This volume assesses the formidable special forces fielded by Italy's navy and air force in World War II, both before and after Italy's surrender in September 1943. The Italian Navy special forces were particularly active and respected in the Mediterranean, where 10th Motor-Torpedo Boat Flotilla (Xa MAS) used frogmen, 'two-man torpedoes' and explosive ram-boats; Italian midget submarines were also deployed against the Soviet Navy in the Black Sea. After September 1943 the Germans allowed the expansion of Count Borghese's Xa MAS, which continued fighting on their side at sea and on land, most notoriously in anti-partisan operations. The marines of the 'San Marco' Regiment fought hard in North Africa, earning the respect of their opponents and the German general Hans-J rgen von Arnim, who described them as the best soldiers he had ever commanded; they also gave birth to a paratroop-frogman section.
The Italian Air Force formed a special commando unit, ADRA (Arditi Distruttori Regia Aeronautica), before the 1943 surrender; it was tasked with attacking Allied airfields and communications in North Africa alongside the 'Loretto' Battalion, which was made up of ground crew trained to operate captured enemy airfields. Men from ADRA and diehard Army paratroopers formed the new 'Folgore' Regiment, which also continued to fight alongside German forces until 1945.
In both cases, the pro-Allied Italian forces also formed 'mirror' units to fight alongside US and British forces, including the Recce Squadron 'F', the first Italian military unit to take up arms against the Germans occupying their country, and the Mariassalto, made up of personnel from Xa MAS who fought alongside British Royal Navy special units.
Featuring rare photographs and specially commissioned artwork, this book tells the story of the little-known elite forces fielded by Italy's navy and air force in World War II, some of whose successors remain in service with today's Italian armed forces.
Автор: Hammel, Eric Mckelvey Cleaver, Thomas Название: Cactus air force ISBN: 1472851072 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781472851079 Издательство: Osprey Рейтинг: Цена: 24750.00 T Наличие на складе: Поставка под заказ. Описание: Using diary entries, interviews and first-hand accounts, this vivid narrative brings to life the struggle in the air over the island of Guadalcanal between August 20 and November 15, 1942. For 40 years from 1961, the late Eric Hammel interviewed more than 150 American participants in the air campaign at Guadalcanal, none of whom are still alive. These interviews are the most comprehensive first-person accounts of the battle assembled by any historian.
More importantly, they involved the junior officers and enlisted men whose stories and memories were not part of the official history, thus providing a unique insight. The battle of Guadalcanal was the first offensive operation undertaken by the US and its allies in the Pacific War. "Cactus," the code name for the island, became a sinkhole for Japanese air and naval power, experienced forces whose losses could never be made good.
The three months of air battles between August 20, 1942, when the first Marine air unit arrived on the island, and November 15, when the last enemy attempt to retake the island was defeated, were perhaps the most important of the Pacific War. After November 15, 1942, the US never looked back as its forces moved across the Pacific to the war's inevitable conclusion. The Cactus Air Force is a joint project between the late Eric Hammel and Pacific War expert Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, and is unlike any other of the many histories of this event that have been published over the years.
Автор: U. S. Air Force, Office of Air Force History Название: History of the Air Corps Tactical School 1920 - 1940 ISBN: 150860052X ISBN-13(EAN): 9781508600527 Издательство: Неизвестно Цена: 14890.00 T Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Автор: U. S. Air Force, Office of Air Force History Название: A Concise History of the U.S. Air Force ISBN: 1507813945 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781507813942 Издательство: Неизвестно Цена: 17190.00 T Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ. Описание: Except in a few instances, since World War II no American soldier or sailor has been attacked by enemy air power. Conversely, no enemy soldier orsailor has acted in combat without being attacked or at least threatened by American air power. Aviators have brought the air weapon to bear against enemies while denying them the same prerogative. This is the legacy of the U.S. AirForce, purchased at great cost in both human and material resources.More often than not, aerial pioneers had to fight technological ignorance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy, and disagreement over purpose.Every step in the evolution of air power led into new and untrodden territory, driven by humanitarian impulses; by the search for higher, faster, and farther flight; or by the conviction that the air way was the best way. Warriors have always coveted the high ground. If technology permitted them to reach it, men, women andan air force held and exploited it-from Thomas Selfridge, first among so many who gave that "last full measure of devotion"; to Women's Airforce Service Pilot Ann Baumgartner, who broke social barriers to become the first Americanwoman to pilot a jet; to Benjamin Davis, who broke racial barriers to become the first African American to command a flying group; to Chuck Yeager, a one-time non-commissioned flight officer who was the first to exceed the speed of sound; to John Levitow, who earned the Medal of Honor by throwing himself over a live flare to save his gunship crew; to John Warden, who began a revolution in air power thought and strategy that was put to spectacular use in the Gulf War.Industrialization has brought total war and air power has brought the means to overfly an enemy's defenses and attack its sources of power directly. Americans have perceived air power from the start as a more efficient means of waging war and as a symbol of the nation's commitment to technology to master challenges, minimize casualties, and defeat adversaries.
