Operation Goodwood

Author: Ian Daglish
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783034882
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 602

Book Description
This ground-level WWII history describes the British armored offensive into occupied France with rare wartime photos. Military historian Ian Daglish presents an authoritatively detailed chronicle of the greatest armored battle undertaken by the British during the Second World War. After the Normandy Landings, Operation Goodwood sent British tanks south out of the Orne bridgehead. Though the operation failed to break through German defenses, it exposed critical vulnerabilities that would ultimately assist the Allies in the liberation of France. Along with the engaging and informative text, this volume includes newly discovered aerial photos taken during the fighting by the RAF. This amazing imagery makes it possible to trace the course of the battle and to track the movement of the armored regiments and troops of both sides.

Operation Goodwood

Author: Ian Daglish
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1526788284
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
Operation GOODWOOD is the story of the largest armoured battle fought in the campaign for north west Europe. Over a thousand British and Canadian tanks were employed as three British armoured divisions pushed forward down a narrow corridor in an attempt to achieve a clean penetration of the German lines. The clash between two very different armies resulted in a number of local battles, which are studied in detail. Close to Caen, this battlefield is particularly accessible to cross-channel visitors. This Battleground book guides visitors around the tanks battlefield, showing what remains and what has changed, using copious present-day images alongside previously unpublished1944 pictures, including detailed aerial photography of the battle in progress

Operation Goodwood, July 1944

Author: Perry Moore
Publisher: Helion
ISBN: 9781874622734
Category : Operation Goodwood
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Rommel and Montgomery were old foes since 1941. Now they faced off once again in Normandy. Operation Goodwood was the largest tank assault in the Normandy campaign, as over 700 tanks in three British armored divisions attempted to bust out of the bocage country. After all, the objectives were only seven miles distant. Rommel, his forces armed with over 200 tanks, including Tiger I and Tiger IIs, plus more than 75 dreaded 88mm guns, ripped apart Montgomery's plans. Soon the wheat fields ran red with blood and burned with hundreds of British tanks. Kursk in Normandy is a meticulous examination of Operation Goodwood. The author describes in detail the bloody and vicious fighting that characterized the operation, adding in first-hand accounts for extra flavor. There is much detail on the units involved from both sides, and the tactics employed, as well as numerous statistics and tables concerning weapon/tank armor effectiveness and other data. The text is supplemented by an extensive selection of rare photographs sourced from British and German archives (many previously unpublished), plus 4 pages of color AFV profiles and a selection of detailed maps. Key sales points: *A gripping account of the huge tank battles that were a feature of Operation Goodwood, fought during the fierce campaign in Normandy during the summer of 1944. Includes first-hand accounts, orders-of-battle, much information concerning the individual units and their tactics, and extensive statistics regarding weaponry and amour effectiveness. The text is supported by over 150 photos, many previously unpublished, plus detailed battle maps and 4 pages of color AFV profiles.

Goodwood

Author: Ian Daglish
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780811735384
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Book Description
Comprehensive retelling of the controversial British and Canadian operation near Caen Told from both the British and German perspectives Heavily illustrated with maps and photos, including detailed aerial reconnaissance photos taken during the battle While American infantry slogged its way through the hedgerows of western Normandy in July 1944, the British were waging a largely armored campaign to the east near Caen. Planned to have been seized on D-Day, Caen remained contested on July 18, when Bernard Montgomery launched Operation Goodwood, whose exact purpose is still debated--either to draw Germans away from the American sector or to break out to Falaise. In one of the largest armored battles in their history, the British lost almost one-third of their tank strength in Normandy in exchange for a gain of only seven miles.

Pendulum of Battle

Author: Christopher Dunphie
Publisher: Penn & Sword Books
ISBN: 9781844152780
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Operation Goodwood, the largest tank battle involving British troops to have ever taken place, has been a perpetual subject of controversy. Was it intended as a breakout from the Normandy Bridgehead, or not? Was it a success or failure? Did it lead to a severe crisis in confidence over Field Marshal Montgomery's leadership? This book seeks to unearth the true background, reasons, aims and achievement of Goodwood, set in the context of the overall campaign, while bringing the battle to life through personal accounts of some of those involved, both British and German.

