Author: J. Lee Ready
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786493453
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 585
Book Description
The mention of World War II German soldiers conjures images of strong, Aryan young men born in Germany and raised under the Third Reich. However, throughout the war, more than 3 million foreigners served in Nazi Germany’s armed services, comprising 18 percent of the entire German force. These non–German soldiers included 1.5 million Austrians, 350,000 Sudetenlanders, and approximately 200,000 Poles, as well as Czechs, Slovaks, Norwegians, Danes, Belgians, Romanians, Finns, Bulgarians and other nationalities. Whether converts, conscripts or reluctant volunteers, these foreigners served throughout the armed forces and participated in all major operations. This volume offers the first in-depth exploration of the motives and experiences of these non–German German soldiers, providing a new perspective on the military history of the Axis powers.
The Forgotten Axis
Author: J. Lee Ready
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786493453
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 585
Book Description
The mention of World War II German soldiers conjures images of strong, Aryan young men born in Germany and raised under the Third Reich. However, throughout the war, more than 3 million foreigners served in Nazi Germany’s armed services, comprising 18 percent of the entire German force. These non–German soldiers included 1.5 million Austrians, 350,000 Sudetenlanders, and approximately 200,000 Poles, as well as Czechs, Slovaks, Norwegians, Danes, Belgians, Romanians, Finns, Bulgarians and other nationalities. Whether converts, conscripts or reluctant volunteers, these foreigners served throughout the armed forces and participated in all major operations. This volume offers the first in-depth exploration of the motives and experiences of these non–German German soldiers, providing a new perspective on the military history of the Axis powers.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786493453
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 585
Book Description
The mention of World War II German soldiers conjures images of strong, Aryan young men born in Germany and raised under the Third Reich. However, throughout the war, more than 3 million foreigners served in Nazi Germany’s armed services, comprising 18 percent of the entire German force. These non–German soldiers included 1.5 million Austrians, 350,000 Sudetenlanders, and approximately 200,000 Poles, as well as Czechs, Slovaks, Norwegians, Danes, Belgians, Romanians, Finns, Bulgarians and other nationalities. Whether converts, conscripts or reluctant volunteers, these foreigners served throughout the armed forces and participated in all major operations. This volume offers the first in-depth exploration of the motives and experiences of these non–German German soldiers, providing a new perspective on the military history of the Axis powers.
Axis Sally
Author: Richard Lucas
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1480406600
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
A “fascinating, well-researched account” of Mildred Gillars, the failed actress who turned on her country and became a Nazi propagandist during WWII (Publishers Weekly). One of the most notorious Americans of the twentieth century was a failed Broadway actress turned radio announcer named Mildred Gillars (1900–1988), better known to American GIs as “Axis Sally.” Despite the richness of her life story, there has never been a full-length biography of the ambitious, star-struck Ohio girl who evolved into a reviled disseminator of Nazi propaganda. At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Gillars had been living in Germany for five years. Hoping to marry, she chose to remain in the Nazi-run state even as the last Americans departed for home. In 1940, she was hired by the German overseas radio, where she evolved from a simple disc jockey and announcer to a master propagandist. Under the tutelage of her married lover, Max Otto Koischwitz, Gillars became the personification of Nazi propaganda to the American GI. Spicing her broadcasts with music, Gillars’s used her soothing voice to taunt Allied troops about the supposed infidelities of their wives and girlfriends back home, as well as the horrible deaths they were likely to meet on the battlefield. Supported by German military intelligence, she was able to convey personal greetings to individual US units, creating an eerie foreboding among troops who realized the Germans knew who and where they were. After broadcasting for Berlin up to the very end of the war, Gillars tried but failed to pose as a refugee, and was captured by US authorities. Her 1949 trial for treason captured the attention and raw emotion of a nation fresh from the horrors of the Second World War. Gillars’s twelve-year imprisonment and life on parole, including a stay in a convent, is a remarkable story of a woman who attempts to rebuild her life in the country she betrayed.
