"[A] book of rare photographs . . . detailing life aboard a German Second World War submarine" from the author of Operation Colossus ( History Today).This unique account charts the complete story of a single U-boat patrol through the summer of 1942 based around a remarkable collection of photographs that were "liberated" from a concrete U-boat pen in Brest at the end of the war and which had, until recently, remained hidden in a shoe box. The boat...

Otto Kretschmer was only in combat from September 1939 until March 1941 but was Germany's highest-scoring U-boat commander sinking 47 ships totaling 274,333 tons. This definitive work details his personal story and the political backdrop from his earliest days. Aged 17 he spent 8 months studying literature at Exeter University where he learned to speak English fluently. The following year, on 1 April 1930, he enlisted as an officer candidate in the Weimar Republic's small navy.Afte...

A history of the development and role during World War II of the private army of the Nazi Luftwaffe's commander-in-chief.In the early years of the Third Reich, Hermann Göring, one of the most notorious leaders of the Third Reich, worked to establish his own personal army to rival Himmler's SS and Reichswehr. The result: a private Prussian police force which grew into one of the most powerful armored units in Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht.This unit fought throughou...

An authoritative**, illustrated history of how Germany fought to dominate the North Sea in early World War II, and take the naval war to Britain's coasts.**Britain's war economy relied not only on the Atlantic Convoys, but also on superiority in coastal waters. Six days out of seven, convoys left Scotland and northern England, laden chiefly with the coal that the south required – London alone needing 40,000 tons a week. Cutting these lines, as well...

A unique perspective of the global history of U-boats during the entirety of the Second World War by Lawrence Paterson, one of the world's leading U-boat experts.The accepted historical narrative of the Second World War predominantly assigns U-boats to the so-called 'Battle of the Atlantic', almost as if the struggle over convoys between the new world and the old can be viewed in isolation from simultaneous events on land and in the air. This has become an almost a...

"A detailed account of the fast patrol boats built and used by the Kriegsmarine during WWII . . . a book for every naval history enthusiast."— FiretrenchThe Kriegsmarine's Schnellboote—fast attack boats or S-boats to the Allies—were the primary German naval attack units in coastal waters throughout the Second World War.Operating close to their various bases they became a devastatingly effective weapon in nearly a...

De allesomvattende geschiedenis van een uitzonderlijk en onwaarschijnlijk succesvol militair detachement van het Derde Rijk: de Brandenburgers, het elitekorps van Hitler Het elitekorps de Brandenburgers, geesteskind van Kapitein Von Hippel en admiraal Canaris werd al voor de Tweede Wereldoorlog geboren en werd onderdeel van Canaris' militair intelligentie-apparaat. Het idee was om als kleine commando-eenheden, bestaande uit niet meer dan een paar man, vijandig gebied te laten infiltreren. ...

"A vast amount of information on the German Naval Security Fleet, sicherungsstreitkräfte, producing what is a unique review in depth." —Firetrench.comThis study of the Kriegsmarine's Sicherungsstreitkräfte, their security forces, fills a glaring gap in the study of the German navy in World War II. This wide array of vessels included patrol boats, minesweepers, submarine hunters, barrage breakers, landing craft, minelayers, and even the riverine flotilla that patrol...

This is the second volume of Lawrence Paterson’s detailed account of all the Luftwaffe’s naval operations during World War II. The first volume took the story up to 1942, and by the end of that year Hermann Göring’s Reich Air Ministry had subsumed nearly every aspect of Wehrmacht maritime aviation. Kriegsmarine attempts to develop an independent Fleet Air Arm had been perpetually frustrated, reflecting the chaotic nature of the Third Reich’s internal military and political mechanics.

Packed with illustrations, this is the first history of **MarinegruppenkommandoSüd, Germany's southern naval command that fought a fast and furious war at the far end of the Mediterranean.As Germany and Italy overran Yugoslavia and Greece in early 1941, the Kriegsmarine established a new theatre command, tasked with establishing German control over the eastern Mediterranean and coordinating actions with t...

Germany's legendary Atlantic surface war was fought by Naval Group West. Superbly illustrated, this unpacks the details of how it operated and fought.Having spent the 1930s on an ambitious but confused bid to build a new battle fleet, Germany began World War II woefully unprepared. Under Marinegruppenkommando West, its heavy ships and raiders were tasked with challenging Allied dominance of the Atlantic.In this book, Kriegsmarine specialis...

"Provides an excellent overview of the development of parachute troops as well as an exciting battle narrative and gripping human interest story." — Argunners MagazineFormed by a collection of free-thinking army and air force officers, the fledgling British paratrooper unit, known as the "SAS," deployed trial and error in terms of tactics and equipment before an elite few were selected to make the first British parachute raid of the war, which took place i...