Red Ball Express

Red Ball Express PDF Author: Pat Ware
Publisher: Ian Allan Publishing
ISBN: 9780711031920
Category : Military trucks
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Red Ball Express was the name given to the massive convoy effort which supplied the Allied armies moving through Europe after D-Day. Its success was a major factor in the rapid defeat of the German army. Some 28 Divisions were advancing across France and Belgium. Each division ordinarily required 700-750 tons of supplies per day, a total daily consumption of about 20,000 tons. To achieve this the Red Ball Express was conceived. The name came from a US railway term, to Red Ball was to ship goods express. The operation lasted only three months, from 25 August to 16 November 1944, and was critical in ensuring that the Allied advance did not grind to a halt as a result of lack of supplies. At its peak, the Red Ball Express utilized some 6,000 vehicles and shipped in excess of 12,000 tons of supplies to forward depots daily. Initially, the Red Ball Express got bogged down amongst other traffic, but quickly two dedicated routes were designated from the beachhead to the city of Chartres. From these routes all other traffic was banned and, to ensure the smooth operation of the Red Ball Express, strict rules were laid down: trucks were to travel in convoy; each convoy was to comprise no fewer than five trucks; each truck had a designated number and position within the convoy; there were lead and follow-up jeeps to maintain progress; the trucks were to stay 60ft apart and travel at 35mph. But these rules were more often breached than observed, with drivers making unauthorized modifications to the engines of their trucks to increase speed, for example, and drivers hawking their loads around at the front rather than heading for the main depots. In his latest book for Ian Allan Publishing, anoted expert on the history of military transport and vehicles, Pat Ware, examines in detail the history and operation of the Red Ball Express during these critical months when, if the supply chain had been broken, there was every possibility that the powerful German forces defending Normandy could have driven the Allies back into the sea. Concentrating primarily on the 6,000 trucks utilized for the service, the book includes some 220 color and black and white images to supplement the authors well-informed and detailed narrative. Aimed at the military historian and military transport enthusiast, Red Ball Express will find a ready market amongst those eager for a comprehensive and well-illustrated account of the critical period in the months after D-Day when the battle for Normandy was on a knife-edge.

Red Ball Express

Red Ball Express PDF Author: Pat Ware
Publisher: Ian Allan Publishing
ISBN: 9780711031920
Category : Military trucks
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Red Ball Express was the name given to the massive convoy effort which supplied the Allied armies moving through Europe after D-Day. Its success was a major factor in the rapid defeat of the German army. Some 28 Divisions were advancing across France and Belgium. Each division ordinarily required 700-750 tons of supplies per day, a total daily consumption of about 20,000 tons. To achieve this the Red Ball Express was conceived. The name came from a US railway term, to Red Ball was to ship goods express. The operation lasted only three months, from 25 August to 16 November 1944, and was critical in ensuring that the Allied advance did not grind to a halt as a result of lack of supplies. At its peak, the Red Ball Express utilized some 6,000 vehicles and shipped in excess of 12,000 tons of supplies to forward depots daily. Initially, the Red Ball Express got bogged down amongst other traffic, but quickly two dedicated routes were designated from the beachhead to the city of Chartres. From these routes all other traffic was banned and, to ensure the smooth operation of the Red Ball Express, strict rules were laid down: trucks were to travel in convoy; each convoy was to comprise no fewer than five trucks; each truck had a designated number and position within the convoy; there were lead and follow-up jeeps to maintain progress; the trucks were to stay 60ft apart and travel at 35mph. But these rules were more often breached than observed, with drivers making unauthorized modifications to the engines of their trucks to increase speed, for example, and drivers hawking their loads around at the front rather than heading for the main depots. In his latest book for Ian Allan Publishing, anoted expert on the history of military transport and vehicles, Pat Ware, examines in detail the history and operation of the Red Ball Express during these critical months when, if the supply chain had been broken, there was every possibility that the powerful German forces defending Normandy could have driven the Allies back into the sea. Concentrating primarily on the 6,000 trucks utilized for the service, the book includes some 220 color and black and white images to supplement the authors well-informed and detailed narrative. Aimed at the military historian and military transport enthusiast, Red Ball Express will find a ready market amongst those eager for a comprehensive and well-illustrated account of the critical period in the months after D-Day when the battle for Normandy was on a knife-edge.

