Operation Totalize

Operation Totalize PDF Author: Tim Saunders
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 152674127X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 399

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Book Description
By early August 1944 the Germans fighting in Normandy had been worn down by the battles around Caen, while to the west, the American breakout was finally gaining momentum. Now was the time to launch II Canadian Corps south towards Falaise. With much of the German armour having been stripped away for the Mortain Counter-Attack, hopes ran high that the Corps, reinforced with British tanks, the 51st Highland and the Polish Armoured Divisions, would repeat the success of their predecessors in the Battle of Amiens. An innovative change of tactics to a night armoured assault and the conversion of seventy-two self-propelled guns to armoured personnel carriers for the accompanying infantry was very successful, but up against their implacable foes, 12th Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Division, the pause for bombing allowed Kurt ‘Panzer’ Meyer to deploy his division. Consequently, when the 4th Canadian and Polish Armoured Divisions were launched into their first battle they made frustratingly little progress. As the Canadians advanced over the following days, the battle degenerated into a costly fight for ground as the Hitlerjugend struggled to contain the inexperienced Poles and Canadians. Operation Totalize is renowned for the death of SS panzer Ace Michael Wittmann at the hands of Trooper Joe Ekins and the destruction of Worthington Force, the result of a navigational error.

Operation Totalize

Operation Totalize PDF Author: Tim Saunders
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 152674127X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 399

Get Book Here

Book Description
By early August 1944 the Germans fighting in Normandy had been worn down by the battles around Caen, while to the west, the American breakout was finally gaining momentum. Now was the time to launch II Canadian Corps south towards Falaise. With much of the German armour having been stripped away for the Mortain Counter-Attack, hopes ran high that the Corps, reinforced with British tanks, the 51st Highland and the Polish Armoured Divisions, would repeat the success of their predecessors in the Battle of Amiens. An innovative change of tactics to a night armoured assault and the conversion of seventy-two self-propelled guns to armoured personnel carriers for the accompanying infantry was very successful, but up against their implacable foes, 12th Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Division, the pause for bombing allowed Kurt ‘Panzer’ Meyer to deploy his division. Consequently, when the 4th Canadian and Polish Armoured Divisions were launched into their first battle they made frustratingly little progress. As the Canadians advanced over the following days, the battle degenerated into a costly fight for ground as the Hitlerjugend struggled to contain the inexperienced Poles and Canadians. Operation Totalize is renowned for the death of SS panzer Ace Michael Wittmann at the hands of Trooper Joe Ekins and the destruction of Worthington Force, the result of a navigational error.

Operation Goodwood

Operation Goodwood PDF Author: Ian Daglish
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783034882
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 602

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Book Description
This ground-level WWII history describes the British armored offensive into occupied France with rare wartime photos. Military historian Ian Daglish presents an authoritatively detailed chronicle of the greatest armored battle undertaken by the British during the Second World War. After the Normandy Landings, Operation Goodwood sent British tanks south out of the Orne bridgehead. Though the operation failed to break through German defenses, it exposed critical vulnerabilities that would ultimately assist the Allies in the liberation of France. Along with the engaging and informative text, this volume includes newly discovered aerial photos taken during the fighting by the RAF. This amazing imagery makes it possible to trace the course of the battle and to track the movement of the armored regiments and troops of both sides.

No Holding Back

No Holding Back PDF Author: Brian A. Reid
Publisher: Stackpole Military History Series
ISBN: 9780811705844
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Landmark study of the Canadians' first major operation in Normandy New revelations on the death of German panzer ace Michael Wittmann Handsomely illustrated with maps, photos, and diagrams On August 8, 1944, the Canadian Army launched Operation Totalize, a massive armored and mechanized infantry attack that aimed to break through enemy defenses south of Caen and trap the German Army in Normandy by linking up with Patton's Third Army.

