Air Wars Over Khalkhin Gol


Book Description

The battles of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet-Japanese Border Wars fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. This book looks at the impact and retaliation from the Soviet perspective.




Air Wars 1920-1939


Book Description

Spain (1936-9), China (1937 onwards), Mongolia (1939), Finland (1939-40) and France (1939-40) were a testing ground for a new approach to air tactics with western democracies and totalitarian states analysing the resulting lessons. Attention in Air Wars 1920-1939: The Development and Evolution of Fighter Tactics is given to the means by which intelligence on aerial tactics was collected and why it was not always fully absorbed, resulting in many nations having to relearn the same lessons at the outset of the Second World War. Finland, during the Winter War, while not involved in Spain or any other air war of the time, better applied the lessons being learned than that of the Soviet Union, which had been directly involved in air wars fought over China, Mongolia and Spain. In the case of Britain, not only were the lessons of Spain ignored, but so too that of its own experimental fighter unit, the AFDE (Air Fighting Development Establishment) that had been formed in 1934 and which was reinforcing the intelligence received from those real air war conflicts.




In the Skies of Nomonhan


Book Description

In a remote area of Mongolia the 'Nomonhan Incident' lasted four months. This border skirmish between the Russians and Japanese ended in 1939, just 15 days after Germany invaded Poland and an isolated 35 by 20 mile section of land became a battlefield for more than 900 Soviet and 450 Japanese aircraft. Using the Ki-27 Nate fighter, Japanese pilots clashed with Soviet I-15 and I-153 biplanes and their I-16 monoplane. The soon to be antiquated massive TB-3 heavy bombers were also used and the Ki-21 Sally made its combat debut, eventually continuing service throughout the Pacific War. This was one of the first large aerial battles of modern times and the pilots used the conflict to practice and refine new fighting tactics which moved air power into the future of war. They sharpened up their missions and learned to place emphasis on reconnaissance, fighter sweeps, bomber escort, and infantry support. Both sides discovered and ignored tactical and design lessons from the combat to the detriment and advantage of each. Covering both the Japanese and Russian sides In The Skies of Nomonhanincludes loss lists, color profiles from both sides, plus more than 50 photos from Japanese and Russian archives all of which provide a new perspective on this interesting and largely unknown pre World War II encounter.




The Red Army and the Second World War


Book Description

In a definitive new account of the Soviet Union at war, Alexander Hill charts the development, successes and failures of the Red Army from the industrialisation of the Soviet Union in the late 1920s through to the end of the Great Patriotic War in May 1945. Setting military strategy and operations within a broader context that includes national mobilisation on a staggering scale, the book presents a comprehensive account of the origins and course of the war from the perspective of this key Allied power. Drawing on the latest archival research and a wealth of eyewitness testimony, Hill portrays the Red Army at war from the perspective of senior leaders and men and women at the front line to reveal how the Red Army triumphed over the forces of Nazi Germany and her allies on the Eastern Front, and why it did so at such great cost.




The Eastern Front Air War, 1941–1945


Book Description

This lavishly illustrated WWII history examines the bitter aerial combat of the Eastern Front through rare wartime photographs and informative text. Though the air war was a major aspect of the Eastern Front conflict, it has long been neglected by historians. Anthony Tucker-Jones’s photographic history offers a vividly detailed introduction to the subject. With more than 150 archival images—most of which have never been published before—this volume examines Stalin’s Red Air Force and Hitlers Luftwaffe, their equipment, and the role they played in supporting the war on the ground. Just before Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union, Stalin had decimated the leadership of the Red Air Force in a series of purges. Thousands of Russian fighter aircraft were swiftly destroyed in the German Blitzkrieg. But a remarkable recovery followed as the Red Air Force turned the tide against the ravages of the Luftwaffe to wrestle back air superiority by 1944.