Автор: Ken, Delve, Название: Desert air force in world war ii ISBN: 1399083260 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781399083263 Издательство: Неизвестно Рейтинг: Цена: 17940.00 T Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ. Описание: Documents the first time that the RAF struck back at Hitlers Reich.
"Written from the unusual perspective of a navigator, this is a compelling account of the air war against Germany." -Publishers Weekly
They began operations out of England in the spring of '43. They flew their Flying Fortresses almost daily against strategic targets in Europe in the name of freedom. Their astonishing courage and appalling losses earned them the name that resounds in the annals of aerial warfare and made the "Bloody Hundredth" a legend.
Harry H. Crosby-soon to be portrayed by Anthony Boyle in the miniseries Masters of the Air developed by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg-arrived with the very first crews, and left with the very last. After dealing with his fear and gaining in skill and confidence, he was promoted to Group Navigator, surviving hairbreadth escapes and eluding death while leading thirty-seven missions, some of them involving two thousand aircraft. Now, in a breathtaking and often humorous account, he takes us into the hearts and minds of these intrepid airmen to experience both the triumph and the white-knuckle terror of the war in the skies.
"Affecting . . . A vivid account . . . Uncommonly thoughtful recollections that address the moral ambiguities of a great cause without in any way denigrating the selfless valor or camaraderie that helped ennoble it." -Kirkus Reviews
"Re-creates for us the sense of how it was when European skies were filled with noise and danger, when the fate of millions hung in the balance. An evocative and excellent memoir." -Library Journal
"The acrid stench of fear and cordite, the coal burning stoves, the heroics, the losses . . . This has to be the best memoir I have read, bar none." -George Hicks, director of the Airmen Memorial Museum
General Douglas MacArthur ended World War II controlling one of the most powerful air forces in the world. This fascinating history, now available in paperback, traces its development from its origins in the Philippines through to its eventual victory in the skies over Japan and its key role in the Korean War.
General Douglas MacArthur is one of the towering figures of World War II, and indeed of the twentieth century, but his leadership of the second largest air force in the USAAF is often overlooked. When World War II ended, the three numbered air forces (the Fifth, Thirteenth, and Seventh) under his command possessed 4,004 combat aircraft, 433 reconnaissance aircraft and 922 transports. After being humbled by the Japanese in the Philippines in 1942, MacArthur and his air chief General George Kenney rebuilt the US aerial presence in the Pacific, helping Allied naval and ground forces to push back the Japanese Air Force, retake the Philippines, and carry the war north towards the Home Islands. Following the end of World War II, MacArthur was the highest military and political authority in Japan and at the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 he was named as Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command. In the ten months of his command, his Far East Air Forces increased dramatically and saw the first aerial combat between jet fighters. Written by award-winning aviation historian Bill Yenne, this engrossing and widely-acclaimed title, now available in paperback, traces the journey of American air forces in the Pacific under General MacArthur's command, from their lowly beginnings to their eventual triumph over Imperial Japan, followed by their entry into the jet age in the skies over Korea.
Автор: Tufail Kaiser Название: Against All Odds: The Pakistan Air Force in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War ISBN: 1913118649 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781913118648 Издательство: Неизвестно Рейтинг: Цена: 21070.00 T Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ. Описание: Against All Odds tells the story of the Pakistan Air Force in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Richly illustrated with a selection of exclusive photography, artworks and maps, it provides a unique source of reference for enthusiasts and professionals alike.
Казахстан, 010000 г. Астана, проспект Туран 43/5, НП2 (офис 2) ТОО "Логобук" Тел:+7 707 857-29-98 ,+7(7172) 65-23-70 www.logobook.kz
