Military (455)

Showdown in Western Sahara Volume 2 (Africa@War 44)

ISBN: 9781912866298

Author: Tom Cooper    Publisher: Helion & Company

The former colony of Spanish Sahara saw frequent outbursts of tribal and ethnic rebellions while ruled by the colonial authorities in the late 19th and through ...


The former colony of Spanish Sahara saw frequent outbursts of tribal and ethnic rebellions while ruled by the colonial authorities in the late 19th and through the early 20th Century. Its vastness and distances essentially dictated the application of air power in response. While most of these events attracted next to no attention in English-language media, the large-scale operations of the Spanish colonial authorities of the late 1950s became notable at least for the final combat deployment of the famous Messerschmitt Bf.109. Following the Spanish withdrawal from Spanish Sahara in 1975, a major war erupted as Sahrawi nationalists - organized by the POLISARIO front - engaged in guerrilla warfare against Moroccan armed forces deployed to secure the northern part of the country, and Mauritanian forces deployed in the south. Characteristically for this period, POLISARIO's insurgency was often misinterpreted in the West as 'Soviet-influenced', although the rebels never adapted any related frameworks for their operations and tactics, such as those of Mao Zedong. On the contrary, while Algeria at least tolerated their bases on its soil, it was Libya that provided most of the support for the insurgency, eventually enabling it to defeat the Mauritanian military, slightly over a year later. Combined with POLISARIO's raids deep into Mauritania this prompted France to launch a limited military intervention in support. While tactically successful, this proved insufficient: Mauritania withdrew in 1979 after signing a peace treaty. Morocco continued fighting a series of bitter campaigns through 1979 and 1980, until rising costs and casualties prompted its government into developing an entirely new strategy. Construction of extensive earthen fortifications eventually slowed the war down to one of low intensity, only sporadically interrupted by insurgent attempts to achieve at least local successes. With both sides realizing that no solution through an armed conflict was possible, a cease-fire agreement was signed in 1991. However, this conflict still remains unresolved: it merely shifted to civilian resistance. Warfare in Western Sahara has in many ways become exemplary for modern-day counter-insurgency efforts in Africa and elsewhere. This conflict has been falsely declared as a part of some larger, external conflict - the Cold War; in regards of the concept of an insurgency applying motorized forces to deliver often spectacular 'hit-and-run' attacks; and in regards of a conventional military reacting with a combination of earth berms and air power. Illustrated by over 100 photograph as, a dozen maps and 18 colour profiles, Showdown in Western Sahara offers a fascinating study of the military aspects of this conflict, warfare strategies, tactics and experiences with different weapons systems.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 88


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Tags: Military   History
$49.99
Paradise Afire Volume 2 (Asia@War 8)

ISBN: 9781912866304

Author: Adrien Fontanellaz    Publisher: Helion & Company

Upon achieving independence from Great Britain in 1948, the stunningly beautiful island of Ceylon, re-named Sri Lanka in 1972, was expected to become a sort of ...


Upon achieving independence from Great Britain in 1948, the stunningly beautiful island of Ceylon, re-named Sri Lanka in 1972, was expected to become a sort of 'South Asian Singapore'. However, stable political order and bright economic prospects proved insufficient to maintain peace. A host of unsolved ethnic conflicts and social inequalities conspired to erupt into an armed conflict in 1971. By 1987, the crisis heated up to the point where the government in New Delhi began exercising fierce pressure upon the Sri Lankan government and the Sri Lankan Tamil insurgents to arrive at a peace deal. In order to help maintain peace, the Indian Peace Keeping Force was deployed on the island. However, with a few weeks, the troops of the Indian Army found themselves involved in a bloody and protracted confrontation with the most powerful of Tamil insurgent movements - the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Elam (LTTE). The peacekeeping operation was thus quickly converted into a military intervention and a bloody quagmire. To make matters even more complex, southern Sir Lanka meanwhile became engulfed in an unprecedented wave of public violence, triggered by the second insurrection of Sinhalese ultra-leftist movement, the JVP. Calling upon extensive studies of the Sri Lankan War, with the help of first hand sources, official documentation and publications from all of the involved parties, this volume provides an in-depth and particularly detailed account of military operations between 1987 and 1990. It is illustrated by over 120 photographs, maps and 12 color profiles.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 72


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Publication Date: 04-09-2019


Tags: Military   History
$49.99
Emperors Own (Asia@War 10)

ISBN: 9781912866311

Author: Dagmawi Abebe    Publisher: Helion & Company

On June 25, 1950, as he was flying back to Washington D.C. to deal with the outbreak of war in Korea, US President Harry Truman thought, "In my generation, this...


