Böcker utgivna av Naval & Military Press

One of Britain's major cities, and the cradle of the industrial revolution, Manchester's contribution to the nation's effort in the Great War was enormous. This huge reference volume, originally published in 1916, offers ample testimony to the 'City Battalions' (referred to elsewhere in Lancashire as 'Pals' Battalions). The units commemorated here are the 23 battalions of the Manchester Regiment itself comprising some 11,000 names. They are arranged in descending order by battalion, company and platoon - and each platoon is accompanied by a group photograph. The Roll of Honour of volunteers include the Manchester Corporation; the Ship Canal, and scores of Manchester firms. As the local magnate the Earl of Derby wrote in the book's foreword: "Manchester has every reason to be proud of its sons".

First raised in 1715 as Dromer's Dragoons to combat the Jacobite rebellion of that year, the 14th (King's) Hussars became one of the most distinguished regiments in the British cavalry. Decimated by disease while deployed in the Caribbean at the end of the 19th century, and left with just 25 survivors, the regiment re-recruited and was sent to Spain in 1808. It fought throughout the Peninsular War until 1814, returning to Britain for a respite after crossing the Pyrenees with Wellington in 1814. Within weeks, however, the regiment was in action again in America, taking part in the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. Deployed in India in the 1840s, the regiment fought in the first Sikh War and the Indian Mutiny. For the rest of the 19th century, the regiment alternated between India and garrison duty in Ireland. This is a handsome reprint of the 14th (King's) Hussars Regimental History first published in 1901. This complete history, presented chronologically, details the commanders, operations and uniforms from 1715-1900 and is complemented with superb full colour plates of uniforms and standards, and photographs of the regimental commanders during this period. Detailed maps show operational campaign details

William Siborne, the author of this fascinating history of Waterloo, was himself a fascinating figure. The son of an officer who had fought at Waterloo, he grew up obsessed by the battle, and set himself the task of constructing an enormous model of the action. To this end, he interviewed scores of survivors and tirelessly toured the battlefield, measuring instruments in hand, and received generous cash support from both Waterloo veterans and a grateful government. But when Siborne - as a matter of strict historical accuracy, for which he was a stickler - insisted on including Blucher's Prussian army at the turning point of the action, and thus appeared to downgrade Wellington as the architect of victory, he lost the support of the Iron Duke - and of the entire Establishment with its cash. Siborne, a stubborn man, refused to back down and exhibited his famous model - complete with those pesky Prussians! This book is the literary equivalent of his model - an exhaustive and avowedly objective account of the battle and the campaign that led up to it, complete with an appendix giving the Order of Battle. However many books there may be on Waterloo - this one is absolutely indispensible.

As every schoolboy knows, the modern British Army owes its origins to the place and period covered by this book: Scotland from the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 to the Glorious Revolution. From the formation of the Coldstream Guards, many of the British army's proudest Scottish regiments were first founded during this turbulent time. The first part of the book consists of biographies of commanders of the Scottish army - most of them native Scots aristocrats, but including the ill-fated bastard son of Charles II, James, Duke of Monmouth - whilke the second half consists of facts and figures of the units themselves - including their personnel and officers - that made up the Royal forces north of the border. This book, handsomely reproduced from its first edition published almost a century ago, is a mine of information for all those interested in the origins of the British army and in Scottish military history.

Most of the casualties inflicted during the Great War were caused by artillery, yet the achievement of the Artillery in the conflict can often be overlooked. This history of the Army Ordnance Services is therefore, an important and welcome work. Written by the man who commanded the Royal Artillery Ordnance Corps in the conflict, Maj.Gen. A. Forbes, this history offers a full account of what the author rightly describes as 'Ultimately the decisive factor in the greatest struggle which mankind has known'. The Corps expanded from 30 officers and 1,360 men in 1914 to 800 officers and 15,000 men in 1918. Ordnance at its disposal was less than 1,000 tons in 1914, but in France alone totalled 336,450 tons at the war's end - delivering 9000 tons of shot and shell to the Army every day. Apart from ammunition, the Ordnance Corps was also responsible for providing the fighting man with virtually all he needed in the trenches apart from food: including sandbags, l barbed wire, gas masks and even the gum boots to withstand the Flanders mud. This fascinating book is the real story of the sinews of war without which the conflict could not have been fought.

The Inniskillings are one of the proudest names in the history of Irish regiments in the British Army. Originating from a local defence force raised in the town of its name in the time of King William III, the Inniskillings fought in Ireland and Flanders under that monarch. They were employed as marines under the ill-fated Admiral Byng in the Mediterranean; and in the War of Jenkins' Ear. Used to help quell Bonnie Prince Charlie's 1745 rebellion, the regiment played its part in winning Canada from the French in the Seven Years' War, and served in the American War of Independence. Expanded to two, then three battalions the Inniskillings covered themselves with glory in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, - fightiung the French in Egypt, and the Peninsular War, in which their battle honours include Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, NIvelle, Orthez and Toulouse. The first Battalion of the Regiment won laurels at Waterloo and was frequently deployed in India during the 19th century. (This history contains a chapter on the 108th [Madras Infantry] Regiment, and its forebear, the 3rd [Madras Infantry] Regiment which was raised to combat the Indian Mutiny. It was re-designated at the 2nd battalion of the Inniskillings in 1881). The Inniskillings subsequently saw service in the Boer War. This fine history takes the Regiment's story up to the outbreak of the Great War. It includes 30 b/w photos; 16 colour prints, 21 maps and a list of the Regiment's COs.