From Arromanches to the Elbe

From Arromanches to the Elbe PDF Author: Charles More
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1526710676
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
A scholarly exploration of the British armoured regiment and its part in the Allied campaign to liberate Europe during World War II. On June 14, 1944, the tanks of the 144th Regiment Royal armored Corps disembarked on Gold Beach during the Normandy landings. A long and bitter campaign began, taking them across Northwest Europe into the heart of Germany. During that advance the regiment took part in several important actions. These included Operation Pomegranate (July 1944), Operation Totalize, an innovative night attack which was one of the final steps to breaking out of the Caen bridgehead (7/8 August 1944), the siege and capture of Le Havre, the fighting in Holland during late 1944, the crossing of the Rhine, and the capture of Bremen just before the end of the war in Europe. The author investigates the regiment’s service through interviews with his late father-in-law, Captain R.W. Thorne, who had been an officer in it during the war. This book also draws on a variety of contemporary sources—not least of which are the archives of fellow officer Marcus Cunliffe, a distinguished British scholar and author, who specialized in American Studies after the war (particularly military and cultural history). From Arromanches to the Elbe is a serious contribution to World War II history. It explores all aspects of army life, such as training and the social history of an active service unit, and will appeal to those interested in the European campaign, the use of tanks and armored warfare, and, of course, the final battles to defeat Hitler’s Third Reich.

No Holding Back

No Holding Back PDF Author: Brian A. Reid
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 146175139X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 512

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Book Description
Landmark study of the Canadians' first major operation in Normandy New revelations on the death of German panzer ace Michael Wittmann Handsomely illustrated with maps, photos, and diagrams On August 8, 1944, the Canadian Army launched Operation Totalize, a massive armored and mechanized infantry attack that aimed to break through enemy defenses south of Caen and trap the German Army in Normandy by linking up with Patton's Third Army.

The Generals

The Generals PDF Author: J. L. Granatstein
Publisher: University of Calgary Press
ISBN: 1552381765
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
Originally published in 1993, The Generals is a collective biography of the Canadian armys leaders in World War II, and is the winner of the Dafoe Book Prize for International Relations and the UBC Medal for Canadian Biography. The only book of its kind on this subject, The Generals remains an invaluable resource for academics, policy makers, and anyone interested Canada's military history.

Surrender Invites Death

Surrender Invites Death PDF Author: John A. English
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 081174437X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
What it was like to fight Hitler's ideological troops in Normandy starting on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

The Armoured Campaign in Normandy

The Armoured Campaign in Normandy PDF Author: Stephen Napier
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750964731
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
Beginning with the D-day landings, this is a brutally frank appraisal of the planned use and actual results of the deployment of armour by both German and Allied commanders in the major tank battles of the Normandy campaign including operations Epsom, Goodwood, Cobra and Totalize. The Armoured Campaign in Normandy is a critique of Montgomery's plans to seize territory and break out and describes how they failed in the face of German resistance. It details the poor planning and mistakes of British senior commanders and how the German Army's convoluted chain of command contributed to their own defeat; these were decisions taken which cost the lives of the tank crews of both sides ordered to carry them out. Official reports, war diaries, after action reports, letters, regimental histories, memoirs of generals and recollections of tank men are used to tell the inside story of the campaign from an armour point of view to give a different but detailed perspective of the Normandy campaign from the men who fought in it.

Operation Totalize

Operation Totalize PDF Author: Tim Saunders
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1526741296
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
By early August 1944 the Germans fighting in Normandy had been worn down by the battles around Caen, while to the west, the American breakout was finally gaining momentum. Now was the time to launch II Canadian Corps south towards Falaise. With much of the German armour having been stripped away for the Mortain Counter-Attack, hopes ran high that the Corps, reinforced with British tanks, the 51st Highland and the Polish Armoured Divisions, would repeat the success of their predecessors in the Battle of Amiens. An innovative change of tactics to a night armoured assault and the conversion of seventy-two self-propelled guns to armoured personnel carriers for the accompanying infantry was very successful, but up against their implacable foes, 12th Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Division, the pause for bombing allowed Kurt ‘Panzer’ Meyer to deploy his division. Consequently, when the 4th Canadian and Polish Armoured Divisions were launched into their first battle they made frustratingly little progress. As the Canadians advanced over the following days, the battle degenerated into a costly fight for ground as the Hitlerjugend struggled to contain the inexperienced Poles and Canadians. Operation Totalize is renowned for the death of SS panzer Ace Michael Wittmann at the hands of Trooper Joe Ekins and the destruction of Worthington Force, the result of a navigational error.

Fighting the People's War

Fighting the People's War PDF Author: Jonathan Fennell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107030951
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 967

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Book Description
Jonathan Fennell captures for the first time the true wartime experience of the ordinary soldiers from across the empire who made up the British and Commonwealth armies. He analyses why the great battles were won and lost and how the men that fought went on to change the world.