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1480406600
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
A “fascinating, well-researched account” of Mildred Gillars, the failed actress who turned on her country and became a Nazi propagandist during WWII (Publishers Weekly). One of the most notorious Americans of the twentieth century was a failed Broadway actress turned radio announcer named Mildred Gillars (1900–1988), better known to American GIs as “Axis Sally.” Despite the richness of her life story, there has never been a full-length biography of the ambitious, star-struck Ohio girl who evolved into a reviled disseminator of Nazi propaganda. At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Gillars had been living in Germany for five years. Hoping to marry, she chose to remain in the Nazi-run state even as the last Americans departed for home. In 1940, she was hired by the German overseas radio, where she evolved from a simple disc jockey and announcer to a master propagandist. Under the tutelage of her married lover, Max Otto Koischwitz, Gillars became the personification of Nazi propaganda to the American GI. Spicing her broadcasts with music, Gillars’s used her soothing voice to taunt Allied troops about the supposed infidelities of their wives and girlfriends back home, as well as the horrible deaths they were likely to meet on the battlefield. Supported by German military intelligence, she was able to convey personal greetings to individual US units, creating an eerie foreboding among troops who realized the Germans knew who and where they were. After broadcasting for Berlin up to the very end of the war, Gillars tried but failed to pose as a refugee, and was captured by US authorities. Her 1949 trial for treason captured the attention and raw emotion of a nation fresh from the horrors of the Second World War. Gillars’s twelve-year imprisonment and life on parole, including a stay in a convent, is a remarkable story of a woman who attempts to rebuild her life in the country she betrayed.
Axis Cavalry in World War II
Author: Jeffrey T. Fowler
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781841763231
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
It is often forgotten that the German Wehrmacht of 1939-45 relied heavily upon horses. Not only was the majority of Army transport and much of the artillery dependent on draught horse teams; the Germans also kept a horse-mounted cavalry division in the field until the end of 1941. After withdrawing it, they discovered a need to revive and greatly expand their cavalry units in 1943-45. The Army and Waffen-SS cavalry proved their worth on the Russian Front, supported by other Axis cavalry contingents - Romanian, Hungarian, Italian, and locally recruited. In this book an experienced horseman describes that last generation of horse-soldiers in a text supported by tables, photographs, and meticulous colour plates.
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781841763231
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
It is often forgotten that the German Wehrmacht of 1939-45 relied heavily upon horses. Not only was the majority of Army transport and much of the artillery dependent on draught horse teams; the Germans also kept a horse-mounted cavalry division in the field until the end of 1941. After withdrawing it, they discovered a need to revive and greatly expand their cavalry units in 1943-45. The Army and Waffen-SS cavalry proved their worth on the Russian Front, supported by other Axis cavalry contingents - Romanian, Hungarian, Italian, and locally recruited. In this book an experienced horseman describes that last generation of horse-soldiers in a text supported by tables, photographs, and meticulous colour plates.
The Axis Air Forces
Author: Frank Joseph
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 422
Book Description
This comprehensive volume tells the rarely recounted stories of the numerous foreign air forces that supported the German Luftwaffe as part of the Axis' quest to dominate the European and Pacific theaters—a highly compelling and often overlooked chapter of World War II history. The Axis Air Forces: Flying in Support of the German Luftwaffe presents an untold history of that global conflict's little-known combatants, who nonetheless contributed significantly to the war's outcome. While most other books only attempt to address this subject in passing, author Frank Joseph provides not only an extremely comprehensive account of the "unsung heroes" of the Axis fliers, but also describes the efforts of Axis air forces such as those of the Iraqi, Manchurian, Thai or Chinese—specific groups of wartime aviators that have never been discussed before at length. This book examines the distinct but allied Axis air forces of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. An extensive introduction provides coverage of Luftwaffe volunteers from Greece, Lithuania, Holland, Denmark, Norway and even the United States. Detailed descriptions of the personnel themselves and the aircraft they operated are portrayed against the broader scope of combat missions, field operations, and military campaigns, supplying invaluable historical perspective on the importance of their sorties.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 422
Book Description
This comprehensive volume tells the rarely recounted stories of the numerous foreign air forces that supported the German Luftwaffe as part of the Axis' quest to dominate the European and Pacific theaters—a highly compelling and often overlooked chapter of World War II history. The Axis Air Forces: Flying in Support of the German Luftwaffe presents an untold history of that global conflict's little-known combatants, who nonetheless contributed significantly to the war's outcome. While most other books only attempt to address this subject in passing, author Frank Joseph provides not only an extremely comprehensive account of the "unsung heroes" of the Axis fliers, but also describes the efforts of Axis air forces such as those of the Iraqi, Manchurian, Thai or Chinese—specific groups of wartime aviators that have never been discussed before at length. This book examines the distinct but allied Axis air forces of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. An extensive introduction provides coverage of Luftwaffe volunteers from Greece, Lithuania, Holland, Denmark, Norway and even the United States. Detailed descriptions of the personnel themselves and the aircraft they operated are portrayed against the broader scope of combat missions, field operations, and military campaigns, supplying invaluable historical perspective on the importance of their sorties.
