Lawrence Paterson is an author and historian.

This series looks at the cutting edge of war, and deals with units capable of operating independently in the forefront of battle. Each volume examines the chosen unit's origins and history, its organisation and order of battle, its battle history theatre by theatre, its insignia and its markings.

This illustrated WWII reference guide presents detailed profiles of Nazi U-Boat commanders who were awarded the Knight’s Cross. The Knight’s Cross—or Ritterkreuz—was one of the highest decorations given for acts of valor among the German armed forces during the Second World War. When a U-boat captain was awarded the decoration, it was source of pride for his entire crew. Sometimes it was even added to the boat’s insignia. In all, there were 123 recipients. In The U-Boat Commanders, Jeremy Dixon provides a highly illustrated guide to all these men and their wartime service. A detailed text accompanied by almost 200 archive photographs describes the military careers of each U-Boat Commander, including those who received the higher grades of the award. Full details are given of their tours of duty, the operations they took part in, how they won their award, how many ships they sank, and their subsequent careers.

This is part one of the fifth volume in the comprehensive and authoritative series, Germany in the Second World War. It deals with developments in wartime administration, economy, and manpower resources in Germany and its occupied territories from 1939-1941. Series description This is the fifth in the magisterial ten-volume Germany and the Second World War. The six volumes so far published in German take the story to 1943, and have achieved international acclaim as a major contribution to historical study. Under the auspices of the Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt [Research Institute for Military History], a team of renowned historians has combined a full synthesis of existing material with the latest research to produce what will be the definitive history of the Second World War from the German point of view. The comprehensive analysis, based on detailed scholarly research, is underpinned by a full apparatus of maps, diagrams, and tables. Intensively researched and documented, Germany and the Second World War is an undertaking of unparalleled scope and authority. It will prove indispensable to all historians of the twentieth century.

Reinhard ‘Teddy’ Suhren fired more successful torpedo shots than any other man during the war, many before he even became a U-boat commander. He was also the U-boat service’s most irreverent and rebellious commander; his lack of a military bearing was a constant source of friction with higher authority. Valued for his good humour and ability to lead, his nickname was acquired because he marched like a teddy-bear. Despite his refusal to conform to the rigid thought-patterns of National Socialism, his operational successes protected him, and he found himself accepted in the highest circles of power in Germany. He was one of the lucky third of all U-boat crewmen who survived the war, largely because his abilities led to a senior land-based command. He was also one of the first to publish his reminiscences, his account being typically forthright – its German title, Nasses Eichenlaub, suggesting that although he was decorated with the Oak Leaves, he was always in hot water. He died in 1984 but interest in his career was revitalized by the discovery of photographs documenting one of his operations in U 564, published with great success in 2004 as U-Boat War Patrol by Lawrence Patterson.

The accepted historical narrative of the Second World War predominantly assigns U-boats to the so-called 'Battle of the Atlantic', almost as if the struggle over convoys between the new world and the old can be viewed in isolation from simultaneous events on land and in the air. This has become an almost accepted error. The U-boats war did not exist solely between 1940 and 1943, nor did the Atlantic battle occur in seclusion from other theatres of action. The story of Germany's second U-boat war began on the first day of hostilities with Britain and France and ended with the final torpedo sinking on 7 May 1945. U-boats were active in nearly every theatre of operation in which the Wehrmacht served, and within all but the Southern Ocean. Moreover, these deployments were not undertaken in isolation from one another; instead they were frequently interconnected in what became an increasingly inefficient German naval strategy. This fascinating new book places each theatre of action in which U-boats were deployed into the broader context of the Second World War in its entirety while also studying the interdependence of the various geographic deployments. It illustrates the U-boats' often direct relationship with land, sea and aerial campaigns of both the Allied and Axis powers, dispels certain accepted mythologies, and reveals how the ultimate failure of the U-boats stemmed as much from chaotic German military and industrial mismanagement as it did from Allied advances in code-breaking and weaponry.

