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Weapons of myth and scandal, that is the best way to describe the spigot weapons deployed by the British in the Second World War. Unlike conventional mortars, a spigot mortar does not have a barrel through with the round is fired. Instead, the general concept involves a steel rod – the ‘spigot’ – onto which the bomb is placed before it is fired. This design was, as David Lister reveals, the basis of a number of successful weapons used during the Second World War. The myth of the PIAT man-portable anti-tank weapon is, for example, tied closely to British paratroopers struggling in the ruins of Arnhem with an inadequate design, one inferior to the German equivalent. Similarly, the myth...
Until the German occupation of his native Denmark in April 1940 Anders Lassen had no interest in the War. Yet over the next five years he became a highly decorated Special Forces legend and the only non-Commonwealth recipient of the Victoria Cross. After taking part in a mutiny on board a Danish ship, he made his way to Scotland. He first joined the Special Operations Executive before serving with the Small Scale Raiding Force, Special Air Service and Special Boat Service. He took part in the daring Operation Postmaster, off West Africa, and raided the Channel Islands and the Normandy coast. He saw most action in Eastern Mediterranean, fighting in Crete, the Dodecanese, Yugoslavia, mainland Greece and finally Italy. In April 1945, now a major aged 24, he was killed at Lake Comacchio, where his gallantry earned him his posthumous VC. This superb biography is not just a worthy tribute to an outstanding soldier, but a superb account of the numerous special force operations Anders was involved in.
Preceded by a massive airborne assault, the largest amphibious operation ever undertaken began on 6 June 1944 D-Day. Over a fifty-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline 160,000 Allied troops came ashore on the beaches of Normandy. Supported by more than 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft, they quickly gained a foot-hold in Fortress Europe.??To plan and execute such a massive military operation successfully required training. The stakes were high. There was one chance to see the landings work; failure was inconceivable. Much work was required to be done, new tactics to be worked out, new technologies to be utilised. Most of all, the training for the amphibious assault required bea...
The life-story of Lady Lucy Houston DBE must surely be one of the most romantic and dramatic epics of the last one hundred and fifty years, yet nowadays she is a woman unknown. She was a renowned beauty with a sharp intelligence, and over the years she would exploit her charismatic charm, first as a teenager to entice a wealthy lover, and subsequently to lead three husbands to the altar.She was an ardent and productive campaigner for womens rights, conducting outstanding works of charity during the Great War, such as providing a convalescent home for nurses returning from the front line. In recognition of these endeavours, she was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1917. After the death of...
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This first of the ultimately three-volume Who’s Who in Islamic Studies presents the scholarly world at long last with its own biographical encyclopaedia. Taking as a starting point the inventory of authors from the renowned Index Islamicus, the author, Wolfgang Behn (Berlin), has systematically collected numerous data on the lives and works of the tens of thousands of authors listed in the Index Islamicus from 1665 to 1980. This Biographical Companion will be an indispensable reference tool for the serious student and scholar of Islamic Studies. It enables the user to quickly gain knowledge on the life, work, and professional background of almost every major and minor author, and thus to place each author in his/her proper perspective. A tremendous achievement and a true must for every library.
Volume 1 of 4. The January and July issues of the Indian Army List contain not only the distribution of officers on the active list of the Army in India, including officers of British army regiments, battalions etc stationed in India, but are supplemented by the addition of Orders of Knighthood, Honours and Awards, including Foreign Orders, by the non-effective officer list and the War Services of officers of the Indian Army. Details of each officer include dates of birth (except for wartime commissioned officers), date of first commission, of appointment to the Indian Army and dates of promotion. Officers are grouped according to their rank and by seniority within that rank, and are again s...