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The Merchant Seaman never faltered. To him we owe our preservation and our very lives - The Right Hon. Alfred Barnes, Minister of War Transport.
During the first stages of the Second World War, all forces were rallied in an attempt to support the Allied effort. With trade and supply routes to Britain suddenly being placed at great risk, a stalwart team of merchant sailors were required to protect vital supplies for the British people, as well as...
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Following nearly two years of planning and exacting preparation, Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of the Nazi-dominated European continent, was mounted in the early hours of 6th June, 1944. It was to be a pivotal event leading to the end of the Second World War and victory for the Allied forces. The invasion itself was centered on the largest amphibious landing operation in history. It involved 7000 naval vessels, 3000 aircraft, 17000 American...
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The big-gun battleship served as a symbol of the ultimate power of the world's greatest navies beginning late in the nineteenth century and continuing into the Second World War. So historically important was this vessel that the arms race between Britain and Germany to build navies with larger, more powerful battleships was among the key sources of tension between those nations in the lead up to the First World War.
In this book, veteran battleship...
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The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea, or in the air, depended ultimately on its outcome. - Winston Churchill. Featured in this new volume from Philip Kaplan are images of some of the most iconic and important merchant ships of the latter years of the Second World War, along with intriguing shots of the men who sailed and worked...
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This new collection of archive imagery from Philip Kaplan offers a gripping, graphic view of the routine repeated each day and night, from the summer of 1940 through to the following spring, by the German bomber crews bringing their deadly cargoes to Britain. Through mainly German archival photos, it profiles airmen on their French bases and in the skies over England; the aircraft they flew, fought and sometimes died in; their leaders; their targets...
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This new addition to the Images of War series is sure to prove welcome, illustrating as it does the preparatory stages of the iconic Battle of Britain. Whilst the country geared up for action, the air forces rallied, readying the high-performance Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters that were to characterize this aerial conflict so dramatically. The nine month period that elapsed prior to the German dive-bombing attacks on British shipping...
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This book examines the reality behind the myths of the legendary RAF fighter aces during the Battle of Britain. The accounts of the experiences of fighter pilots are based on archival research, diaries, letters, published and unpublished memoirs and personal interviews with veterans.
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This book examines the reality behind the myths of the legendary German fighter aces of World War II. It explains why only a small minority of pilots - those in whom the desire for combat overrode everything - accounted for so large a proportion of the victories. It surveys the skills that a successful fighter pilot must have - a natural aptitude for flying, marksmanship, keen eyesight - and the way in which fighter tactics have developed. The book...
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The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril - Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Churchill, as a former First Lord of the Admiralty, was well versed in the importance of Britain protecting itself at sea. In the opening years of the Second World War, Germanys U-boat (submarine) fleet was tasked with attacking and destroying the supply ships that Britain depended upon for its survival.
The U-boats were under the...
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In the history of aviation there have been many attempts to produce aircraft of extraordinary proportions to expand the limits of technology and create new performance standards. With few exceptions, the early attempts did not become the successes envisaged until post-World War II when such aircraft as the Boeing B-52 long-range heavy bomber and the Boeing 747 'Jumbo Jet' airliner changed the face of aviation in both the military and civil roles....
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The pilots and combined bombing forces of the Second World War are revered for a host of reasons. Their bravery when cast against the odds, their resilience and determination under fire, and the startling extent of their combined achievements towards the collective end of Allied victory have all been noted and celebrated in a variety of ways since the end of the conflict. Kaplan adds to this celebratory tradition by drawing together an intriguing...
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In World War Two, the most effective fighting units were usually small submarine crews, infantry platoons, commandos, and bomber crews. Of these it could be said that the men who crewed the bombers caused more damage to the enemy and had a greater impact on the outcome of the conflict than any number of the rest. Most of the aircrews were volunteers (in the RAF, they all were), intelligent, fit, and highly trained. Each knew he was essential to the...
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If it looks right, it will probably fly righta tired old saying among airmen, but one that persists. Think if you will of the handful of aeroplanes that most people would probably agree are the best-looking examples of all. The list is short but distinguished and the proof is in the enthusiastic common view of most pilots who have flown themfor nearly all, it was love at first sight and first flight. For most that little list includes the Vickers-Supermarine...
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The first aircraft carriers made their appearance in the early years of World War I. These first flattops were improvised affairs built on hulls that had been laid down with other purposes in mind, and it was not until the 1920s that the first purpose-built carriers were launched, but no-one was as yet clear about the role of the carriers and they were largely unloved by the 'battleship admirals' who still believed that their great dreadnoughts were...
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In the early years of the Second World War, the elite force of German submariners known as the Ubootwaffe came perilously close to perfecting the underwater battle tactics and successfully cutting Britain's transatlantic lifeline. To the Allies, these enemy sailors were embarking on a mission of unequivocal evil.
Each member of the Ubootwaffe understood that he must take pride in being part of a unique brotherhood. He had to do so because he was...
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There were two kinds of pilots involved in the action during the Second World War: those who took the lead, and the others who went along for the ride. The elite group of fighter and bomber pilots led the way in combat missions, racking up kills and destroying the enemy's ability to fight. Experience was a big factor; the fliers who had been around the longest (and survived) learned all the tricks and made the most of that knowledge. They created...
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American volunteers Don Gentile (pronounced Jen-tilly) and John Godfrey flew together as leader and wingman respectively, with the USAAF 4th Fighter Group based at Debden near Cambridge in England. At the end of their missions with the 4th the two of them had accounted for over 58 enemy aircraft destroyed. Major Gentile had scored 22 air and 6 ground kills before he was returned to the USA to help raise money for the war effort. Major Godfrey was...
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Philip Kaplan presents us here with a riveting account of the Allied experience behind enemy lines, detailing the trials and tribulations experienced by the British and American airmen who were shot down in European skies during World War Two, to be incarcerated 'behind the wire' in enemy camps. With eloquence and a clear enthusiasm for the subject at hand, the author describes how various individuals adjusted to their incarceration. Whilst some set...
19) Silent Service: Submarine Warfare from World War II to the Present-An Illustrated and Oral History
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See the secret and dangerous world of submarine life and warfare like never before.
From the ingenious but impractical designs of seventeenth-century inventors through the nuclear-powered submarines of today, this heavily illustrated volume traces the history of the silent force and the elite corps of men who fought and often died beneath the waves. Though fully describing the development of the submarine, this book's main focus is on the men who...
20) The Few
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In this new pictorial history from Philip Kaplan, the perspectives of both RAF and Luftwaffe airmen are considered within the wider context of one of the most iconic and pivotal conflicts of modern history. The Blitz, primarily the bombing of London and the major cities of Britain by the German Air Force, lasted for fifty-seven nights from September 1940 into May 1941. Life under the bombing; the perspectives of German and British airmen; the experience...
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