Armoured Warfare In The Battle For Normandy

This fully illustrated WWII history offers a vivid look at the armored vehicles used by Allied and Nazi forces during D-Day and the Normandy Campaign. The remarkable photographs collected here illustrate in graphic detail the role armor played in the Allied D-Day landings and the liberation of occupied France—as well as the skill and tenacity of the German panzer units that confronted them. The struggle gave rise to a sequence of battles that were among the most intense, and critical, of any fought in the Second World War. Anthony Tucker-Jones traces the course of the armored campaign through these striking wartime photographs: the D-Day landings, the first clashes of the opposing tanks and anti-tank guns, then the Allied operations that culminated in the Allied breakthrough and the destruction of the German 5th Panzer Army at Falaise. The images offer a fascinating inside view of the fighting itself and of the widespread destruction it caused. But they also record the routines of tank warfare, and give a vivid impression of the experience of the tank crews of the day and of the tanks they operated, including the German Mk IVs, Panthers, and Tigers, and the Allied Shermans, Churchills and specialized tanks, such as Hobart’s Funnies, that confronted each other in France.

This book is an innovative study of the Normandy campaign and the perceived failure of British forces there. It is essential reading for all students of military history and general readers with an interest in the subject.

The Fifth Armored Division's record of achievement in World War Two is unsurpassed by that of any other division. It led the Normandy breakthrough; it sprang the Falaise trap which meant the death of the Seventh German Army and the Field Marshal who commanded it; it was the first division to reach the Eure River, the Seine, and the Our; it cut off near Mons thousands of Germans; it was the first to enter Germany and at the end of the war it was nearer to Berlin than any combat group in the American Army. This is the history of that division and the men and tanks that fought in it. Vic Hillery and Major Emerson Hurley, two veterans of the division, have provided a thorough account of this fascinating division in World War Two, from its inception in 1941 through to the end of the war. Hillery and Hurley fully explain how the Fifth Division, under the tactically brilliant leadership of Jack E. Heard, Sereno E. Brett and Lunsford E. Oliver, were able to revolutionise armored warfare. With detailed analysis the authors reconstruct the battles of the division and explain how they were able to carve a path through Normandy, Northern France, the Ardennes, Alsace, the Rhineland and Central Europe. Paths of Armor is essential reading for anyone interested in the Western Front of World War Two and the development of tank warfare that occurred through that war.

Two volume British record of the victorious Allied campaign in North-West Europe during World War II.

“Right[s] some of the injustices done to the Canadians” on their maligned actions during the Invasion of Normandy. “An absorbing account” (Firetrench). The Canadian Fourth Armoured Division crossed the Channel in July 1944 to support the invading forces and assist in the Allied attempts to break out of the Normandy beachhead. They were heavily engaged in Operation Totalize and Operation Tractable but have been criticized for their failure to close the ‘Falaise gap’ and complete the entrapment of withdrawing German forces. Their commander, Major General George Kitching, was relieved of his command after just twenty-one days in action. Angelo Caravaggio reexamines the division’s performance and particularly that of its leadership. Using new information, he establishes that, despite entering battle for the first time during one of the most challenging phases of Allied operations in August 1944, the 4th Armoured Division, under Kitching’s leadership, proved resilient and adaptive in overcoming the volatile and unpredictable nature of warfare in Normandy. The combat operations of August 1944 transformed the division into a battle-hardened combat formation that would later distinguish itself through its ability to generate a sustained drive across France out of the chaos and destruction of the Normandy battles. “The author uses new information to demonstrate the unit did show flexibility and adapted to the battlefield quickly, despite being thrown into battle during one of the Normandy Campaign’s critical phases. His arguments are detailed and based upon in-depth research, and the book has many detailed maps to help the reader follow the action.” —Warfare History Network

Explores the doctrinal, strategic, and tactical ideas behind World War II tank combat Contains detailed maps and diagrams Critiques the performances of commanders like George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and others Focusing on five Allied tank operations from July to September 1944--Operations Goodwood, Cobra, Totalize, and Tractable and Patton's tank battles around Arracourt--armor expert Roman Jarymowycz draws on after-action reports, extensive battlefield reconnaissance, recently discovered battle performance reviews, and war diaries to evaluate the successes and failures of the art of armored warfare as practiced by Allied tank commanders in France in 1944.

At 21:00 on 9 May 1940 Codeword Danzig was issued alerting Adolf Hitler's airborne troops that they were about to spearhead an attack on Belgium and the Netherlands. The following day his blitzkrieg rolled forward striking the British Expeditionary Force and the French armies in Belgium and in northern France at Sedan. The desperate attempts of the allied armies to stem the Nazi tide proved futile and, once their reserves had been exhausted and the remaining forces cut off, Paris lay open. By early June, it was all over - trapped British, Belgian and French troops were forced to evacuate Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne and the defeated French army agreed to an armistice leaving the country divided in two. This dramatic story is shown in a sequence of over 150 historic photographs that Anthony Tucker-Jones he has selected for this memorable book. The images he has chosen cover every aspect of this extraordinary campaign, but his main focus is on the vital role played by the armoured fighting vehicles of both sides. The book is a graphic record of the destruction wrought by the Wehrmacht's lightning offensive through the Low Countries and France.

While the Allied armies were deadlocked with the Germans in Normandy after D-Day and even as they broke out and began their long advance, another campaign was being fought against the Germans in southern France and it is this campaign, which is often neglected in accounts of the liberation of Europe, that is the subject of Anthony Tucker-Joness latest photographic history. In a sequence of over 150 wartime photographs he tells the story, from the amphibious invasion of the French Riviera Operation Dragoon to the battle at Montelimar, the forcing of the Belfort gap, the destruction of German resistance in the Colmar pocket and the entry of Allied forces into southern Germany. His concise narrative gives a graphic overview of each phase of the operations, and the selection of photographs shows the American, French and German forces in action. The mechanized and armoured units and their equipment are a particular feature of the book. The photographs are a valuable visual record of the tanks, guns, jeeps and trucks the most up-to-date military vehicles and weaponry of the time as they moved along the roads and through the towns and countryside of southern France.