Combat Over the Mediterranean

Combat Over the Mediterranean PDF Author: Chris Goss
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473889456
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Drawing on an extremely rare collection of photographs taken by the camera guns of Bristol Beaufighters deployed on ground-attack and anti-shipping operations, this book will form a rare indeed unique view of what it was like to fly dangerous strike missions against German and Italian forces over North Africa and the Mediterranean between 1942 and 1945.Despite being reformed in the UK in November 1940 as Coastal Commands first Beaufighter squadron, 252 Squadron, which also operated Bristol Blenheims until April 1941, was destined to spend most of its service in North Africa and the Mediterranean before being disbanded in Greece in December 1946.One of the squadrons commanding officers, Wing Commander DOB Butler, DFC, had the foresight to keep perfect examples of the many thousands of gun camera stills taken by the Beaufighter pilots under his command. As a result, he has preserved a remarkable history of the air and sea war in the Mediterranean from October 1942 to May 1945. These dramatic stills show attacks against German and Italian aircraft, Axis warships and merchant men, harbors and other targets on what are now popular holiday destinations such as Rhodes, Naxos and Kos and across the Greek Islands, the Aegean and Ionian Seas.This book will be based around these remarkable and spectacular photographs and will include full details of key missions and the crews who participated, with information drawn from Squadron records and combat reports.

Combat Over the Mediterranean

Combat Over the Mediterranean PDF Author: Chris Goss
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473889456
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Get Book Here

Book Description
Drawing on an extremely rare collection of photographs taken by the camera guns of Bristol Beaufighters deployed on ground-attack and anti-shipping operations, this book will form a rare indeed unique view of what it was like to fly dangerous strike missions against German and Italian forces over North Africa and the Mediterranean between 1942 and 1945.Despite being reformed in the UK in November 1940 as Coastal Commands first Beaufighter squadron, 252 Squadron, which also operated Bristol Blenheims until April 1941, was destined to spend most of its service in North Africa and the Mediterranean before being disbanded in Greece in December 1946.One of the squadrons commanding officers, Wing Commander DOB Butler, DFC, had the foresight to keep perfect examples of the many thousands of gun camera stills taken by the Beaufighter pilots under his command. As a result, he has preserved a remarkable history of the air and sea war in the Mediterranean from October 1942 to May 1945. These dramatic stills show attacks against German and Italian aircraft, Axis warships and merchant men, harbors and other targets on what are now popular holiday destinations such as Rhodes, Naxos and Kos and across the Greek Islands, the Aegean and Ionian Seas.This book will be based around these remarkable and spectacular photographs and will include full details of key missions and the crews who participated, with information drawn from Squadron records and combat reports.

Strangling the Axis

Strangling the Axis PDF Author: Richard Hammond
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108478212
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
Richard Hammond offers a major reassessment of the role of the war at sea in Allied victory in the Mediterranean region.

Junkers Ju 88 Kampfgeschwader in North Africa and the Mediterranean

Junkers Ju 88 Kampfgeschwader in North Africa and the Mediterranean PDF Author: John Weal
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782004459
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
A detailed history of the Luftwaffe's best twin-engined bomber of World War 2 in North Africa and the Mediterranean. This volume follows the Luftwaffe's 'Wunderbomber' southwards to describe its deployment in North Africa and the Mediterranean theatre of war. Early 1941 saw the first sporadic air raids on Malta, followed by the campaign in the Balkans which resulted in the conquests of Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete. After supporting land operations in North Africa during the latter half of 1941, the Ju 88s resumed their assault on Malta. Bringing the story to life are personal accounts of the more famous actions – the bombing of shipping off the coast of Greece and the sinking of three Royal Navy destroyers south of Crete, all illustrated with rare photographs and full-colour profiles.

