Blenheim Over the Balkans
Author : James Dunnet
Publisher : Virago Press
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 21,62 MB
Release : 2001
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN :
Against Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Balkans
Author : Djordje I Nikoli?
Publisher : Air World
Page : 275 pages
File Size : 13,29 MB
Release : 2023-11-30
Category : History
ISBN : 139908898X
Book Description
Immediately following the end of the First World War, the air force of the newly-formed Southern Slav State, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, was forced to rely mainly on war-time Serbian Air Service aircraft and material left after the withdrawal of the French Armée de l’Air from the Balkans in 1919/1920. This equipment was supported by the addition of French war surplus stocks which started arriving in 1921. In 1929 the monarchy changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Then, from 1930, the official name of the air service branch its military was changed to what is commonly known in the West as the Royal Yugoslav Air Force (RYAF). The obsolete First World War aircraft were replaced from 1925 onwards by stop-gap solutions purchased mainly from France, some from the Czechoslovakian Republic as well as from the first domestic factories. From 1936, the RYAF again began to reorganize and modernize, with the purchase of the most modern aircraft available at that time. These aircraft were imported from the UK, Germany and Italy, some being built under license in domestic factories. During this period the Kingdom of Yugoslavia succeeded, as much as conditions allowed, to equip its air force with the most advanced fighter and bomber types of the period. For the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Second World War started on 6 April 1941. The military coup d’etat of 27 March 1941 and anti-German demonstrations in Belgrade clearly aligned the kingdom with the Allies. That same day, Hitler ordered the implementation of Unternehmen 25 (Operation 25) – the attack against Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Hitler had also secured Mussolini’s support for this campaign, while Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria gave active or passive backing in exchange for territorial claims in Yugoslavia. Despite all the odds, the airmen of the RYAF fought gallantly in the defense of their homeland, with fighters taking on the German and Italian bombers and their escort fighters – including the Axis types in service with the RYAF. Eventually, due to the deteriorating situation on the front and the ever-increasing risk of the king and his government being captured, the decision was taken to evacuate by air to Greece. In the summer of the 1941 some 220 Yugoslav aviators gathered in Egypt and continued the fight against Axis, this time in the colors of the RAF. This is the full story of their service and combats in the early months of that year.
The Balkans 1940–41 (1)
Author : Pier Paolo Battistelli
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 97 pages
File Size : 40,14 MB
Release : 2021-01-21
Category : History
ISBN : 1472842588
Book Description
The first of two volumes on the Axis campaigns in the Balkans, exploring Mussolini's fateful decision to move against Greece in October 1940. The Greek President Metaxas rejected the Italian ultimatum with a famous 'Oxi' ('No'), and what followed was Italy's first debacle in World War II. In the wake of Italy's rapid annexation of Albania in April 1940, Mussolini's decision to attack Greece in October that year is widely acknowledged as a fatal mistake, leading to a domestic crisis and to the collapse of Italy's reputation as a military power (re-emphasized by the Italian defeat in North Africa in December 1940). The Italian assault on Greece came to a stalemate in less than a fortnight, and was followed a week later by a Greek counter-offensive that broke through the Italian defences before advancing into Albania, forcing the Italian forces to withdraw north before grinding to a half in January 1941 due to logistical issues. Eventually, the Italians took advantage of this brief hiatus to reorganize and prepare a counteroffensive, the failure of which marked the end of the first stage of the Axis Balkan campaign. The first of two volumes examining the Axis campaigns in the Balkans, this book offers a detailed overview of the Italian and Greek armies, their fighting power, and the terrain in which they fought. Complimented by rarely seen images and full colour illustrations, it shows how expectations of an easy Italian victory quickly turned into one of Mussolini's greatest blunders.
The Bristol Blenheim
Author : Graham Warner
Publisher : Crecy Publishing
Page : 680 pages
File Size : 30,5 MB
Release : 2005
Category : History
ISBN :
Book Description
This is a truly comprehensive account of the Blenheim's origins, development, and operational history.
