In October 1936 two German ships arrived in Spain loaded with a Panzer I company and all the services and personnel to establish Franco's army's first armored unit, the so-called Panzer-Gruppe Drohne. The Third Reich chose a pioneer in the development of German ground forces to command this contingent - Oberstleutnant Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma. This book presents the history of von Thoma's units in the Spanish Civil War, from the tank crews to the infantry, and specialties.

An authoritative and fully illustrated study of the German military vehicles that fought in the Spanish Civil War—from motorcycles to Panzer Tanks. This comprehensive volume examines the combat and logistics vehicles that formed a vital part of the German contingent fighting in the Spanish Civil War alongside Francisco Franco’s Nationalist forces. The Panzer I, which so surprised the world in the Polish campaign of World War II, was first seen in the Spanish Civil War. It appeared together with a wide range of war materiel such as antitank guns, flamethrowers, and other armaments. This book covers a wide range of vehicles, each identified in detail: from the humblest motorcycle to the Horch staff car; from Opel ‘Blitz’, MAN Diesel, Mercedes, and Krupp trucks to the enormous Vomag 3LR 443 truck; as well as the many types of military ambulances seen in Spain during the war years. With more than 500 historic images—most of them previously unpublished—this volume is an unprecedented study of the vehicles used by the German contingent in the Spanish Civil War.

On a visit to the British National Archive in 2001, Sönke Neitzel made a remarkable discovery: reams of covertly recorded, meticulously transcribed conversations among German POWs during World War II that recently had been declassified. Neitzel would later find another collection of transcriptions, twice as extensive, in the National Archive in Washington, D.C. These discoveries, published in book form for the first time, would provide a unique and profoundly important window into the true mentality of the soldiers in the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, the German navy, and the military in general—almost all of whom had insisted on their own honorable behavior during the war. Collaborating with renowned social psychologist Harald Welzer, Neitzel examines these conversations—and the casual, pitiless brutality omnipresent in them—to create a powerful narrative of wartime experience. [Originally published as Soldaten.]

Winner of the 1974 National Book Award "The most profound and accomplished American novel since the end of World War II." - The New Republic “A screaming comes across the sky. . .” A few months after the Germans’ secret V-2 rocket bombs begin falling on London, British Intelligence discovers that a map of the city pinpointing the sexual conquests of one Lieutenant Tyrone Slothrop, U.S. Army, corresponds identically to a map showing the V-2 impact sites. The implications of this discovery will launch Slothrop on an amazing journey across war-torn Europe, fleeing an international cabal of military-industrial superpowers, in search of the mysterious Rocket 00000.

In the Second World War, Great Britain, the United States and Germany each produced one land force commander who stood out from the rest: Bernard Montgomery, George Patton and Erwin Rommel. These three armour-plated egos were the greatest generals of the war, and theirs was a very personal contest: the clash of mighty armies perceived as a bout between three men. All three were arrogant and flawed, yet with a genius for the command of men and an unrivalled enthusiasm for combat. All had spectacular success on the battlefield. But their explosive relationships with each other and with their political masters rivalled the pyrotechnics of their tank battles in determining the conduct and outcome of the war. Masters of Battle presents the Second World War as it was experienced by its three most flamboyant, controversial and influential commanders.

Biography of a native Virginian who became a major general in the Union army.

The Condor Legion was the expeditionary force of soldiers and airmen sent by Hitler to aid Franco's Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. The Germans used the war as an opportunity to develop equipment and tactics, and their force included not only instructors, but also combat units of artillery, tanks and aircraft. These units tested guns, tanks and planes and perfected techniques which were used in the 1940 Blitzkrieg. Many of officers prominent in the early campaigns of World War II won their first successes in Spain. This book details the Legion and its unique uniform and insignia.