About the Book
Every tank and AFV is in use today. Since the publication of the first edition in 1996, “Jane’s Tanks Recognition Guide” has sold over 32,000 copies worldwide and remains the most authoritative and comprehensive military vehicle handbook available. In this user-friendly format, studying tanks and AFVs either on the move, at displays and shows or at home is now even easier. This compact fully-illustrated encyclopedia is based on resources from the Jane’s Information Group, so you can be sure to distinguish key features of the all modern military vehicles in service today with confidence. It covers chapters such as Introduction Tanks Tracked APCS/Weapons; Carriers 4×4 Vehicles; 6×6 Vehicles 8×8; Vehicles; Self Propelled Guns; and Glossary.
About the Book
On 16 May 1943, nineteen Lancaster bomber crews gathered at a remote RAF station in Lincolnshire for a mission of extraordinary daring and high risk – a night raid on three crucial and heavily defended dams deep in the German industrial heartland. The raiders would have to fly across occupied Europe at a perilously low level and drop their bombs at a mere 60 feet above the water to destroy the dam walls. Eight planes never returned. Bestselling author Max Arthur has collected together first-hand accounts of the preparation, practise, experimentation and the raid itself, and the sense of emptiness and loss at RAF Scampton when 56 men failed to return. From RAF personnel to German civilians who witnessed the raid, this landmark oral history collection paints a moving and personal picture of one of the most famous operations of the Second World War.
Apologies to the makers of Saving Private Ryan, Das Boot, Cross of Iron and countless other great war films but this one is for the Brits only. Stiff upper lips, gritty realism and tally ho’s all round.
Film Description
Based VERY LOOSELY on the story of the building of a bridge on the Burma railway by British prisoners-of-war held under a savage Japanese regime in World War II, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is one of the greatest war films ever made. The film received seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Performance (Alex Guinness), for Sir Malcolm Arnold’s superb music, and for the screenplay from the novel by Pierre Boulle (who also wrote Monkey Planet, the inspiration for Planet of the Apes). The story does take considerable liberties with history, including the addition of an American saboteur played by William Holden, and an entirely fictitious but superbly constructed and thrilling finale. Made on a vast scale, the film reinvented the war movie as something truly epic, establishing the cinematic beachhead for The Longest Day (1962), Patton (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977). It also proved a turning-point in director David Lean’s career. Before he made such classic but conventionally scaled films as In Which We Serve (1942) and Hobson’s Choice (1953). Afterwards there would only be four more films, but their names are Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), Ryan’s Daughter (1970) and A Passage to India (1984).
Best Bits
Despite the film taking huge liberties with the truth it is still a great film. Best bits include the brilliant River Kwai March and the memorable finale in which Alex Guinness finally realises what he has done.
Before the age of the CGI, the bridge was real and at 100% scale. Built over 8 months its explosion was caught from many angles and despite some problems with shipping back to the UK it is one of the most memorable war film scenes ever made.
Colonel Nicholson: We can teach these barbarians a lesson in Western methods and efficiency that will put them to shame. We’ll show them what the British soldier is capable of doing.
Colonel Nicholson: I’m adamant. I will not have an officer from my battalion working as a coolie.
Colonel Saito: I hate the British! You are defeated but you have no shame. You are stubborn but you have no pride. You endure but you have no courage. I hate the British!
Colonel Nicholson: One day the war will be over. And I hope that the people that use this bridge in years to come will remember how it was built and who built it. Not a gang of slaves, but soldiers, British soldiers, Clipton, even in captivity.
About the Book
On 4 May 1980, seven terrorists holding twenty-one people captive in the Iranian Embassy in London’s Prince’s Gate, executed their first hostage. They threatened to kill another hostage every thirty minutes until their demands were met. Minutes later, armed men in black overalls and balaclavas shimmied down the roof on ropes and burst in through windows and doors. In seconds all but one of the terrorists had been shot dead, the other captured. For most people, this was their first acquaintance with a unit that was soon to become the ideal of modern military excellence – the Special Air Service regiment. Few realized that the SAS had been in existence for almost forty years, playing a discreet, if not secret, role almost everywhere Britain had fought since World War II, and had been the prototype of all modern special forces units throughout the world. In The Regiment, Michael Asher – a former soldier in 23 SAS Regiment – examines the evolution of the special forces idea and investigates the real story behind the greatest military legend of the late twentieth century.
About the Book
The famous D-day landing of 6th June 1944 marked the beginning of Operation Overlord, the battle for the liberation of Europe. Max Hastings has overturned many traditional legends to write this study. Drawing together the eyewitness accounts of survivors from both sides and sources and documents, this text provides a controversial perspective on the devastating battle for Normandy.