Forgotten Fifteenth
Author: Barrett Tillman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1621572358
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 178
Book Description
November 1943—May 1945—The U.S. Army Air Forces waged an unprecedentedly dogged and violent campaign against Hitler’s vital oil production and industrial plants on the Third Reich’s southern flank. Flying from southern Italy, far from the limelight enjoyed by the Eighth Air Force in England, the Fifteenth Air Force engaged in high-risk missions spanning most of the European continent. The story of the Fifteenth Air Force deserves a prideful place in the annals of American gallantry. In his new book, Forgotten Fifteenth: The Daring Airmen Who Crippled Hitler’s War Machine, Tillman brings into focus a seldom-seen multinational cast of characters, including pilots from Axis nations Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria and many more remarkable individuals. They were the first generation of fliers—few of them professionals—to conduct a strategic bombing campaign against a major industrial nation. They suffered steady attrition and occasionally spectacular losses. In so doing, they contributed to the end of the most destructive war in history. Forgotten Fifteenth is the first-ever detailed account of the Fifteenth Air Force in World War II and the brave men that the history books have abandoned until now. Tillman proves this book is a must-read for military history enthusiasts, veterans, and current servicemen.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1621572358
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 178
Book Description
November 1943—May 1945—The U.S. Army Air Forces waged an unprecedentedly dogged and violent campaign against Hitler’s vital oil production and industrial plants on the Third Reich’s southern flank. Flying from southern Italy, far from the limelight enjoyed by the Eighth Air Force in England, the Fifteenth Air Force engaged in high-risk missions spanning most of the European continent. The story of the Fifteenth Air Force deserves a prideful place in the annals of American gallantry. In his new book, Forgotten Fifteenth: The Daring Airmen Who Crippled Hitler’s War Machine, Tillman brings into focus a seldom-seen multinational cast of characters, including pilots from Axis nations Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria and many more remarkable individuals. They were the first generation of fliers—few of them professionals—to conduct a strategic bombing campaign against a major industrial nation. They suffered steady attrition and occasionally spectacular losses. In so doing, they contributed to the end of the most destructive war in history. Forgotten Fifteenth is the first-ever detailed account of the Fifteenth Air Force in World War II and the brave men that the history books have abandoned until now. Tillman proves this book is a must-read for military history enthusiasts, veterans, and current servicemen.
Fifteenth Air Force against the Axis
Author: Kevin A. Mahoney
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 081088495X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 519
Book Description
In Fifteenth Air Force against the Axis: Combat Missions over Europe during World War II, historian Kevin A. Mahoney provides a detailed combat history of the crucial role played by this air force from November 1943 through May 1945. Presented by month in chronological order, Mahoney describes all the major bombing and fighter missions carried out by this air force within a strategic context. Each chapter includes an introduction describing developments in the evolution of the strategic air campaign against the Germans, highlights the purpose and importance of the month’s operations, and reviews the Luftwaffe’s resistance and changes in tactics and important developments in the Fifteenth Air Force’s organization. Each monthly narrative further explores most missions, detailing the number of aircraft lost during these missions. Losses are based on an exhaustively researched database compiled by Mahoney that contains details of almost 3,000 aircraft. Target damage is mentioned, while enemy opposition is also described for each mission. Appendices include four short essays on bombing operations (planning and flying of missions, tactics and techniques, bomb types, and bombing accuracy), tactics employed by fighter escort in aerial combat and strafing, combat crews and their aircraft (including a comparison of American fighters and bombers, the training of the crews, and their combat tours), and the Fifteenth Air Force command structure (including the use of intelligence, photo and weather reconnaissance, and the considerable effect of weather on Fifteenth Air Force operations). This work of military history is ideal for students and scholars of the air war in Europe.
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 081088495X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 519
Book Description
In Fifteenth Air Force against the Axis: Combat Missions over Europe during World War II, historian Kevin A. Mahoney provides a detailed combat history of the crucial role played by this air force from November 1943 through May 1945. Presented by month in chronological order, Mahoney describes all the major bombing and fighter missions carried out by this air force within a strategic context. Each chapter includes an introduction describing developments in the evolution of the strategic air campaign against the Germans, highlights the purpose and importance of the month’s operations, and reviews the Luftwaffe’s resistance and changes in tactics and important developments in the Fifteenth Air Force’s organization. Each monthly narrative further explores most missions, detailing the number of aircraft lost during these missions. Losses are based on an exhaustively researched database compiled by Mahoney that contains details of almost 3,000 aircraft. Target damage is mentioned, while enemy opposition is also described for each mission. Appendices include four short essays on bombing operations (planning and flying of missions, tactics and techniques, bomb types, and bombing accuracy), tactics employed by fighter escort in aerial combat and strafing, combat crews and their aircraft (including a comparison of American fighters and bombers, the training of the crews, and their combat tours), and the Fifteenth Air Force command structure (including the use of intelligence, photo and weather reconnaissance, and the considerable effect of weather on Fifteenth Air Force operations). This work of military history is ideal for students and scholars of the air war in Europe.
Blood, Oil and the Axis
Author: John Broich
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1468314017
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 446
Book Description
An “almost absurdly colorful” history of the WWII battle for the Levant: “In places . . . the material is like Casablanca meets The English Patient” (The Wall Street Journal). In the spring of 1941, the Allied forces had one last hope: that the Axis would run through its fuel supply. In Blood, Oil and the Axis, historian John Broich tells the vital story of Iraq and the Levant during this most pivotal time of the war. Four Iraqi generals staged a pro-German coup in Iraq, they established military cooperation between the Axis and the Middle East. The Allies responded with an improvised and unlikely coalition: Palestinian and Jordanian Arabs, Australians, American and British soldiers, Free French Foreign Legionnaires, and Jewish Palestinians. All shared a common desire to quash the formation of an Axis state in the region. Taking readers from a bombed-out Fallujah, to Baghdad, to Damascus, this definitive chronicle features numerous memorable figures, including Jack Hasey, a young American who fought with the Free French Foreign Legion; Freya Stark, a famous travel-writer-turned-government-agent; and even Roald Dahl, a young Royal Air Force recruit and future author of beloved children’s books.
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1468314017
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 446
Book Description
An “almost absurdly colorful” history of the WWII battle for the Levant: “In places . . . the material is like Casablanca meets The English Patient” (The Wall Street Journal). In the spring of 1941, the Allied forces had one last hope: that the Axis would run through its fuel supply. In Blood, Oil and the Axis, historian John Broich tells the vital story of Iraq and the Levant during this most pivotal time of the war. Four Iraqi generals staged a pro-German coup in Iraq, they established military cooperation between the Axis and the Middle East. The Allies responded with an improvised and unlikely coalition: Palestinian and Jordanian Arabs, Australians, American and British soldiers, Free French Foreign Legionnaires, and Jewish Palestinians. All shared a common desire to quash the formation of an Axis state in the region. Taking readers from a bombed-out Fallujah, to Baghdad, to Damascus, this definitive chronicle features numerous memorable figures, including Jack Hasey, a young American who fought with the Free French Foreign Legion; Freya Stark, a famous travel-writer-turned-government-agent; and even Roald Dahl, a young Royal Air Force recruit and future author of beloved children’s books.
'Total Germany'
Author: David Wragg
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1473844657
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 278
Book Description
The author of A Century of British Naval Aviation, 1909-2009 examines the losses and successes of the Royal Navy during World War Two. On the declaration of war in 1939, the British Admiralty signaled all warships and naval bases “Total Germany, Total Germany.” It was fortunate that of Germany’s three armed services, the Kriegsmarine under Grosseradmiral Erich Raeder was the least well prepared. True, Admiral Karl Donitz’s U-Boat force was to give the Allies many anxious times, but Hitler was never comfortable or competent in his handling of naval surface forces. “Total Germany” is a concise yet comprehensive account of the Royal Navy’s part in the war at sea and the measures taken to ensure victory. The different approaches taken by the warring countries are expertly examined. The author reviews the differing strategies and tactics of the various theatres such as the Far East, Mediterranean, Atlantic and Arctic. “Not only does it cover every major event during WWII the author brings up some other less well known actions. A thoroughly enjoyable read.”—Ton Class Association
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1473844657
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 278
Book Description
