Images of War
50 total works
The scale of death and destruction during the Battle of Stalingrad during late 1942 and early 1943 remains unprecedented in the history of warfare.
The annihilation of General von Paulus' 6th Army epitomised the devastating defeat of Hitler's ambition to conquer Stalin's Soviet Union. After the successful Operation Blue offensive 6th Army reached the River Volga north of Stalingrad in summer 1942\. With over-extended supply lines and facing steely opposition, increasingly desperate attempts to seize the city repeatedly failed. Slowly 6th Army became encircled. The German High Command attempted a number of relief attempts, notably Field Marshal von Manstein's Winter Storm' but all were defeated by the tenacity of the enemy and the Russian winter. To their credit the men of 6th Army fought to the end but by February 1943 the last pockets of German resistance were either destroyed or had surrendered.
Thanks to a superb collection of unpublished photographs, this Images of War book provides an absorbing insight into the dramatic events of the last months of 6th Army's doomed existence.
The annihilation of General von Paulus' 6th Army epitomised the devastating defeat of Hitler's ambition to conquer Stalin's Soviet Union. After the successful Operation Blue offensive 6th Army reached the River Volga north of Stalingrad in summer 1942\. With over-extended supply lines and facing steely opposition, increasingly desperate attempts to seize the city repeatedly failed. Slowly 6th Army became encircled. The German High Command attempted a number of relief attempts, notably Field Marshal von Manstein's Winter Storm' but all were defeated by the tenacity of the enemy and the Russian winter. To their credit the men of 6th Army fought to the end but by February 1943 the last pockets of German resistance were either destroyed or had surrendered.
Thanks to a superb collection of unpublished photographs, this Images of War book provides an absorbing insight into the dramatic events of the last months of 6th Army's doomed existence.
Using previously unpublished photographs, many of which have come from the albums of individuals who took part in the war, Hitler's Panzers presents a unique visual account of Germany at arms. The book analyses the development of the Panzer and shows how it became Hitler's supreme weapon. It describes how the Germans carefully built up their assault forces utilizing all available reserves and resources and making them into effective killing machine. From the Panzerkampfwagen.1 to the most powerful tank of the Second World War, the Jagdtiger, the volume depicts how these machines were adapted and up-gunned to face the ever-increasing enemy threat. Hitler's Panzers is a unique sight into the full workings of the various light tanks, main battle tanks, self-propelled assault guns and tank destroyers. It is a vivid and fully illustrated account of the development and deployment of the German tank and brings together a captivating glimpse at the cutting edge of World War Two military technology.
Drawing on a superb collection of rare and unpublished photographs this latest book in the popular Images of War Series provides an absorbing insight into the last desperate year of the German Army. In dramatic detail it analyses the German retreat from the wastelands of the Eastern and Western Fronts into a bombed and devastated Third Reich to the very gates of Berlin. Accompanied by detailed captions and text, the book shows how Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS, Luftwaffe, Hitlerjugend and Volksturm personnel attempted to defend every yard of ground against the overwhelming Allied forces. As the final months of the war are played out the reader learns how the Germans fought to the death in a desperate attempt to prevent what Hitler called the 'two fold devastation of the Reich'. Despite the adverse situation in which the German Army was placed, soldiers continued right to the very end, holding their lines under the constant hammer blows of ground and air bombardments.
Those German forces that were fortunate enough to survive the overwhelming ferocity of the enemy onslaught, gradually streamed back to fight on home soil until they were either destroyed or were driven around a devastated Berlin.
Those German forces that were fortunate enough to survive the overwhelming ferocity of the enemy onslaught, gradually streamed back to fight on home soil until they were either destroyed or were driven around a devastated Berlin.
The Final Days of the Reich is the latest in the popular Images of War series range by Ian Baxter. Drawing on rare and previously unpublished photographs accompanied by in-depth captions and text, this book is a compelling account of the final weeks of the Nazi's struggle for survival against overwhelming odds. Each photograph fully captures the tension, turmoil and tragedy of those last, terrible days of war as Wehmacht, Waffen SS, Luftwaffe, Hitlerjungend, Volkssturm and other units, some of which comprised of barely trained conscripts, fought out their last battles.Exhausted and demoralized skeletal units must have been aware of the impending defeat. Yet the German General Staff was still resolved to fight at all costs. By late March 1945, less than 100 miles east of Berlin some 250,000 German troops had slowly withdrawn to the Oder, and what followed was a series of fierce and determined defensive actions that would finally see the Germans encircled and fighting the last desperate battle within Berlin itself against overwhelming odds.
