No.666 Squadron

No.666 Squadron was a third Canadian-manned Air Observation Post squadron but it was formed too late to see action and didn't reach the continent until after the German surrender.

No.665 Squadron

No.665 Squadron was a Canadian manned Air Observation Post squadron that supported the First Canadian Army during the last few weeks of the fighting in north-western Europe in 1945.

No.664 Squadron

No.664 Squadron was a Canadian manned Air Observation Post squadron that supported the First Canadian Army during the last few weeks of the fighting in north-western Europe in 1945.

No.663 Squadron

No.663 Squadron was a Polish-manned Air Observation Post that supported the Polish Army Corps during the last phase of the war in Italy.

No.662 Squadron

No.662 Squadron was an Air Observation Post squadron that served in north-western Europe from June 1944 until the end of the Second World War.

No.661 Squadron

No.661 Squadron was an Air Observation Post squadron that served in north-western Europe from August 1944 until the end of the Second World War.

Lexington class battlecruisers

The Lexington class battlecruisers were the first American battlecruisers to reach the construction stage, but were cancelled before being completed.

First South Dakota class of battleships

The first South Dakota class of battleships was designed to provide the US Navy with larger fast battleships to counter rumoured Japanese fast battleships, but the entire class was cancelled under the terms of the Washington Naval Conference.

Images of War: Blitzkrieg Russia, Jon Sutherland and Diane Canwell.

Images of War: Blitzkrieg Russia, Jon Sutherland and Diane Canwell.

Five photo albums from the first year of the war in Russia in 1941, the period of German success. Four are anonymous, one named although without many details about the original owner. Each illustrates a slightly different aspect of the German army during this last period of major victories.
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Images of War: Armoured Warfare on the Eastern Front, Anthony Tucker-Jones.

Images of War: Armoured Warfare on the Eastern Front, Anthony Tucker-Jones.

A photographic guide to the development of armoured warfare on the Eastern Front, with an impressive selection of photos of German and Soviet armoured vehicles, all supported by accurate informative captions and useful chapter introductions, placing the pictures in context.
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Twilight of the Hellenistic World, Mike Roberts and Bob Bennett.

Twilight of the Hellenistic World, Mike Roberts and Bob Bennett.

A fascinating history of the last thirty years before the Romans began to dominate the Hellenistic World, looking at the struggles between Macedon, the Greek Leagues, the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires, a resurgent Sparta and the kings of Asia Minor at the end of the third century BC.
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Admiral Thomas Sprague (1894-1972)

Admiral Thomas Sprague (1894-1972) was an American carrier admiral who had overall command of the escort carriers engaged in the battle of Leyte Gulf, although his namesake Clifton 'Ziggy' Sprague played the more famous role in the battle.

Rear Admiral Clifton 'Ziggy' Sprague

Rear Admiral Clifton 'Ziggy' Sprague was an American carrier admiral most famous for his role in the battle of Samar, part of the wider battle of Leyte Gulf, where his group of six escort carriers managed to avoid destruction at the hands of the main Japanese battle fleet, preventing the Japanese from reaching the vulnerable invasion shipping in Leyte Gulf.

P 43 Heavy Tank

The P 43 Heavy Tank (or P 30/43) was a design for a heavy tank based on the Italian P 40, but armed with a 90mm gun in place of the 75mm gun used on the P 40.

P 40 Heavy Tank

The P 40 Heavy Tank was the only heavy tank to be produced in Italy during the Second World War and would have been the best tank to be used by the Italian Army if more than one had been completed before the Italian armistice of September 1943.

Carro Armato Celere Sahariano

The Carro Armato Celere Sahariano (Quick Tank for the Sahara) was an Italian copy of the British Crusader cruiser tank that reached the prototype stage.

Semovente da 105/25

The Semovente da 105/25 was the best Italian armoured vehicle of the Second World War, but it was only just entering service at the time of the Italian armistice.

The Battle of Bellecourt Tunnel: Tommies, Diggers and Doughboys on the Hindenburg Line, 1918, Dale Blair.

The Battle of Bellecourt Tunnel: Tommies, Diggers and Doughboys on the Hindenburg Line, 1918, Dale Blair.
A study of one of the first coalition battles on the Western Front to include large numbers of American troops, fighting as part of the Australian Corps during the successful attack on the Hindenburg Line. Their attack wasn't a success, although the hard-fighting Australians were eventually able to push the Germans back some way. Here Blair looks at this early coalition battle and examines the reasons for its comparative failure.
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Culloden, 1746 (2nd Edition), Stuart Reid.

