Militaria

//Militaria
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  • In September 1945, the fate of Hitler was a complete mystery. He had simply disappeared, missing for four months. The author, a British counter-intelligence officer, was given the task of solving this mystery. His brilliant piece of detective work not only proved that Hitler had killed himself in Berlin, but also produced one of the most fascinating history books ever written, telling the extraordinary story of those last days in the Berlin Bunker. Chapters include: Hitler and His Court; Hitler In Defeat; The Court in Defeat; Crisis and Decision; Siege of the Bunker. Et Tu, Brute. The Death of Hitler. Epilogue.
  • Regarded as one of the best books ever written about Australian servicemen in action. It captures the spirit of the whole United Nations' effort to halt aggression in the Land of the Morning Calm. The back-drop of three years of bitter fighting are the snow-capped jumble of mountain peaks swept by chilling winds, the ice-packed rivers, the stark slopes gripped by the cruel cold of winter that froze the steel of men's arms to their flesh and the clouds of stench-laden dust that choked the  valleys in summer. Apart from being the story of the exploits of the few thousands of Australian soldiers, airmen and sailors it is also an excellent short history of the whole Korean war. The dramatic events, as told by the men themselves, take the reader to the battlefront in all its grimness. There are also stories from war correspondents, combatants. clergymen and others: some humorous, some hard but all of interest. Illustrated with black and white photographs.
  • Could Napoleon have won the battle of Waterloo? And what would have happened if he had? Or suppose Nelson had not destroyed the French fleet at Aboukir, would Napoleon have conquered India and become Emperor of the East? What if Hitler had not halted his panzer forces before Dunkirk and had entrapped the entire British Expeditionary Force? How would Churchill have then denied the Wehrmacht? If by chance Hitler had been assassinated in 1944 and the German General Staff taken control, would there have been a totally different kind of surrender? In examining these and other contingencies, Major General Strawson brings his experience of command in war and his skill as a military historian to present us with an enthralling catalogue of chance and speculation, while emphasising how profoundly the character of commanders influenced events and how events affected their character.
  • The Australian Army at Home and Overseas, by Some of the Boys and published by the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1942.  Chapters include: Star Over Bethlehem; Diggers in Britain; Midnight Messiah; Purple's Pup; Arab Justice; Digger v. Doughboy and so much more.  Our boys' impressions of Christmas in a cold climate and local customs as well as the American servicemen and women here in Australia.  The colour plates, interestingly, are pasted in. Tales, jokes, sketches, cartoons and  on-the-spot experiences a-plenty. Illustrated in colour and black and white. A treasure mine of information.
  • Published in 1945, this volume is literally by the men serving in the last days of World War II. Together, these articles, sketches, cartoons, poems and photographs are their story - not the story of the war, but a record of what they saw, felt and experienced. There's a humorous treatise on the Cockroach; an article on the first W.R.A.N.s to receive their sea training; and from an article simply entitled Tahiti by 'A.S.' : After dancing for a while I suggested a walk along the beach and the girls being agreeable were were soon settled down on the sands under the palms. Here is what I saw and felt. The moon shining through the palm fronds on the sand, while farther out the blue Pacific was breaking over the reefs, the moonlight making this appear like a lot of silvery cascades...my young lady's hair was lovely, and long enough to reach down and encircLe our waists, binding us together...I had read of scene such as these, but doubted them...Now I knew and felt...happy and contented and prepared to fall in love."  One hopes that 'A.S. made his way home to Australia.
  • A Cavalcade of Events with The Australian Services from 1788 to 1946. Articles and notes; art and jokes; poetry and cartoons... from the servicemen - and even some of the women - who were there.  This is no dry history of battles and dates - it's a memorial to all those fallen in war. Just some of the items in this volume: The Blood-bath at Cowra, E.V. Timms; When Sydney Fought A Zeppelin, 'Matelot'; Bless 'Em All, Biddy Moriarty (Australian Red Cross); Stout Hearts That Never Failed, Ion Idriess; A Service Girl In  Japan, A.J. Poppins; and much more, together with art and photographs in black and white and colour - and of course, some typical Australian irreverent cartoons.
  • Australian actor and comedian Slim DeGrey (1918 - 2007), known for his roles in They're A Weird Mob, You Can't See Around Corners and many other Australian film and T.V. productions was a member of the A.I.F. Prisoners' Concert Party in the infamous Changi Gaol. There was a funny side; not often and not always, but hilarious and absurd incidents did occur and together with the infamous style of Australian dry humour, helped sustain morale and relieve the drab lives of the P.O.Ws. Littered with fabulous Australianisms and droll sketches, Slim DeGrey definitely found Changi's funny side.
  • Regarded as a definitive selection of historical information covering all the important people of the time (Resistance members and Nazis); military operations; concepts; organisations of the era as well as those regarded as having been influential to the Nazi ideology.  There is a chronology of every important date in the history of the Third Reich from the fall of the Weimar Republic to the end of World War II; a bibliography of pertinent books and articles; essays on art, architecture, film, theater, music, sports, religion, and education; documents such as Hitler's Last Will and his Political Testament and over 200 period photos and drawings.
  • Since the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the British people have confronted no greater threat to their freedom than in 1940, when Hitler's armies swept through France in a  few scant weeks and stood poised twenty-one miles from Dover. Had the Luftwaffe then gained air supremacy over the English Channel, nothing could have prevented the first invasion of Britain in over 900 years.  This is the story of how Britain turned the prevailing tide, against all the odds - and won the day. Illustrated with photographs from private collections, drawings, diagrams and charts that clarifies the day by day events on both sides accompanied by text from witnesses and combatants that evoke those few desperate weeks of human endeavour and how the delicate balance was tipped - only just - in Britain's favour.