The Road to Victory

The Road to Victory PDF Author: David P. Colley
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1497626250
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Get Book Here

Book Description
This “important contribution to WWII history” reveals the trucking convoy, manned by unsung black soldiers, who helped defeat the Nazis (Publishers Weekly). After the D-Day landings in Normandy, Allied forces faced a golden opportunity—and a critical challenge. They had broken across enemy lines, but there was no infrastructure to supply troops as they pushed into Germany. The US Army improvised a perilous solution: a convoy of trucks marked with red balls that would carry desperately needed ammunition, rations, and fuel deep into occupied Europe. The so-called Red Ball Express lasted eighty-one days and, at its height, numbered nearly six thousand trucks. The mission risked attacks by the Luftwaffe and German ground forces, making it one of the GIs’ most daring gambits. Without the soldiers who successfully executed this operation, World War II would have dragged on in Europe at a terrible cost of Allied lives. Yet the service of these brave drivers, most of whom were African American, has been largely overlooked by history. The first book-length study of the subject, The Road to Victory chronicles the exploits of these soldiers in vivid detail. It’s a story of a fight not only against the Nazis, but against an enemy closer to home: racism.

Red Ball Express

Red Ball Express PDF Author: Dante Rashaun Brizill
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 76

Get Book Here

Book Description
These unsung heroes from World War II drove the trucks that supplied the American Army's in Europe. Three out of four of these men were African-American. After the Normandy campaign, a supply crisis arose, as the Allies pursued the German army across France and closer to Germany. Due to the destruction of the French rail and road network, and the fierce German defense of the French ports, a supply crisis quickly arose. The American army's outran their supplies. A solution had to be found quickly. Enter the Red Ball Express. All heroes don't wear capes. Some drive trucks.

Lenin on the Train

Lenin on the Train PDF Author: Catherine Merridale
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
ISBN: 1627793011
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Get Book Here

Book Description
"A gripping, meticulously researched account of Lenin's fateful rail journey from Zurich to Petrograd, where he ignited the Russian Revolution and forever changed the world. In April 1917, as the Russian Tsar Nicholas II's abdication sent shockwaves across war-torn Europe, the future leader of the Bolshevik revolution Vladimir Lenin was far away, exiled in Zurich. When the news reached him, Lenin immediately resolved to return to Petrograd and lead the revolt. But to get there, he would have to cross Germany, which meant accepting help from the deadliest of Russia's adversaries. Germany saw an opportunity to further destabilize Russia by allowing Lenin and his small group of revolutionaries to return. Now, drawing on a dazzling array of sources and never-before-seen archival material, renowned historian Catherine Merridale provides a riveting, nuanced account of this enormously consequential journey--the train ride that changed the world--as well as the underground conspiracy and subterfuge that went into making it happen. Writing with the same insight and formidable intelligence that distinguished her earlier works, she brings to life a world of counter-espionage and intrigue, wartime desperation, illicit finance, and misguided utopianism. This was the moment when the Russian Revolution became Soviet, the genesis of a system of tyranny and faith that changed the course of Russia's history forever and transformed the international political climate"--

A Ball for Daisy

A Ball for Daisy PDF Author: Chris Raschka
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
ISBN: 0375988734
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 38

Get Book Here

Book Description
Winner of the 2012 Randolph Caldecott Medal This New York Times Bestseller and New York Times Best Illustrated Book relates a story about love and loss as only Chris Rashcka can tell it. Any child who has ever had a beloved toy break will relate to Daisy's anguish when her favorite ball is destroyed by a bigger dog. In the tradition of his nearly wordless picture book Yo! Yes?, Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka explores in pictures the joy and sadness that having a special toy can bring. Raschka's signature swirling, impressionistic illustrations and his affectionate story will particularly appeal to young dog lovers and teachers and parents who have children dealing with the loss of something special.

Blood for Dignity

Blood for Dignity PDF Author: David P. Colley
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312325800
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252

Get Book Here

Book Description
The integration of black platoons in 1945 represents the first time since the American Revolution that African American soldiers were integrated into white combat units. The experiences of these soldiers were truly radical and a harbinger of things to come. Clearly, these black infantrymen planted the seeds of integration in the army--and the nation. Blood for Dignity tells the story of these soldiers through the eyes of 5th platoon, K Company, 394th Regiment, 99th Division--the first integrated combat unit since the Revolutionary War. These men were involved in heavy combat at the Remagen Bridgehead and several other critical junctures as they drove back the German army. The performance of these men laid to rest the accepted white attitude of a century and a half that blacks were cowardly and inferior fighters. In fact, they proved to be just the opposite. Author David Colley interviewed many of the members of the 99th. Their accounts along with years of reseach paint a gripping, combat-heavy portrait of young men fighting together for their nation. For as they will tell you, in combat situations, prejudice and the color line disappears.