About the Book
In a world of increasing international tension and uncertainty, the Royal Navy has been faced with new and unconventional threats, which must be considered in addition to regular peacekeeping tasks and other challenging operations across the globe. To effectively counter such threats, and to increase dramatically the operational capabilities of the service, a large-scale naval construction programme, the largest for a generation, is currently underway, with the aim of ensuring that the fleet is equipped with cutting-edge technology and equipment.To illuminate these new developments, Conway presents the revised and updated “Royal Navy Handbook”, the official MoD guide to the Royal Navy of today and tomorrow, examining all aspects of the service, covering strategic forces, the submarine and surface fleets, naval aviation, the Royal Marines Commandos, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and support forces, Joint forces, naval bases and future procurement. It contains a wealth of information on every type of vessel, aircraft and weapons system in service, as well as detailing projects which are currently in the development and construction phases.Such significant technological advances include the STOVL variant of the Lockheed-Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the two much-publicised Future Aircraft Carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, the Astute class submarines (and their Spearfish and Tomahawk missile armament), RFA Bay Class Large Amphibious Landing Ships, and the Viking Amphibious Armoured Vehicle, now being used very effectively by Royal Marines Commando units deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Full specifications of vessels, aircraft and other equipment are presented, along with colour illustrations and plans showing the full extent of Royal Navy offensive, defensive and logistical forces in unprecedented detail. There are also key insights from serving members of the Royal Navy illuminating the practicalities and advantages of new, sophisticated ships, aircraft and weaponry. “The Royal Navy Handbook” is the complete work of reference for the professional and enthusiast alike.This is a fully updated and revised edition of one of Conway’s most successful volumes in recent years. It is produced in exclusive collaboration with the Ministry of Defence. It also covers the much-vaunted new carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth & Prince of Wales.
About the Book
From the harsh realities of basic training to post-war chaos in Iraq and knife-edge tension in Northern Ireland, “Squaddie” takes us to a place not advertised in army recruitment brochures. It exposes the grim reality of everyday soldiering for the ‘grunts on the ground’. After the tragic death of his brother, and in the dark days following 9/11, McLaughlin felt compelled to fulfil his lifelong ambition to serve in the army. He followed his late brother into the elite Royal Green Jackets and passed the arduous Combat Infantryman’s Course at the age of 31. Thereafter, McLaughlin found himself submerged in a world of casual violence. Squaddie is a snapshot of infantry soldiering in the twenty-first century. It takes us into the heart of an ancient institution that is struggling to retain its tough traditions in a rapidly changing world. All of the fears and anxieties that the modern soldier carries as his burden are laid bare, as well as the occasional joys and triumphs that can make him feel like he is doing the best job in the world. This is an account of army life by someone who has been there and done it.
About the Book
Max Arthur’s compilation of First World War memories, Forgotten Voices of the Great War, offers a reminder of the scale of human experience within the 1914-18 conflict. Arthur, a military historian best known for his history of the RAF and his account of the Falklands campaign in 1982, has assembled hundreds of excerpts from the sound archives of the Imperial War Museum. Officers, rank-and-file troops, Australians, Americans, war widows, women in the munitions factories, and German soldiers too, all left oral testimony of their experiences, and these interviews provide the basis of the book. Arthur has put them in chronological and campaign order, and provided a general commentary, but beyond that, has left the rich and moving record to speak for itself.
The sheer humdrum ordinariness of modern warfare–the mud and rain, the relentless loss of life and inevitability of death, the pointless routine of attrition–come over in the matter-of-fact recollections of so many. But so too does the humanity and morality of the ordinary soldier–a factor that rather belies the recent emphasis amongst some historians on how soldiers loved to kill. Arthur might have intruded more. No biographical information is given about the owners of these “voices”, nor does he say when, where and how this oral testimony was gathered.
Apologies to the makers of Saving Private Ryan, Das Boot, Cross of Iron and countless other great war films but this one is for the Brits only. Stiff upper lips, gritty realism and tally ho’s all round.
Film Description
After a grim few weeks, how about a bit of light relief?
Filmed in 1968 and set in British India in 1895, Carry On Up the Khyber is one of the team’s most memorable efforts. Sid James plays Sid James as ever, though nominally his role is that of Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond, the unflappable British Governor who must deal with the snakelike, scheming Khasi of Khalabar, played by Kenneth Williams. A crisis occurs when the mystique of the “devils in skirts” of the 3rd Foot and Mouth regiment is exploded when one of their number, the sensitive-to-draughts Charles Hawtrey, is discovered by the natives to be wearing underpants. Revolt is in the offing, with Bernard Bresslaw once again playing a seething native warrior.
Roy Castle neatly plays the sort of role normally assigned to Jim Dale, as the ineffectual young officer, Peter Butterworth is a splendid compromised evangelist, while Terry Scott puts his comedic all into the role of the gruff Sergeant. Most enduring, however, is the final dinner party sequence in which the British contingent, with the Burpas at the gates of the compound, and plaster falling all about them, demonstrate typical insouciance in the face of imminent peril.
Best Bits
The Khasi of Kalabar: They will die the death of a thousand cuts!
Princess Jelhi: Oh! But that’s horrible!
The Khasi of Kalabar: Not at all my little desert flower, the British are used to cuts!
Some memorable scenes but the best one is the one that it is rightly famous for, the final dinner scene. With the climactic battle raging all around them the guests, bar one, observe the niceties of polite company, brilliant.
