Admiral Schofields accounts of the Taranto and Bismarck battles make for unforgettable reading.The author traces the development of British naval aviation from its early beginnings in 1912, through the First World War and the frustrations of the inter-war years. The November 1940 attack on the Italian fleet in its strongly defended base at Taranto demonstrated for the first time the battle-winning capability of carrier-borne aircraft from HMS Illustrious. The lesson was quickly learnt by t...

A Royal Navy Vice Admiral describes the strategy and logistics in deploying ships and crafts for the D-Day amphibious landings in World War II.Operation NEPTUNE was the codeword for the naval side of the OVERLORD plan for the historic June 1944 landings in Normandy. Massive in its scale, its tasks were wide-ranging and varied, from beach reconnaissance, minesweeping, shore bombardment as well as the organization of loading, assembly and disembarkation; it was also r...

"I recommend The Rescue Ships and the Convoys to any person desiring an account of the Battle of the Atlantic told from a little known and unique perspective." -Nautical Research Journal The Rescue Ships and the Convoys tells the history of one of the least known aspects of Second World War maritime history. Despite the threat of heavy losses of ships and lives, no hospital ships, which had to be lit, could accompany the convoys as they would betray a convoy's position. The solution was to...

This detailed military history of the Spanish Civil War dispels long-held misconceptions and sheds significant new light on the conflict.Spain in Arms chronicles the development of the Spanish Civil War on the battlefield, examining eight campaigns waged between 1937 and 1939. Through detailed analysis, it demonstrates how many accounts of military operations during this conflict are based upon half-truths and propaganda.From the Madrid Front to th...

An account of the various units of the British special forces used during the Second World War, perfect for military enthusiasts and WWII history buffs.War Behind Enemy Lines tells the unvarnished story of British Special Forces in the Second World War. While the SAS and SBS remain household names today, there were a plethora of lesser known units, large and small, that played their part before departing the scene. Of special note was the Long Range Desert ...

The epic of Dunkirk has been told many times, but the numerous accounts from surviving soldiers and sailors were often a blur of fear and fighting with the days mingling into each other, leaving what is, at times, a confusing picture. In this book, adopting a day by day approach, the author provides a clear portrayal of the unfolding drama on the perimeter around Dunkirk, in the port itself and along the beaches to La Panne and the Belgian border.Reports from many of the captains of the ve...

This " unnerving exposé" of a lost American nuclear bomb "is a valuable contribution to the history of the navy, the cold war, and nuclear weapons" ( Booklist ).On December 5th, 1965, the USS Ticonderoga was on its way from Vietnam to Japan, practicing nuclear combat procedures along the way. A young pilot from Ohio strapped into an A-4 Skyhawk bomber for a routine simulated mission. But after mishandling ...

What was the soldiers experience of the Battle of the Somme? How did the men who were there record their part in the fighting or remember it afterwards? How can we, 100 years later, gain an insight into one of the most famous and contentious - episodes of the Great War? Matthew Richardsons graphic account, which is based on the vivid personal testimony of those who took part, offers us a direct impression of the reality of the battle from the perspective of the ordinary soldiers and junior...

"A highly readable yet harrowing account [of] defeat, disappointment, tragedy, and eventual triumph set against the stormy waters of the South Atlantic." — Naval Historical FoundationApril 1, 1982: Major Mike Norman, commander of Naval Party 8901, was looking forward to a peaceful yearlong tour of duty on the Falkland Islands. But events turned out differently—because the next day, the Argentines invaded and he and his forty-three Royal Marines found thems...

"From the Battle of France through to the German unconditional surrender . . . A very welcome addition to the available direct accounts of WWII" ( Firetrench).Fighting Hitler from Dunkirk to D-Day is the compelling story of a man belonging to a group of which there are now very few survivors. Jeff Haward MM was a pre-war Territorial Army soldier who enlisted and fought throughout the entirety of the Second World War. He became a "Die Hard," the hi...

A history of the British Army's experience at the Battle of the Somme in France during World War I.After an immense but useless bombardment, at 7:30 AM on July 1, 1916, the British Army went over the top and attacked the German trenches. It was the first day of the battle of the Somme, and on that day, the British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, two for every yard of their front. With more than fifty times the daily losses at El Alamein and fifteen times the Brit...

"A radical re-assessment . . . This is fascinating stuff . . . a most useful addition to the Waterloo—and indeed Napoleonic—bookshelf."—Military Modelling MagazineMore has probably been written about the Waterloo campaign than almost any other in history. It was the climax of the Napoleonic Wars and forms a watershed in both European and world history. However, the lethal combination of national bias, willful distortion and simple error has unfortunately led to the...