Fighting Men Of World War Ii

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

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.

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.

“An incredible job in shedding light about an often neglected but important role this unit played in the defeat of Nazi Germany” (WWII History). While headline writers in the European Theater of Operations were naturally focused on events in Normandy and the Bulge in the north, equally ferocious combats were taking place in southern France and Germany during 1944–45, which are now finally getting their due. The US 14th Armored Division—a late arrival to the theater—was thrust into intense combat almost the minute it arrived in Europe, as the Germans remained determined to defend their southern flank. This book explores in detail what happened in the month of January 1945 in the snow-covered Vosges Mountains, when the Wehrmacht’s attempt to destroy the Sixth Army Group failed. A strategic withdrawal after ten hellish days of fiery combat allowed the Allies to hold the line until a spring offensive. In March, the division literally exploded its way through the Siegfried Line at Steinfeld and began to propel the Wehrmacht into a retreat from which it could never recover. Armored columns kept punching their way through roadblock after roadblock in town after town with powerful artillery and air concentrations that never gave the German soldiers a chance to respond. As a result of the rapid advance of Seventh Army and the 14th, German POW camps like the ones at Hammelburg and Moosburg were liberated of over 100,000 prisoners, an achievement which gave the division the nom de guerre “The Liberators.” “A frontline soldier’s view of how green troops became battle-wise and battle-weary veterans.” —The Journal of America’s Military Past

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.

Fighting in the Jim Crow Army is filled with first-hand accounts of everyday life in 1940s America. The soldiers of the 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions speak of segregation in the military and racial attitudes in army facilities stateside and abroad. The individual battles of black soldiers reveal a compelling tale of discrimination, triumph, resistance, and camaraderie. What emerges from the multitude of voices is a complex and powerful story of individuals who served their country and subsequently made demands to be recognized as full-fledged citizens. Morehouse, whose father served in the 93rd Infantry Division, has built a rich historical account around personal interviews and correspondence with soldiers, National Archive documents, and military archive materials. Augmented with historical and recent photographs, Fighting in the Jim Crow Army combines individual recollections with official histories to form a vivid picture of life in the segregated Army. In the historiography of World War II very little has emerged from the perspective of the black foot soldier. Morehouse allows the participants to tell the tale of the watershed event of their participation in World War II as well as the ongoing black freedom struggle.

A pictorial record of the Navy during World War II presents more than 150 photographs of sailors as they trained, prepared, and found time to relax in the shadow of war.

American naval actions of World War II comprise the most widespread, complex, and dramatic battles in the history of sea warfare. The fighting took place over vast distances in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as in the constricted spaces of the Mediterranean and Solomon seas. Each of the major actions had an admiral, the commander in charge, who led the battle. In combat, the abilities and determination of these commanders at sea were put to the most severe test. Americas Fighting Admirals describes the course of U.S. sea action in World War II. It examines the skills, strengths, weaknesses and personalities of the American admirals who fought the battles at sea. It examines the effect that stress, tension, and responsibility have on commanders making vital decisions in the red-hot crucible of battle. And it reveals the changing nature of the responsibilities of flag officers as the war progressed and became enormously complex.

Frank Blaichman was sixteen years old when the war broke out. In 1942, the killings began in Poland. With his family and friends decimated by the roundups, Blaichman decided that he would rather die fighting; he set off for the forest to find the underground bunkers of Jews who had already escaped. Together they formed a partisan force dedicated to fighting the Germans. This is a harrowing, utterly moving memoir of a young Polish Jew who chose not to go quietly and defied the mighty German war machine during World War II.

The Right Fight, the new management guide from noted business strategists Saj-nicole Joni and Damon Beyer, turns management thinking on its head and shows why, in the fast-moving, hyper-competitive marketplaces of the 21st century, leaders need to both foster alignment and orchestrate thoughtful controversy in their organizations to get the best out of them. The authors’ groundbreaking research—including examples as diverse as Unilever, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Dell, the Clinton Administration, and the Houston Independent School System—shows that happy workers can become bored or complacent and thus less productive than workers who are subjected to a little properly managed tension. Readers of Good to Great and Winning, as well as the Harvard Business Review and Strategy + Business, will find much to ponder in The Right Fight.