Across thousands of light-years, hundreds of worlds, and many races, war is brewing. An unseen enemy strikes out at the fragile balance of power in the galaxy. An old threat, originally thought dead, rises again. The dragon-shifters have all but vanished . . . or so it was thought. All but onea man named Indari. With his power and his mind, he must forge an alliance between his people and the galactic powers of the known universe. Can one man make a difference in a war fought against an enemy theyve yet to understand?

Beskriver det amerikanske bombefly B-26 Marauder og dets operationer under 2. verdenskrig.

Osprey's examination of the B-26 Marauder Units' participation in World War II (1939-1945). The revolutionary design of the B-26 and its associated flight characteristics initially gained it a reputation as a 'widow maker' receiving nicknames such as 'The Baltimore Whore' and 'The Flying Prostitute' - both a reference to its short wingspan, i.e. no visible means of support! Gradual improvements to the design and the development of effective combat tactics enabled these units to make the B-26 a very effective and safe combat aircraft; it went on to play a major role in the defeat of Axis forces in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany. The bombing accuracy of the B-26s was unrivalled and they were therefore selected to bomb targets such as the Florentine rail network. Lt General Eaker MAAF CO said. 'When we teach the B-17s to bomb like the B-26s we will have accomplished our job'. Hastily trained on an airplane with a bad reputation and rushed into combat in North Africa, the MTO B-26 groups went on to gain an enviable reputation for bombing accuracy and low combat loss rate. Performing the dangerous close support and interdiction roles, the units played a major role in the defeat of Axis forces in North Africa, Italy and Germany. They proved the B-26 to be a highly reliable, effective medium bomber - indeed, an MTO-based B-26 was the first ever USAAF bomber to reach the 100-mission mark. It was the three MTO Bombardment Groups that established the Marauder as one of the USAAF's truly great aircraft of World War II.

The B-26 Marauder was a formidable weapon in the campaign to defeat Hitler's armies, and, in the words of his first copilot, "Louis Rehr "was the best there was" flying it. This memoir, which benefits from forty years of research on the combat history of the B-26, contributions from comrades, and an extensive collection of rare photographs, describes Rehr's experiences, including five night-bombing missions he volunteered to fly in 1944 and accounts of attacks by Me-262 jets in late April of 1945. Rehr, a squadron commander with the 323rd Bombardment Group, earned 12 air medals, five battle stars, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and the Croix de Guerre with Silver Star.

A critically acclaimed historian reveals the heroism and perseverance of a US Army special ops unit during one of the most overlooked campaigns of WWII. In August of 1943, a call went out for American soldiers willing to embark on a “hazardous and dangerous mission” behind enemy lines in Burma. The war department wanted 3,000 volunteers, and it didn’t care who they were; they would be expendable, with an expected casualty rate of eighty-five percent. The men who took up the challenge were, in the words of one, “bums and cast-offs” with rap sheets and reputations for trouble. One war reporter described them as “Dead End Kids,” but by the end of their five-month mission, those that remained had become the legendary “Merrill’s Marauders.” From award-winning historian Gavin Mortimer, Merrill’s Marauders is the story of the American World War II special forces unit originally codenamed “Galahad,” which, in 1944, fought its way through 700 miles of snake-infested Burmese jungle—what Winston Churchill described as “the most forbidding fighting country imaginable.” Though their mission to disrupt Japanese supply lines and communications was ultimately successful, paving the way for the Allied conquest of Burma, the Marauders paid a terrible price for their victory. By the time they captured the crucial airfield of Myitkyina in May 1944, only 200 of the original 3,000 men remained; the rest were dead, wounded, or riddled with disease. This is the definitive nonfiction narrative of arguably the most extraordinary, but also unsung, American special forces unit in World War II.

A definitive technical guide to one of the most underrated medium bombers of the Second World War. The Martin B-26 Marauder never fully managed to shake off an undeserved early reputation as a dangerous aircraft to fly. Deemed superior to all other designs on the table at the time, almost a 1,000 had been ordered before the aircraft first took to the air November 1940. From late 1941 the first B-26s became operational in the Pacific, followed by the Mediterranean, but it is in the European theatre that the type was most prolific. It was particularly during the Normandy Landings and later the advance beyond 'the bulge' into Germany, were the B-26s medium level tactical ability shone through. This compact volume charts the full history of this aircraft, from serving with the RAF, SAAF and Free French Air Force in the Mediterranean to the little credited Balkan Air Force in support of Tito's Partisans in Yugoslavia. Sadly the B-26 was unfairly treated at the beginning of its career and even more so at the end as many of the 5,200+ aircraft built were scrapped only days after the end of the war. Alongside stunning artwork including technical illustrations, Martyn Chorlton shows why, as a great aircraft in many respects, the B-26 deserves to be in a better place.

A detailed account of the World War II air battles that occurred over the skies of southern Germany during the last months of World War II, between US Marauder bombers and German Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters.