War and Militaria 33


The early French explorers, like him, dealt with the local Tlingit Indians, who have dedicated themselves to preserving the traditions and history of their people. These explorers faced the surging waters of Lituya Bay where the greatest ever recorded tsunami took place. They also learnt how to administer their own summary justice. Here, too, are the true stories of the 500-year- old warrior discovered encased in ice. Never a dull moment. 262 pages with map. £17.99 NOW £6


59989 CAPTAIN SCOTT - THE VOYAGE OF


THE DISCOVERY by Captain Robert F. Scott When this account of Scott’s first Antarctic expedition appeared in 1905 the reviewers recognised it as a masterpiece, and the first printing sold out immediately. Scott is best known for his doomed last expedition in 1912, but it was this earlier voyage that truly began the opening up of the Antarctic continent and laid the groundwork for the ‘Heroic Age’ of Antarctic exploration. Wordsworth paperback, 649pp. ONLY £4


71413 CONTACT! A Book of Glimpses by Jan Morris


In a series of wonderful vignettes we travel with James and then Jan (after his sex change) and enjoy together celebrated figures from Yves Saint Laurent, King Hussein of Jordan, President Truman, Peter O’Toole, to children playing, a homeless man in Manhattan and a lascivious taxi driver in this wonderful world of fleeting encounters and the observer’s responses. 202pp in paperback. £8.99 NOW £2.75


71698 CHASING THE DEVIL: The Search for


Africa’s Fighting Spirit by Tim Butcher For many years, Sierra Leone and Liberia were too dangerous for outsiders to travel through, bedevilled by violence, including the horrors of child soldiers, prisoner mutilation and ‘blood diamonds’. Once the wars were over, the author followed, on foot, a trail blazed by Graham Greene in 1935, trekking for 350 miles through remote rainforest and malarial swamps. He explored how rebel groups thrived in the bush for so long, and tried to determine whether the devil of war had truly been chased away. Weaving history and anthropology with personal narrative, as well as new discoveries about Greene. 325 pages, illus and maps. £18.99 NOW £5


WAR AND MILITARIA


The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy. - Friedrich Nietzsche


73605 BRITISH FIGHTER


AIRCRAFT AND AIR BATTLES OF


WW2: 6 DVDs by The War File Disc one covers the


story of the Spitfire through the skills of fighter aces like Johnnie Johnson, ‘Sailor’ Malan and Bobby Tuck. The only match for the Luftwaffe’s Messerschmitt Bf109, the Supermarine Spitfire helped change the course of the war in the favour of the Allies. Disc two tells the story of the Hawker Hurricane which swooped to despatch over two thirds of all enemy aircraft destroyed in the Battle of Britain. Features colour footage of the last surviving aircraft alongside original combat film. The de Havilland Mosquito, fighter design, dramatic action of dogfights over Britain between British and German pilots, the Japanese Zeros vs the American Hellcats and Corsairs over the Pacific, bombing raids on the Sorpe and Eder Dams, against the V2 rocket launching site at Peenemünde and the fighter battle for the island of Malta are among the dramatic features on the disc numbered five. The final disc is a unique film depicting the outstanding and legendary aircraft of WWII including the Spitfire, Hurricane, Lancaster, Mosquito, Blenheim, Flying Fortress, Liberator, Mitchell, Mustang, Hellcat, Corsair and Avenger. This classic collection only contains film produced to the highest standards. Six DVDs running time 340 minutes. £34.99 NOW £16


73264 RIGHT OF THE LINE: The Role of the


RAF in World War Two by John Terraine At the Battle of Crécy in 1346, the 16-year old Black Prince was given ‘the place of honour and greatest danger, commanding the vanguard on the right of the line’. Since then, ‘the right of the line’ has come to mean - in battle, the place of greatest danger, and in ceremony the place of honour. Hence the title of this page-turning book. Here, it is argued that, in the war in Europe between 1939 and 1945, the RAF was, in effect, holding the place of honour on the right of the line. During World War II the Royal Air Force found itself, without option, shouldering the burden of the war when the Army was in eclipse and the Royal Navy strained to its limits - especially during the crisis of the U-boat war in 1942-43. Bomber Command played a vital role. It was their task to wage war against Germany when no other forces of the British Empire could reach her. 1939-45 was the time of the vast air fleets, the big aircraft with large specialized crews and a host of people on the ground required to direct and service them, including members of the Air Council and the Air Staff, Group Commanders, back- room boys, and ground crew. Of these, a vast 70,253 men and women were lost in action. To set the record straight, this huge and detailed book chronicles the glorious history of the RAF from its beginnings, through its sorties over the North Sea and Norway, the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic, the Strategic Air Offensive, the Mediterranean, Combined Operations, Normandy and the final triumph of air power. An enormous 841 paperback pages lavishly furnished with b/ w photos, with map, notes, RAF Index and Index of Aircraft and seven detailed appendices. £30 NOW £11


