A Royal Marine Commando's revelatory true account of the daring exploits of his squad in World War II.Bryan Samain was the Intelligence Officer of No. 45 Royal Marine Commando, and Commando Men presents his complete yet concise account of their operations from D-Day until VE-Day, through Northern France to the Baltic, providing in-depth coverage of the unit's engagements under fire as they traversed across enemy territory.Unflinching in its depiction...

One of the British Army's first paratroopers recounts in vivid detail his service in the 2nd Parachute Battalion during the Battle of Arnhem and beyond . . .No one who has read of Arnhem can fail to be inspired by gallantry of the 2nd Parachute Regiment, which held the north end of the key road bridge over the Rhine—the "Bridge Too Far"—not for twenty-four hours for which it was equipped, but for three days and four nights. Commanded by the then Lieutenant-Colonel ...

A remarkable World War II survival story and combat memoir by "an indestructible wartime tank commander" ( The Telegraph).In campaign after campaign, from the defense of Calais in 1940 to the defeat of Germany in 1945, Bill Close served as a tank commander in Britain's Royal Tank Regiment—and he survived.His tanks were hit eleven times by enemy shellfire and he bailed out. He was wounded three times. He finished the war as one of the most experienc...

'One of the best half-dozen personal accounts of the Normandy campaign' - Richard HolmesStuart Hills embarked his Sherman DD tank on to an LCT at 6.45 a.m., Sunday 4 June 1944. He was 20 years old, unblooded, fresh from a public-school background and Officer Cadet training. He was going to war. Two days later, his tank sunk, he and his crew landed from a rubber dinghy with just the clothes they stood in. After that, the struggles through the Normandy bocage in a re...

An on-the-ground account of the 1st Airborne Division during Operation Market Garden from the British commander who led the "Bridge Too Far" battle.Major-General Urquhart commanded the 1st British Airborne Division in Operation Market Garden, the greatest airborne assault of World War II, the struggle to capture Arnhem and win control of the bridge across the lower Rhine. The story of the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem involved not only an Airborne Corps of three D...

This book reviews the complex set of military operations played out in the Netherlands during September 1944 involving the forces of Britain, Canada, Poland, the USA and Germany. As far as space permits we have attempted toprovide a wide selection of sources covering each of the belligerents.We are also proud to present the previously unpublished war diary of Captain Graham Davies, which brings a new perspective on the often overlooked contribution made by the artillerymen in support of bo...

The story of the huge mobile battles of 1918, which finally ended the Great War.1918 was the critical year of battle as the Great War reached its brutal climax. Warfare of an epic scale was fought on the Western Front, where ordinary British soldiers faced the final test of their training, tactics and determination. That they withstood the storm and began an astonishing counterattack, is proof that by 1918, the British army was the most effective fighting force in ...

The editor of Hitler Triumphant combines history and fiction to craft an alternative history of the Normandy landings on D-Day.It is June, 1944. The Allied armies are poised for the full-scale invasion of Fortress Europe. Across the Channel, the vaunted Wehrmacht lies waiting for the signs of invasion, ready for the final battle . . .What happens next is well-known to any student of modern history. The outcome could easily have been very different, a...

From the evacuation of France in 1940 to the final dash to Hamburg in 1945, the 5th Royal Tank Regiment were on the front line throughout the Second World War. Theirs was a war that saw them serve in Africa as part of the Desert Rats, before returning to Europe for the Normandy landings. Wherever they went, the notoriety of the 'Filthy Fifth' grew - they revelled in their reputation for fighting by their own rules.The Tank War explains how Britain, having lost its advantag...

One of only fifty infantry battalions to see action with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I, the 58th nevertheless had no official history. Second to None tells the story of this important, yet forgotten, battalion. The soldiers who formed the 58th exemplified the ideal citizen soldiers and later evolved into the tough, battle-savvy veterans who destroyed the cream of the German Imperial Army and won battle honours. The author uses the men's letters and diaries and family ...

A gripping account of the most famous military defeat and retreat in history, now the subject of a major motion picture, written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy and Mark Rylance.The NEW YORK TIMES of 2 June 1940 summed up the greatest disaster in British history thus: 'As long as the English tongue survives, the word 'Dunkirk' will be spoken with reverence.'This book tells the story of the Dunkirk evacuation. It tra...

Exciting World War II action The exploits of Britain's wartime commandos Covers fighting in Norway, Italy, France and Germany John Durnford-Slater raised and trained the first Commando unit in 1940, became an outstanding leader of special operations and witnessed some of the most daring exploits of World War II. Commando is his remarkable story. 3 Commando sprang into being in 1940 in order to harry Axis forces in pinprick raids that were impossible for regular army units. In the summer of...