Manfred von Richthofen became a fighter pilot on the Western Front in August 1916. By January 1917, Richthofen had shot down fifteen aircraft had been appointed commander of his own unit. He painted the fuselage of his Albatros D-III a bright red and was nicknamed the Red Baron. In June 1917, Richthofen was appointed commander of the German Flying Circus. Made up of Germany's top fighter pilots, this new unit was highly mobile and could be quickly sent to any part of the Western Front where it was most needed. Richthofen and his pilots achieved immediate success during the air war over Ypres during August and September. Manfred von Richthofen was killed on 21st April 1918. Richthofen had destroyed 80 allied aircraft, the highest score of any fighter pilot during the First World War. This book is divided into three sectors of the WWI front line in which von Richthofen operated. Each area is conveniently reached within hours. Airfield sites, memorials and the graves of Manfred's famous victims are described and directions for the battlefield walker are included with information on related museums and historic sites with special association with this most famous of fighter pilots.
Nineteen-year-old Lionel Morris left the infantry for the wood and wires of the Royal Flying Corps on the Western Front in 1916, joining one of the world’s first fighter units alongside the great ace Albert Ball. Learning on the job, in dangerously unpredictable machines, Morris came of age as a combat pilot on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, as the R.F.C. was winning a bloody struggle for admiralty of the air. As summer faded to autumn, and the skies over Bapaume filled with increasing numbers of enemy aircraft, the tide turned. On 17 September 1916, Morris’s squadron was attacked by a lethally efficient German unit, including an unknown pilot called Manfred von Richthofen. As the shock waves spread from the empty hangars of No.11 Squadron all the way to the very top of the British Army, the circumstances surrounding Morris’s death marked a pivotal shift in the aerial war, and the birth of its greatest legend. Told through previously unpublished archive material, the words of contemporaries and official records, Lionel Morris and the Red Baron traces a short but extraordinary life; and reveals how Morris’s role in history was rediscovered one hundred years after his death.
Manfred von Richthofen became a fighter pilot on the Western Front in August 1916. By January 1917, Richthofen had shot down fifteen aircraft had been appointed commander of his own unit. He painted the fuselage of his Albatros D-III a bright red and was nicknamed the Red Baron. In June 1917, Richthofen was appointed commander of the German Flying Circus. Made up of Germany's top fighter pilots, this new unit was highly mobile and could be quickly sent to any part of the Western Front where it was most needed. Richthofen and his pilots achieved immediate success during the air war over Ypres during August and September. Manfred von Richthofen was killed on 21st April 1918. Richthofen had destroyed 80 allied aircraft, the highest score of any fighter pilot during the First World War. This book is divided into three sectors of the WWI front line in which von Richthofen operated. Each area is conveniently reached within hours. Airfield sites, memorials and the graves of Manfred's famous victims are described and directions for the battlefield walker are included with information on related museums and historic sites with special association with this most famous of fighter pilots.
A new battlefield guide to the Peninsular War is long overdue. Modern development in Spain and Portugal has encroached on many of the battlefields, new research has questioned established interpretations of events, and there is a broader appreciation of the parts played by all the armies involved - the French on one side and the Spanish, Portuguese and British on the other. Andrew Rawson, in this highly illustrated and practical guide, offers a wide-ranging, up-to-date and balanced account of this prolonged conflict, and he guides the reader and the visitor across the terrain over which the armies marched and fought. He reconstructs the major battles in graphic detail, and provides practical tours of the major battlefields and campaigns. Also included are sections examining the armies, the military organization and tactics of the time and the role of the Spanish guerrillas. This guide to the Peninsular War will be essential reading for anyone who wants a concise and accessible introduction to the conflict, and it will serve as an invaluable reference guide for visitors who want to explore the sites of the fighting two centuries ago.
The Battle of Le Hamel on 4 July 1918 was an Allied triumph, and strategically very important in the closing stages of WW1. A largely Australian force commanded by the brilliant John Monash, fought what has described as the first modern battle - where infantry, tanks, artillery and planes operated together, as a coordinated force. Monash planned every detail meticulously - with nothing left to chance: integrated use of planes, wireless (and even carrier pigeons!)was the basis, and it went on from there, down to the details. Infantry, artillery, tanks and planes worked together of the battlefront, with relatively few losses. In the words of Monash: 'A perfect modern battle plan is like nothing so much as a score for an orchestral composition, where the various arms and units are the instruments, and the tasks they perform are their respective musical phrases.'
The battle for Guillemont raged throughout August 1916. Like so many of the battles into which the 'Big Push' degenerated, the struggle centred around a wood, Trones, and a heavily fortified village. It was in this battle that Noel Chavasse won the first of his two Vcs.
This wood featured significantly in the First and Third Battles of Ypres and was the scene of numerous deeds of heroism, such as that which won young Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Bent the VC. The courage of individuals and units from Britain and Australia is described in this latest edition to the series covering Ypres.
