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Author: Charles Messenger
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0008168989
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 446
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Book Description
The definitive and thrilling history of those who wore the famous green beret.
Author: Charles Messenger
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0008168989
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 446
Get Book Here
Book Description
The definitive and thrilling history of those who wore the famous green beret.
Author: James Owen
Publisher: Abacus
ISBN: 9780349123622
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
June 1940: As Britain's soldiers limped home from Dunkirk, a maverick Army officer was already devising a bold plan to hit back at the enemy. His idea was to revolutionise military thinking and change the face of warfare for ever. Relying as much on stealth and guile as on courage and stamina, the Commandos brought to the battlefield the skills of the guerrilla. Trained by an unconventional band of experts, and led by a big-game hunter, a film star, a Highland chief and an eccentric wielding a bow and arrow, they became the spearhead of the Allied drive for victory. Weaving together official documents, new research and veterans' own accounts, Commando reveals for the first time the exhilarating full story of WWII's most formidable fighting force.
Author: Stephen Bull
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783378441
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 340
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Book Description
British commandos are among the most celebrated soldiers of the Second World War. Their daring, ingenuity and bravery have given rise to an almost legendary reputation that makes it difficult to appreciate fully their role and their true value as fighting men.Stephen Bull, in this in-depth study of commando tactics and history, seeks to dispel the myths and the misunderstandings that surround them, and he places these elite troops of 70 years ago in the context of their times. He also demonstrates that the idea of the commando took time to develop and that commando operations were far from always successful. Commando tactics amphibious, mountain, close quarter were forged through the often-painful experience of raids and combined operations. And commando tactics and organization remained in a state of flux throughout the war as new situations and challenges arose.Stephen Bulls vivid account will be essential reading for anyone who is interested in commando fighting techniques and the early history of special forces.
Author: Louis Mountbatten
Publisher: Legare Street Press
ISBN: 9781019394731
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Combined Operations is a detailed account of the development and operations of the British Commandos during World War II. The book provides an inside look at the strategy, tactics, and training of the Commandos and covers some of their most daring missions, including the raid on St. Nazaire and the D-Day landings. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Author: Andrew L. Hargreaves
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806151250
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433
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Book Description
British and American commanders first used modern special forces in support of conventional military operations during World War II. Since then, although special ops have featured prominently in popular culture and media coverage of wars, the academic study of irregular warfare has remained as elusive as the practitioners of special operations themselves. This book is the first comprehensive study of the development, application, and value of Anglo-American commando and special forces units during the Second World War. Special forces are intensively trained, specially selected military units performing unconventional and often high-risk missions. In this book, Andrew L. Hargreaves not only describes tactics and operations but also outlines the distinctions between commandos and special forces, traces their evolution during the war, explains how the Anglo-American alliance functioned in the creation and use of these units, looks at their command and control arrangements, evaluates their impact, and assesses their cost-effectiveness. The first real impetus for the creation of British specialist formations came in the desperate summer of 1940 when, having been pushed out of Europe following defeat in France and the Low Countries, Britain began to turn to irregular forces in an effort to wrest back the strategic initiative from the enemy. The development of special forces by the United States was also a direct consequence of defeat. After Pearl Harbor, Hargreaves shows, the Americans found themselves in much the same position as Britain had been in 1940: shocked, outnumbered, and conventionally defeated, they were unable to come to grips with the enemy on a large scale. By the end of the war, a variety of these units had overcome a multitude of evolutionary hurdles and made valuable contributions to practically every theater of operation. In describing how Britain and the United States worked independently and cooperatively to invent and put into practice a fundamentally new way of waging war, this book demonstrates the two nations’ flexibility, adaptability, and ability to innovate during World War II.
Author: Charles Messenger
Publisher: William Collins
ISBN: 9780008168971
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
The definitive and thrilling history of those who wore the famous green beret. COMMANDO is the definitive history of the units raised to answer Winston Churchill's call to arms: 'Enterprises much be prepared with specially trained troops of the hunter class, who can develop a reign of terror.' These units and their courageous operations would take many forms, including the spectacular assaults of the Small Scale Raiding Force, No. 30 Commando's shadowy intelligence-gathering, and the highly secret missions of 'X' Troop. Acclaimed military historian Charles Messenger follows these elite forces from the snowy wastes of Norway to the jungles of South-East Asia, from North Africa and Operation Torch to the Normandy beaches and Operation Overlord. The result, based on extensive research as well as interviews and correspondence with former Commandos, is the true and thrilling story of those who wore the famous green beret.
Author: Leah Garrett
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0358177421
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 373
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Book Description
WALL STREET JOURNAL BOOK OF THE MONTH "This is the incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now." —Wall Street Journal “Brilliantly researched, utterly gripping history: the first full account of a remarkable group of Jewish refugees—a top-secret band of brothers—who waged war on Hitler.”—Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The Longest Winter and The Liberator The incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now June 1942. The shadow of the Third Reich has fallen across the European continent. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees who have escaped to Britain. The resulting volunteers are a motley group of intellectuals, artists, and athletes, most from Germany and Austria. Many have been interned as enemy aliens, and have lost their families, their homes—their whole worlds. They will stop at nothing to defeat the Nazis. Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, this top secret unit becomes known as X Troop. Some simply call them a suicide squad. Drawing on extensive original research, including interviews with the last surviving members, Leah Garrett follows this unique band of brothers from Germany to England and back again, with stops at British internment camps, the beaches of Normandy, the battlefields of Italy and Holland, and the hellscape of Terezin concentration camp—the scene of one of the most dramatic, untold rescues of the war. For the first time, X Troop tells the astonishing story of these secret shock troops and their devastating blows against the Nazis. “Garrett’s detective work is stunning, and her storytelling is masterful. This is an original account of Jewish rescue, resistance, and revenge.”—Wendy Lower, author of The Ravine and National Book Award finalist Hitler’s Furies
Author: Nicholas Rankin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199782822
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 424
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Book Description
Rankin tells the story of a secret intelligence outfit conceived and organized by Ian Fleming during World War II, named "30 Assault Unit", a group who was expected to seize enemy codebooks, cipher machines, and documents in high-stakes operations, and which inspired his creation of the James Bond character.
Author: William T. Y'Blood
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 364
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Book Description
"1943, General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, the commanding general of U.S. Army Air Forces, wanted to demonstrate that Allied forces could use "ships in the air" (just like the Navy used ships on the sea)to stage an aerial invasion of Burma. Air Commandos against Japan tells the story of how within a few short months these daring aviators trained and equipped an entirely new kind of organization, moved it to India, established bases, and then led it into combat in support of an eccentric and combative British officer named Orde C. Wingate." "In Japanese-occupied Burma, where terrain made a textbook frontal assault on the Japanese impossible, the Air Commandos took an unorthodox approach to the fight, using unconventional hit-and-run tactics to confuse the enemy and to destroy their lines of communication and supply. This book describes how the unit successfully attacked the enemy from the air, resupplied British commandos on the ground, and airlifted the wounded out of the battle area - eventually driving the Japanese out of Burma."--BOOK JACKET.
Author: John Nadler
Publisher: Presidio Press
ISBN: 0307414418
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 434
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Book Description
It’s 1942 and Hitler’s armies stand astride Europe like a colossus. Germany is winning on every front. This is the story of how one of the world’s first commando units, put together for the invasion of Norway, helped turn the tide in Italy. 1942. When the British generals recommend an audacious plan to parachute a small elite commando unit into Norway in a bid to put Nazi Germany on the defensive, Winston Churchill is intrigued. But Britain, fighting for its life, can’t spare the manpower to participate. So William Lyon MacKenzie King is contacted and asked to commit Canadian troops to the bold plan. King, determined to join Roosevelt and Churchill as an equal leader in the Allied war effort, agrees. One of the world’s first commando units, the First Special Service Force, or FSSF, is assembled from hand-picked soldiers from Canadian and American regiments. Any troops sent into Norway will have to be rugged, self-sufficient, brave, and weather-hardened. Canada has such men in ample supply. The all-volunteer FSSF comprises outdoorsmen — trappers, rangers, prospectors, miners, loggers. Assembled at an isolated base in Helena, Montana, and given only five months to train before the invasion, they are schooled in parachuting, mountain climbing, cross-country skiing, and cold-weather survival. They are taught how to handle explosives, how to operate nearly every field weapon in the American and German arsenals, and how to kill with their bare hands. After the Norway plan is scrapped, the FSSF is dispatched to Italy and given its first test — to seize a key German mountain-top position which had repelled the brunt of the Allied armies for over a month. In a reprise of the audacity and careful planning that won Vimy Ridge for the Canadians in WWI, the FSSF takes the twin peaks Monte la Difensa and Monte la Remetanea by storming the supposedly unscalable rock face at the rear of the German position, and opens the way through the mountains. Later, the FSSF will hold one-quarter of the Anzio beachhead against a vastly superior German force for ninety-nine days; a force of only 1,200 commandos does the work of a full division of over 17,000 troops. Though badly outnumbered, the FSSF takes the fight to the Germans, sending nighttime patrols behind enemy lines and taking prisoners. It is here that they come to be known among the dispirited Germans as Schwartzer Teufel (“Black Devils”) for their black camouflage face-paint and their terrifying tactic of appearing out of the darkness. John Nadler vividly captures the savagery of the Italian campaign, fought as it was at close quarters and with desperate resolve, and the deeply human experiences of the individual men called upon to fight it. Based on extensive archival research and interviews with veterans, A Perfect Hell is an important contribution to Canadian military history and an indispensable account of the lives and battlefield exploits of the men who turned the tide of the Second World War.
