Gunner S Glory

They were warriors, trained to fight, dedicated to their country, and determined to win. At Guadalcanal, the Marine Corps’ machine gunners took everything the Japanese could throw at them in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II; their position was so hopeless that at one point they were given the go-ahead to surrender. Near the Chosin Reservoir in Korea, as the mercury dropped to twenty below, the 1st Marine Division found itself surrounded and cut off by the enemy. The outlook seemed so bleak that many in Washington had privately written off the men. But surrender is not part of a Marine’s vocabulary. Gunner’s Glory contains true stories of these and other tough battles in the Pacific, in Korea, and in Vietnam, recounted by the machine gunners who fought them. Bloody, wounded, sometimes barely alive, they stayed with their guns, delivering a stream of firepower that often turned defeat into victory–and always made them the enemy’s first target.

From the all-conquering side of the 1930s to the Double-winning teams of 1971, 1998 and 2002, Arsenal Football Club have been one of the major forces in English football. Graham Weaver plots the club's progress from their first silverware in 1930 to the present day through the 14 most significant games in Arsenal's history, both domestically and in Europe. The club's greatest triumphs, such as Anfield in 1989, Copenhagen in 1994 and Old Trafford in 2002, are covered, with a thorough description of the players and their strengths and weaknesses, a full background to each game and details of the match itself, together with quotes and contributions from those who took part. This book is a must for those who remember fondly the cup final wins, Championship deciders and European successes of Arsenal's distant and recent past, or for those who wish to learn more about the history of London's premier club.

This is the story of the 1st Air Landing Light Regiment RA and its role in the Italian campaign and at the Battle of Arnhem. It is also the story of one of its soldiers: 14283058 Gunner Eric Wright Chrystal, father of the authors. Eric joined the army in September 1942 and, after training, joined the newly formed glider-borne regiment the following year. He first saw action in Italy in 1943, where he was seriously wounded. On 17 September 1944, two years to the day since he enlisted, he and the regiment were landed by glider near to Arnhem in the Netherlands. The authors recount set their father’s experiences in context by describing the formation of the unit and the many months of training in England. Their involvement in the Italian campaign, where Eric served with E Troop, 3 Battery, is then recounted, detailing their actions at Rionero, Foggia and Campobasso, where Eric was wounded. It then moves on to describe 1st Air Landing Light Regiment’s preparation for and involvement in Operation Market (the Airborne half of Market Garden). This very detailed account of the fighting highlights the regiment’s pivotal (but often neglected) role near Arnhem bridge. Here, after nine days of intense combat, Eric was among the many captured and held until the end of the war. The inclusion of Eric’s own eyewitness testimony lends a very personal touch to this excellent account of the regiment’s experience of combat and life in the PoW camps.

CHASING THE COBRA recreates the early 19th Century Mediterranean where Barbary pirates prowl free, seizing merchant ships, enslaving their crews and collecting ransom. Especially notorious is Haddim, The Indestructible, an elusive renegade known for his cunning and brutality. It took the fledgling American Navy two campaigns to secure peace in the Med, one before and one after the War of 1812. During both campaigns, Captain Jonathon Coyne is in the midst of the action. Complicating his life is the Contessa Luisa Cortolini, a sophisticate of extraordinary beauty and charm whom he meets at a reception in Siracusa. She lures him into a passionate affair, but he soon discovers that his is not the only heart she fancies. Between fierce battles at sea and duplicity in love, Coyne is tested over and over on land and sea.

Between 1965 and 1973 Strategic Air Command B-52 gunners flew an unprecedented number of combat hours in the Vietnam War. Gunners with three and four hundred missions were not uncommon. Most did their job with bravery and uncommon valor during a time when arrays of SAM missiles were being launched at them from sites in North Vietnam. At times some of them got a little rowdy, and their antics often surprised and perplexed the zeroes, the officers they flew with. This exciting and sometimes hilarious story about them closely resembles the truth.

Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack - 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities. An excellent memoir from one of Stonewall Jackson’s artillery officers who fought throughout the Civil War until final defeat. Born in Rockbridge County, Virginia in 1835, the opening of the Civil War found William T. Poague practicing law in Missouri. As the first shots began flying he repaired to his home state to offer his services to the Confederate army. He started his army life as a second lieutenant in the famous Rockbridge Virginia Artillery and would fight with gallantry, courage and great skill on many Civil War battlefields. He was engaged at First Manassas, Romney, Kernstown, the Seven Days Campaign, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, Harper’s Ferry Antietam, and Fredericksberg. By this time his distinguished conduct had led him to be promoted to Major and fought on at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Cold Harbor before the final surrender at Appomattox. This edition was edited by noted Civil War historian Monroe F. Cockerell and has an excellent introduction by Bell Irwin Wiley.