Starting weeks after Hitler declared war on the United States in mid-December 1941 and lasting until the war with Germany was all but over, 73 German U-Boats sustainably attacked New England waters, from Montauk New York to the tip of Nova Scotia at Cape Sable. Fifteen percent of these boats were sunk by Allied counter-attacks, five surrendered in the region, and three were sunk off New England--Block Island, Massachusetts Bay, and off Nantucket. These have proven appealing to divers, with a result that at least three German naval officers or ratings are buried in New England, one having killed himself in the Boston jail cell. There were 34 Allied merchant or naval ships sunk by these subs, one of them, the 'Eagle', was not admitted to have been sunk by the Germans until decades later. Over 1,100 men were thrown in the water and 545 of them made it ashore in New England ports; 428 were killed. Importantly, saboteurs were landed three places: Long Island, Frenchman's Bay Maine and New Brunswick Canada, and Boston was mined. Very little was known about this.

A photographic history of German submarines in the world wars, including unseen images from the personal collections of captains and crew. U-boats were the scourge of the seas for Allied shipping during both world wars, almost bringing Britain to the brink of starvation on several occasions. This book contains unseen photographs taken by German submarine crew and captains during each war. The World War One selection features a submariner’s photos of U-25, an early German U-boat. They belonged to WO Friedrich Pohl, who served on U-boats SM-25 and SMU-33. There are many photos of the U-boat itself, crew on deck, and attacks on Norwegian merchant ships with the surface gun. U-25 was launched July 12, 1913, sank a total of twenty-one ships and 14,126 tons, and surrendered to France on February 23, 1919. The World War Two photos include images from an original WW2 U-boat commander’s photo album. It belonged to Kapitan Leutnant Herbert Bruninghaus. As a U-boat navigator, he served on the famous U-38 under ace Heinrich Liebe. Bruninghaus later went on to command three U-boats of his own: U-6, U-148, and U-1059. There are also original images from a Kriegmarine officer’s photo album (unfortunately unnamed), including photos of Commander Prien’s U-47 returning to Kiel after attacks at Scapa Flow.

The Western European and Mediterranean Theaters in World War II is a concise, comprehensive guide for students, teachers, and history buffs of the Second World War. With an emphasis on the American forces in these theaters, each entry is accompanied by a brief annotation that will allow researchers to navigate through the vast amount of literature on the campaigns fought in these regions with ease. Focusing on all aspects surrounding the U.S. involvement in the Western European and Mediterranean theaters, including politics, religion, biography, strategy, intelligence, and operations, this bibliography will be a welcome addition to the collection of any academic or research library. Routledge Research Guides to American Military Studies provide concise, annotated bibliographies to the major areas and events in American military history. With the inclusion of brief critical annotations after each entry, the student and researcher can easily assess the utility of each bibliographic source and evaluate the abundance of resources available with ease and efficiency. Comprehensive, concise, and current—Routledge Research Guides to American Military Studies are an essential research tool for any historian.

“An excellent book” that examines the role that the French Atlantic ports played for the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War (Warship Annual). When the Wehrmacht overran France in May and June of 1940, the German navy’s dream of access to the Atlantic was realized, and Brest, Lorient, St. Nazaire, La Pallice and Bordeaux were converted into naval bases for surface, U-boat and auxiliary cruiser operations, though it is only the heavily fortified U-boat bunkers that have received any attention to date. The book describes the extent to which the French, both locally and at the level of the Vichy Government, cooperated with the German authorities in occupied France to convert the existing ports, and explains how the 45,000 workers of the Todt Organization built the monumental bunkers and other facilities. This fascinating narrative of the German occupation is balanced by the story of the vicious British maritime-air campaign that was commenced immediately following the fall of France, and which was far more effective than has been previously suggested. The German attempt to turn Brittany into a vast bastion area after the Normandy landings is a further aspect which is covered in detail for the first time. Employing new research from both German and French sources, this is a highly readable account with many previously unpublished images. “Many people like to visit the ‘battlefields’ and grounds (called ‘battlefield tourism’) of World War 2 and this volume will greatly assist any such expedition as it devotes an entire chapter to the present-day condition of many structures . . . superb.”—Military Archive Research