With rare, often unpublished photographs and full captions Hitler's Heavy Tank Battalions provides a superb record of the Wehrmacht's Schwere Panzerableilung on operations between 1942 and 1945.
In addition to the Tiger I and successor Tiger II heavy tanks, these battalions were equipped with Pz.Kpfw III's, Flakpanzer IV, Sd. Kfz 7/1 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, Sd.Kfz 9 and 10 halftracks, Sd.Kfz 2 and Kettenkrad gun tractors. The Tigers required substantial maintenance and the Berge Panther armoured recovery vehicle played a key role.
Heavy tank battalions saw action on the Eastern Front, in Italy and North West Europe before being pushed back to Berlin for the final defensive battles and there are graphic photographs and descriptions of vehicles on operations in all these theatres.
While feared by the Allies in the early years, these units suffered increasing attrition from anti-tank artillery, ground attack aircraft and mechanical issues.
Modellers and equipment buffs in particular will find this latest Images of War book extremely useful and fascinating.
In addition to the Tiger I and successor Tiger II heavy tanks, these battalions were equipped with Pz.Kpfw III's, Flakpanzer IV, Sd. Kfz 7/1 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, Sd.Kfz 9 and 10 halftracks, Sd.Kfz 2 and Kettenkrad gun tractors. The Tigers required substantial maintenance and the Berge Panther armoured recovery vehicle played a key role.
Heavy tank battalions saw action on the Eastern Front, in Italy and North West Europe before being pushed back to Berlin for the final defensive battles and there are graphic photographs and descriptions of vehicles on operations in all these theatres.
While feared by the Allies in the early years, these units suffered increasing attrition from anti-tank artillery, ground attack aircraft and mechanical issues.
Modellers and equipment buffs in particular will find this latest Images of War book extremely useful and fascinating.
By March 1945, the Red Army had closed in on Berlin. Marshal Zhukov, with almost a million soldiers and 20,000 tanks and guns at his disposal, launched his assault of the Seelow Heights. While costly with 30,000 Russians killed, it brought the Russian Army to the gates of the capital.
On 20 April, Hitler's 56th birthday, Soviet artillery began a massive bombardment of the doomed city. The Fuhrer ordered every soldier, Hitlerjugend and Volksstrum to fight to the death. The house-to-house fighting that followed was brutal and savage with heavy casualties for both military and civilians.
Using superb Russian and German imagery this fine Images of War series book describes the Russian assault and Nazi last-ditch defence of Hitler's capital during the final days of the Third Reich.
On 20 April, Hitler's 56th birthday, Soviet artillery began a massive bombardment of the doomed city. The Fuhrer ordered every soldier, Hitlerjugend and Volksstrum to fight to the death. The house-to-house fighting that followed was brutal and savage with heavy casualties for both military and civilians.
Using superb Russian and German imagery this fine Images of War series book describes the Russian assault and Nazi last-ditch defence of Hitler's capital during the final days of the Third Reich.
From July 1943 to the Nazis' final defeat in May 1945 the Panther main battle tank and its variants were the mainstay of Germany's armoured forces. This superbly engineered fighting vehicle offered a lethal combination of firepower, mobility and protection.
As this classic Images of War series title reveals, the Panther saw non-stop fighting on the Eastern, Western and Italian fronts. Using rare and often unpublished contemporary photographs with full captions and authoritative text, it provides a comprehensive coverage of elite Panther battalions in action.
The book traces the development of the Panther, for example into tank hunter (Panzerjager), and also covers the other supporting vehicles that formed part of the Panther battalions' establishment. These included armoured recovery, Bergepanther, halftracks, Sd.kfz.2 Kettenrad, gun tractors and communications vehicles.