Culloden, 1746 (2nd Edition), Stuart Reid.
A splendid account of the battle of Culloden and the campaigns before and after the battle. Also includes a good survey of the modern battlefield, taking into account recent improvements made by the National Trust for Scotland. Very readable, with a lightness of touch that is unusual on this still controversial topic.
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Tracing Your East End Ancestors, Jane Cox.

Tracing Your East End Ancestors, Jane Cox.
A geographically focused guide to family history that greatly benefits from its fixed focus, allowing the author to guide the reader very precisely to specific archives. Also includes a brief history of the East End, tracing its development from a rural area east of London into one a major urban community in its own right.
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No.660 Squadron

No.660 Squadron was an Air Observation Post squadron that supported the Second Army in north-western Europe from July 1944 until the end of the Second World War.

No.659 Squadron

No.659 Squadron was an Air Observation Post squadron that landing in Normandy soon after D-Day and that supported the Allied armies until the end of the war in Europe.

No.658 Squadron

No.658 Squadron was an Air Observation Post squadron that served in Normandy and northern Europe before moving to India after the end of the war.

No.657 Squadron

No.657 Squadron was an Air Observation Post squadron that served in Italy from August 1943 until the spring 1945 before being transferred to the Netherlands for the last few weeks of the war in Europe.

No.656 Squadron

No.656 Squadron was an Air Observation Post squadron that served on the Burma Front.

Admiral Marc Mitscher (1887-1947)

Admiral Marc Mitscher (1887-1947) was an American admiral best known as the command of the fast carrier task force in the Pacific during the battles of the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Admiral Thomas Kinkaid (1888-1972)

Admiral Thomas Kinkaid (1888-1972) was an American admiral who commanded the 7th Fleet, cooperating with MacArthur during the liberation of the Philippines and who played a major part in the American victory at Leyte Gulf in October 1944.

No.655 Squadron

No.655 Squadron was an Air Observation Post squadron that served in Italy from the summer of 1943 until the end of the Second World War.

No.654 Squadron

No.654 Squadron was an Air Observation Post squadron that supported the First Army in North Africa and the Eighth Army in Sicily and Italy.

No.653 Squadron

No.653 Squadron was an Air Observation Post that landed in Normandy towards the end of June 1944 and that supported army in Europe for the rest of the war.

No.652 Squadron

No.652 Squadron was an Air Observation Post that landed in Normandy on the day after D-Day and supported the Second Army in Europe for the rest of the war.

No.651 Squadron

No.651 Squadron was the first of fifteen Air Observation Post squadrons formed to provide light aircraft for artillery officers who would observe and correct the accuracy of their own guns.

Semoventi da 90/53

The Semoventi da 90/53 was a self-propelled gun designed to form part of the divisional artillery regiments in the Italy army.

Semovente da 75/46

The Semovente da 75/46 was a self-propelled gun that was produced in tiny numbers by Ansaldo at Genoa during 1944.

Semovente da 75/34

The Semovente da 75/34 was the second main entry in the series of self-propelled guns based on the M-13/ M-14/ M-15 series of Italian tanks and differed from the Semovente da 75/18 mainly by having a longer L/34 gun.

The Littorio Class: Italy's Last and Largest Battleships 1937-1948, Erminio Bagnasco and Augusto de Toro.

The Littorio Class: Italy's Last and Largest Battleships 1937-1948, Erminio Bagnasco and Augusto de Toro.
A splendid study of the four Littorio class battleships, looking at their development, design, construction and service history, with a focus on the way in which the design of the ships affected them in combat. Supported by hundreds of excellent photographs and line drawings.
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Target London: Bombing the Capital 1915-2005, Peter Reese.

Target London: Bombing the Capital 1915-2005, Peter Reese.
 Falls into three very different sections, examining the small scale bombing of the First World War, the massive bombing campaign of the Blitz and the V weapons of the Second World War, and the terrorist attacks of recent years. Does an excellent job of examining both sides of each campaign, including a look at the aims of each wave of attacker.
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Naval Weapons of World War One, Norman Friedman.

Naval Weapons of World War One, Norman Friedman.
A very high quality reference work looking at all of the naval weapons in use during the First World War and a number of weapons that appeared just after the end of the conflict. Also covers the tactics used by different navies and the crucial technology of gun control.
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Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa (1886-1966)

Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa (1886-1966) was a Japanese admiral who took part in the early successes in Malaya, Sumatra and Java but who is best known for suffering a crushing defeat at the battle of the Philippine Sea and commanding a decoy carrier group at Leyte Gulf.