Mediterranean Naval Battles That Changed the World

Mediterranean Naval Battles That Changed the World PDF Author: Quentin Russell
Publisher: Pen and Sword Maritime
ISBN: 1526716011
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
This epic naval history examines seven pivotal Mediterranean conflicts, from the Battle of Salamis in the fifth century BC to the Siege of Malta during WWII. This book tells the story of the Mediterranean as a theater of war at sea. Historian Quentin Russell covers seven major battles or campaigns, each of which changed the balance of power and shape the course of history. Chronicling each battle in vivid detail, Russell also provides essential background, covering the history of naval power in the Mediterranean and the effect of the development of naval architecture and design on the outcomes. Readers will learn that the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 was the last major battle fought between galleys; the Battle of Navarino in 1827 was the last to be fought entirely by sailing ships; and the Battle of Cape Matapan in 1941—where a young Duke of Edinburgh saw action—was the first operation to exploit the breaking of the Italian naval Enigma codes. The battles included are: Salamis (480 BC), Actium (31 BC), Lepanto (1571), the Nile (aka Aboukir Bay, 1798), Navarino (1827), Cape Matapan (1941), and the Siege of Malta (1940-42).

Combat Psychiatry

Combat Psychiatry PDF Author: Frederick R. Hanson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Combat
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description


The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943

The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943 PDF Author: Jack Greene
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1805000721
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
This superbly researched book gives a complete account of the war in the Mediterranean on, above and beneath the sea up until Italy's armistice in September 1943. Written with full access to Italian sources, it not only provides a detailed and fascinating narrative of the entire naval war, but also sets the individual actions fully in their strategic context for both the Axis and the Allies. Topics include: • The complex and distrustful relationship between the Italians and their German allies which culminated in open conflict after the Italian armistice in 1943. • The battle for Malta, and that island's vital strategic role threatening Axis supply lines to North Africa. • The exploits of the Italian human torpedoes of the X MAS flotilla, which threatened to change the balance of power in the Mediterranean. This book is essential reading for all those interested in one of the major naval theaters of the Second World War.

Empires of the Sea

Empires of the Sea PDF Author: Roger Crowley
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1588367339
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
In 1521, Suleiman the Magnificent, Muslim ruler of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power, dispatched an invasion fleet to the Christian island of Rhodes. This would prove to be the opening shot in an epic struggle between rival empires and faiths for control of the Mediterranean and the center of the world. In Empires of the Sea, acclaimed historian Roger Crowley has written his most mesmerizing work to date–a thrilling account of this brutal decades-long battle between Christendom and Islam for the soul of Europe, a fast-paced tale of spiraling intensity that ranges from Istanbul to the Gates of Gibraltar and features a cast of extraordinary characters: Barbarossa, “The King of Evil,” the pirate who terrified Europe; the risk-taking Emperor Charles V; the Knights of St. John, the last crusading order after the passing of the Templars; the messianic Pope Pius V; and the brilliant Christian admiral Don Juan of Austria. This struggle’s brutal climax came between 1565 and 1571, seven years that witnessed a fight to the finish decided in a series of bloody set pieces: the epic siege of Malta, in which a tiny band of Christian defenders defied the might of the Ottoman army; the savage battle for Cyprus; and the apocalyptic last-ditch defense of southern Europe at Lepanto–one of the single most shocking days in world history. At the close of this cataclysmic naval encounter, the carnage was so great that the victors could barely sail away “because of the countless corpses floating in the sea.” Lepanto fixed the frontiers of the Mediterranean world that we know today. Roger Crowley conjures up a wild cast of pirates, crusaders, and religious warriors struggling for supremacy and survival in a tale of slavery and galley warfare, desperate bravery and utter brutality, technology and Inca gold. Empires of the Sea is page-turning narrative history at its best–a story of extraordinary color and incident, rich in detail, full of surprises, and backed by a wealth of eyewitness accounts. It provides a crucial context for our own clash of civilizations.

