Books published by publisher Pen and Sword Military

Denis Forman insisted from infancy on reasoning why. At the beginning of this book he has stopped doing so. But history comes crashing down on what promised to be tremendously enjoyable way of life, and World War Two begins. Denis is soon joining his regiment, and, in circumstances of high comedy, he reverts with a vengeance to asking awkward questions. They add up to this: why, when he and his colleagues are about to fight in World War Two, are they being trained to fight in World War One, not to say the Battle of Waterloo? At Barnard Castle there is a Battle School where a man called Lionel Wigram is answering all the right questions in the right way. Denis determines to get there, and does. Training becomes thrillingly relevant, and Wigram becomes his friend as well as his mentor. They meet again in Italy, where the Eighth Army is edging its painful way northwards. Lionel is in disgrace. He wrote a report (printed at the end of this book) to which General Montgomery took exception, has been demoted and is in despair. He recovers his spirits, however, when he starts organizing a mini-battle-school behind the lines, and eventually is put in charge of "Wigforce", a private army of Italian partisans. The story of Wigforce is told in detail, up to its bitter end.

Windermere and Grasmere in the Great War is an expert account of these Lake District town's fascinating contributions to the Great War effort from the outbreak of war in 1914, to the long-awaited Allied victory in 1918. The book is designed to be accessible to all, and for this reason it includes the history of the South Lakes area of Cumbria, where the scarcity of visitors was felt during the Great War. Interesting stories include Lake Windermere’s setting as a watery runway, rumors that a German airship was operating from a secret base near Grasmere, the double life of Arthur Ransome, and Cumberland Wrestling’s postwar boom. The book also takes a detailed look at the graduates of the Lakes Flying Company, the Hardistys, VAD nurse Nellie Taylor, the Baisbrowns, the boatmen who sewed bags for sand, the gunpowder carts, Beatrix Potter’s opinions, conscientious objectors, landowners and gentry, Cobby the horse, railwaymen, and prisoner of war Frederick Mallinson. It acts as a reference guide to local war memorials, and a chronological guide to Belgian refugees in south Lakeland whose homes included Ellerthwaite Lodge, Windermere, Calgarth Park auxiliary hospital, Troutbeck Bridge, and the village of Finsthwaite. St Martin’s next to the Old England Hotel, Windermere, has more memorials than any other church in Cumbria – including the Cathedral (Carlisle). Overall, this is a poignant testimony to the bravery, self-sacrifice and determination of the people of Windermere and Grasmere during the Great War, who sought to find normality in a reality so far removed from anything they had ever known.

'I am just going outside and may be some time.' With these words, on 17 March 1912, Captain Oates walked out to his death in an Antarctic blizzard and won a place for himself in history as 'a very gallant gentleman'. His reputation for courage and endurance as one of the members of Scott’s doomed expedition to the South Pole is as powerful today as it was almost a century ago. Yet, as Sue Limb and Patrick Cordingley reveal in this new edition of their classic biography of the man, there is much more to Captain Oates’s life than his final famous act of self-sacrifice. Their work is, as Sir Ranulph Fiennes noted, a ‘fascinating character study of a quintessential British hero'.

Republished to coincide with the new ITV film, My Boy Jack? starring Daniel Radcliffe, this is the full account of the tragic life of John 'Jack' Kipling. On 27th September 1915 John Kipling, the only son of Britain's best loved poet, disappeared during the Battle of Loos. The body lay undiscovered for 77 years. Then, in a most unusual move, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) re-marked the grave of an unknown Lieutenant of the Irish Guards, as that of John Kipling. There is considerable evidence that John's grave has been wrongly identified and for the first time in this book, the authors name the soldier they believe is buried in 'John's grave'. This is the first biography of John's short life, analysing the devastating effect it had on his famous father's work.

This is the true and compelling story of the sensationally successful joint US and UK campaign to liberate Iraq from the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein from its conception to dramatic conclusion. The author describes the meticulous planning, and looks into the logistical and political problems. He also delves into those curses of modern warfare, friendly fire incidents and collateral damage

It is a curious paradox that, while for many centuries there has been deep antagonism between the British and the Irish, the latter have fought the former's wars with exemplary courage and tenacity. This has never been better demonstrated than when, as a result of the Irish regiments' superb service in the South African War (Boer War) at the end of the 19th Century, Queen Victoria ordered the formation of the Irish Guards in 1900 as a mark of the Nation's gratitude.Even after the trauma of Partition, Irishmen continued to serve in Irish regiments in large numbers and the tradition continued today. Indeed during the Second World War a very significant number of the most influential generals were of Irish extraction.