About the Book
This is an authoritative guide to the world’s warships. The “Jane’s Recognition Guides” are top-of-the-range, and this guide to over 2,200 warships is no exception. This is an essential for all naval and military enthusiasts. Using up-to-date photography and data from the world famous “Jane’s Fighting Ships”, “Jane’s Warships Recognition Guide” is the most authoritative naval reference guide from the defence experts available to the general public. In its popular compact and user-friendly format, it is now even easier to study warship types from around the globe, either out and about, at displays or at home. Whatever your level of interest or knowledge this book is indispensable, with composite diagrams at the front to help the less experienced find their way around any warship or submarine, to the detailed technical data and silhouette illustrations to help with horizon or sun backed views.
About the Book
By June 1940, most of Europe had fallen to the Nazis and Britain stood alone. To protect itself, the nation fell back on cunning and camouflage. With Winston Churchill in charge, the British bluffed their way out of trouble – lying, pretending and dressing up in order to survive. The British had developed this uncommon talent during the trench and desert fighting of the First World War, when writers and artists created elaborate camouflages and fiendish propaganda. So successful were these deceptions they gave rise to the German belief that they hadn’t been beaten fairly – in which case why not ‘have a second go’? By the Second World War, the British were masters of the art. Churchill adored stratagems, ingenious devices and special forces: pretend German radio stations broadcast outrageous British propaganda in German. British geniuses broke German secret codes and eavesdropped on their messages. Every German spy in Britain was captured and many were used to send back false information to their controllers. Forged documents misled their Intelligence. Bogus wireless traffic from entire phantom armies, dummy airfields with model planes, disguised ships and inflatable rubber tanks created a vital illusion of strength. Culminating in the spectacular misdirection that was so essential to the success of D-Day in 1944, Churchill’s Wizards is a thrilling work of popular military history. Above all, Nicholas Rankin reveals the true stories of those brave and creative mavericks who helped win what Churchill called ‘the war of the Unknown Warriors’.
About the Book
Chris Terrill is a man in search of his limit. He’s 55 years old. He is not a soldier. He is being trained by the Royal Marines and he is going to Afghanistan. The only difference is that instead of a gun, Chris will be holding a camera and filming the whole ordeal for a major TV series. The Royal Marines Commando training base in Lympstone Devon, has a famous motto: ’99.9 per cent need not apply’. Of those who start training, after a very tough selection process, nearly 50 per cent fail to make it through the most gruelling physical tests of any armed forces in the world in an eight month training regime. The elite who do eventually pass out are generally eighteen years old and at the peak of physical condition.But Chris Terrill is the exception: this book will tell of his heroic struggle to become the oldest man to win the coveted Royal Marines Commando Green Beret and enter the record books. And after six months of hell, what next? Chris will follow the raw recruits on a tour to Southern Afghanistan. He will tell the story in book and film of the fears and hopes of the youngsters as they are plunged into one of the planet’s most dangerous wars in the outlaw mountain terrain of Helmand Province. He will tell of ferocious battles against the Taliban, of firefights, of jaw-dropping heroism, British sang froid and humour and tragedy as causalities are suffered – all from the unique perspective of a civilian who has achieved the ultimate accolade: to be accepted as an honorary Royal Marines Commando. “Commando” is a brilliant account of modern war on the front line.
About the Book
Henry Allingham is the last British serviceman alive to have volunteered for active duty in the First World War and is one of very few people who can directly recall the horror of that conflict. In Kitchener’s Last Volunteer, he vividly recaptures how life was lived in the Edwardian era and how it was altered irrevocably by the slaughter of millions of young men in the Great War, and by the subsequent coming of the modern age. Henry is unique in that he saw action on land, sea and in the air with the British Naval Air Service. He was present at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 with the British Grand Fleet and went on to serve on the Western Front. He befriended several of the young pilots who would lose their lives, and he himself suffered the privations of the front line under fire. In recent years, Henry was given the opportunity to tell his remarkable story to a wider audience through a BBC documentary, and he has since become a hero to many, meeting royalty and bestowed many honours such as the Legion d’honneur – France’s highest accolade. This is the touching story of an ordinary man’s extraordinary life – one who has outlived six monarchs and twenty-one prime ministers, and who represents a last link to a vital point in our nation’s history.
About the Book
Night after night, they swallowed their fears and flew long distances through packs of enemy fighters to drop the bombs that could destroy Hitler and bring about the end of the war. Tens of thousands of young men never came back, blown up or bailing out from burning aircraft to drop helplessley into enemy hands. Yet history has condemned their brave and valiant actions, denouncing them for the destruction of German cities and civilians, rather than acknowledging them for the heroes that they are. For the first time John Nichol and Tony Rennell tell the story of the controversial last battles of Bomber Command through the eyes of the heroic men who fought them.
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Think Defence is the collected ramblings of a few people that wish defence to go much higher up the UK national agenda, recognising that the answer is not always more money but better spending.
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