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945. Volume 2

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945. Volume 2 PDF Author: Christopher Shores
Publisher: Grub Street Publishing
ISBN: 191069097X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 736

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Book Description
This second volume in the seminal series on aerial combat, pilots, and tactics in Libya and Egypt in the middle of World War II. In volume two of this series, historian Christopher Shores begins by exploring the 8th Army’s movements after Operation Crusader when they were forced back to the Gazala area in northeastern Libya, as well as their defeat in June, 1942, the loss of Tobruk, and the efforts of Allied air forces to protect their retreating troops. Shores continues with the heavy fighting that followed in the El Alamein region. This features the Western Desert Air Force and the arrival of the first Spitfires. The buildup of both army and air forces and the addition of new commanders on the ground aided the defeat of Rommel’s Deutsche Afrika Korps at Alam el Halfa, after which came the Second Battle of El Alamein. With the arrival of the United States Army Air Force, the Allied air forces gained dominance over the Axis. Shores recounts the lengthy pursuit of the Italo-German forces right across Libya, including the capture of Tripoli and the breakthrough into Southern Tunisia. This allowed a linkup with other Allied forces in Tunisia (whose story appears in Volume 3). Included with the action are stories of some of the great fighter aces of the Desert campaign such as Jochen Marseille and Otto Schulz of the Luftwaffe, Franco Bordoni-Bisleri of the Regia Aeronautica and Neville Duke, Billy Drake, and “Eddie” Edwards of the Commonwealth air forces. Finally, Shores touches on the Allied and Axis night bombing offensives and the activities of the squadrons cooperating with the naval forces in the Mediterranean.

Taranto

Taranto PDF Author: David Hobbs
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1526793849
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
“If you only read one book on the development of the Fleet Air Arm and Naval air warfare in the Mediterranean during World War 2 then this should be it.” —Military Historical Society After the Italian declaration of war in June 1940, the Royal Navy found itself facing a larger and better-equipped Italian surface fleet, large Italian and German air forces equipped with modern aircraft and both Italian and German submarines. Its own aircraft were a critical element of an unprecedented fight on, over and under the sea surface. The best-known action was the crippling of the Italian fleet at Taranto, which demonstrated how aircraft carriers and their aircraft had replaced the dominance of battleships, but every subsequent operation is covered from the perspective of naval aviation. Some of these, like Matapan or the defense of the “Pedestal” convoy to Malta, are famous but others in support of land campaigns and in the Aegean after the Italian surrender are less well recorded. In all these, the ingenuity and innovation of the Fleet Air Arm shines through—Taranto pointed the way to what the Japanese would achieve at Pearl Harbor, while air cover for the Salerno landings demonstrated the effectiveness of carrier-borne fighters in amphibious operations, a tactic adopted by the US Navy. The author’s years of archival research together with his experience as a carrier pilot allow him to describe and analyze the operations of naval aircraft in the Mediterranean with unprecedented authority. This provides the book with novel insights into many familiar facets of the Mediterranean war while for the first time doing full justice to the Fleet Air Arm’s lesser known achievements. “A full and fascinating story.” —Clash of Steel

A Military History of the Mediterranean Sea

A Military History of the Mediterranean Sea PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004362045
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 489

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Book Description
The Mediterranean has always attracted the imagination of modern historians as the epicentre of great political entities, such as the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Ottomans, Venetians, and Spanish. However, it seems that the sea itself was always on the margins of historical inquiry – at least, until the publication of the famous two-volume work by F. Braudel in 1949. This collection of essays aims to offer a vertical history of war in the Mediterranean Sea, from the early Middle Ages to the early modernity, putting the emphasis on the changing face of several different aspects and contexts of war over time. Contributors are Stephen Bennett, Stathis Birtachas, Cornel Bontea, Wayne H. Bowen, Lilia Campana, Raffaele D’Amato, Elina Gugliuzzo, Nikolaos Kanellopoulos, Savvas Kyriakides, Tilemachos Lounghis, Alan V. Murray, Chrysovalantis Papadamou, Jacopo Pessina, Philip Rance, Georgios Theotokis, Iason Tzouriadis, Ian Wilson, and Aysel Yildiz.