Admiral Takeo Kurita (1889-1977)

Admiral Takeo Kurita (1889-1977) was a senior Japanese admiral who took was present at Midway, the fighting around Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Philippine Sea, but who is best remembered for his failure to take advantage of a potentially good position during the battle of Leyte Gulf.

Battle of Samar (25 October 1944)

The battle of Samar (25 October 1944) was the nearest the Japanese came to success during the battle of Leyte Gulf and saw a powerful Japanese battleship force come close to destroying a force of American escort carriers.

Battle of the Surigao Straits (25 October 1944)

The battle of the Surigao Straits (25 October 1944) was the last clash between battleships and saw a force of older American battleships crush a Japanese squadron attempting to break into Leyte Gulf.

No.650 Squadron

No.650 Squadron was a target-towing and gun-laying practice squadron that served on the eastern side of the Irish Sea from its formation in December until the end of the Second World War.

No.639 Squadron

No.639 Squadron was an anti-aircraft co-operation squadron that served in Cornwall from its formation in December 1943 until being disbanded in April 1945.

No.635 Squadron

No.635 Squadron was formed as part of the pathfinder force of Bomber Command and carried out that role from its formation in March 1944 until the end of the Second World War.

No.631 Squadron

No.631 Squadron was a target-towing and gun laying training squadron that was based in Wales from its formation 1943 until the end of the Second World War.

No.630 Squadron

No.630 Squadron was part of Bomber Command and took part in the strategic bombing campaign from its formation late in 1943 until the end of the Second World War.

No.628 Squadron

No.628 Squadron was formed as a special duties squadron but spent most of its brief existence flying a mix of meteorological flights and air-sea rescue missions in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.

Battle of Cape Engano (25 October 1944)

The battle of Cape Engano (25 October 1944) was a one-sided American victory that saw Admiral Halsey's 3rd Fleet sink four Japanese aircraft carriers, but at the same time exposing the invasion shipping in Leyte Gulf to a possible Japanese attack.

Battle of the Sibuyan Sea (23-24 October 1944)

The battle of the Sibuyan Sea (23-24 October 1944) was the opening phase of the battle of Leyte Gulf and saw American submarines and carrier aircraft attack Admiral Kurita's I Striking Force, sinking the massive battleship Musashi.

Fighter Operations in Europe and North Africa, 1939-1945, David Wragg.

Fighter Operations in Europe and North Africa, 1939-1945, David Wragg.

Mainly focuses on the clash between the RAF and the Luftwaffe, looking at the fighting in France in 1940, the Battle of Britain, the war in the desert, Sicily, Italy and the campaign from D-Day to the end of the war. Also includes a very brief chapter on the Eastern Front
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Chindit Affair: A Memoir of the War in Burma, Frank Baines.

Chindit Affair: A Memoir of the War in Burma, Frank Baines.

A first-hand account of Operation Thursday, the second and largest of the main Chindit operations, written by a British officer who commanded the Gurkha troops protecting the brigade HQ. An unusual highly literate and very readable account of this operation, written by someone who wasn't afraid to describe how desperate the Chindit position was by the time they were withdrawn. A splendid account of this fascinating campaign.
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Medieval Warfare Vol II, Issue 2: The Thirteen Years War: The end of the Teutonic Order.

Medieval Warfare Vol II, Issue 2: The Thirteen Years War: The end of the Teutonic Order.

This issue focuses on one of the less well known orders of crusading knights and the war that effectively destroyed their state on the shores of the Baltic. Also covers a major chronicler of Eastern Europe, the Church's attempt to ban the crossbow, the fighting skills of mounted troops and the battle of Worringen.
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No.627 Squadron

No.627 Squadron was formed on 12 November 1943 as a Mosquito squadron within No.8 Group, where it served with the Night Light Striking Force.

No.626 Squadron

No.626 Squadron was a heavy bomber squadron that formed part of Bomber Command's main force from its formation in November 1943 until the end of the war.

No.625 Squadron

No.625 Squadron was part of Bomber Command's main force from its formation in October 1943 until the end of the Second World War.

No.623 Squadron

No.623 Squadron was a short-lived heavy bomber squadron that took part in Bomber Command's strategic bombing offensive for three months.