On June 25, 1950, as he was flying back to Washington D.C. to deal with the outbreak of war in Korea, US President Harry Truman thought, "In my generation, this was not the first occasion when the strong had attacked the weak. I recalled some earlier instances: Manchuria, Ethiopia, Austria. I remembered how each time that the democracies failed to act it had encouraged the aggressor to keep going ahead. Communism was acting in Korea just as Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese had acted, ten, fifteen, and twenty years earlier.... If this was allowed to go unchallenged it would mean a third world war." In response to North Korea's invasion of South Korea, the United Nations sent an urgent plea to its members for military assistance. Sixteen nations answered the call by contributing combat troops. Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, a stalwart advocate of collective security, dispatched an infantry battalion composed of his Imperial Bodyguard to affirm this principle which had been abandoned in favor of appeasement when the League of Nations (the predecessor to the United Nations) gave Fascist Italy a free-hand to invade Ethiopia in 1935. The unit designated "Kagnew Battalion" was actually successive battalions which rotated yearly and fought as part of the US 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. When they arrived, these warriors from an ancient empire were viewed with suspicion by their American allies as they were untested in modern warfare. Their arrival in Korea also coincided with the desegregation of the US Army. However, the Ethiopians eventually earned the respect of their comrades after countless bloody, often hand-to hand battles, with all three battalions which served during the war earning US Presidential Unit Citations. Remarkably, Kagnew was the only UN contingent which did not lose a single man as prisoner of war or missing in action. Until now, few have heard the story of their stand for collective security and against aggression. The Emperor's Own provides insight into who these men and women were as well as what became of them after the war.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 96


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Tags: Military   History
$55.00
At the Forward Edge of Battle A History of the Pakistan Armoured Corps 1938-2016 Volume 2 (Asia@War 11)

ISBN: 9781912866335

Author: Major General Syed Ali Hamid    Publisher: Helion & Company

At the Forward Edge of Battle is the first ever illustrated history of the Pakistan Armoured Corps. The Pakistan Armoured Corps is based on a unique blend of v...


At the Forward Edge of Battle is the first ever illustrated history of the Pakistan Armoured Corps. The Pakistan Armoured Corps is based on a unique blend of values and traditions inherited from its predecessors, and those of the post-Independence national army. The origins of this force can be traced back to the time when the cavalry units of the British India Army were mechanized, in the late 1930s. They were worked up and then deployed extensively during the Second World War, and further moulded during the post-independence period and two wars with India between 1948-1971. By the 1990s, the Pakistan Armoured Corps had evolved into a modern fighting force in thought, organization, and equipment. Based on decades of the author's first-hand experience, extensive research with the help of authentic sources and official documentation, this book provides a detailed and richly illustrated description of the build-up and expansion of the Pakistan Armoured Corps, its culture, organisation, doctrine, equipment, bases, a myriad of events and personalities, and combat operations that shaped it over the last 95 years. At the Forward Edge of Battle, Volume 2, is illustrated with over 100 rare and authentic photographs, 15 colour profiles, and a similar number of maps.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 136


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Publication Date: 10-02-2020


Tags: History   Military
$55.00
The Trieste Crisis 1953 (Europe@War 1)

ISBN: 9781912866342

Author: Bojan Dimitrijevic    Publisher: Helion & Company

The city of Trieste stands as a symbol of the Italian-Yugoslav border dispute in the first decade after the Second World War. The problem included a much larger...


The city of Trieste stands as a symbol of the Italian-Yugoslav border dispute in the first decade after the Second World War. The problem included a much larger territory which covers the wider area of Trieste: ranging from the Julian Alps in the north to the base of the Istrian peninsula in the south; in the area where the Italians meet the South Slavs. Moreover, after the Second World War it was an area of confrontation for two ideologies: western democracy and communism. It was the place where the Iron Curtain lay between the two worlds for many decades of the Cold War. Often discussed from the socio-economic point of view, military aspects of the Trieste Crisis remain remarkably under-reported - and not only in the English language. One of the primary reasons is the relative unavailability of relevant Italian and Yugoslav documentation, but also the general focus on political and ethnic issues instead. The Trieste Crisis focusses on military-related affairs in this part of the world from the 'race to Trieste' of May 1945 until the creation of the Free Territory of Trieste and the culmination of tensions between Italy and former Yugoslavia, in October 1953. By the later date, the crisis had reached a point where it resulted in the largest deployment of military forces from both countries. Correspondingly, this work provides a detailed account of the Allied, Italian and Yugoslav military presence in the area befor, and their build-up during this near-war. Paying special attention to the description of the troops involved, their armament and equipment, the heavy weaponry deployed, and aerial and naval forces, The Trieste Crisis is illustrated by more than 150 photographs - most of them never published before - colour profiles and maps, and thus closing a gap in the history of the early Cold War in Europe of the mid-20th Century.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 80


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Tags: Military   History
$49.99
Fury from the North (Asia@War 7)

ISBN: 9781912390335

Author: Douglas Dildy    Publisher: Helion & Company

It was almost exactly 15.00 hours local time, on 25 June 1950, when nine Yakovlev Yak-9P fighters of the North Korea's 'Korean People's Air Force' (KPAF) simult...