This volume's main theme is the 9th Australian Division's contribution in 1941-42 to the defeat in North Africa of the German and Italian Army commanded by Field Marshal Rommel.In March 1941, soon after its formation, the division was sent untrained and without its artillery to Cyrenaica as part of a garrison force which, within a few weeks, took the brunt of a surprise advance by Rommel's newly-arrived armoured force. Retreaing to Tobruk the division withstood, with the support of British armoured, artillery and machine-gun units, several assaults and a long siege, and maintained a threat on the flank of Rommel's long line of communications to the Egyptian frontier.Before the siege ended the division was withdrawn by sea but in the succeeding year it was recalled to the front as Rommel's forces were approaching the El Alamein defences, only 70 miles from Alexandria. In General Auchinleck's counter-offensive in July 1942 it captured the Tel el Eisa ridges and other important positions near the coast and later under General Montgomery took a leading part in Rommel's defeat in the battle of El Alamein.As well as recording the exploits of Australian soldiers, the book examines the actions of the generals who successively commanded the Middle East Forces and the Eighth Army - Wavell, Auchinleck, Cunningham, Ritchie, Alexander and Montgomery. The inter-governmental differences concerning the 9th Division's withdrawal from Tobruk and its later return to Australia are also related.An appendix recounts the experiences of Australian prisoners of war in Europe.

This volume, the first of seven in the army series of the official history of Australia in the war of 1939-45, carries the story of the Second AIF up to the end of the operations in Cyrenaica in the first quarter of 1941. It tells briefly the story of the Australian Army from 1919 to 1939 and describes the raising of an expeditionary force for service in Hitler's war. It discusses some of the problems encountered by the commanders of that force in the Middle East in 1940 - often problems of enduring interest in that they have been met and will be met again by other leaders of the forces of minor partners in a coalition war. The defeat of the Italian army in Cyrenaica by the 7th Armoured and 6th Australian Divisions is narrated in a degree of detail made possible by reliance not only on contemporary reports and war diaries but on private papers and interviews and correspondence with a large number of participants. Finally the question whether the British political leaders in February 1941 missed a golden opportunity of marching on to Tripoli and securing great strategical gains is examined in the light of hitherto unpublished documents from both the Allied and the Axis side.

The second of the two Macedonia campaign volumes completes the narrative of British military operations in that Balkan theatre. The four months from late May to early September 1917 were relatively uneventful apart from raids, the most dramatic occurrence being a major fire in Salonika which destroyed between a third and a half of the Greek city, rendering 80,000 people homeless. Towards the end of 1917 things livened up, with operations in the Struma Valley, and at the end of the year the Allied C-in-C, the French General Sarrail, was recalled and replaced by Gen. Guillaumat. In May/June 1918 there were Franco-Greek operations, a testing rehearsal for the planned final offensive which was launched in September. The battles of Dobropolje and Dojran caused the Bulgarians to retreat. The narrative takes the story through the Allied pursuit to the armistice with Bulgaria on 30 September 1918. Total battle casualties among British and Indian troops amounted to 23,762; total non-battle casualties numbered 481,262, of whom just over 198,000 were malaria cases.

This volume in the Official History of The Great War covers the first half of the campaign in East Africa (the planned second volume was never published). The fighting in 'German East' - the German colony comprising the modern state of Tanzania - became one of the most famous guerilla wars in history, and the tenacious and cunning German commander, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, won the respect of his enemies for the clever way he resisted all attempts to subdue his tiny force of European officers and highly trained native 'Askaris'. But, despite Lettow-Vorbeck's fame, the Allied side of the war - involving international forces from South Africa and India as well as Britain, is virtually unknown. Of all the subsidiary enterprises undertaken during The Great War, the operations described in this volume are probably the least known. The only regular British battalion involved was the 2nd Loyal N. Lancs. The early stages were disastrous for the British, beginning with the unsuccessful attack from the sea on the port of Tanga, described as "one of the most notable failures in British military history." The British commander was replaced and ordered home, while on the German side Tanga proved the first of many victories for the commander who would earn the admiration of friend and foe alike and remain undefeated right through the war: von Lettow-Vorbeck.

This volume of the Official History of The Great War in subsidiary theatres contains a well-written account of a little-known campaign, overshadowed by the Western Front, Gallipoli and other theatres, including the war in German East Africa. The conquest of Togoland took just under three weeks, beginning on 7 August 1914 when troops of the Gold Coast Regiment crossed the border while French colonial troops moved in from Dahomey and Upper Senegal. It was all over on 26 August. On 12 August RSM Alhaji Grunshi, DCM, MM, of the Gold Coast Regiment, fired the first shot of the Togoland campaign and probably the first rifle shot fired by any soldier of the British Army in The Great War. The Cameroons campaign was a particularly arduous one; the troops had to contend with thick bush, wide rivers, swamps and rugged and hilly country, and the enemy resistance was stiffer. It began on 24 August when troops of the Nigeria Regiment crossed the border at various points, followed a month later by a Franco-British expedition under Brig (later Maj) General Dobell. A Belgian detachment from the Congo joined in October. The operation ended on 18 February 1916 with the German surrender, by which time an area the size of Germany had been conquered. No British troops were involved other than officers and NCOs serving with African units. Casualties were very light.

