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"Operation Archery: The Commandos and the Vaagso Raid, 1942".

The Israeli Special Forces' operation at Entebbe goes down in history as one of the most audacious counter-terrorist assaults ever conducted. This book tells the story of how the Israeli Special Forces defied radar for over 2,000 miles, masqueraded as a tyrant in a Mercedes and captured uniforms, and defeated an army in brutal combat.

An authoritative analysis of how Putin's Russia conquered the Crimea in 2014 using 'grey zone' warfare techniques, blending operations by anonymous special forces with cyber, sabotage, and propaganda. Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 was almost bloodless - fought as much through propaganda, cyberattacks and subversion as by force of arms - but it is crucial for our understanding of both modern warfare and recent Russian history. Ironically, this slick triumph eventually led to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the largest and costliest conventional war in Europe since 1945. This is a fascinating account of the Crimea conquest from a supremely qualified expert on modern Russian forces. Illustrated throughout, it explores how Russia developed its new model of 'hybrid' or 'grey zone' warfare, and planned and deployed it against Crimea, from the choreographed appearance of 'spontaneous' protesters through to the deployment of unbadged Russian elite forces. In this book Mark Galeotti explores the lessons that Russia, Ukraine, and the West took from it - correctly and mistakenly - and how this apparently textbook operation sowed the seeds that would erupt so catastrophically in 2022.

U-505 was the first enemy warship the US Navy captured at sea since 1812. This is a new account of how Captain Gallery planned and executed the raid on his own initiative, and how his success almost endangered the war against the U-boats.On June 4, 1944 a US Navy antisubmarine task group in the Atlantic captured an enemy U-boat on the high seas. It was not the first time the Allies had taken a German U-boat as a prize, but the capture of U-505 was different. Captain Gallery and his Task Group 22.3 devised a risky plan to capture scuttled U-boats.This book analyses in detail Gallery's dangerous strategy, using contemporary sources to explore why he thought the reward was worth the risk: instead of attempting to sink the next U-boat that surfaced among them, a destroyer escort would send off its whaleboat. Everyone else was to smother the U-boat with light gunfire to encourage its crew to abandon quickly. Unaware that the Allies had already cracked the German's codes and the capture of a U-boat could endanger that secret, Gallery hoped to capture the vessel's codes and coding equipment to read U-boat message traffic. The plan culminated in the capture of U-505 in early June, which nearly caused the exposure of the Bletchley Park codebreaking secret. Featuring contemporary photographs, specially commissioned artwork and 3D maps, this book is a fascinating exploration of one of the most controversial and dangerous raids, which could have changed the outcome of World War II as we know it.

This is the detailed story of the Vikings' expedition to conquer medieval Paris - a brutal year-long siege which ultimately brought about the foundation of modern France.The Vikings' siege of Paris in 885-86 was a turning point in the history of both Paris and France. In 885, a year after Charles the Fat was crowned King of the Franks, Danish Vikings sailed up the Seine demanding tribute. The Franks' refusal prompted the Vikings to lay siege to Paris, which was initially defended by only 200 men under Odo, Count of Paris, and seemingly in a poor state to defend against the Viking warriors in their fleet of hundreds of longships.Paris was centered around the medieval Île de la Cité, the natural island now in the heart of the city, fortified with bridges and towers. The Vikings attempted to break the Parisian defenders, but the city itself still held out, and after a year Charles' army arrived to lift the siege. But Charles then allowed the Vikings to sail upstream against the revolting Burgundians. Outraged at this betrayal, the Parisians refused to let the Vikings return home via the Seine, forcing them to portage their boats overland to the Marne in order to reach the North Sea. When Charles died in 888, the people of the of the Île de France elected Odo as their king. The resistance of Paris therefore marked the end of the Carolingian line and the birth of a new kingdom.This fully illustrated volume, accompanied with maps and strategic diagrams tells the full story of the Vikings' expedition to conquer medieval Paris, highlighting a key moment in the history of France and its foundation as a nation.

This is the story of Operation Jericho, the spectacular prison break staged by an elite group of British, Australian and New Zealand bomber pilots, who flew a daring low-level mission to blow holes in the walls of Amiens jail and free French Resistance prisoners under the sentence of death during World War II.With D-Day looming, early 1944 was a time of massive intelligence activity across northern France, and many résistants were being captured and imprisoned by the Germans. Among the jails full of French agents was Amiens, where hundreds awaited likely execution for their activities.To repay their debt of honour, MI6 requested an air raid with a seemingly impossible brief: to simultaneously blow holes in the prison walls, free as many men and women as possible while minimizing casualties, and kill German guards in their quarters. The crews would have to fly their bomb-run at an altitude of just 20ft. Despite the huge difficulties, the RAF decided that the low-level specialists of No. 140 Wing had a chance of success. With the aid of first-hand accounts, explanatory 3D diagrams and dramatic original artwork, the eminent historian Robert Lyman explains how one of the most difficult and spectacular air raids of World War II was pulled off, and debunks some of the myths over why the raid was ordered in the first place.

