Osprey's study of air battle tactics of World War II (1939-1945). The delivery of entire divisions to battlefields behind enemy lines by parachute and glider played a significant part in the European campaigns of World War II. Despite notable successes, the costs and difficulties of this wholly new form of warfare have prevented airborne operations on a comparable scale since 1945. This book - by an airborne veteran of a later generation - explains in detail their advantages and drawbacks, developing techniques and equipment, with reference to specific German, US, British, Soviet and Japanese...
Osprey's study of air battle tactics of World War II (1939-1945). The delivery of entire divisions to battlefields behind enemy lines by parachute and...
Osprey's examination of the United States' amphibious tactics during World War II (1939-1945). The US armed forces were responsible for many tactical innovations during the years 1941-5, but in no field was US mastery more complete than amphibious warfare. The US armed forces pioneered amphibious warfare in the Pacific and later in the Mediterranean but it was against Fortress Europe that the most famous and the most successful amphibious assault took place. On D-Day the Allies invaded German-held Normandy in a pre-dawn amphibious assault by American, British and Canadian forces. The US had...
Osprey's examination of the United States' amphibious tactics during World War II (1939-1945). The US armed forces were responsible for many tactical ...
Osprey's examination of Slovenia and Croatia's armies' involvement in the Yugoslav Wars (1991-1995). Following the death of the Yugoslavian strongman President Tito in 1980, the several semi-autonomous republics and provinces that he had welded into a nation in 1945 moved inexorably towards separation. After a deceptively clean break for independence by Slovenia in 1991, the world watched a series of other wars rip through this modern European state. In this first of two volumes, experts on the Balkan region give an unprecedentedly clear, concise explanation of the Slovene, Croatian and...
Osprey's examination of Slovenia and Croatia's armies' involvement in the Yugoslav Wars (1991-1995). Following the death of the Yugoslavian strongman ...
Osprey's examination of the First Special Service Force of the second half of World War II (1939-1945). This famous unit was formed with three battalions in July 1942, for special operations in occupied Norway, from handpicked US and Canadian volunteers who were trained in parachute, amphibious, ski, mountain and demolition operations and other 'Special Forces' skills. Their training base was Fort Harrison, Montana. In the event the Force first saw combat in Italy. There they distinguished themselves, at heavy cost, in the battles of La Difensa (Dec 1943), Mte Majo (Jan 1944), on the Anzio...
Osprey's examination of the First Special Service Force of the second half of World War II (1939-1945). This famous unit was formed with three batt...
Osprey's examination of Finland's involvement in World War II (1939-1945). Finland's fight to defend her independence earned this tiny nation of just 3 million people a distinct place in history. Invaded by Stalin before World War II, Finland held out for months and inflicted huge losses on the invaders, but she was eventually crushed by the weight of Soviet numbers. When Germany invaded the USSR in 1941 the Finns fought alongside the Wehrmacht on the northern Russian Front, with great skill and courage in an attempt to regain their lost territories. When the German armies were forced to...
Osprey's examination of Finland's involvement in World War II (1939-1945). Finland's fight to defend her independence earned this tiny nation of just ...
Osprey's detailed study of the fascinating and proud history of the Canadian Airborne Regiments, from World War II (1939-1945) to the present day. The 1st Canadian Parachute Bn jumped into Normandy on D-Day as part of 6th British Airborne Division. They fought with distinction for the rest of the North-West Europe campaign, making a second combat jump at the Rhine crossings in March 1945, and fighting in Holland until VE-Day. In the post-war years the Canadian SAS and the Mobile Striking Force maintained an airborne capability, formalized in 1968 with the raising of a Canadian Airborne Regt,...
Osprey's detailed study of the fascinating and proud history of the Canadian Airborne Regiments, from World War II (1939-1945) to the present day. The...
Some of the most famous Western movies have been set against the background of the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century. Now, for the first time in English, Osprey offer a concise but fact-packed account of the events, armies, uniforms and weapons of those ten chaotic and bloody years, putting in context such famous but half-understood names as Diaz, Pancho Villa, Zapata, Madero and Huerta. The text is illustrated with many rare and fascinating period photographs, and with eight detailed color plates of orfiristas and Rurales, Maderisitas, Federales, Villistas, Zapatistas, and US...
Some of the most famous Western movies have been set against the background of the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century. Now, for the first ti...
Osprey's study of British commandos of World War II (1939-1945). The largest, but least-known of all Britain's elite wartime Commando raiding units, No.10 (Inter-Allied) was recruited from volunteers of many nations who had fled to Britain to carry on the fight after their own countries fell to the Nazis. Alongside Poles, Frenchmen, Dutchmen, Belgians, Norwegians and patriots from even further afield, the unit even included a small number of remarkably brave German and Austrian refugees from Nazism. These commandos took part in daring raids, intelligence missions and conventional infantry...
Osprey's study of British commandos of World War II (1939-1945). The largest, but least-known of all Britain's elite wartime Commando raiding units, N...
Osprey's examination of the warring sides of the American Civil War (1861-1865). In 1861, Oklahoma (Indian Territory) was the recent home of the transported Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole). When the Civil War broke out, both Union and Confederate state forces moved in and began fighting, both in the Indian Territory and across the borders of neighbouring states (mainly Kansas, but also Texas and Arkansas). Indians were recruited by both sides, and took the opportunity to pursue traditional hostilities which were supported by a variety of regular troops,...
Osprey's examination of the warring sides of the American Civil War (1861-1865). In 1861, Oklahoma (Indian Territory) was the recent home of the trans...
Osprey's examination of the Irish Regiments and their involvement in World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945).
The tens of thousands of Irish soldiers who fought in the British Army in World War I gained a fierce fighting reputation, distinguishing themselves at Ypres, Gallipoli, the Somme, and Palestine. On the first day of the Somme, only three divisions succeeded in achieving their objectives: the seizure of the Schwaben Redoubt by the Ulster brigade, against all the odds, vividly demonstrated how this reputation was won.
Despite the establishment of the Irish...
Osprey's examination of the Irish Regiments and their involvement in World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945).