bombing and that no significant counter attacks developed on D-Day. However, post-war accounts increasingly attributed allied success to allied fire power. The book tells the story of the men who served the guns on the D-Day beaches, and the effects they had on the outcome of the battles on D-Day and afterwards. This volume is primarily about British Gunners and certain German Kannoniers. The book has been written as a guide to the battlefields on the D-Day beaches and landing grounds, telling the gunners’ stories that are not always commemorated on memorials, interpretation boards, or recorded in more general guides. These poignant stories include war poets and heroes decorated for bravery, or just the tales of some of the men buried in the war cemeteries or commemorated on the memorials. It also provides a guide in lay terms of the technical impact of field anti-tank and AA artillery on the war. A second volume will tell the story of artillerymen on the American beaches and landing grounds.

Loyal Gunners
Loyal Gunners

Author: Lee Windsor

Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press

Published: 2016-09-15

Total Pages: 819

ISBN-13: 1771122560

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Loyal Gunners uniquely encapsulates the experience of Canadian militia gunners and their units into a single compelling narrative that centres on the artillery units of New Brunswick. The story of those units is a profoundly Canadian story: one of dedication and sacrifice in service of great guns and of Canada. The 3rd Field Regiment (The Loyal Company), Royal Canadian Artillery, is Canada’s oldest artillery unit, dating to the founding of the Loyal Company in Saint John in 1793. Since its centennial in 1893, 3rd Field—in various permutations of medium, coastal, and anti-aircraft artillery—has formed the core of New Brunswick’s militia artillery, and it has endured into the twenty-first century as the last remaining artillery unit in the province. This book is the first modern assessment of the development of Canadian heavy artillery in the Great War, the first look at the development of artillery in general in both world wars, and the first exploration of the development and operational deployment of anti-tank artillery in the Second World War. It also tells a universal story of survival as it chronicles the fortunes of New Brunswick militia units through the darkest days of the Cold War, when conventional armed forces were entirely out of favour. In 1950 New Brunswick had four and a half regiments of artillery; by 1970 it had one—3rd Field. Loyal Gunners traces the rise and fall of artillery batteries in New Brunswick as the nature of modern war evolved. From the Great War to Afghanistan it provides the most comprehensive account to date of Canada’s gunners.

Gunfire!
Gunfire!

Author: Stig H. Moberg

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2017-03-30

Total Pages: 631

ISBN-13: 1473895626

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This book provides an insight into how artillery resources were established, developed and employed during the Second World War, using the British Royal Artillery as an example. Beginning with an overview of the nature and state of readiness of the Royal Artillery on the outbreak of war, the book analyses in great detail the weapons available to the Royal Artillery, their technical functionality and their performance capabilities. With this knowledge the author then examines the organization, methods, procedures and tactics employed by the Royal Artillery. To complete this fascinating study, Stig Moberg looks at a number of key battles from the war to see how the artillery was used, and the effectiveness of its support to the British and Allied infantry, in campaigns in North Africa, Burma and Europe. British Artillery of the Second World War is profusely illustrated throughout with photographs, maps, plans, graphs, charts and diagrams to demonstrate precisely how the British Artillery was used on the battlefields around the world. Although I am an infantryman, and proud of it, I have many times said that the Royal Regiment of Artillery, in my opinion, did more to win the last war, more than any other Arm of the Service.Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery

Ubique
Ubique

Author: Richard Doherty

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2016-07-22

Total Pages: 473

ISBN-13: 0750979313

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In Richard Doherty's latest book he looks at the wide-ranging role of the Royal Artillery (RA) during the Second World War, examining its state of preparedness in 1939, the many developments that were introduced during the War, including aerial observation and self-propelled artillery, the growth of the regiment and its effectiveness in its many roles. It is illustrated with stories of the actions of individuals from members of gun detachments to general officers. During the Second World War the Germans assessed the Royal Artillery as the most professional arm of the British Army. British gunners were accurate, effective and efficient and provided fire support for their armoured and infantry colleagues that was better than that in any other army. It is often claimed that British artillery came into its own after the Battle of El Alamein in late 1942. In the opening bombardment of Operation Lightfoot, the massed artillery of the Eighth Army hammered Axis positions and severely damaged the enemy artillery's ability to react. But this was not the first occasion on which the Eighth Army had massed its artillery: it had done so with 200 guns along the Alamein Line in July, and the effectiveness had long been recognised. In fact, the power of a concentrated shoot had been shown by one gunner regiment during the May 1940 Dunkirk campaign. However, the RA provided much more than field and medium artillery battlefield support. Gunner regiments manned anti-tank guns on the frontline and light anti-aircraft guns in divisional regiments to defend against air attack at home and abroad. The RA also helped to protect convoys that brought essential supplies to Britain, and AA gunners had their finest hour when they destroyed the majority of the V-1 flying bombs launched against Britain from June 1944.

Gunners in Normandy
Gunners in Normandy

Author: Frank Baldwin

Publisher: History Press

Published: 2020-03-31

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780750990448

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A comprehensive account of the Royal Artillery at Normandy: unparalleled level of information drawing on personal account and official records

The Light Over London
The Light Over London

Author: Julia Kelly

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2019-01-08

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 1501172921

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Reminiscent of Martha Hall Kelly’s Lilac Girls and Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, this entrancing story “is a poignant reminder that there is no limit to what women can do. A nostalgic, engrossing read” (Julia London, New York Times bestselling author). It’s easier for Cara Hargraves to bury herself in the past than to deal with the present, which is why working for a gruff but brilliant antiques dealer is perfect. While clearing out an estate, she pries open an old tin that holds the relics of a lost relationship: an unfinished diary from World War II and a photo of a young woman in uniform. Captivated by the hauntingly beautiful diary, Cara begins her search for the author, never guessing that it might reveal her own family’s wartime secrets. In 1941, nineteen-year-old Louise Keene feels trapped in her Cornish village, waiting for a wealthy suitor her mother has chosen for her to return from the war. But when Louise meets Flight Lieutenant Paul Bolton, a dashing RAF pilot stationed at a local base, everything changes. And changes again when Paul’s unit is deployed without warning. Desperate for a larger life, Louise joins the women’s auxiliary branch of the British Army in the anti-aircraft gun unit as a gunner girl. As bombs fall on London, she and the other gunner girls show their bravery and resilience while performing their duties during deadly air raids. The only thing that gets Louise through those dark, bullet-filled nights is knowing that she and Paul will be together when the war is over. But when a bundle of her letters to him is returned unopened, she learns that wartime romance can have a much darker side. “Sweeping, stirring, and heartrending in all the best ways, this tale of one of WWII’s courageous, colorful, and enigmatic gunner girls will take your breath away” (Kristin Harmel, bestselling author of The Room on Rue Amelie).

Gunners in Normandy
Gunners in Normandy

Author: Major Frank Baldwin

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2020-03-31

Total Pages: 624

ISBN-13: 0750991798

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The official account of the Royal Artillery's activities in the Normandy campaign, this volume breaks down the historic achievements of the Regiment, integrating newly published research with a detailed account of their activities, logistics and equipment in the offensive. Gunners in Normandy includes mention of every regiment that served, a Roll of Honour, and a list of the dead by unit. This book presents the definitive record of events, assembled from interviews with veterans, papers and documents from the Firepower Archives, terrain studies, personal memoirs, war diaries and other official documents. Serious students of the battle for Normandy should find this essential reading, with comprehensive coverage of the role of the Royal Artillery, and much material not published anywhere else, including orders of battle, the details of targets engaged by the guns and their effectiveness.