In the week after the D-Day landings, British and Canadian forces in the east were ordered to pin down as many German troops as possible to take the pressure off the Americans. This book describes the attempted capture of Villers-Bocage and Evrecy as well as Lingevres and Les Verrieres.
To encapsulate the British Army in one book is no easy task, but here, George Forty presents it as it was during the Second World War. When war was declared in 1939, the British Army was very much the "cinderella" of the three armed services with a total strength of around 865,000 men. However, just four years later when the Allies invaded North West Europe, the British Army had grown into a powerful, well-organized and well-equipped fighting force of three million men and women. George Forty here presents a comprehensive overview of the British Army during this important time. It has full details of mobilization and training, higher organization and arms of the service; divisional organizations and non-divisional units; HQs and staff; the combat arms and the services; the individual soldier, his weapons and equipment based on that used in 1944; tactics; weapons, vehicles and equipment; vehicle markings and camouflage; the ATS and other women's corps. Fully illustrated with an unusual collection of photographs and line illustrations, this is a valuable reference guide for anyone interested in this fascinating period of British history.
Employing a range of archive black and white photographs, this book examines the US Marine Corps' organisation and command structure, strategy, tactics and amphibious assault doctrine. Providing biographies of its most influential figures, it also surveys insignia, uniforms and equipment to provide a portrait of the US Marine Corps at war.
The technology that separates the lumbering Heavy Mk I tank of 1916 from the Challenger main battle tank of 1994 may be aeons apart, but the basic skills of the tank commander have remained unchanged. Whether the scenario is the first tank-versus-tank engagement at Villers-Bretonneux in 1918, or the decimation of Iraqi armour by Allied tanks in the Gulf War of 1991, the perennial qualities of efficiency, bravery, quick-wittedness and initiative still shine through.In Tank Action the author looks in detail at forty-two individual low-level battles spanning eighty years of armoured warfare. He has chosen from as many different scenarios as possible so that details of less well-known actions are not overshadowed by the more famous. Emphasis is given to the individual tank commanders involved, but the author is ever mindful of the fact that a tank commander is only as good as his crew, without whom he would be unable to engage and destroy the enemy. Supported by a vast array of photographs, maps and line drawings, Tank Action is a comprehensive and carefully crafted evocation of life at the sharp end of tank warfare, as seen from the dramatic perspective of the tank crews themselves.
To encapsulate the British Army in one book is no easy task, but here, George Forty presents it as it was during the Second World War. When war was declared in 1939, the British Army was very much the 'Cinderella' of the three armed services, with a total strength of around 865,000 men. However, just four years later when the Allies invaded north-west Europe, the British Army had grown into a powerful, well-organised and well-equipped fighting force of 3 million men and women. George Forty presents a comprehensive overview of the British Army during this important time.He includes full details of mobilisation and training, higher organisation and arms of the service; divisional organisations and non-divisional units; HQs and Staff; the combat arms and the services; the individual soldier, his weapons and equipment; tactics; vehicle markings and camouflage; the Auxiliary Territorial Service and other Women's Corps. Fully illustrated with an unusual collection of photographs and line illustrations, this is an indispensable reference guide for anyone interested in this fascinating period of British history.
This fully-updated book is an authoritative directory of tanks and their immediate derivatives, such as tank destroyers and armoured recovery vehicles. It begins with a history of tank design and evolution from its first action at Flers during World War I and its dominance on the battlefields of Europe in World War II to the powerful fighting machines of the 20th and 21st century seen in more recent wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine. There then follows two directories: 1914-1945 and 1946 to the Present Day. Focusing on some 230 tanks, each entry includes a description and history with a specification panel detailing the tank's crew, weight, dimensions, armament, armour, powerplant and performance. The tanks are wonderfully illustrated with over 650 photographs, many of which are from the famous Tank Museum at Bovington, Dorset, UK, and never previously published in one volume.
The personal story of a British tank sergeant's war, from the fall of France in 1940, through the bloody campaigns against Rommel's forces in North Africa, the hard-fought drive up Italy, D-Day and the battles for France and the low countries, and the invasion of the German heartland itself. George Forty, himself a veteran of the Korean War, uses Jake Wardrop's war diary as the basis for this first-hand tale of bravery. For the first time in its entirety, Jack Wardrop's tale is told, from defeat in 1940 to ultimate victory in 1945. Sadly, despite his bravery, Jake Wardrop was killed in action during the dying days of the war. His diary is a reminder of the vicious fighting his, and the other tanks of 5 Royal Tank Regiment, took part in and it gives a unique personal insight into the Second World War. Wardrop's detailed record of each battle and action was compiled at the time and it has long remained in the possession of his mother, who was sent extracts from time to time as the war progressed. His diary serves as an exciting battlefield record of 5RTR.