The author of A Century of British Naval Aviation, 1909-2009 examines the losses and successes of the Royal Navy during World War Two. On the declaration of war in 1939, the British Admiralty signaled all warships and naval bases “Total Germany, Total Germany.” It was fortunate that of Germany’s three armed services, the Kriegsmarine under Grosseradmiral Erich Raeder was the least well prepared. True, Admiral Karl Donitz’s U-Boat force was to give the Allies many anxious times, but Hitler was never comfortable or competent in his handling of naval surface forces. “Total Germany” is a concise yet comprehensive account of the Royal Navy’s part in the war at sea and the measures taken to ensure victory. The different approaches taken by the warring countries are expertly examined. The author reviews the differing strategies and tactics of the various theatres such as the Far East, Mediterranean, Atlantic and Arctic. “Not only does it cover every major event during WWII the author brings up some other less well known actions. A thoroughly enjoyable read.”—Ton Class Association
Forgotten Armies
Author: Christopher Alan Bayly
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674017481
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 614
Book Description
In the early stages of the Second World War, the vast crescent of British-ruled territories stretching from India to Singapore appeared as a massive Allied asset. It provided scores of soldiers and great quantities of raw materials and helped present a seemingly impregnable global defense against the Axis. Yet, within a few weeks in 1941-42, a Japanese invasion had destroyed all this, sweeping suddenly and decisively through south and southeast Asia to the Indian frontier, and provoking the extraordinary revolutionary struggles which would mark the beginning of the end of British dominion in the East and the rise of today's Asian world. More than a military history, this gripping account of groundbreaking battles and guerrilla campaigns creates a panoramic view of British Asia as it was ravaged by warfare, nationalist insurgency, disease, and famine. It breathes life into the armies of soldiers, civilians, laborers, businessmen, comfort women, doctors, and nurses who confronted the daily brutalities of a combat zone which extended from metropolitan cities to remote jungles, from tropical plantations to the Himalayas. Drawing upon a vast range of Indian, Burmese, Chinese, and Malay as well as British, American, and Japanese voices, the authors make vivid one of the central dramas of the twentieth century: the birth of modern south and southeast Asia and the death of British rule.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674017481
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 614
Book Description
In the early stages of the Second World War, the vast crescent of British-ruled territories stretching from India to Singapore appeared as a massive Allied asset. It provided scores of soldiers and great quantities of raw materials and helped present a seemingly impregnable global defense against the Axis. Yet, within a few weeks in 1941-42, a Japanese invasion had destroyed all this, sweeping suddenly and decisively through south and southeast Asia to the Indian frontier, and provoking the extraordinary revolutionary struggles which would mark the beginning of the end of British dominion in the East and the rise of today's Asian world. More than a military history, this gripping account of groundbreaking battles and guerrilla campaigns creates a panoramic view of British Asia as it was ravaged by warfare, nationalist insurgency, disease, and famine. It breathes life into the armies of soldiers, civilians, laborers, businessmen, comfort women, doctors, and nurses who confronted the daily brutalities of a combat zone which extended from metropolitan cities to remote jungles, from tropical plantations to the Himalayas. Drawing upon a vast range of Indian, Burmese, Chinese, and Malay as well as British, American, and Japanese voices, the authors make vivid one of the central dramas of the twentieth century: the birth of modern south and southeast Asia and the death of British rule.
Maple Leaf Against the Axis
Author: David J. Bercuson
Publisher: Calgary : Red Deer Press
ISBN: 9780889953055
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Maple Leaf Against the Axis is a compelling recounting of the Second World War and the Canadians who fought it. Here, in all its passion and drama, is the story of how the Canadian army, navy and air force fought in battles ranging from Hong Kong to the Rhine River crossing. David Bercuson, one of Canada's preeminent military historians, covers the war on the ground, the naval war in the North Atlantic and elsewhere, and the air war-both the bomber offensive and the story of those Canadians who flew everything from Canso reconnaissance aircraft in the Indian Ocean to Typhoon fighter bombers with the Second Tactical Air Force in Europe. And he does it through recounting the stories of the men and women who were there and played a significant role in the Allied victory.
Publisher: Calgary : Red Deer Press
ISBN: 9780889953055
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Maple Leaf Against the Axis is a compelling recounting of the Second World War and the Canadians who fought it. Here, in all its passion and drama, is the story of how the Canadian army, navy and air force fought in battles ranging from Hong Kong to the Rhine River crossing. David Bercuson, one of Canada's preeminent military historians, covers the war on the ground, the naval war in the North Atlantic and elsewhere, and the air war-both the bomber offensive and the story of those Canadians who flew everything from Canso reconnaissance aircraft in the Indian Ocean to Typhoon fighter bombers with the Second Tactical Air Force in Europe. And he does it through recounting the stories of the men and women who were there and played a significant role in the Allied victory.