In the early months and years of World War II, it was Germany''s cruisers and battleships that most ravaged the Atlantic Convoys. This is the history of those raids, and how the success of 1941''s Operation Berlin led directly to the Kriegsmarine sending into the Atlantic its greatest battleship - the mighty, ill-fated Bismarck.At the outbreak of World War II the German Kriegsmarine still had a relatively small U-boat arm. To reach Britain''s convoy routes in the North Atlantic, these boats had to pass around the top of the British Isles - a long and dangerous voyage to their "hunting grounds". Germany''s larger surface warships were much better suited to this kind of long-range operation. So, during late 1939 the armored cruiser Deutschland, and later the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were used as commerce raiders, to strike at Allied convoys in the North Atlantic. These sorties met with mixed results, but for Germany''s naval high command they showed that this kind of operation had potential. Then, the fall of France, Denmark and Norway in early 1940 dramatically altered the strategic situation. The Atlantic was now far easier to reach, and to escape from. During 1940, further moderately successful sorties were made by the cruisers Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper. By the end of the year, with British mercantile losses mounting to surface raiders and U-Boats, plans were developed for a much larger raid, first using both cruisers, and then the two battlecruisers. The climax of this was Operation Berlin, the Kriegsmarine''s largest and most wide-ranging North Atlantic sortie so far. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau remained at sea for two months, destroying 22 Allied merchant ships, and severely disrupting Britain''s lifeline convoys. So, when the operation ended, the German commander, Admiral L├╝tjens was ordered to repeat his success - this time with the brand new battleship Bismarck. The rest, as they say, is history. These earlier Atlantic raids demonstrated that German surface ships could be highly effective commerce raiders. For those willing to see though, they also demonstrated just how risky this strategy could be. Covering a fascinating and detailed analysis of the Kriegsmarine''s Atlantic raids between 1939 and 1941, this book will appeal to readers interested in World War II and in particular in Germany''s naval operations.

In December 1943 Monte La Difensa was part of the formidable German defences overlooking the Allies' planned route to Rome via Monte Cassino. This book examines the origins, execution, and aftermath of the FSSF's spectacular success at Monte La Difensa amid the savage winter conditions of December 1943.

In early May 1940, the fortress of Eben Emael was a potent sentinel over the Belgian-Dutch borderlands. The fortress covered 75 hectares on the surface, had 5km of tunnels underground and was studded with bunkers, gun turrets and casemates.

On March 4, 2002, a team of SEALs was choppered onto a hostile Afghan mountain peak as part of Operation Anaconda. The largest operation by US forces since Vietnam, it was intended to bring to battle foreign al-Qaeda fighters who had fled after the overthrow of the Taliban and the battle of Tora Bora.

On 25 May 1944, 800 men of the 500th SS Parachute Battalion descended on Drvar, a town behind enemy lines in north-western Bosnia. Their aim was to kill or capture Tito, the leader of the partisan movement in the region. This title deals with this episode.

Tells the story of Task Force Ranger - a unit of US Rangers and Special Forces - and their attempt to capture the lieutenants of the Somali warlord Muhamed Farrah Aideed, during the 1993 United Nations' humanitarian relief mission. Containing maps, this title offers a retelling of this battle that had far-reaching impact on US military policy.

"Run the Gauntlet: The Channel Dash 1942".

The night before D-Day, light infantry and a detachment of Royal Engineers landed by gliders at Pegasus Bridge, which spanned the Caen Canal. Quickly overwhelming the guards, they managed to hold the bridge and help prevent German reinforcements from reaching the British landing beaches. This book provides an account of this wartime raid.

The night of July 26, 1942 saw one of the most audacious raids of World War II, just as the outcome of that conflict hung in the balance. Featuring full-colour artwork, and incisive analysis, this study recounts the origins, planning, execution and aftermath of the daring raid that made the name of the SAS at the height of World War II.

"The Revenge of the 47 Ronin - Edo 1702".

The year 1755 saw the rivalry between Britain and France in North America escalate into open warfare as both sides sought to overcome the other's forts and trading posts. This book focuses on a daring feat of arms at the height of the French and Indian War.

Drake's daring raids had finally resulted in the outbreak of the long-expected war and it would be the last action of its kind for some years as England sought to protect herself against invasion and the Spanish invasion.

He masterminded the most devastating surprise attack against the United States in its history. He was a marked man in the war that followed. A key intelligence breakthrough enabled the military to pinpoint his location. An elite team was assembled and charged not with his capture and subsequent trial but with his execution. Osama bin Laden? No - this was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet during World War II. This new title analyses the origins, implementation, and outcomes of Operation Vengeance, the long-range fighter interception of Admiral Yamamoto's transport aircraft that sent him to his death on 18th April, 1943. Author Si Sheppard examines every angle of the operation in detail, including the role of intelligence work in pinpointing the time and location of Yamamoto's flight, the chain of command at the highest level of the US political and military establishment who ordered the attack, and the technical limitations that had to be overcome in planning and conducting the raid. It also provides a close study of the aerial combat involved in completing the mission, offering a holistic exploration of the operation which avenged Pearl Harbor.