It was almost exactly 15.00 hours local time, on 25 June 1950, when nine Yakovlev Yak-9P fighters of the North Korea's 'Korean People's Air Force' (KPAF) simultaneously attacked Seoul International Airport and the Kimpo Airfield outside Seoul, the capitol of South Korea. In the course of their attacks, the Yaks shot up ground installations and strafed one of Douglas C-54 transports of the US Air Force involved in evacuation of US citizens from the war-stricken country. The Yaks returned to finish off the C-54 at Kimpo around 19.00. Thus began the aerial component of the Korean War, which was to last until mid-1953. While dozens of accounts about this air war have been published over the time, nearly all of these are concentrating on its most spectacular segment: air combats between jet fighters of two primary belligerents: North American F-86 Sabres of the US Air Force (USAF) and Mikoyan i Gurevich MiG-15s of the Soviet Air Force (V-VS). On the contrary, the story of KPAF's coming into being and its involvement in the Korean War remain entirely unknown. Certainly enough, the small service was virtually wiped out of the skies in a matter of few weeks after the start of that conflict. Therefore, the impression is that it never took part in the Korean War again. Actually, the KPAF - backgrounds of which can be traced back to the times only three months after the Japanese capitulation that ended the World War II - was rebuilt and even made a comeback: re-equipped with piston-engined fighters of Soviet origin already by the end of 1950, it went a step further and converted to jets just a year later. This is a story of the - often problematic - coming into being of the KPAF. Clearly, building a modern, effective air force was always a daunting undertaking - even in the late 1940s when there was abundance of combat aircraft left over from the World War II. Nevertheless, the communist government of North Korea and its airmen never stopped trying. Surprisingly enough - especially for a military service of a staunchly communist and underdeveloped country of the 1940s - it was greatly bolstered by efforts of a single wealthy man that provided installations necessary for education of future pilots and ground personnel.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 96


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Publication Date: 17-04-2019


Tags: Military   History
$55.00
MiG-23 Flogger in the Middle East Middle East@War 12

ISBN: 9781912390328

Author: Tom Cooper    Publisher: Helion & Company

Following a protracted research and development phase, Mikoyan Gurevich's MiG-23 finally entered service with the former Soviet Air Force in the early 1970s. Al...


Following a protracted research and development phase, Mikoyan Gurevich's MiG-23 finally entered service with the former Soviet Air Force in the early 1970s. Almost immediately, a number of foreign customers pressed Moscow for deliveries of this long-overdue type, expected to succeed the popular MiG-21 as a standard interceptor. Correspondingly, large numbers of MiG-23 interceptors and fighter-bombers were exported to five major Arab air forces in the mid-1970s. This is a detailed history of the operational service of this Soviet-manufactured interceptor and its fighter-bomber variants in service with Algerian, Egyptian, Iraqi, Libyan, and Syrian air forces, since 1974. While Egypt purchased only a handful before its final break with Moscow, and Algeria limited related acquisitions, Iraq, Libya and Syria continued purchasing advanced variants in significant numbers through the 1980s. The units operating MiG-23s were soon transformed into the backbone of the military services in question, and they saw combat service in a number of intensive military conflicts. In the 1980s, they fought against Israeli jets over Lebanon, against the Iranians in the Iran-Iraq War, and confronted US Navy's F-14s on numerous occasions off Libya. In 1991 Iraqi MiG-23s were deployed in combat against the US-led coalition's F-15s. Indeed, in Syria, different versions of MiG-23 continue flying combat operations today. Illustrated with over 110 photographs - many of these never published before -color profiles and a dozen maps, this volume provides a unique point of reference, revealing much detail about camouflage patterns, unit insignia and aircraft markings.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 88


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Publication Date: 31-07-2018


Tags: Military   History
$49.99
War in Ukraine Vol 1 - Europe at War 21

ISBN: 9781915070661

Author: Edward Crowther    Publisher: Helion & Company

Armed Formations of the Donetsk People's Republic, 2014 - 2022 Volume 1 of War in Ukraine focuses on the armed formations of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DP...