Updated and extended for the new 2025 edition. Now an impressive 576 pages, this book is an authoritative history and directory of tanks and their immediate derivatives, such as ARVs (armoured recovery vehicles), tank destroyers, command versions, bridgelayers, mine-clearers and other Funnies, and AFVs such as armoured cars, armoured personnel carriers and self-propelled artillery, covering a vast range of wheeled, tracked and semi-tracked vehicles. This unique volume, with over 1200 wartime and museum photographs, brings together the most significant tanks and AFVs in military history. The tank was developed as a means of transporting firepower around the battlefield, while armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) give tactical support to the tank. This book is an authoritative history and directory of tanks and their immediate derivatives, such as armoured recovery vehicles, tank destroyers, command versions, bridgelayers, mine-clearers and other "Funnies". It also explores a wide range of AFVs, such as armoured cars, armoured personnel carriers and self-propelled artillery, covering wheeled, tracked and semi-tracked vehicles. From their first appearance to their present-day roles, the development of each vehicle is discussed in depth. All of the major conflicts around the world are examined, such as the Somme, Blitzkrieg, El Alamein, Kursk, D-Day, Korea, Vietnam, Arab-Israeli conflicts, and the Iran-Iraq and Gulf wars. The book also features substantial A to Z directories of over 400 vehicles, from the world's first tank - the No. 1 Lincoln Machine "Little Willie" - to the contemporary M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank and Varta APC, as well as madcap ideas such as those developed by the British for the Home Guard. This unique volume, illustrated with over 1200 wartime and museum photographs, brings together all the most significant tanks and AFVs that have played important roles in military history.
Masters of the continent, the Nazis realized that they would have to defend their gains, and once the United States entered the war, redoubled their efforts. Using forced and slave labor they built a chain of defensive positions, coastal batteries, and beach defenses from the top of Norway to the Franco-Spanish border. However, as was so typical of the Nazis, while the bunkers and batteries seem impressively constructed, and the Atlantic Wall has left a permanent reminder of the years of Nazi domination, it was crippled by lack of strategic planning, internal bickering, and a multitude of command structures that did not communicate with each other effectively. In June 1944 the Allies burst through the wall, and while it took many lives to break the crust of the German defenses, the vaunted Atlantic Wall proved ineffective save for the fortresses the Allies bypassed and subdued later. Using the same formula as in their books on The Normandy Battlefields and Race to the Rhine, Leo Marriott and Simon Forty combine bespoke aerial photography with old photographs, maps, and current illustrations to provide a pictorial analysis of the subject—Around 500 illustrations ensure the subject is well covered. After opening sections on the construction of the wall, the defensive plan, and the different structures that were built, Hitler’s Atlantic Wall yesterday and today provides a survey of the key locations and what can be seen today—including many of the museums that interpret them. The bulk of the book is divided geographically by country, dealing with France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway. After 70 years, the Atlantic Wall is still a remarkable reminder of the war years, and one that continues to fascinate.
The battles in North Africa hold a unique place in the history of World War II. Praised in Parliament and the British press, German commander Erwin Rommel achieved near-mythical status as a general. The fighting was seen as one of few “clean” wars fought by the Nazis, marked by mutual respect between the opponents. And the desert setting was dramatic: blistering daytime heat and plummeting temperatures at nights, abrasive sandstorms and flash floods, from Egypt’s Qattara Depression to Tunisia’s Atlas Mountains—an arena that still bore the marks of battles as far back as Roman times where Scipio had fought Hannibal. The weather and terrain produced a fearsome place to fight a war. This is also the theater in which the U.S. forces made their first significant appearance in the battles against Hitler, where the men who would lead in Normandy came together from American and British forces, resulting in a victory that saw a quarter of a million German and Italian soldiers captured. Richly illustrated, this completely revised edition of George Forty’s classic work provides an eyewitness account of what it was like to fight and survive in the desert, examines the importance of intelligence and codebreaking, and reassesses Rommel’s reputation as a battlefield commander.