Nomonhan


Book Description




Nomonhan, 1939


Book Description

Stuart Goldman convincingly argues that a little-known, but intense Soviet-Japanese conflict along the Manchurian-Mongolian frontier at Nomonhan influenced the outbreak of World War II and shaped the course of the war. The author draws on Japanese, Soviet, and western sources to put the seemingly obscure conflict—actually a small undeclared war— into its proper global geo-strategic perspective. The book describes how the Soviets, in response to a border conflict provoked by Japan, launched an offensive in August 1939 that wiped out the Japanese forces at Nomonhan. At the same time, Stalin signed the German—Soviet Nonaggression Pact, allowing Hitler to invade Poland. The timing of these military and diplomatic strikes was not coincidental, according to the author. In forming an alliance with Hitler that left Tokyo diplomatically isolated, Stalin succeeded in avoiding a two-front war. He saw the pact with the Nazis as a way to pit Germany against Britain and France, leaving the Soviet Union on the sidelines to eventually pick up the spoils from the European conflict, while at the same time giving him a free hand to smash the Japanese at Nomonhan. Goldman not only demonstrates the linkage between the Nomonhan conflict, the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, and the outbreak of World War II , but also shows how Nomonhan influenced Japan’s decision to go to war with the United States and thus change the course of history. The book details Gen. Georgy Zhukov’s brilliant victory at Nomonhan that led to his command of the Red Army in 1941 and his success in stopping the Germans at Moscow with reinforcements from the Soviet Far East. Such a strategy was possible, the author contends, only because of Japan’s decision not to attack the Soviet Far East but to seize the oil-rich Dutch East Indies and attack Pearl Harbor instead. Goldman credits Tsuji Masanobu, an influential Japanese officer who instigated the Nomonhan conflict and survived the debacle, with urging his superiors not to take on the Soviets again in 1941, but instead to go to war with the United States.







Historical Dictionary of World War II


Book Description

World War II was the largest and most costly conflict in history, the first true global war. Fought on land, on sea, and in the air, it involved numerous countries and killed, maimed, or displaced millions of people, both civilian and military, around the world. In spite of the alliances that bound many of the same participants, the war was essentially two separate but simultaneous conflicts: one involved Japan as the major antagonist and took place mostly in Asia and the Pacific; and the other, initiated by Germany and Italy, was contested mainly in Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic. This book focuses on the lesser known war, the war with Japan. It begins with Japan’s seizure of Manchuria from China in 1931 and covers Japan’s ambitious attacks on Pearl Harbor and other territories ten years later, the use of atomic bombs on Japan’s cities, and the end of the Allied occupation of Japan in 1952. Although Japan renounced war in its 1947 constitution, conflict continued across Asia, as former colonies fought for independence and civil war engulfed other areas. Historical Dictionary of World War II: The War Against Japan, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 500 cross-referenced entries on the military, diplomatic, political, social, economic, and scientific aspects of the war, in addition to the lives of the people who participated in and directed the war. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the war against Japan during World War II.




Soviet Military Aviation in Central Asia 1917-41


Book Description

The utilization of air power by the Communist regime in Russia during the revolutionary period and civil war to control its territories in Central Asia is an intriguing aspect of military history often overlooked in Western narratives. The region, which bordered Iran, Afghanistan, and China, and included the ancient cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, held strategic significance for both the Russian Empire and the subsequent USSR. Attempts to impose Russian or communist ideologies on the indigenous tribal populations clashed with deeply rooted Islamic traditions, leading to resistance movements such as the Basmachi uprising. The Basmachi insurgency, viewed as defenders of traditional tribal values by the local populace, was perceived as mere banditry by the Russian and Soviet authorities. Policing such vast and challenging terrain, where environmental conditions posed significant hazards alongside armed opposition, necessitated innovative approaches. Consequently, the Soviets turned to air power as a means of controlling these remote regions. Despite inventive tactics, the aircraft employed by the Soviets in Central Asia during the inter-war period were often outdated, worn-out, or repurposed from other theaters of operation. This reliance on obsolete or marginal aircraft highlights the resource constraints faced by the Soviet military during this tumultuous period. Soviet Military Aviation in Central Asia: 1917–41 offers a detailed exploration of the inter-war use of air power in Soviet Central Asia, drawing from Russian-language sources and photographic archives. The book provides insights into the challenges faced by the Soviet military in maintaining control over the region, accompanied by rare photographs and unique color artworks depicting the aircraft utilized during this era. Through this lens, readers can gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of military strategy and conflict in Central Asia during the early twentieth century.