73253 BLOODLINE by Iain Gordon


Anyone who either has dealings with, or simply an interest in or an affection for the British Army, will find here not only an invaluable work of reference but also a record of splendid


achievements. Using easy-to-follow, family-tree type tables, this volume shows the origins and development of every regular formation in the British Army, including the latest changes and amalgamations, together with a wealth of historical reference material gathered from a variety of sources over many years. The charts illustrate clearly how, in some cases, up to 25 original regiments of the line have, over the centuries, by successive disbandment and amalgamations, been reduced to a single regiment in today’s superb, but shamefully over-stretched and under-funded, army. The Battle Honours of each post-Cardwell constituent are recorded separately, so that the progress of each of the original regiments, and the theatres of war in which it was involved, may be examined individually. The pedigrees and Honours of disbanded units are also recorded, so that their contribution will not be lost to posterity. A chronological summary of Battle Honours provides an overview of the British army’s campaigns over the past 300 years, and notes on the origins of each formation serve to place its original purpose within the political and historical perspective of the time. 167 pages.


£19.99 NOW £8


73283 HITLER AND THE NAZI CULT OF CELEBRITY by Michael Munn


A shocking account of Hitler’s fantasy of power and stardom. He did not set out to be a politician. He simply wanted to be famous. Having tried unsuccessfully to be in turn an artist, a playwright and a composer of opera, he discovered that his only talent was oratory. At the heart of his style of


government, backed up by military and paramilitary might, was the cult of celebrity. Nazi Germany’s greatest celebrities, whether they were actors, writers, musicians, architects, or rich industrialists, could be one of only two things. If they were compliant with the régime they were lauded, but if they dared to disagree - or were simply Jewish - then they were traitors and were either interned or murdered. The cult of selective celebrity was nurtured and driven by the Fuehrer and his acolyte Joseph Goebbels. In their version of Hollywood there were scandals, starlets, secret agents, premières, the infamous ‘casting couch’ and even a Soviet spy who posed as an actress. This revelatory book probes into the manner in which films were used as weapons and uncovers the sexual predilections of the Nazi hierarchy. It also brings to light previously unpublished information about the ‘Hitler film’ that Goebbels saw as ‘the greatest story ever told.’ This was in the planning even as Hitler himself was heading for his own Wagnerian finale. 290 pages with b/w archive photos. £20 NOW £7


73248 THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY


by Kendal Burt and James Leasor


James Leasor wrote such books as Boarding Party, filmed as The Sea Wolves, and Passport to Oblivion filmed as Where the Spies Are with David Niven. Here is the first book to tell the full story of Franz von Werra, a Luftwaffe officer escaping in England set against the


background of our own familiar countryside, with our own countrymen, police, soldiers, home guards, shepherds, bus conductors and booking clerks playing the unfamiliar roles of pursuer and sometimes unconscious abettor of one of the most ingenious and brazen of all escapers. Based on von Werra’s own account, here is the German point of view of a prisoner in British hands. Did the Germans bait their guards with similar ironic humour and horseplay often carried to dangerous extremes? How were our prisoners fed, interrogated and guarded and how did we treat them? 255pp in paperback with maps for example of Camp 13 at Swanwick, and HQ Police Search Operations at Ulverstone in Lancashire. Nine pages of illus. Paperback.


£9.99 NOW £4.50


73249 SAS SECRET WAR IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA: 22 Special Air Service Regiment in the Borneo Campaign 1963-1966 by Peter Dickens


From 1963-1966 Britain successfully waged a secret war to keep the Federation of Malaya free from domination by Soekarno’s Indonesia and by Chinese Communists. At


the forefront of the campaign was the SAS, an élite branch of the British army. Working in four-man patrols, the SAS teams first befriended the head-hunting border tribes and even trained some of them as an irregular militia force. As the conflict continued, SAS teams went beyond the borders into Indonesia, where they tracked down enemy camps, destroyed supply routes and attacked the soldiers in the river boats. By interviewing those who were there, Peter Dickens - great-grandson of Charles Dickens, and himself a decorated naval officer - has recreated what it was really like to fight in the dense jungle and rainforest of Malaysia. In telling this dramatic story, he captures the bravery and relentless pursuit of excellence that make the SAS the prestigious unit it is. 248 paperback pages from Greenhill with b/w archive photos, glossary and maps. £13.99 NOW £5


