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.
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.
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.
Author: Norbert Számvéber
Publisher: Helion and Company
ISBN: 1910294144
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304
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Book Description
Waffen-SS Armour in Normandy presents the combat history of SS-Panzer Regiment 12 and SS-Panzerjäger Abteilung 12 in the Battle for France from June to the end of August 1944 based on transcriptions of their original unit war diaries from the Military History Archives in Prague. Both armored units belonged to the 12.SS-Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. SS-Panzer Regiment 12 was fully equipped with Panzer IV and Panther tanks. The main AFV of SS-Panzerjäger Abteilung 12 was the Jagdpanzer IV L/48 tank destroyer. The structure of the volume is partly source publication (documents of SS-Panzer Regiment 12) and partly study (the deployment of SS-Panzerjäger Abteilung 12). The text was written and footnoted by the author based upon original wartime files in Prague that have remained almost unknown. The book starts with the story of the units' establishment and training in 1943/1944, including, for example, the shipments of equipment, orders of battle and tactical numbers of the tanks. After this introduction, a highly detailed daily chronology of the combat actions is provided, from 12.SS-Panzer Division traveling to the Caen sector to Operation Totalize and the withdrawal to the Seine River. Documents from SS-Panzer Regiment 12 presented in the book include the following: combat reports, list of knocked-out enemy tanks, German personnel and tank losses, combat orders, summary of acquired combat experiences and others. This is an impressive look at tactical-level events and command decisions, highlighting the armored combat tactics that were able to stop Montgomery's Army Group from breaking through the German lines near Caen for two months. The study includes a number of detailed maps and excellent photos. In addition, the book has benefited from the contribution of rare information, photographs and documents from the archive of noted Waffen-SS historian Mark C. Yerger.
Author: Roman Jarymowycz
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 1461751780
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 377
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Book Description
Explores the doctrinal, strategic, and tactical ideas behind World War II tank combat Contains detailed maps and diagrams Critiques the performances of commanders like George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and others Focusing on five Allied tank operations from July to September 1944--Operations Goodwood, Cobra, Totalize, and Tractable and Patton's tank battles around Arracourt--armor expert Roman Jarymowycz draws on after-action reports, extensive battlefield reconnaissance, recently discovered battle performance reviews, and war diaries to evaluate the successes and failures of the art of armored warfare as practiced by Allied tank commanders in France in 1944.
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.
Author: Ian Daglish
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780811735384
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 271
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Book Description
Comprehensive retelling of the controversial British and Canadian operation near Caen Told from both the British and German perspectives Heavily illustrated with maps and photos, including detailed aerial reconnaissance photos taken during the battle While American infantry slogged its way through the hedgerows of western Normandy in July 1944, the British were waging a largely armored campaign to the east near Caen. Planned to have been seized on D-Day, Caen remained contested on July 18, when Bernard Montgomery launched Operation Goodwood, whose exact purpose is still debated--either to draw Germans away from the American sector or to break out to Falaise. In one of the largest armored battles in their history, the British lost almost one-third of their tank strength in Normandy in exchange for a gain of only seven miles.
Author: John Buckley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135774005
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 613
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Book Description
The popular perception of the performance of British armour in the Normandy campaign of 1944 is one of failure and frustration. Despite overwhelming superiority in numbers, Montgomery's repeated efforts to employ his armour in an offensive manner ended in a disappointing stalemate.
Author: Mark Zuehlke
Publisher: D & M Publishers
ISBN: 1926685806
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 562
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Book Description
Mark Zuehlke is an expert at narrating the history of life on the battlefield for the Canadian army during World War II. In Terrible Victory, he provides a soldiers-eye-view account of Canada's bloody liberation of western Holland. Readers are there as soldiers fight in the muddy quagmire, enduring a battle that lasted three weeks and in which 6,000 soldiers perished. Terrible Victory is a powerful story of courage, survival, and skill.
Author: Stephen Hart
Publisher: Sutton Pub Limited
ISBN: 9780750930161
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 192
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Book Description
This key title in the acclaimed Battle Zone Normandy series explores Operations Totalize and Tractable.
