Monty's Men
Monty's Men

Author: John Buckley

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2013-11-26

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 0300134495

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Historian John Buckley offers a radical reappraisal of Great Britain’s fighting forces during World War Two, challenging the common belief that the British Army was no match for the forces of Hitler’s Germany. Following Britain’s military commanders and troops across the battlefields of Europe, from D-Day to VE-Day, from the Normandy beaches to Arnhem and the Rhine, and, ultimately, to the Baltic, Buckley’s provocative history demonstrates that the British Army was more than a match for the vaunted Nazi war machine. This fascinating revisionist study of the campaign to liberate Northern Europe in the war’s final years features a large cast of colorful unknowns and grand historical personages alike, including Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery and the prime minister, Sir Winston Churchill. By integrating detailed military history with personal accounts, it evokes the vivid reality of men at war while putting long-held misconceptions finally to rest.

Monty and Rommel
Monty and Rommel

Author: Peter Caddick-Adams

Publisher: Abrams

Published: 2013-09-24

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 1468309064

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“An accessible, well-honed study of two fascinating characters” who famously fought each other in numerous battles during WWII, from Egypt to D-Day (Kirkus). Bernard Montgomery and Erwin Rommel faced one another in a series of extraordinary battles that established each man as one of the greatest generals in history. Born four years apart, their lives were remarkably similar. Each came from provincial roots, nearly died in WWI, yet emerged from that great conflict with glowing records. Through their many duels, including their legendary conflicts in North Africa and later at the Normandy D-Day invasion, Peter Caddick-Adams tracks and compares their military talents and personalities. Monty and Rommel explores how each general was raised to power by their war leaders, Churchill and Hitler, and how the innovative military strategy and thought of both permeate down to today's armies.

Hobart's 79th Armoured Division at War
Hobart's 79th Armoured Division at War

Author: Richard Doherty

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2012-02-29

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 1844686221

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This WWII history chronicles the remarkable career of a brilliant British Army commander and the innovative armored vehicles he created. Joining the Royal Tank Corps in 1923, Major-General Percy Hobart quickly established himself as one of the foremost thinkers on armored warfare. By 1938 he was GOC Mobile Division, later 7th Armored Division, in Egypt. He was also known for not suffering fools—a tendency that got him briefly relieved of his command. But during World War II, Winston Churchill called Hobart back to Army service with orders to train the now-legendary 11th Armored Division. He was then tasked with designing specialist armored fighting vehicles capable of breeching the Atlantic Wall. Known as Hobart's Funnies, these unique vehicles included mine-clearing tanks, bridge-carrying tanks, flamethrowers, swimming tanks and amphibious assault vehicles. Operated by Hobart’s 79th Armored Division, they played a major part in the D-Day landings and the subsequent European campaigns. Hobart's skills played a significant part in the final Allied victory, and the specialized funnies he introduced to modern warfare have since been adopted by all armies all over the world. Drawing on official records and personal recollections, historian Richard Doherty tells the incredible story of Percy Hobart and his 79th Armored Division.

One More River To Cross
One More River To Cross

Author: J. H. Joiner

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 1990-12-31

Total Pages: 492

ISBN-13: 0850527880

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Military bridging, often impeded by mines and hostile enemy fire, is a vital part of the advance of any modern army. Britain's Royal Engineers have played a leading role in this crucial military operation, from the ravines behind the D-Day beaches to recent operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. The Royal Engineers have displayed incredible ingenuity in developing responses to the increasing amounts of firepower directed at bridging troops. This definitive study has been prepared with the assistance of the Royal Engineers and contains details on 170 pieces of bridging equipment, the history of all Royal Engineer assault squadrons, and accounts of all Victoria Crosses won during bridging actions.

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.

Managing and Interpreting D-Day's Sites of Memory
Managing and Interpreting D-Day's Sites of Memory

Author: Geoffrey Bird

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-02

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 1317515714

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More than seventy years following the D-Day Landings of 6 June 1944, Normandy's war heritage continues to intrigue visitors and researchers. Receiving well over two million visitors a year, the Normandy landscape of war is among the most visited cultural sites in France. This book explores the significant role that heritage and tourism play in the present day with regard to educating the public as well as commemorating those who fought. The book examines the perspectives, experiences and insights of those who work in the field of war heritage in the region of Normandy where the D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy occurred. In this volume practitioner authors represent a range of interrelated roles and responsibilities. These perspectives include national and regional governments and coordinating agencies involved in policy, planning and implementation; war cemetery commissions; managers who oversee particular museums and sites; and individual battlefield tour guides whose vocation is to research and interpret sites of memory. Often interviewed as key informants for scholarly articles, the day-to-day observations, experiences and management decisions of these guardians of remembrance provide valuable insight into a range of issues and approaches that inform the meaning of tourism, remembrance and war heritage as well as implications for the management of war sites elsewhere. Complementing the Normandy practitioner offerings, more scholarly investigations provide an opportunity to compare and debate what is happening in the management and interpretation at other World War II related sites of war memory, such as at Pearl Harbor, Okinawa and Portsmouth, UK. This innovative volume will be of interest to those interested in remembrance tourism, war heritage, dark tourism, battlefield tourism, commemoration, D-Day and World War II.

Stout Hearts
Stout Hearts

Author: Ben Kite

Publisher: Helion and Company

Published: 2016-08-19

Total Pages: 489

ISBN-13: 1911096907

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“At last a book has been written that forensically examines how the British Armed Forces fought its way through Normandy . . . utterly absorbing.” —James Holland, bestselling author of Brothers in Arms Stout Hearts is a book which offers an entirely new perspective on the British Army in Normandy. This fresh study explores the anatomy of war through the Army’s operations in the summer of 1944, informing and entertaining the general nonfiction reader as well as students of military history. There have been so many books written on Normandy that the publication of another one might appear superfluous. However most books have focused on narrating the conduct of the battle, describing the factors that influenced its outcome, or debating the relative merits of the armies and their generals. What was missing from the existing body of work on Normandy specifically and the Second World War generally is a book that explains how an army actually operates in war and what it was like for those involved; Stout Hearts fills this gap. Stout Hearts is essential reading for those who wish to understand the “mechanics” of battle. How does an Army care for its wounded? How do combat engineers cross obstacles? How do tanks fight? How do Air and Naval Forces support the Army? But to understand what makes an Army “tick” you must also understand its people. Therefore explanations of tactics and techniques are not only well illustrated with excellent photographs and high quality maps but also effectively combined with relevant accounts from the combatants themselves. These dramatic stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things are the strength of the book, bringing the campaign to life and entertaining the reader.