A fascinating study of one of the often overlooked World War II campaigns as British/Commonwealth, Indigenous and Italian forces battled for control of the Horn of Africa.
In mid-1940, Italy's East African colonies posed a significant threat to the British Empire, and in particular to the flow of supplies through the Red Sea to Egypt. British High Command feared moves from Italian East Africa and so sent reinforcements to its positions in Kenya and Sudan. Thus began a series of clashes across East Africa, with the British attempting to keep the Italians isolated and unable to threaten British supply lines. In March 1941, British theatre commander General Archibald Wavell opted for a lightning campaign to eliminate the Italian threat for good.
Italian military historian Pier Paolo Battistelli provides a fresh account of this campaign, from the initial Italian attacks to the Allied counter-offensive into Eritrea, Ethiopia and Italian Somaliland. Among the actions covered are Addis Ababa, Amba Alagi, Gondar, Tug Argan, and Keren. This work presents an assessment of the forces involved of both sides, including Orde Wingate's Gideon force, pro-Selassié Ethiopian irregulars and Eritrean and Somalian troops, as well as Indian, South African, British and Italian regular forces. With colourful artwork, detailed maps and diagrams, this book highlights an overlooked World War II campaign and the bloody fight for the Horn of Africa.
A highly illustrated, authoritative exploration of Operation Apache Snow, including the infamous Battle of Hamburger Hill (Ap Bia Mountain), one of the most significant and well-known actions in the Vietnam War.
Operation Apache Snow was the result of a renewed Allied effort in early 1969 to neutralize the North Vietnamese forces in the A Shau, a 45km-long valley located in the southwestern Thua Thien Province. This area had long provided an infiltration corridor for Communist forces from the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos to the coastal cities of northern I Corps Tactical Zone.
The ensuing battle to take Ap Bia Mountain, which became known as Hamburger Hill, lasted for ten days. Although US and South Vietnamese forces were ultimately successful in taking the hill, the heavy casualties incurred in the bitter fighting caused a furor in Congress, with many congressmen denouncing the action.
In this work, respected Vietnam War historian James H. Willbanks documents the planning and execution of Operation Apache Snow. The progress of the operation is carefully presented using maps and diagrams, and the forces and weaponry of both sides are brought to life in photos and color battlescenes. Willbanks also explores why, despite the Allied success in taking Hamburger Hill, the battle came to symbolize the frustration of winning costly encounters without ever consummating a strategic victory.
Illustrated throughout, this book explains the composition and qualities of the Soviet tank force that fought Germany's mighty Panzers at the biggest tank battle in history.
In the summer of 1943, Hitler's army had rebuilt its Panzer forces after defeat at Stalingrad and retreat from the Caucasus. New types, including the Panther, Tiger, and Elefant, at last added technical superiority to the traditional tactical edge enjoyed by the Panzer divisions. The plan was to begin offensive operations by striking from the north and south to cut off Soviet forces in the Kursk salient.
In this book, Soviet military specialist William E. Hiestand explores the armor that met this Panzer force, in the biggest tank battle of World War II. The Soviets had benefited from their prodigious production capabilities but the tanks at Kursk varied widely. Still short of tanks, the Soviets also still operated weak T-60 and T-70 light tanks, along with the increasingly obsolete KV-1 heavy tank. Significant numbers of Lend-Lease tanks also fought, including M3 Lees, Valentines, Stuarts, Churchills, and the first Shermans to join the Red Army. The Soviets also benefited from the firepower of the first generation of Soviet self-propelled guns – the SU-76, SU-122, and SU-152.
With meticulously researched tank illustrations and rare archive photos, this is an expert account of the Soviet tank forces in the climactic clash on the Eastern Front.
A detailed exploration of a critical month-long battle, which set the stage for German strategic-level defeats on both the Eastern and Western fronts.
In February 1944, 1st Panzer Army (under Generaloberst Hube) played a major role in the relief operation that saved part of the German forces trapped in the Korsun Pocket. However, the losses suffered in that effort left Hube's forces materially weakened, exhausted and with vulnerable flanks. Unexpectedly, Zhukov's 1st Ukrainian Front and Konev's 2nd Ukrainian Front attacked on 4 March, conducting a huge pincer operation against 1st Panzer Army. Within three weeks, Hube's 200,000-strong army was isolated, with its back to the Dniester River. The destruction of Hube's army would doubtless precipitate a rapid German collapse on the Eastern Front – two months before the Allied invasion of France.
In this work, Eastern Front expert Robert Forczyk presents a superbly illustrated examination of the initial Soviet encirclement operation, Hube's full-scale breakout operation to save his army, and the relief operation by 2nd SS-Panzer Corps (redeployed from the West) in April 1944. Although Hube's army managed to escape Zhukov's trap, it lost most of its equipment and was no longer fully combat capable. The German Army in the East had been seriously weakened, and the amount of German armour deployed in the West to counter any Allied landings in France had simultaneously been reduced.