Armed Formations of the Donetsk People's Republic, 2014 - 2022 Volume 1 of War in Ukraine focuses on the armed formations of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the largest of the two separatist entities in the east of Ukraine. Armed formations of the Donetsk People’s Republic aims to provide an overview of their formation in 2014, their status up to the end of February 2022, and combat equipment, while also exploring issues around identity and symbology. Loosely confederated with the armed formations of the neighbouring Luhansk People’s Republic into the so-called ‘United Armed Forces of Novorossiya’, in reality the armed formations of the Donetsk People’s Republic have retained a degree of autonomy over their units and planning. Often dismissed in existing literature as mere proxy extensions of Russian forces, since their formation in the fighting in eastern Ukraine during 2014 the armed formations of the Donetsk People’s Republic have developed into an integrated fighting force with more main battle tanks than several major Western military powers combined. The title also details some of the key military commanders who have shaped the armed formations of the Donetsk People’s Republic since 2014. One area of focus of the title explores the unusual and little-known ‘home grown’ military technological developments made by the Donetsk People’s Republic, including multiple launch rocket systems, armoured vehicles, sniper rifles, small arms and remote weapons stations. The emerging visual propaganda culture around the armed formations of the Donetsk People’s Republic is also explored, with military glory and fallen personnel commemorated in large scale military parades, murals, monuments and even postage stamps. War in Ukraine Volume 1: Armed formations of the Donetsk People’s Republic also presents a wealth of unique visual material including unit patches, a selection of unique photographs, diagrams and maps, and will be of interest to anyone studying the conflict in Ukraine. "This is a very useful work of reference for modellers and historiansm as well as those with an interest in current affairs, it it throws light into an area that not much is known of." IPMS, Issue 5 2022 "A great reference for those looking to model DPR armor and weaponry-- there are tons of photos of unit patches and insignias, and the color profiles feature DPR technicals, trucks, MBTs, APCs, and other AFVs." AMPS


Bind: paperback


Pages: 78


Dimensions: 210 x 297 x 5 mm


Tags: May / June 2023   Military   History
$49.99
Fleet Air Arm Boys Volume 4

ISBN: 9781911667438

Author: Steve Bond    Publisher: Grub Street

Steve Bond is back with the final volume in this popular series. Unlike his previous three tomes, with their focus on air/rotorcraft, this book is uniquely dedi...


Steve Bond is back with the final volume in this popular series. Unlike his previous three tomes, with their focus on air/rotorcraft, this book is uniquely dedicated to the personnel of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) themselves. Each chapter will concentrate on the memories of contributors who served in a range of roles, including those below the flight deck. Accounts will focus on the everyday life upon an aircraft carrier as well as the extraordinary challenges faced during operations. There is a fascinating chapter covering exchange services with the RAF and other navies including the French and US; and also insight into the Indian navy's experience with the Sea Hawk and Sea Harrier. Within the previous volumes, we met some remarkable characters and there is a chapter devoted to people's memories of them. The closing section entitled 'Thoughts' sees contributors reflect on their FAA career with many deeply moving responses and discourses on the future of the service. The book is heavily illustrated throughout in colour and black and white with personal photographs from the contributors, artwork and tongue-in-cheek cartoons for which the FAA is famous. Volume Four is the perfect conclusion to the ongoing post-war story of a truly astounding branch of the armed forces.


Bind: hardback


Pages: 288


Dimensions: 156 x 234 mm


Publication Date: 12-06-2023


$79.99
Jet Provost Boys

ISBN: 9781911667445

Author: David Watkins    Publisher: Grub Street

As a versatile and undemanding aircraft, the Jet Provost established itself as the basic trainer for the RAF from the late 1950s until its retirement in Septemb...


As a versatile and undemanding aircraft, the Jet Provost established itself as the basic trainer for the RAF from the late 1950s until its retirement in September 1993. In Jet Provost Boys, David Watkins explores the history of this magnificent flying machine through the vivid memories of former air crew from the RAF and foreign air forces. Alongside operating as a basic training aircraft, the Jet Provost had relative success within the civilian and military display flying circuit of the 1960s and 1970s. It was also part of the prestige Golden Eagle Flight at RAF Cranwell which taught the then-Prince of Wales how to fly. When the Jet Provost Mk. 5 model became the BAC 167 Strikemaster after some modifications, it became a counter-insurgency and light-attack aircraft. This capability allowed the aircraft to be sold to air forces around the world including Ceylon, Nigeria, New Zealand, Sudan and Venezuela where it played a reliable and effective role in multiple border disputes and internal warfare. It was crucial to the Sultan of Oman Air Force during the Dhofar War as the intervention of Strikemasters assisted in a significant turning point in the conflict. This book includes a foreword by Squadron Leader Terry Lloyd who was the leader of the 1964-1965 Pelicans display team as well as being illustrated throughout with black and white and colour photos. This latest addition to the Boys series is not to be missed and will appeal to all aviation fans.


Bind: hardback


Pages: 192


Dimensions: 156 x 234 mm


Publication Date: 30-06-2023


$69.99
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