Pen And Sword imprint: 2611 books

At 07.30 hours on 1 July 1916, the devastating cacophony of the Allied artillery fell silent along the front on the Somme. The ear-splitting explosions were replaced by the shrill sound of hundreds of whistles being blown. At that moment, tens of thousands of British soldiers climbed out from the...

Dispatches in this volume include those relating to the sinking of the German battleship Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate in 1939, the loss of the battleships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse in the Far East, the sinking of the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst in 1943, the attack on...

Despatches in this volume include that on the Conquest of Sicily from 10 July 1942 to 17 August 1943 by Field-Marshall Viscount Alexander of Tunis; the despatch on the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, by Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew B. Cunningham, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean; despatch on...

Without the aircraft carrier, the Japanese would not have brought the United States into the Second World War through their attack on Pearl Harbour; without the carrier, the United States could not have rolled back the Japanese forces spread across the wide reaches of the Pacific and carried the war...

Following the landings in Normandy, one of the Allies main concerns was how to supply the expanding beachhead. Having cut off the Cotentin peninsula, General Bradley turned his attentions to the port of Cherbourg, the deep-water port nearest to the American landing beaches. However, Hitler had given...

Le Cateau (26-27 August 1914) was the second major action fought by the BEF in the Great War. His men exhausted after fighting at Mons and by the subsequent speedy retreat, Lieutenant-General Horace Smith-Dorrien (commanding II Corps) decided that he had to make a stand in the vicinity of Le Cateau. There...

In October 1914 four armies were converging on Dunkirk. While France was preparing to defend its main Channel port, the Germans were determined to take it while the British were busy using it. Caught in the middle was the Belgian Army. Belgium was almost totally overrun, safe for a small strip of...

A study of the most important sites, primarily of the two world wars, covering both their history and descriptions of how they are today. For the interested traveller, the author groups key sites together, listing places offering accommodation, food, and detailing places of local interest.

The Battle of Loos formed part of a wider offensive conducted by both French and British Forces in September 1915. The British First Army, under the leadership of General Haig, were to break through the German line at Loos thanks in part to their superior numbers, while other operations were to achieve...

In Spring 1945 one final hurdle faced the American and British Armies under Ike's supreme command - the Rhine. This mighty river was literally the last ditch for the defense of Hitler's Germany. Crossing it would be a major military undertaking. The race was on to find intact crossings that could...

Ninety years after the Battle of the Somme was fought, visitors continue to flock in very large numbers to the massive Memorial to the Missing at Thiepval, site of a bitter three-month struggle during the summer of 1916. This book explains in detail how, from the autumn of 1914 onwards, the...

This volume covers the battlefields of Arras around Vimy Ridge dealing with the activities of the French and the British and the start of the Battle of Arras. Vimy Ridge gives a balanced view of the fighting by detailed descriptions of various units and individuals.

The French army of the First World War withstood the main force of the German onslaught on the Western Front, but often it is neglected in English histories of the conflict. Now, though, keen interest in the war in general and in the part the French played in it has prompted a fresh appreciation of...

Over a month after the D-Day landings the Allies were still confined to the Normandy peninsula. The German line was anchored by the medieval town of Caen, which the British were supposed to have occupied on D-Day. The key to capturing Caen was Hill 112, known to the Germans as "Kalverienberg"...