Throughout the Vietnam War, one focal point persisted where the Viet Cong guerrillas and ARVN were not a major factor, but where the trained professionals of the North Vietnamese and United States armies repeatedly fought head-to-head. A Shau Valor is a thoroughly documented study of nine years of American combat operations encompassing the crucial frontier valley and a 15-mile radius around it—the most deadly killing ground of the entire Vietnam War. Beginning in 1963 Special Forces A-teams established camps along the valley floor, followed by a number of top-secret Project Delta reconnaissance missions through 1967. Then, U.S. Army and Marine Corps maneuver battalions engaged in a series of sometimes controversial thrusts into the A Shau designed to disrupt NVA infiltrations and to kill enemy soldiers, part of what came to be known as Westmoreland’s “war of attrition.” The various campaigns included Operation Pirous in 1967, 1968’s Operations Delaware and Somerset Plain, 1969’s Operations Dewey Canyon, Massachusetts Striker, and Apache Snow—which included the infamous battle for Hamburger Hill—culminating with Operation Texas Star and the vicious fight for and humiliating evacuation of Fire Support Base Ripcord in the summer of 1970, the last major U.S. battle of the war. By 1971 the fighting had once again shifted to the realm of small Special Forces reconnaissance teams assigned to the ultra-secret Studies and Observations Group—SOG. Other works have focused on individual battles or units, but A Shau Valor is the first to study the nine-year campaign—for all its courage, sacrifice and valor—chronologically and within the context of other historical, political, and cultural events. In addition to covering the strictly military aspects of the various campaigns in the A Shau, Tom Yarborough, author of the renowned Da Nang Diary, shows how events in both Vietnam and the United States became inexorably linked, as domestic dissent and a lack of realistic military strategy ultimately led to America’s first lost war.

In this engaging book we see how an 18-year-old miner shoveling ore from deep in the ground in Utah suddenly found himself, only two years later, 30,000 feet in the air over Nazi Germany, piloting a Flying Fortress in the first wave of America’s air counteroffensive in Europe. Like thousands of other young Americans, Ray Brim was plucked by the U.S. Army to be a combat flyer, and was quickly pitted against the hardened veterans of the Luftwaffe. Brim turned out to have a natural knack for flying, however, and was assigned to the select squadron developing lead Pathfinder techniques, while experimenting with radar. He was among the first to test the teeth of the Luftwaffe’s defenses, and once those techniques had been honed, thousands of other bomber crews would follow into the maelstrom, from which 80,000 never returned. This work gives us vivid insights into the genesis of the American air campaign, told with the humor, attention to detail and humility that captures the heart and soul of our “Greatest Generation.” Brim was one of the first Pathfinder pilots to fly both day and night missions leading bomb groups of 600-plus bombers to their targets. At the onset of his missions in the spring of 1943, B-17 crews were given a 50-50 chance of returning. Each of his raids were nerve-wracking forays into the unknown; with struggles to survive the damage to his plane due to flak and German fighter attacks, in order to bring his 10-man crew home, often wounded but still alive. After Germany’s surrender, Brim held a number of commands during the Korean War and flew B-17 drone planes during atomic tests, in which the Pentagon wished to see the effects of nuclear fallout on aircraft. Surprisingly having lived on into his 90s, Colonel Brim has provided us a fascinating firsthand memoir of frontline air war during the 20th century.

This ground-breaking series is a comprehensive history that traces the “Presidential line” of the Washingtons. Volume one begins with the immigrant John Washington who settled in Westmoreland Co., Va. , in 1657, married Anne Pope, and was the great-grandfather of President George Washington. It continues the record of their descendants for a total of seven generations. Volume two is a collection of notable descendants of the next eight generations of John and Anne Washington’s descendants, including Gen. George S. Patton, author Shelby Foote, and actor Lee Marvin. Future volumes trace generations eight through fifteen, making a total of more than 63,000 descendants.Although structured in a genealogical format for the sake of clarity, this is no barebones genealogy but a true family history with more than 1,200 detailed biographical narratives. These, in turn, strive to convey the greatness of the family that produced not only The Father of His Country but many others, great and humble, who struggled to build that country. The Washingtons includes a special volume on the time-honored John Wright line, which in recent years has been challenged largely on the basis of DNA evidence, and another on the royal descents of the presidential line. A cumulative index completes the series.