Yugoslavia and Greece 1940–41
Author : Pier Paolo Battistelli
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 97 pages
File Size : 44,55 MB
Release : 2024-09-26
Category : History
ISBN : 1472859251
Book Description
A new illustrated history of the German and Italian air campaigns in the invasions of Greece and Yugoslavia, the last full-scale Axis air offensives before Operation Barbarossa. The Greece campaign was launched by Italy in October 1940, the first large-scale campaign of the Italian Air Force outside North Africa, and its last major solo effort. With the German involvement in April 1941, and with the invasion of Yugoslavia, the Balkans saw the last large-scale Axis air campaign in Europe before the invasion of the USSR. It was also the campaign that saw expeditionary units of the RAF fighting alongside the Greeks – most famously, the handful of Hurricanes that fought to the end from makeshift olive-grove airfields, among them the Hurricane ace and future novelist Roald Dahl. In this book, renowned historian Pier Paolo Battistelli and air power expert Basilio di Martino explain how this unique campaign was fought. They highlight elements such as the Italians' development of air-to-ground support while carrying out, for the first and only time, an airborne operation, and how the Germans refined their tactics from the 1940 campaign in the West, while now also playing a major anti-shipping role. Illustrated throughout with rare photos, superb original paintings, maps and 3D diagrams, this is an expert account of the air war over the eastern Mediterranean.
Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe
Author : Jeremy Dixon
Publisher : Pen and Sword Aviation
Page : 322 pages
File Size : 15,71 MB
Release : 2023-09-30
Category : History
ISBN : 152677867X
Book Description
The German fighter pilots of the Second World War are among the undoubted heroes of the conflict, their reputation for flying skill, single-minded determination and solitary courage hasn’t diminished or been clouded by controversy over the years. Their daring and commitment, often displayed when, towards the end of the war, they were fighting against the odds, matches that of any of the other air forces they fought against. This detailed, highly illustrated reference book, which covers the exploits of the most famous and successful individuals among them, shows just how effective and undaunted they were. All the Luftwaffe day fighter pilots who flew single-seater aircraft and won the Knight’s Cross during the war are featured. The entries give information about their early lives and pre-war careers and record how many aircraft they shot down, the type of aircraft involved and where and when the combat took place. Included are accounts of particular actions which led to the award of the Knight’s Cross, and the fate of these remarkable pilots later in the war and in the post-war world is described too. Jeremy Dixon’s book will be fascinating reading and reference for anyone who is interested in the aviation history of the Second World War.
History of World War II.
Author : Tim Cooke
Publisher : Marshall Cavendish
Page : 326 pages
File Size : 21,72 MB
Release : 2005
Category : History
ISBN : 9780761474838
Book Description
Presents a comprehensive discussion of the origins, events, campaigns and personalities of World War II.
Greece February to April 1941
Author : Michael Tyquin
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 26,80 MB
Release : 2014-03-02
Category : History
ISBN : 1922132624
Book Description
As with the failed attempt to seize the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915, the allied campaign to assist Greece against a seemingly invincible German juggernaut was poorly conceived and probably doomed even as plans were made to assist that country. Like any campaign, however, it holds lessons for the contemporary student of strategy, tactics and history. Greece presented singular geographic difficulties for the defending forces, its mountainous defiles dictating the distribution of ports, road and rail routes. The primitive state of the national infrastructure did little to help a long-term defensive posture. Operations in Greece proved to be a nightmare, particularly for logistics units, which struggled with primitive communication systems in rugged terrain over which the enemy enjoyed total air superiority. Poor liaison between the Greek and Commonwealth forces did not help matters, nor was the force deployed adequate for its task. The allies never enjoyed air superiority, nor could they consolidate any in-depth defence in time to be effective. The official British history of the campaign stated that the ‘British campaign on the mainland of Greece was from start to finish a withdrawal’. Greece: February to April 1941 explores these complexities, and mistakes through the eyes of the Australian Army Medical Corps.
European Warfare in a Global Context, 1660–1815
Author : Jeremy Black
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 42,78 MB
Release : 2007-02-12
Category : History
ISBN : 1134159226
Book Description
This original book presents a global approach to eighteenth century warfare. Emphasis is placed on the importance of conflict in the period and the capacity for decisiveness in impact and development in method. Through this Jeremy Black extends the view beyond land to naval conflict. European Warfare in a Global Context offers a comparative approach, in the sense of considering Western developments alongside those elsewhere, furthermore it puts emphasis on conflict between Western and non-western powers. This approach necessarily reconsiders developments within the West, but also offers a shift in emphasis from standard narrative of the latter. This book is the ideal study of warfare for all students.
The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare
Author : Geoffrey Parker
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 555 pages
File Size : 36,80 MB
Release : 2021-08-05
Category : History
ISBN : 1107181569
Book Description
The new edition of The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare offers an updated comprehensive account of Western warfare, from its origins in Classical Greece and Rome, through the Middle Ages and the early modern period, down to the wars of the twenty-first century in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