Inspired by the sermons of the radical cleric John Ball, and led by Wat Tyler, a contingent of Kentish rebels advanced on London. They were met at Blackheath by representatives of the royal government, who unsuccessfully attempted to persuade them to return home. King Richard II, then aged 14, retreated to the safety of the Tower of London, but most of the royal forces were abroad or in northern England. On 13 June, the rebels entered London and, joined by many local townsfolk, attacked the gaols, destroyed the Savoy Palace, set fire to law books and buildings in the Temple, and killed anyone associated with the royal government. The following day, Richard met the rebels at Mile End and acceded to most of their demands, including the abolition of serfdom. Meanwhile, rebels entered the Tower of London, killing the Lord Chancellor and the Lord High Treasurer, whom they found inside.On 15 June, Richard left the city to meet with Tyler and the rebels at Smithfield. Violence broke out, and Richard's party killed Tyler. Richard defused the tense situation long enough for London's mayor, William Walworth, to gather a militia from the city and disperse the rebel forces. Unrest continued until the intervention of Henry le Despenser, who defeated a rebel army at the Battle of North Walsham on 25 or 26 June. Troubles extended north to York, Beverley and Scarborough, and as far west as Bridgwater in Somerset. Richard mobilised 4,000 soldiers to restore order. Most of the rebel leaders were tracked down and executed; by November, at least 1,500 rebels had been killed

The 16th century bears witness to several critical military developments. The most obvious is the emergence of firepower on the battlefield. Gunpowder was several centuries old by that time, but it remained a rare and expensive siege weapon. In the 16th century, all of that changes. Cannon are lighter, limbered on smaller and more manoeuvrable carriages. Suddenly, armies have a powerful and portable siege train. In a matter of a few years, every castle in Europe becomes obsolete. Furthermore, cannon, for the first time, can be handled effectively on the battlefield. This spells ultimate doom for the large, unwieldy formations popular in earlier times, such as the Swiss pikemen's phalanx.The new power and portability of artillery forces a radical evolution in fortification. The tall stone walls of the medieval period are now indefensible. Instead, huge, broad and low fortifications, covered by overlapping fields of fire, become essential. This new style, the "trace italienne", will dominate warfare until the wars of Frederick the Great. Indeed, one finds combat conditions in heavily fortified regions, such as the Low Countries, that resemble World War One: Interminable battles fought in muddy trenches, where snipers dominate No Man's Land and the grenade and mortar are the weapons of choice.Gunpowder also spurs the rearmament of the infantry. A judicious mix of arqubusiers and pikemen become the favourite mix of battlefield commanders. Interestingly, gunpowder helps to revive the cavalry arm. Long helpless against the Swiss pikeman, German landesknecht and English long bowmen, the mounted soldier regains his effectiveness with the advent of firepower. Artillery now breaks up formerly untouchable infantry formations, making them vulnerable to a cavalry charge. Cavalry also embraces the pistol, giving them firepower in addition to shock value. Gustavus Adolphus, in the next century, actually has to use considerable effort to wean his cavalry off of firepower and its excessive reliance on the caracole.These technological advances require a new level of professionalism on the part of soldiers. The professional warrior of the Middle Ages is replaced in the 16th century by the professional soldier of the modern period. In turn, the nation state finds itself required to maintain a standing, professional military. The increasing dissatisfaction of commanders with mercenary troops only accelerates this move to national, professional armies. This process becomes an essential catalyst to the birth of the modern nation state.

Sir Charles Oman's classic two-volume history of warfare in the Middle Ages is the key work for understanding the changing face of battle as it was tested, refined and transformed through centuries of upheaval. Both scholarly and accessible this is wonderful account, from a gifted writer, of the characteristic strategies, tactics, military organisation, and of the developments in war that took place during the Middle Ages.Volume One charts the period from 378 to the battle of Marchfield in 1278 which decided the fate of Austria and marked the ascendancy of the armoured knight. Includes the transition from the Roman to Medieval Warfare and the development of Cavalry, the Byzantine Army and its development, the Crusades, the Visigoths, the Lombards, the Franks, the Anglo-Saxons, Charlemagne, the Vikings and Magyars, their weaponry,arms and armour. With detailed descriptions of particular battles such as Adrianople, Louvain, Hastings and Lewis.Volume Two covers Edward the First's Welsh Wars, Bannockburn,the Hundred Years War, the rise of the Swiss, the Condottieri in Italy, the Housesit Wars and the wars of the Roses. Particular importance is accorded to the early use of gunpowder and its revolutionary impact on tactics, siege craft and politics and conduct of war.