73251 ZULU VICTORY: The Epic of Isandlwana and the Cover-Up by Ron Lock and Peter Quantrill


Praised by no less a person than the Traditional Prime Minister to the Zulu Nation, and Minister for Home Affairs of the Republic of South Africa, this meticulously researched volume dispels long-held myths about the ‘disaster’ of the battle of Isandlwana during the Anglo-Zulu


War of 1879, when Lord Chelmsford’s invading army was defeated. Using a critical approach, it questions how the defeat of an invading army moved by destructive intent can be depicted as a ‘disaster’ at all, and reassesses what they claim was - in fact a magnificent Zulu victory against an invading army with superior arms, whose generals and intelligence departments were simply no match for the commanders of the Zulu troops and its people-driven intelligence of that time. This book is also of great importance in that it hauls from behind their scapegoats those who provided weak leadership, and exposes them to the critical light of historical fact. One such was Anthony Durnford, who did not deserve to be used as a whipping-boy for Lord Chelmsford, and whose exculpation by the authors is a vindication for his family, who fought a long and debilitating fight to restore his honour against a manipulative military establishment. A surprising and compelling re-evaluation of a misrepresented event. 336 paperback pages illustrated in colour and b/w, with notes, maps, glossary, chronology, Regiments of the Zulu Army and appendix on The Ammunition Controversy.


£14.99 NOW £6 73255 FIGHTING ADMIRALS


OF WORLD WAR II by David Wragg


The author, one of our leading naval historians, examines the careers, personalities, achievements and failures of 18 giants of the Senior Service, and at the same time covers all the major naval campaigns of the Second World War. Seapower was a crucial element in the outcome of the


conflict. The U-Boat attacks almost brought Britain to her knees. The Arctic convoys were instrumental in keeping Russia in the war. Pearl Harbour brought America into the battle with massive repercussions, and allied naval supremacy made the D-Day landings possible. This interesting volume examines in detail the key naval commanders of both sides. For the allies, the author has picked five British and five US admirals. Six naval leaders represent the Axis, three German and three Japanese. On account of the problems faced by Vichy France, including the courageous decision to scuttle the fleet rather than let it fall into German hands, two French admirals also form part of the list. Here are the ‘Bull in a China Shop’ Fleet Admiral William Halsey, the Poacher Turned Gamekeeper Admiral Sir Max Horton, the Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alfred Dudley Pound (who was guilty of catnapping at meetings) and 15 others. They all spring to life. 198 pages with b/w archive photos.


£19.99 NOW £7.50


73259 WANDSWORTH AND BATTERSEA BATTALIONS IN


THE GREAT WAR 1915-1918 by Paul McCue From the early tragic death of an adventurous boy of just 15, to the heroic deeds of a dustman who won the Victoria Cross, this moving volume describes the pain and the glory of the volunteers of Wandsworth and Battersea. In


1915, Lord Kitchener extended his famous ‘Your Country Needs You’ recruitment campaign by calling for each mayor of the London Metropolitan Boroughs to raise a unit of local men for active service overseas. In Wandsworth Mayor Dawnay personally took up the challenge and recruited, for the 13th East Surrey Regiment, double the number of men needed for an infantry battalion. Mayor Simmons pledged a full infantry battalion from Battersea to the 10th Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment. As this superbly written and illustrated book reveals, both battalions served with honour and distinction. But they, and the communities from which they came, also suffered thousands of men wounded and killed. This sacrifice cemented links with France, Belgium and Italy that continue today. In Villiers-Plouich, the French have named the square outside their town hall ‘Place de Wandsworth’ and the sign bears the coats of arms of both communities. 288 memorable pages lavishly illustrated in historic b/w, with nine appendices. £25 NOW £8


73261 BAYONETS FOR HIRE: Mercenaries at War 1550-


1789 by William Urban Whether we like it or not, it is a fact of modern human existence that with money, pretty well anything is possible, and in no sphere is this more true than in warfare. Money not only buys you the best weaponry, but can also get you the best men with which to operate it. Mercenaries have been considered a


marginal phenomenon, but in this incisive new study William Urban demonstrates that military professionals have contributed much to European politics, commerce and scientific thought, not just military matters. In the 16th century mercenaries were not just restricted to individual soldiers and officers - entire armies of well- trained and well-equipped men were available at the right price. By the late 17th century the infantry had muskets with bayonets, engineers came up with new ways of building and assaulting fortresses and generals were learning new tactics from successful field marshals,


but the man everyone paid attention to was the treasury officer, because with more money it was always possible to improve your chances in war, from providing better cannons to buying the neutrality of your neighbours. By the mid-1700s military service had become a profession, and the old-fashioned mercenary became less common, until he was swept away by the volunteer armies of the end of the century as, temporarily at least, profit gave way to patriotism. Urban delves deep into this epic period, following the tumultuous history of soldiers of fortune from the medieval to the modern age and showing how they influenced the course of European history. Includes a very handy quick reference timeline from 1500-1795, political and battle maps of Europe (1550-1789) and 16 pages of b/w plates. 304pp. £25 NOW £8.50


