The acclaimed historian and WWII vet shares an authoritative account of two elite armored brigades and their heroic contributions on D-Day. When General Montgomery was given Allied command of the Normandy landings, he quickly gathered top military formations to execute the campaign’s most critical and risky operations. Foremost among them were two armored brigades: 4th (Black Desert Rats) and 8th (Red Fox's Mask). Both of these brigades had unrivaled fighting records whether in North Africa, Sicily or Italy. They had proven themselves in bitter fighting against Rommel's Afrika Korps and the Italians. Once ashore in Normandy the two superb brigades went on to enhance their reputations on the journey to the heartland of Hitler's Third Reich and final victory. In Mont’s Marauder’s, Patrick Delaforce shares a fast-moving and enthralling account of war at the sharp end.

The 51st Highland Division was the most famous infantry division that fought with the British Army in WW2. It was the only infantry division in the armies of the British Empire that accompanied Monty from during Alamein to BerlinAfter the 1940 disaster at St Valry when many were killed or captured, the re-formed 51st were a superlative division, brilliantly inspired and led. The Highway Decorators (after their famous HD cypher) fought with consummate success through North Africa and Tunisia and from Normandy into the heart of Germany. Blooded at Alamein where they suffered over 2000 casualties they pursued the Afrika Korps via Tripoli and Tunis fighting fierce battles along the way. They lost 1,500 men helping to liberate Sicily. Back to the UK for the second front, the Highlanders battled their way through Normandy bocage, the break-out to the Seine, triumphal re-occupation of St Valry, and were the first troops to cross the Rhine, fighting on to Bremen and Bremerhaven. In the eleven months fighting in NW Europe in 1944 and 1945 the Highlanders suffered more than 9000 casualties.

This is the second volume, but the last to be published of a trilogy - the other volumes being Smashing the Atlantic Wall and The Battle of the Bulge. Monty's Rhine Adventure begins immediately after the Normandy invasion with the euphoria surrounding the belief that the war would soon be won. However, it was not to be as easy Monty hoped. The book covers the difficult next few months as the Allies slogged through France and Belgium fighting stern and skilled Nazi resistance. However, the centrepiece of Monty's Rhine Adventure is Operation Market garden - Monty's bold plan to cut through the German defences via the eight bridges which spanned the Dutch/German border. The book deals with the plan, its execution and its aftermath in rigorous detail. Had Market Garden gone to plan, it might have led to the overall defeat of the Third Reich before the end of 1944. As it was, it was the Russians that entered Berlin first in May 1945. Nonetheless, this period remains one of the boldest and most exciting of the Second World War.

Historian John Buckley offers a radical reappraisal of Great Britain’s fighting forces during World War Two, challenging the common belief that the British Army was no match for the forces of Hitler’s Germany. Following Britain’s military commanders and troops across the battlefields of Europe, from D-Day to VE-Day, from the Normandy beaches to Arnhem and the Rhine, and, ultimately, to the Baltic, Buckley’s provocative history demonstrates that the British Army was more than a match for the vaunted Nazi war machine.div /DIVdivThis fascinating revisionist study of the campaign to liberate Northern Europe in the war’s final years features a large cast of colorful unknowns and grand historical personages alike, including Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery and the prime minister, Sir Winston Churchill. By integrating detailed military history with personal accounts, it evokes the vivid reality of men at war while putting long-held misconceptions finally to rest./DIV

The Allied invasion of occupied France began with the delivery of three airborne and six infantry divisions onto a 60-mile stretch of the Normandy coast. Accomplishing this involved over 1,200 transport aircraft, 450 gliders, 325 assorted warships and over 4,000 landing vessels. Operation Overlord, as the invasion was code-named, remains the largest amphibious invasion in history. This books tells the story hour-by-hour as it unfurled on the beaches, as experienced by the Allied troops. D-Day: The First 72 Hours covers the initial attacks made by airborne and special forces until the point where all the beachheads were secured.

It also changed the way the British Army fought, using concentrated artillery on a scale not seen since 1918 to break through Axis defences built in depth."--BOOK JACKET.

This book uniquely reflects upon the experience of two divisions from different armies in WWII.

The Battle of El Alamein is well established as a pivotal moment of the Second World War. Following the wildly fluctuating fortunes of the opposing sides, there was a real risk that Rommels Afrika Korps and his Italian allies would break through and seize Cairo with catastrophic strategic and political implications for the Allies. That this never happened is, of course, well known but, as this highly readable yet authoritative work reveals, there were moments of extreme peril and anxiety.Churchills bold, nay desperate, decisions concerning key appointments, Montgomerys stubborn refusal to be rushed, Rommels chronic logistic problems and critical air superiority are all examined in expert detail. The authors description of the actual fighting is brought to life by personal accounts as well as his complete grasp of the plan and tactics involved.The result, seventy-five years on, is a delightfully fresh and fascinating account of one of the iconic battles, not just of the War but in military history.

From-the-turret story of a British tank division in World War II Follows the division through the Normandy campaign, the liberation of Amiens and Antwerp, flank protection during Operation Market Garden, and the final drive into Germany Raw firsthand accounts from commanders, riflemen, bombardiers, and tank crews Reveals what life was like at the sharp end of the Allies' war effort

This book has it all ... like reading an After the Battle and Panzerwrecks combined ... highly recommended! --Chuck Aleshire, AMPS Chicagoland