When he was just eight years old, Paddy Rochford enrolled at Dublin’s Royal Hibernian Military School, where he was taught how to be a soldier with the British Army, like his father. Soon afterwards, in 1922, he and his fellow pupils were evacuated from Ireland, a land torn apart by civil war.Across the sea in England, Paddy joined the Third Battalion of the Coldstream Guards as a drummer boy, with postings to Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, the Bank of England and the Tower of London, where he guarded the Royal Family and Britain’s treasures.In the 1930s, as thousands of Jewish families fled Nazi Germany, Paddy was sent to Jerusalem, charged with keeping the peace between the local Arabs and the Jewish immigrants. During the Second World War, he was part of the Western Desert Campaign in Egypt, defending British territories. After countless wartime adventures, the young sergeant went on to train the Egyptian Army, where a bond of friendship grew between him and the future president, Colonel Nasser. Learning Nasser’s plans to oust the British from Egypt, Paddy tried in vain to warn his superiors prior to the bloody revolution of 1952, which signalled the end of British supremacy in the Middle East. Paddy retired from the army soon afterwards, moving his young family to Yorkshire, where he began writing these, his enthralling memoirs about a young boy who spent a lifetime growing into his boots.

WINNER OF (Gold Award) HISTORICAL FICTION AWARD for 2012; by the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA). P7A IS THE FIRST IN A TRILOGY SET IN WWII: "In late 1941, President Roosevelt agonized over the rapid advances of the Japanese forces in Asia, they seemed unstoppable. He foresaw their intentions of taking India and linking up with the two other Axis Powers, Germany and Italy, in an attempt to conquer the Eastern Hemisphere. US naval forces had been severely surprised and diminished in Pearl Harbor and the army was outnumbered and ill-prepared to take on the invading hoards. One of his few options was to form a defensive line on the eastern side of the Patkai and Himalayan Ranges, there he could look for support from the Chinese and Burmese. It was to be the only defence to a Japanese invasion of India.To support and supply these troops, fighting in hostile jungle terrain where overland routes had been cut off, he desperately needed to set up an air supply from Eastern India. His problem was lack of aircraft and experienced pilots to fly the dangerous 'Hump, over the world's highest mountains. Hence came Operation Seven Alpha, a plan to enlist the aircraft, DC-3s, and pilots, veterans of World War One, of American Airlines. This newly formed Squadron would fly these medium-range aircraft in a series of long-distance hops across the Pacific and Southern Asia to the Assam Valley in India. They would then create and operate the vital supply route carrying arms, ammunition and food Eastward to the Allied bases and return with wounded personnel. This is the story of this little-known operation in the early days of the Burma Campaign.This book is based on the true experiences of those who were involved and is a fitting tribute to the bravery and inventiveness of a band of men who answered their country's desperate call at the outset of the war against Japan in Asia."

Previous studies of the Royalist high command have concentrated largely upon a handful of notable individuals such as King Charles himself and Prince Rupert. In this ground-breaking study, John Barratt re-examines these key figures, but he also explores the careers and characters of some of the lesser-known, but equally able Royalist officers. These men played decisive roles in the war, but hitherto they have received little attention. Among the extraordinary soldiers the author covers are Lord Astley, Prince Maurice, Lord Hopton, Lord Goring, Sir Richard Grenvile, the Marquis of Newcastle, Lord Wilmot and the Marquis of Montrose.

This book concentrates on Gully Ravine and its immediate area on the western side of the Helles battlefield. Here trench fighting raged throughout the campaign, culminating in the Battle of Gully Ravine between 28 June and 5 July 1915. This attack was a successful piece of planning and execution, enabling the British to capture five lines of Turkish trenches, seriously threatening the Turkish hold on the southern tip of the peninsula. After this attack the region fell into the deadlock of trench warfare, which brought its horrors as well as its monotony. This beautiful and picturesque area of Gallipoli is seldom visited, and its part in the campaign almost forgotten. The book is well researched and contains a high proportion of original photographs and maps, which have never been published before.