As this classic Images of War series title reveals, the Panther saw non-stop fighting on the Eastern, Western and Italian fronts. Using rare and often unpublished contemporary photographs with full captions and authoritative text, it provides a comprehensive coverage of elite Panther battalions in action.
The book traces the development of the Panther, for example into tank hunter (Panzerjager), and also covers the other supporting vehicles that formed part of the Panther battalions' establishment. These included armoured recovery, Bergepanther, halftracks, Sd.kfz.2 Kettenrad, gun tractors and communications vehicles.
After the defeat at Stalingrad in January 1943, the German Army's front lines were slowly smashed to pieces by the growing might of the Soviet Army. Yet these soldiers continued to fight gallantly. Even after the failed battle of the Kursk in the summer of 1943, and then a year later when the Russians launched their mighty summer offensive, code names Operation BAGRATION, the German Army continued to fight on, withdrawing under constant enemy ground and air bombardments. As the final months of retreat were played out on the Eastern Front in early 1945, it depicts how the once vaunted German Army, with diminishing resources, withdrew back across the Polish/German frontier to Berlin itself.
The Crushing of Army Group North 1944-1945 on the Eastern Front
by Ian Baxter
Published 30 January 2017
The Nazis' vast concentration camp network and, later, the 'Final Solution' programme made heavy demands on the SS whose responsibility it was. The use of 'overseers' minimised costs and enabled the camps to run with fewer SS personnel. As this well researched book describes, there were three principal groups of 'helpers': Sonderkommandos, Kapos and Trawniki.
The Sonderkommandos' duties included unloading Jews from trains, collecting their possessions and allocating work details. Under SS supervision, they also ran the gas chambers and crematoria.
The Kapos oversaw the Sonderkommandos. Many were originally prisoner functionaries recruited from violent criminal gangs and had a well-deserved reputation for brutality.
The third group, known as Trawniki or Trawnikimanner, were Central and Eastern European collaborators recruited from Russian POW camps. While some served in a military capacity, others played an instrumental role in the Holocaust programme, rounding up and transporting Jews from the ghettos to the concentration camps.
The graphic images and text of this Images of War series work demonstrate that the 'overseer' system was extensive and effective as its members competed without scruple to maintain the favour of their SS masters while pitting victim against victim.
The Sonderkommandos' duties included unloading Jews from trains, collecting their possessions and allocating work details. Under SS supervision, they also ran the gas chambers and crematoria.
The Kapos oversaw the Sonderkommandos. Many were originally prisoner functionaries recruited from violent criminal gangs and had a well-deserved reputation for brutality.
The third group, known as Trawniki or Trawnikimanner, were Central and Eastern European collaborators recruited from Russian POW camps. While some served in a military capacity, others played an instrumental role in the Holocaust programme, rounding up and transporting Jews from the ghettos to the concentration camps.
The graphic images and text of this Images of War series work demonstrate that the 'overseer' system was extensive and effective as its members competed without scruple to maintain the favour of their SS masters while pitting victim against victim.
The murderous activities of Himmler's Einsatzgruppen - or death squads - rank high among the horrors of the Nazi regime during the Second World War. These hand-picked groups followed in the wake of Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht units advancing intro Eastern Europe and Soviet Russia.
Their mass murder of civilians in the occupied territories will never be accurately quantified but is likely to have exceeded two million people, including some 1.3 million of the 6,000,00 Jews who perished in the Holocaust.
The graphic and shocking photographs in this Images of War book not only show the hunt for and rounding up of civilians, communists, Jews and Romani people but the active support given to the Einsatzgruppen by SS units and Wehrmacht units. The latter strenuously denied any collusion but the photographic evidence here refutes this.
Their mass murder of civilians in the occupied territories will never be accurately quantified but is likely to have exceeded two million people, including some 1.3 million of the 6,000,00 Jews who perished in the Holocaust.
The graphic and shocking photographs in this Images of War book not only show the hunt for and rounding up of civilians, communists, Jews and Romani people but the active support given to the Einsatzgruppen by SS units and Wehrmacht units. The latter strenuously denied any collusion but the photographic evidence here refutes this.