Citizen Soldiers

Citizen Soldiers PDF Author: Stephen E. Ambrose
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476740259
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 528

Get Book Here

Book Description
From Stephen E. Ambrose, bestselling author of Band of Brothers and D-Day, the inspiring story of the ordinary men of the U.S. army in northwest Europe from the day after D-Day until the end of the bitterest days of World War II. In this riveting account, historian Stephen E. Ambrose continues where he left off in his #1 bestseller D-Day. Citizen Soldiers opens at 0001 hours, June 7, 1944, on the Normandy beaches, and ends at 0245 hours, May 7, 1945, with the allied victory. It is biography of the US Army in the European Theater of Operations, and Ambrose again follows the individual characters of this noble, brutal, and tragic war. From the high command down to the ordinary soldier, Ambrose draws on hundreds of interviews to re-create the war experience with startling clarity and immediacy. From the hedgerows of Normandy to the overrunning of Germany, Ambrose tells the real story of World War II from the perspective of the men and women who fought it.

Sherman

Sherman PDF Author: Michel Esteve
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612007406
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
“A superbly organized, well-written, detailed history of the Sherman tank” with hundreds of photos and diagrams included (Armor Magazine). The Medium Tank, M4, better known to the British as the Sherman, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and western Allies in World War II. Reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and easy to maintain, thousands were distributed to the British Commonwealth and the Soviet Union by the Lend-Lease program. It first saw combat in North Africa, where it outclassed lighter German and Italian tanks. By 1944 the M4 was outgunned by the German heavy tanks, but it still contributed to the fight when deployed in numbers and supported by artillery and fighter-bombers. A detailed insight into the development and deployment of the M4, this book covers the design and construction of the chassis, turret, engine, armaments, and munitions, and differences between the variants of the M4. It covers the difficulties facing the crews who fought in this legendary tank, exploring the training they received and the different combat methods perfected by the Allies, including landing from a landing craft, maneuvering in the bocage of Normandy, and fighting in the snow. Fully illustrated with hundreds of contemporary and modern photographs and detailed diagrams, this complete account provides all the technical details of the construction of the M4, its maintenance and repair, and the logistics required to support it in combat. Whether you are a collector, a modeler, or simply passionate about military history, this book will provide you with an unparalleled insight into the M4. “Period photos, preservation shots, interior details, variant schematics, archival excerpts, armament and ammunition drawings, and more . . . Make it your introduction to this legendary tank family.” —Cybermodeler

Liberation Road

Liberation Road PDF Author: David L. Robbins
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1409132951
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 378

Get Book Here

Book Description
June 1944. The Allies deliver a staggering blow to Hitler's Atlantic fortress, leaving the beaches of Normandy strewn with corpses. The Germans have only one chance to stop the immense invasion - by bottling up the Americans on the Cotentin Peninsula. Caught up in the battles are two very different men, each with his own demons to fight. Joe Amos Biggs is a black driver in the unheralded convoy of trucks that serves as a precious lifeline to the front. Joe Amos finds himself propelled into battle among those who don't see him as an equal - but will need him to be a hero. A chaplain in the demoralized 90th Infantry, Rabbi Ben Kahn is a veteran of the first great war and old enough to be the father of the GIs he tends. Searching for the truth about his own son, missing in action, Kahn finds himself duelling with God, wading into combat without a gun, and becoming a leader among men in need of someone - anyone - to follow. The fates of these men will collide, hurtling toward an uncommon destiny in which people commit deeds they can neither foresee nor explain. From the screams of German .88 cannons to the last whispers of dying young soldiers, Robbins captures war in all its awful fullness and leaves us with a memorable vision of humanity in the face of inhumanity itself.

The Employment of Negro Troops

The Employment of Negro Troops PDF Author: Ulysses Lee
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781410214966
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Ulysses Lee's The Employment of Negro Troops has been long and widely recognized as a standard work on the subject. Although revised and consolidated before publication, the study was written largely between 1947 and 1951. If the now much-cited title has an echo of an earlier period, that very echo testifies to the book's rather remarkable twofold achievement; that Lee wrote it when he did, well before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, and that is reputation - for authority and objectivity - has endured so well. This is a landmark study in military and social history. As a key source for understanding the integration of the Army, Dr. Lee's work eminently deserves a continuing readership.