Praeger illustrated military history series,

"The D-Day landings of 6 June 1944 were the largest amphibious military operation ever mounted. The greatest armada the world had ever seen was assembled to transport the Allied invasion force across the Channel and open the long-awaited second front against Hitler's Third Reich. Of the landings on the five assault beaches, Omaha Beach was the only one ever in doubt. Within moments of the first wave landing a third of the assault troops were casualties. Yet by the end of D-Day the Atlantic Wall had been breached and the US Army's V. Corps was firmly entrenched on French soil."--BOOK JACKET.

"At 1600 hrs on June 6, 1944, a Horsa glider ground to a halt a mere 60 yards from the Orne Canal bridge at Benouville in Normandy. A small group of British paratroopers burst from it and stormed the bridge within minutes. The Allied liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe had begun. Within a few hours, landing craft would swarm towards Ouistreham as British 3rd Division stormed ashore at Sword Beach. The battle would then begin to break through to relieve the paratroopers. Ken Ford details the assault by British 6th Airborne Division and the British landings on Sword Beach that secured the vital left flank of the invasion. On the eastern most flank of the Allied landings in Normandy was Sword Beach, the responsibility of British 3rd Division. Their objectives for D-Day were to seize Ouistreham and Lion-sur-Mer, and to drive inland taking Hermanville, Perriers Ridge, and in co-operation with the Canadians landing on Juno, capture their ultimate goal: the town of Caen. In addition, they were to link up with the British Airborne forces who were to secure the eastern flank of the beachhead. The leading waves landed at 7: 30 a.m. and managed to get off the beach without heavy German resistance. By mid-morning, Hermanville had been captured but severe congestion on the beach was delaying those troops supposed to be exploiting the landing inland. This allowed the defending German forces, particularly the 21st Panzer Division, valuable time to react to the landings. Stiff German resistance and counter-attacks prevented Caen being taken on the first day and much blood would be shed before it finally fell. 1st Special Service Brigade landed in the Ouistreham area and moved inland to link up with the british Airborne forces. These had been assigned the tasks of securing the area west of the River Dives, destroying a number of bridges over the river and in particular capturing the bridges over the Orne River and the Caen-Ouistreham canal. First to land were the glider-borne infantry of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light infantry commanded by Major John Howard. They successfully seized the canal bridge at Benouville, which has been known since as Pegasus Bridge. The other landings were plagued by high winds with some paratroopers drowning in the river Dives, but five vital bridges were destroyed and in one of the most heroic actions of the landings the Merville battery was stormed and put out of action" -- provided by publisher.

"The Dieppe raid of August 1942 was one of the most controversial actions of World War II. Operation "Jubilee" was a frontal assault on a fortified port, landing the latest equipment and armor directly onto the beach. The main force would destroy the port facilities while other smaller landings dealt with anti-aircraft and coastal batteries. The raid itself turned into a fiasco. The assault force was pinned down on the beach and three quarters of the 5,000 troops landed were lost. This book analyses the disastrous raid and examines contrasting conclusions drawn by the Allies and the Germans."--Jacket.

"The German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 began World War II in Europe, pitting the newly modernized army of Europe's great industrial power against the much smaller Polish army and introducing the world to a new style of warfare-blitzkrieg. Panzer divisions spearheaded the German assault with Stuka dive-bombers prowling ahead spreading terror and mayhem. This book demonstrates how the Polish army was not as backward as it is often portrayed and fielded a tank force larger than that of the contemporary US Army. Its stubborn defense gave the Germans some surprises and German casualties were relatively heavy for such a short campaign."--BOOK JACKET.

"As depicted in the great film Lawrence of Arabia, General Allenby planned a swift campaign that would knock Turkey out of World War I. His Desert Mounted Corps succeeded in sweeping through the Turkish lines in an action which was to take them all the way to Damascus, supported on their right flank by Lawrence and his Arab irregulars. The lasting legacy of the battle of Megiddo was that it revealed the potential of a modern "war of movement", producing a profound change in military thought and tactics."--BOOK JACKET.