This ground-breaking series is a comprehensive history that traces the “Presidential line” of the Washingtons. Volume one begins with the immigrant John Washington who settled in Westmoreland Co., Va. , in 1657, married Anne Pope, and was the great-grandfather of President George Washington. It continues the record of their descendants for a total of seven generations. Volume two is a collection of notable descendants of the next eight generations of John and Anne Washington’s descendants, including Gen. George S. Patton, author Shelby Foote, and actor Lee Marvin. Future volumes trace generations eight through fifteen, making a total of more than 63,000 descendants.Although structured in a genealogical format for the sake of clarity, this is no barebones genealogy but a true family history with more than 1,200 detailed biographical narratives. These, in turn, strive to convey the greatness of the family that produced not only The Father of His Country but many others, great and humble, who struggled to build that country. The Washingtons includes a special volume on the time-honored John Wright line, which in recent years has been challenged largely on the basis of DNA evidence, and another on the royal descents of the presidential line. A cumulative index completes the series.

This detailed study on the uniforms of the French Foreign Legion during the Algerian War presents more than 400 collector’s pieces and around 200 period photos, giving an unprecedented look at this painful war which ended France’s rule in Algeria and, from 1939 to 1962, represented 23 years of uninterrupted combat by the French Foreign Legion. The first part retraces the beginning phases of the history of this elite army on Algerian soil. The second part is dedicated to the uniforms of the soldiers of the Foreign Legion. The third part presents a complete and never-before-seen study of the uniforms of the Saharan formations of the Foreign Legion. This book is dedicated to the 3,475 legionnaires fallen in combat in Algeria since 1831, and to the Frenchmen and Algerians who died in the conflict between France and Algeria.

Après Landser, Ordre Noir et Deutsche Luftwaffe, voici un nouveau livrede la même collection sur les troupes de choc de la Première Guerremondiale.Les premières unités d'assaut (Sturmtruppen) ont été formées au coursdu printemps et de l'été de 1916, quand le Sturmbataillon Rohr a étéorganisé et après que le général Falkenhayn, chef de la Ligue de l'Ontario,a donné les ordres pour la création de détachements spéciaux. Cesdétachements avaient pour mission de répandre une nouvelle tactiquequi a transformé de manières décisive les méthodes de combats del’armée allemande. Mais bien avant cela, un autre type de troupes avaitété crée au sein de l’infanterie allemande au cours de l’hiver 1914-1915 : lestroupes de choc (Stosstruppen), des groupes d’infanterie qui n’ont jamaisété officiellement reconnus comme tels et n’ayant jamais appartenu àune unité permanente, mais qui sont restés actifs jusqu’à la fin de laguerre et qui ont contribué à l’amélioration de la capacité offensive del’infanterie allemande.Ce livre est un récit de l’histoire des troupes d’assaut et il couvre leursméthodes de combat. Il propose une description complète de leursuniformes, de leur équipement, leurs armes, avec un grand nombred’illustrations et de photographies d’époque rarement vues.

Villers-Bocage is undoubtedly one of the most emblematic actions the Battle of Normandy. Many historians have recounted documented way the events of 13 June 1944, including the destruction of a British armored column by Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann in a Tiger I.- TEXT IN FRENCH -

One of the shortest lived and most battle hardened of the 1st Australian Imperial Force’s battalions, the 47th was formed in Egypt in 1916 and disbanded two years later having suffered one of the highest casualty rates of any Australian unit. Their story is remarkable for many reasons.Dogged by command and discipline troubles and bled white by the desperate attrition battles of 1916 and 1917, they fought on against a determined and skilful enemy in battles where the fortunes of war seemed stacked against them at every turn. Not only did they have the misfortune to be called into some of the A.I.F.’s most costly campaigns, chance often found them in the worst places within those battles.Though their story is one of almost unrelieved tragedy, it is also story of remarkable courage, endurance and heroism. It is the story of the 1st A.I.F. itself – punished, beaten, sometimes reviled for their indiscipline, they fought on - fewer, leaner and harder - until final victory was won. And at its end, in an extraordinary gesture of mateship, the remnants of the 47th Battalion reunited. Having been scattered to other units after their disbandment, the survivors gathered in Belgium for one last photo together. Only 73 remained.