72472 RIDDLES OF WIPERS: The Wipers Times


by John Ivelaw-Chapman The Wipers Times was the Private Eye of the Ypres Salient during World War One. Edited while under bombardment by a battalion commander in the Sherwood Foresters, written by soldiers actually in the trenches and distributed by Russian-wagon and ammunition-mules. The Wipers


Times was a gentle, humour-filled and satirical paper. Once its codes are cracked and its riddles solved, tells an interested reader much about the characters and personalities of the men in the British Army. Interpretation of regular features such as the bogus music-hall advertisements, columns like ‘Answers to my Many Correspondents’ and ‘Things We Want to Know’ plus a careful study of some of the remarkable poetry published in the paper, explain the mud, the gas, the shells, the fear and courage. Superb cartooning from the likes of Bruce Bairnsfather. Facsimile excerpts and archive photos throughout, 204pp in large softback. £12.99 NOW £5


71840 RED BARON’S LAST FLIGHT by Norman Franks and Alan Bennett Baron Von Richthofen was far from a natural born pilot, but he learned rapidly and became highly proficient. Featuring newly discovered eyewitness accounts, this fully updated paperback edition explores the mysterious events of April 21st 1918, the day the legendary Red Baron met his end. Here is the answer, taking you straight to the site of his final crash. Leading aviation historians Franks and Bennett restaged the last flight over the Somme and present some inescapable conclusions. Illus, photos and maps. 144pp in large softback.


£9.99 NOW £4


72034 BATTLE OF HELIGOLAND BIGHT 1939: The Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe’s


Baptism of Fire by Robin Holmes It was in the course of his underwater research in Loch Ness that the author located and identified the World War II Wellington bomber N2980 ‘R for Robert’. Out of a total of 11,461 of this type of aircraft, Old Wimpy, as it was nicknamed, is now the only one left that fought back against Nazi tyranny and survived to rest in Brooklands Museum. Here is the moving story of the first British bombing raid of the Second World War, when Squadron Leader Paul Harris led 149 Squadron to Brunsbuettel at the entrance to the Kiel Canal. Not wanting to turn back on the first raid of the war, he made the decision to press on regardless. Later, he flew to Wilhelmshaven and took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight. This time, his guns worked and were red hot. 190 pages, archive photos, line drawings, diagrams, maps. £20 NOW £5.75


71864 MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR


by James Hayward Did an entire battalion of the Norfolk Regiment vanish without trace at Gallipoli in 1915? Did thousands of Russian troops actually pass through England with snow on their boots? In 1914, an acute spymania gripped the British public who imagined that the country was brimming with


German spies. Xenophobia, denunciations and attacks on Daschunds were rampant. Rumours of disaster were rife and the apparition of mystical guardian spirits gave hope to the civilian population at home. 202pp in paperback, photos. £8.99 NOW £3


72251 KILLER ELITE by Michael Smith Here is the 25 year inside story of America’s top secret US army Special Ops unit which is at the forefront of the war on terror. ‘The Activity’, as it became known to insiders, has hidden behind a myriad of code-names like Gray Fox and Torn Victor. It has been publically ‘disbanded’ and then secretly resurrected so often that it has near mythical status. We follow members on operations from the undercover ops in Beirut in the 1980s to the capture of Saddam Hussein and the assassination of key members of al Qa’eda. 336pp in paperback with colour photos. £8.99 NOW £3


71267 LESSONS IN IMPERIAL RULE: by General Sir Andrew Skeen


Sub-titled Instructions for British Infantrymen on the Indian Frontier, this handbook for soldiers fighting in the Third Afghan War of 1919 sheds light on the situation in Afghanistan today. In 1919 the country was a buffer zone between British India and the might of revolutionary Russia, but the Amir Amanullah was convinced that the British Empire was on the verge of collapse and mobilised near the Khyber Pass. Britain countered the threat with the help of Waziristan militia and supported by Gurkhas. 144pp. £19.99 NOW £2.50


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