Fighting the People's War

Author: Jonathan Fennell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107030951
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 967

Book Description
Jonathan Fennell captures for the first time the true wartime experience of the ordinary soldiers from across the empire who made up the British and Commonwealth armies. He analyses why the great battles were won and lost and how the men that fought went on to change the world.

The Waffen-SS in Normandy

Author: Yves Buffetaut
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1612006426
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Book Description
An examination of how the Waffen-SS fared in Normandy in June 1944 and whether they deserve their reputation of being the ultimate fighting soldiers. One of the greatest paradoxes of the Battle of Normandy is that the German divisions found it much harder to reach the front line than the Allies, who had to cross the sea and then deploy in a cramped bridgehead until the American breakthrough of late July 1944. The Waffen-SS were no better off than the Heer units and German high command never quite got on top of operations, as the divisions were thrown into the melee one by one. During the month of June 1944, the Panzer divisions present succeeded in containing the Allies in a small bridgehead. In July, the arrival of more SS divisions should have finally allowed the Germans to counterattack decisively. This was not the reality. The Allies had also strengthened in number and kept the blows coming, one after another. Each SS-Panzer division had a different experience of the fighting in July. This Casemate Illustrated looks at the divisions one by one throughout Operations Goodwood and Cobra which saw large tank battles and the collapse of the German front in Normandy. It includes over 100 photographs, alongside biographies of the commanders and color profiles of trucks and tanks which played a key role in operations as the Americans succeeded in breaking through the German line of defense. “A superb series.” —Miniature Wargames

Panzer Commander

Author: Hans Von Luck
Publisher: Dell
ISBN: 0804151970
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 377

Book Description
A stunning look at World War II from the other side... From the turret of a German tank, Colonel Hans von Luck commanded Rommel's 7th and then 21st Panzer Division. El Alamein, Kasserine Pass, Poland, Belgium, Normandy on D-Day, the disastrous Russian front--von Luck fought there with some of the best soldiers in the world. German soldiers. Awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross, von Luck writes as an officer and a gentleman. Told with the vivid detail of an impassioned eyewitness, his rare and moving memoir has become a classic in the literature of World War II, a first-person chronicle of the glory--and the inevitable tragedy--of a superb soldier fighting Hitler's war.

Military Power

Author: Stephen Biddle
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400837820
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Book Description
In war, do mass and materiel matter most? Will states with the largest, best equipped, information-technology-rich militaries invariably win? The prevailing answer today among both scholars and policymakers is yes. But this is to overlook force employment, or the doctrine and tactics by which materiel is actually used. In a landmark reconception of battle and war, this book provides a systematic account of how force employment interacts with materiel to produce real combat outcomes. Stephen Biddle argues that force employment is central to modern war, becoming increasingly important since 1900 as the key to surviving ever more lethal weaponry. Technological change produces opposite effects depending on how forces are employed; to focus only on materiel is thus to risk major error--with serious consequences for both policy and scholarship. In clear, fluent prose, Biddle provides a systematic account of force employment's role and shows how this account holds up under rigorous, multimethod testing. The results challenge a wide variety of standard views, from current expectations for a revolution in military affairs to mainstream scholarship in international relations and orthodox interpretations of modern military history. Military Power will have a resounding impact on both scholarship in the field and on policy debates over the future of warfare, the size of the military, and the makeup of the defense budget.

Tank Tactics

Author: Roman Jarymowycz
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 1461751780
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 377

Book Description
Explores the doctrinal, strategic, and tactical ideas behind World War II tank combat Contains detailed maps and diagrams Critiques the performances of commanders like George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and others Focusing on five Allied tank operations from July to September 1944--Operations Goodwood, Cobra, Totalize, and Tractable and Patton's tank battles around Arracourt--armor expert Roman Jarymowycz draws on after-action reports, extensive battlefield reconnaissance, recently discovered battle performance reviews, and war diaries to evaluate the successes and failures of the art of armored warfare as practiced by Allied tank commanders in France in 1944.