A gripping true story of survival set in Hong Kong and Burma, as one family struggles against overwhelming odds in World War Two. Divided by war, in order to see each other again they must overcome terrible danger. The beautiful landscape of Burma and the tragedy of war are evocatively portrayed in this haunting and moving book. Hong Kong. Leading an attack on Golden Hill, Jack Devereux of the Royal Scots is shot through the head. A Japanese officer attempts to behead him, in order to blood his samurai sword; waking momentarily, he kills his would-be executioner. His head swarming with maggots, he survives capture as the Japanese are both impressed and fascinated by his wounds. Alive, albeit in a dangerously precarious physical state he then goes on to experience and escape the horrific and tragic incident of the sinking of the Lisbon Maru, in which hundreds of POWs drown, the sharks of the South China Sea, the mines of Nagasaki and the atom bomb. Burma. Jack’s wife Kate Devereux, her infant son (the author) and mother Harriet desperately try to avoid the unstoppable advance of the Japanese; they flee their home, taking only what they can carry and walk the jungles foraging for food while avoiding predators, snakes and armed bandits (dacoits). Terrified Kate’s marriage certificate will be discovered by the Japanese, they adopt the guise of the Mons Burmese tribe. The once prosperous family becomes destitute and starving. Their chance of survival was slim; multitudes of people like the Devereux’s fleeing the Japanese died of exposure and starvation, were shot by dacoits or killed in bombing raids. They are kept alive by the author’s incredible grandmother, a strong-willed resourceful woman with a proud bearing, able to speak fluent Japanese but also to pass herself off as native Burmese. Their destination is the deserted and mystic city of Pagan. The beautiful but deadly landscape of Burma is the setting for their adventure-filled story.

When Germany’s Sixth Army advanced to Stalingrad in 1942, its long-extended flanks were mainly held by allied armies—the Romanians, Hungarians, and Italians. But as history tells us, these flanks quickly caved in before the massive Soviet counter-offensive which commenced that November, dooming the Germans to their first catastrophe of the war. However, the historical record also makes clear that one allied unit held out to the very end, fighting to stem the tide—the Italian Alpine Corps. When the Don front collapsed under Soviet hammer blows, it was the Alpine Corps that continued to hold out until it was completely isolated, and which then tried to fight its way out through both Russian encirclement and “General Winter” to rejoin the rest of the Axis front. Only one of the three alpine divisions was able to emerge from the Russian encirclement with survivors. In this all-sides battle across the snowy steppe, thousands were killed and wounded, and even more were captured. By the summer of 1946, only 10,000 survivors returned to Italy from Russian POW camps.

In their own words the Aussie diggers provide a fascinating glimpse of the many funny and touching moments that our Diggers often hold to their chest. This collection of stories in this book provides a taste of what a soldiers life is like in both war and peace.

Almost a century has passed since the signing of the armistice on 11 November 1918. Of all the soldiers who went through that hell on earth, photographs, letters, stories and old uniforms kept in attics are all that is left. Thanks to a collection of more than ten thousand documents, the author allows us to follow these young men with previously unseen photographs. All these faces, sometimes smiling, sometimes serious, have a story to tell. Many collectors have also allowed us access to their most precious objects, the fruit of their relentless research that helps save these objects that went through four terrible years of oblivion and destruction. Finally, being in the era of Internet, many links allow you to retrace the history of your ancestors and their regiments. During World War One, the well-known blue and red uniform of the French army has taken different shapes, but it is not the only thing that has changed: rifles, grenades, pistols, bayonets, head-wears, etc. have seen different forms or, for some of them, were introduced during the war. Those changes are shown in this short book about the French soldier’s equipment and his commitment within the French army.

The nearly half-million American airmen who served during World War II have almost disappeared. And so have their stories. In Unsung Eagles, award-winning writer and former fighter pilot Jay Stout has saved an exciting collection of those accounts from oblivion. These are not rehashed tales from the hoary icons of the war. Rather, they are stories from the masses of largely unrecognized men who―in the aggregate―actually won it. These are “everyman” accounts that are important but fast disappearing. Ray Crandall describes how he was nearly knocked into the Pacific by a heavy cruiser’s main battery during the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea. Jesse Barker―a displaced dive-bomber pilot―tells of dodging naval bombardments in the stinking mud of Guadalcanal. Bob Popeney relates how his friend and fellow A-20 pilot was blown out of formation by German antiaircraft fire: “I could see the inside of the airplane―and I could see Nordstrom's eyes. He looked confused…and then immediately he flipped up and went tumbling down.”