"The Last Boarding Party: The USMC and the SS Mayaguez 1975".

In September 1943, under the cover of darkness, six British midget submarines crept into the heart of enemy territory, penetrating a heavily guarded Norwegian fjord in an attempt to eliminate the threat of the powerful German battleship, the Tirpitz. Numerous previous attempts to attack the ship from both air and sea had failed, and this mission was carefully strategized, and undertaken by skilled operatives who had undergone extensive training in an isolated sea loch. Though five of the six X-Craft submarines were either lost or captured, two crews had just enough time to lay their explosive charges, which detonated after they were forced to the surface, putting the Tirpitz out of action for a crucial six-month period. Masterminded from a top-secret naval headquarters on the east coast of Scotland, Operation Source has been memorialised as one of the most daring naval raids of World War II.This new study tells the complete story of this epic operation in unparalleled detail, supported by full-colour illustrations and contemporary photography.

Storm-333 was the opening move in the Soviet-Afghan War, a special-forces mission to seize Kabul and assassinate Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin. At once a textbook success for the Spetsnaz and KGB and the start of a terrible strategic blunder for the USSR, this is the most authoritative history of the operation available in English.Storm-333, the operation to seize Kabul and assassinate Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin, was at once a textbook success and the start of a terrible blunder. It heralded the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, an operation intended to be a short, largely symbolic show of force, yet which quickly devolved into a gritty ten-year counter-insurgency which Moscow was never able to win. Nonetheless, Storm-333 was a striking success, and despite initial concerns from some quarters that it would be impossible, it saw a relative handful of Soviet special forces drawn from the KGB and the military seize the heavily defended presidential palace, neutralize the city''s communications and defenses, and open Kabul to occupation. The lessons learned then are still valid today, and have been incorporated into modern Russian military art, visible most recently in the seizure of Crimea in 2014.Written by a recognized expert on the Soviet security forces, drawing extensively on Russian sources, and fully illustrated with commissioned artwork, this is the most detailed and compelling study of this fascinating operation available in English.

Although far from a typical raid, the 20 July Plot - Operation Valkyrie - was still a daring and audacious attack undertaken by a small, very brave, group of individuals, determined to kill Hitler. Hitler was badly shaken by the blast and, despite the fact that numerous other attempts had been made on the Fuhrer's life since he came to power.

In May 1941, the Norwegian Section of SOE received a dossier warning of the dangers of a hydroelectric fertilizer plant in Norway. Vemork produced heavy water, an essential part of making plutonium for nuclear weapons. When the Germans overran Norway the entire stock had been smuggled out of the country, but the plant was intact and soon producing heavy water again, destined for the German nuclear program.Despite the difficulties of getting to and operating in such a remote, hostile area, SOE decided it had to destroy the plant. Six ski-borne commandos had the task of slipping past 300 heavily armed guards and passing through a ravine the Germans thought impassable.Fully illustrated with stunning new commissioned artwork, this is the thrilling story of the daring Norwegian-led SOE raid that prevented Hitler from building an atomic bomb.

Drawing on the underwater archaeological research, this study explains how Prien and his crew navigated the North Sea and Kirk Sound to land a devastating blow to the British. It reveals the level of disrepair that Scapa Flow had fallen into, and delves into the conspiracy theories surrounding the event.

In 1977, Lufthansa Flight 181 was hijacked by terrorists and flown to Mogadishu, Somalia. There, members of the German special missions group, GSG-9, stormed the plane. This book details the backgrounds of GSG-9, and the hijackers. It offers analysis of the planning and execution of the mission, codenamed Operation Feuerzauber (Fire Magic).

A fully illustrated history of the disastrous 1980 attempt to rescue the 53 US Embassy hostages in Tehran, which involved the new Delta Force and a complex series of airlifts, hides and refueling stops in the Iranian desert.Following months of negotiations after the seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran on November 4 1979, President Jimmy Carter ordered the newly formed Delta Force to conduct a raid into Iran to free the hostages. The raid, Operation Eagle Claw, was risky to say the least. US forces would have to fly into the deserts of Iran on C-130s; marry up with carrier-based RH-53D helicopters; fly to hide sites near Tehran; approach the Embassy via trucks; seize the Embassy and rescue the hostages; board the helicopters descending on Tehran; fly to an airbase captured by more US forces; and then fly out on C-141s and to freedom. Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly given the complexity of the mission, things went wrong from the start and when the mission was called off at the refueling site at Desert One, the resulting collision between aircraft killed eight US personnel. This title tells the full story of this tragic operation, supported by maps, photographs, and specially-commissioned bird's-eye-views and battlescenes, which reveal the complexity and scale of the proposed rescue and the disaster which followed.