This book is a chronology of the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and the famous victory drive of the Seventh Army. It starts at the Worms Rhine bridgehead and moves quickly onto Aschaffenburg, before describing the Hammelburg Raid to release US POWs. The seizure of Nuremberg was hugely symbolic and this beautiful city was the scene both of the infamous Nazi Rallies and of course the War Crimes Tribunals. The road to Munich, always worth visiting (bierfest or no bierfest!) is via the Danube crossings and the book takes in the liberation of the appalling Dachau Concentration Camp and the battle at the SS Barracks. Munich was the center of Hitlers early life and represented his power base. He was imprisoned here and wrote Mein Kampf. The book climaxes with the approach to the Alps and the superb Eagles Nest, so popular with tourists.
Walking Arras marks the final volume in a trilogy of walking books about the British sector of the Western Front. Paul Reed once more takes us over paths trodden by men who were asked to make a huge and, for all too many, the ultimate sacrifice. The Battle of Arras falls between the Somme and Third Ypres; it marked the first British attempt to storm the Hindenburg Line defenses, and the first use of lessons learned from the events of 1916. But it remains a forgotten part of the Western Front. It also remains one of the great killing battles of the Great War, with such a high fatal casualty rate that a soldiers chances of surviving Arras were much slimmer than even the Somme or Passchendaele. Most soldiers who served in the Great War served at Arras at some point; it was a name very much in the consciousness of the survivors of the Great War. Ninety years later, while there has been development at Arras, it is still an impressive battlefield and one worthy of the attention of any Great War enthusiast. This book will give a lead in seeing the ground connected with the fighting in 1917. Making a slight departure from the style of the previous two walking books, the chapters look at the historical background of an area and then separately describe a walk; with supplementary notes about the associated cemeteries in that region.
These three Battleground Europe books on Ypres 1914 mark the centenary of the final major battle of the 1914 campaign on the Western Front. Although fought over a relatively small area and short time span, the fighting was even more than usually chaotic and the stakes were extremely high. Authors Nigel Cave and Jack Sheldon combine their respective expertise to tell the story of the men British, French, Indian and German - who fought over the unremarkable undulating ground that was to become firmly placed in British national conscience ever afterwards.At the end of October 1914 an increasingly desperate Falkenhayn, aware that his offensive in Flanders had stalled, decided to make one final effort to break through the Allied lines south of Ypres. Pulling together a large strike force, the so-called Army Group Fabeck, he launched a violent offensive designed to capture the Messines Ridge and to use this dominating terrain as a springboard for a further advance. Inadequately resourced, assembled in a rush, this thrust was soon in trouble. Confused fighting in the wooded areas to the south of the Menin Road slowed the advance and initial attempts to gain a foothold on the ridge failed. A supreme effort by the men of the 26th Infantry Division ultimately brought about the capture of the town of Messines and similar heroics by the Bavarian 6th Reserve Division led to the fall of Wytschaete, but it was all in vain. Yet again a valiant Allied defence had buckled, but not broken.
This battlefield guide is the companion work to Pegasus Bridge & Horsa Bridge. Together, these two books form the fully revised and updated edition of the previous best selling Battleground Europe Series book Pegasus Bridge & Merville Battery.This book examines, in great detail, the attack by 9 Para Bn of the British 6th Airborne Division on the German gun emplacement known as the Merville Battery on D-Day, 6 June 1944. The actions of 8 Para, 12 Para, Canadian 1 Para, attached engineer and support units, and commando raids in this area of Normandy are also told. In particular, the importance of destroying the five bridges, and a drainage culvert, in the Dives valley are explained along with the importance of taking and holding the high ground to the north-east of Caen. These combined actions resulted in the protection and securing of the left flank of the greatest combined military operation in history; Operation OVERLORD.In addition to explaining how these objectives were achieved, this battlefield guide relates the battles to the area as it is today. The book contains details of the museums, memorials, cemeteries and associated organizations. All of which will unravel the history of the area to the visitor and armchair traveler alike.To further aid the battlefield tourist, GPS data is also provided for either satellite navigation by vehicle or for viewing on Google Earth.
Malta: Island Under Siege not only relates the decisive military action from World War II but also details the religious, historical and political events that led to the Axis forces' attempts to conquer and occupy Malta, putting the reader in the meeting rooms of the military leaders and politicians, on board the convoys, in the cockpits of the bombers and with the civilian population sheltering beneath Malta's fortresses while trying to live as normal a life as possible.Wartime locations on the island, many often ignored by the guidebooks and tourist maps, are explored and their relevance to Malta's resistance examined alongside the people, on both sides of the conflict, who helped shape the Mediterranean island's destiny before, during and after the Second World War. Malta is now a holiday destination to many, but it's easy to forget how much the people of the island, its British garrison and the sailors of the Merchant Navy and Royal Navy had to endure to ensure the Allies kept a toe-hold in North Africa and southern Europe at a time when Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy were threatening to sweep all before them.