Twentyoneyearold Leonhard Rempe volunteered to serve Germany in 1914. By the time World War One ended, he had seen action on both major fronts, witnessed the war from the back of a horse and the cockpit of plane, and amassed one of the more unique records of anyone in the Kaiser’s army. From German Cavalry Officer to Reconnaissance Pilot is his remarkable story. Rempe initially served as a cavalryman in the 35th (1st West Prussian) Field Artillery of the XX ArmeeKorps, fighting in several bloody and significant battles against the Russians on the Eastern Front. In 1916, he exchanged his spurs for the cockpit and transferred to the Western front. Flying specially built planes for reconnaissance work was dangerous duty, but Rempe relished his time in the open cockpits, flying at altitudes high and low to provide detailed intelligence information for the German army. He met and knew many of the pilots who flew in both fighter and reconnaissance planes, including Manfred von Richthoven—the Red Baron. Unlike so many of his fellow pilots, Rempe survived several crashes, and was shot down over Reims, France, in March of 1918.At war’s end, Rempe returned to a defeated Germany in the midst of turmoil and revolution and served briefly in a Freikorps (Free Corps) regiment dedicated to preserving the new government in Weimar against German Communists. Seeking a new beginning, he arrived at Ellis Island in the spring of 1923 to start his life as an American. He brought with him flight reports, other miscellaneous documents, and scores of remarkable photographs documenting his wartime service, most of which are published here for the first time. During 1956, the last year of his life, Rempe penned a brief memoir of his World War One service which, together with the photographic record, forms the basis of From German Cavalry Officer to Reconnaissance Pilot.Using primary and secondary sources Dr. Paul Rempe provides insight into the grim realities of Leonhard’s war while his father’s own memoir recalls his special comradeship with his fellow soldiers and airmen. From German Cavalry Officer to Reconnaissance Pilot adds substantially to the growing literature of the First World War, and paints a unique and compelling portrait of a young German caught up in the deadly jaws of mass industrialized war.

John Oliver (Jo) Lancaster DFC had a remarkable career in aviation spanning half a century. Starting out in 1935 as an engineering apprentice with Armstrong Whitworth Jo went on to fly an extraordinary 54 operations against the enemy during the Second World War, piloting Vickers Wellingtons and Avro Lancasters with RAF Bomber Command’s 40 and 12 Squadrons. Jo also took part in the ‘Thousand Bomber Raids’ in 1942 while an instructor at an operational training unit. Subsequently Jo was posted to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down, during which he flew a wide range of types, including captured German aircraft, and this was followed by training at the Empire Test Pilots’ School. Post-war Jo took up numerous appointments as a test pilot including duties with Boulton Paul and Saunders-Roe, where he test flew the revolutionary Saro S.R. A/1 single-seat jet flying boat fighter. On 30 May 1949, while carrying out test pilot duties with Armstrong Whitworth, Jo was flying the A.W. 52 Flying Wing and became the first pilot to use a Martin-Baker ejection seat in an emergency. Retiring as a test pilot in 1962, Jo was later involved in aerial crop spraying in the Middle East before becoming Aviation Manager for Meridian Air Maps, carrying out aerial survey work from the West Indies to Central Africa and Portugal to Cyprus. By retirement in 1984 Jo had accumulated 11,000 flying hours on some 150 different aircraft types. Author David Gunby, through extensive interviews and correspondence with Jo, and complimented with diligent archive research, has written a highly detailed account of this outstanding aviator. First Out In Earnest, featuring numerous previously unpublished photographs, is the remarkable account of a life dedicated to flying by one of the rapidly diminishing number of survivors from the golden age in British aviation.

John Boileau and Dan Black tell the stories of some of the 30,000 underage youths - some as young as fourteen - who joined the Canadian Armed Forces in the Second World War. This is the companion volume to the authors'’ popular 2013 book Old Enough to Fight about boy soldiers in the First World War. Like their predecessors a generation before, these boys managed to enlist despite their youth. Most went on to face action overseas in what would become the deadliest military conflict in human history. They enlisted for a myriad of personal reasons -- ranging from the appeal of earning regular pay after the unemployment and poverty of the Depression to the desire to avenge the death of a brother or father killed overseas. Canada's boy soldiers, sailors and airmen saw themselves contributing to the war effort in a visible, meaningful way, even when that meant taking on very adult risks and dangers of combat. Meticulously researched and extensively illustrated with photographs, personal documents and specially commissioned maps, Too Young to Die provides a touching and fascinating perspective on the Canadian experience in the Second World War. Among the individuals whose stories are told:Ken Ewing, at age sixteen taken prisoner at Hong Kong and then a teenager in a Japanese prisoner of war campRalph Frayne, so determined to fight that he enlisted in the army, navy and Merchant Navy all before the age of seventeenRobert Boulanger, at age eighteen the youngest Canadian to die on the Dieppe beaches