Fighting Men Of World War Ii Allied Forces

Featuring for the first time in one reference volume the structure and equipment of the Allied terrestrial combat units in World War II. The hardcover reference book examines the organization of each army, its rank structure and numerical groupings as a prerequisite to examining each soldier’s equipment in detail: his clothing- boots, trousers, helmet, tunic, greatcoat, camouflage, his weapons, his support items like medical kit, mess kit and rations. Each section will feature archive pictures of the soldier in the field and specially photographed artefacts, showing preserved examples of the items that he carried with him. There will be badges, medals, pennants and flags as well as other popular personal items carried by many troops like cigarette lighters, razors and postcards of loved ones, which were not standard issue but of extreme importance to each man. The book will evaluate that equipment and how it compared to that of other soldiers in other armies both on the same side and among the opposing forces and will provide a complete picture of the day-to-day lives and conditions of the fighting men of the American, Russian, British and Commonwealth armies as well as Polish, Free French, and other nations thought fought albeit briefly on the side of the allies making it an essential reference work for all military historians, collectors, modellers and interested general readers.

This first volume of Fighting Men of World War II offers a comprehensive, full-color look at the clothing (such as boots, pants, helmet, tunic, greatcoat, camouflage, and badges), equipment, weapons, vehicles, and rations of Axis soldiers. Also included are popular items, such as lighters, that were carried by many troops but were not standard issue. The accompanying text describes the items and also compares them to those of other armies. The result is a complete picture of the daily life and conditions of the fighting men of all countries. It is an essential reference work for all military historians, collectors, and general readers.

Describes weapons, equipment, and uniforms of World War II Allied Forces.

Featuring for the first time in one reference volume the structure and equipment of the German and Axis terrestrial combat units in World War II. The hardcover reference book examines the organization of each army, its rank structure and numerical groupings as a prerequisite to examining each soldier’s equipment in detail: his clothing- boots, trousers, helmet, tunic, greatcoat, camouflage, his weapons, his support items like medical kit, mess kit and rations. Each section will feature archive pictures of the soldier in the field and specially photographed artifacts, showing preserved examples of the items that he carried with him. There will be badges, medals, pennants and flags as well as other popular personal items carried by many troops like cigarette lighters, razors and postcards of loved ones, which were not standard issue but of extreme importance to each man. The book will evaluate that equipment and how it compared to that of other soldiers in other armies both on the same side and among the opposing forces and provide a complete picture of the day-to-day lives and conditions of the fighting men of all countries and an essential reference work for all military historians, collectors, modellers and interested general readers.

"Explores the men and women who served on their own home soil during World War II, and provides information about the key battles, tactics, and weapons that helped propel the Allies to victory."

Fighting Men of World War II: Axis Forces is the first part of a two-volume set (Allied Forces is also available) which sets out to examine in detail the weapons and equipment of the average soldier of Germany, Japan, Italy, and the other nations like Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, comprised the Axis forces. In these pages we examine a broad range of general equipment that was used every day, including binoculars, goggles, radios, water bottles, fuel cans, medical kits, skis, wire cutters and detonators. We give detailed specifications of weapons such as pistols and revolvers, rifles, bayonets, fighting knives, hand grenades, landmines, flamethrowers, mortars and light artillery. The clothing sections include headgear, from the feathered hats of the Italian Bersaglieri sharpshooters to the redoubtable Stahlheim of the German troops. We examine footwear as diverse as polished officers’ shoes, cavalry boots, paratroopers’ jump boots and Japanese Tabi canvas shoes. Uniform tunics, shirts, trousers and greatcoats all receive attention, as do all-weather gear, gloves, ponchos and shelter sections, such as the German Zeltbahn. Camouflage variations are shown, as are rank badges together with unit badges and medals. Personal items too are included. We show cigarettes and lighters, letters and postcards home, campstools, fans, identity tags, mending kits and eating utensils. Almost all the items shown have not been featured in book form before and have been specially chosen from museums and private collections to form a unique reference source for the general reader, budding collector, military enthusiast, re-enactor, and modeller. The fighting man is placed within the context of his unit organization, while carefully researched archive photos show him with his weapons and equipment in action. The text, by seasoned military expert David Miller, is the result of painstaking research, backed up by his own military experience in the British Army, which has given him the necessary credentials to understand what the average fighting man’s needs and day-to-day preoccupations actually were. David has been assisted by editor Graham Smith, and the two of them have pulled together all these diverse elements to form one of the most definitive works of its kind.

"Explores the military units that battled to control precious territory in World War II, and provides information about key battles, tactics, and weapons that helped propel the Allies to victory."

"Magnificent. . . . Seldom has a study of the past combined such erudition with such exuberance." —The Guardian "No-one with an interest in the Second World War should be without this book; and indeed nor should anyone who cares about how our world has come about." —The Daily Telegraph Pre-eminent WWII historian Michael Burleigh delivers a brilliant new examination of the day-to-day moral crises underpinning the momentous conflicts of the Second World War. A magisterial counterpart to his award-winning and internationally bestselling The Third Reich, winner of the Samuel Johnson prize, Moral Combat offers a unique and riveting look at, in the words of The Times (London), "not just the war planners faced with the prospect of bombing Dresden or the atrocities of the Holocaust, but also the individuals working at the coalface of war, killing or murdering, resisting or collaborating."

The incredible story of the unlikeliest battle of World War II, when a small group of American soldiers joined forces with German soldiers to fight off fanatical SS troops May, 1945. Hitler is dead, the Third Reich is little more than smoking rubble, and no GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis. The Last Battle tells the nearly unbelievable story of the unlikeliest battle of the war, when a small group of American tankers, led by Captain Lee, joined forces with German soldiers to fight off fanatical SS troops seeking to capture Castle Itter and execute the stronghold's VIP prisoners. It is a tale of unlikely allies, startling bravery, jittery suspense, and desperate combat between implacable enemies.