Books about Spearheads from Amazon.com

Raised in Holland in 1939, Das Reich became on of the deadliest of Hitler's tank divisions, fighting with distinction in many of the war's major battles After taking part in the Blitzkrieg in the West, Das Reich moved east and took part in operations in the Balkans and Operation 'Barbarossa'. Hitler's invasion of Russia. It stayed on the eastern front until October 1943, taking part in some of the biggest tank battles in history, such as those at Kharkov and Kursk.

In Normandy, Das Reich's mixture of veterans and recruits was all but destroyed by the time the Falaise gap was closed. It would spend the last days of the war refitting and then fighting in Hungary and Austria, where it surrendered to American forces.

Mike Sharpe has written and contributed to many aviation and military titles, while Brian Davis is a uniform and insignia specialist who has written extensively on the subject..
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The new 'Spearhead' series is designed to look at the cutting edge of war, dealing with units capable of operating completely independently in the forefront of battle. Each volume in the series examines the chosen unit's origins and history, its organization and order of battle, its battle history theater by theatrer, its insignia and its markings. Also covered are biographies of the most important commanders of each unit. Each title ends with an assessment of unit effectiveness - as seen by the unit itself, by its opponents and the light of more recent historical research. The books also include a detailed reference section with a critical bibliography, a listing of relevant museums and web sites, information about reenactment groups and memorials.

The British 7th Armoured Division will be remembered best by its small red shoulder flash that depicted Jaculus Orientalis-the Greater Egyptian Jerboa. Hardy, highly mobile and most at home in the desert, the human Desert Rats proved masters of desert fighting- as have their modern day descendants, the 7th Armoured Brigade, now operating in Iraq. As part of O'Connor's Western Desert Force, the Desert Rats helped to destroy the Italian forces that had started the war in the Western Desert-the Italian Tenth Army being completely defeated at Beda Fomm 5-7 February 1941; then they fought toe-to-toe with Rommel's feared Deutsches Afrika Korps in a seesaw campaign that ended in May 1943 with the surrender of Axis forces in North Africa. Next they were involved in one of the major amphibious landings of the war in Europe as part of the US Fifth Army at Salerno, fighting on northwards through Italy, until withdrawn back to UK, to take part in the Second Front as a vital component of the spearhead of British forces in Normandy, landing at Arromanches on 7 June 1944. They had to learn new skills in the close French bocage countryside, so different to the limitless space of the desert. And they did so the hard way with heavy losses at Villers-Bocage. From then on the division was hardly ever out of action: advancing across Europe from Lisieux in France through Belgium where it relieved Ghent and, finally, on to northern Germany where it took the surrender of Hamburg. These tough troops were then honored by being chosen to go to Berlin to take part in the great Victory Parade of 1945.For all those interested in military history, the new 'Spearhead' series is an excellent account of each of the individual units. Written by acknowledged experts in the subject, each volume is a detailed account of the development and operational record of some of the most famous military units in history..
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On 27 July 1936, Adolf Hitler sent the Nationalists 26 German fighter aircraft. He also sent 30 Junkers 52s from Berlin and Stuttgart to Morocco Over the next couple of weeks the aircraft transported over 15,000 troops to Spain. In September 1936, Lieutenant Colonel Walther Warlimont of the German General Staff arrived as the German commander and military adviser to General Francisco Franco. The following month Warlimont suggested that a German Condor Legion should be formed to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Hitler gave permission and the initial force consisted a Bomber Group of three squadrons of Ju52 bombers; a Fighter Group with three squadrons of He51 fighters; a Reconnaissance Group with two squadrons of He99 and He70 reconnaissance bombers; and a Seaplane Squadron of He59 and He60 floatplanes.

The Condor Legion participated in all the major engagements including Brunete, Teruel, Aragon and Ebro. During the war it threw up a number of important names-such as Werner Moelders, credited with fourteen kills, more than any other German pilot and Adolf Galland. It also allowed the Germans to practise the tactics that Blitzkrieg would make famous, such as close-air support. In the Asturias campaign in September 1937, Galland experimented with new bombing tactics. This became known as carpet bombing. German aircraft dropped 16,953,700 kilos of bombs during the war and air units expended 4,327,949 rounds of machine-gun ammunition-the most obvious casualty was the market town of Guernica whose obliteration has been immortalised by Picasso. A total of 19,000 Germans served in the Spanish Civil War. Of these, 298 were lost, with 173 being killed by the enemy. This included 102 aircrew, 27 fighter pilots and 21 anti-aircraft crew. A large number were killed in accidents and others died of illness. The Condor Legion lost 72 aircraft to enemy action. Another 160 were lost in flying accidents. The Condor Legion returned home in 1938 and there was a big parade through Berlin to commemorate its success. For all those interested in military history, the new 'Spearhead' series is an excellent account of each of the individual units. Written by acknowledged experts in the subject, each volume is a detailed account of the development and operational record of some of the most famous military units in history..
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The second volume in the Spearhead series focuses on the Grossdeutschland Division, the German Army's premier mechanized unit in World War II.. Each Spearhead title includes an evaluation of the units combat effectiveness as seen by the unit, its opponents and subsequent researchers, and a research section including a bibliography and a listing of museums, websites, re-enactment groups and memorials..
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Officially a part of the Luftwaffe, Germany's parachute units were organized into the 7th Flieger Division in July 1938 under General Kurt Student. In the German invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940 the parachute units stunned the world and laid the basis for an airborne mystique that has endured to the present day..
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The new Spearhead series is designed to look at the cutting edge of war, dealing with units capable of operating completely independently in the forefront of battle. The 21st Panzer Division gained greatest fame in North Africa, but also served in Normandy and on the Russian Front..
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