Martin Mace – författare

Hitler’s Ardennes Offensive, his last great throw of the dice, was stagnating. After the initial German successes, the Allies had rallied. In a desperate bid to recover the momentum, the Luftwaffe aimed to gain control of the air by launching a major attack upon Allied airfields in the Low Countries – Operation Bodenplatte.On 1 January 1945, more than 800 fighters and fighter-bombers, predominantly Focke-Wulf Fw 190s and Messerschmitt Bf 109s, were despatched in this low-level, dawn raid on Allied airfields in Belgium and the Netherlands. The object was to destroy or cripple as many Allied aircraft, hangars and airstrips as possible.Generalleutnant Adolf Galland, the man in charge of Germany’s fighter force and responsible for the original plans for Operation Bodenplatte, saw that the Allies had accumulated such a strong force of aircraft that there must be heavy congestion on the airfields used by the Allies. As the Luftwaffe rarely risked daylight raids, he hoped to take the Allies by surprise and catch their aircraft on the ground in a single massive strike.Galland’s plan worked. Surprise was complete, and many Allied aircraft were destroyed before they could be scrambled. Allied pilots and aircrew ran or dived for cover as the German fighters swept over the airfields of Duerne at Antwerp, Evere in Brussels, Eindhoven, Ghent and another twelve bases of the RAF’s 2nd Tactical Air Force, and the American Eighth and Ninth Air Forces.But not all the attacks were as successful as Galland had hoped. At some airfields the Allied squadrons were absent, already engaged in operations and at others powerful anti-aircraft batteries took a heavy toll of the attackers.As Galland, explained: ‘In Unfamiliar conditions and with insufficient training and combat experience, our numerical strength had no effect. It was decimated while in transfer, on the ground, in large air battles ... and was finally destroyed.’Figures vary enormously, though it has been recorded that 224 Allied aircraft were destroyed (of which 144 were RAF) with a further eighty-four damaged beyond unit repair. For its part, the Luftwaffe lost sixty-two aircraft to Allied fighters and 172 to anti-aircraft guns – losses that it never really replaced, particularly in terms of aircrew. In Galland’s words, the Luftwaffe ‘received its death blow at the Ardennes offensive’.Told through a detailed narrative and a unique collection of dramatic photographs, the story of the last major air battle of the Second World War, is portrayed in vivid detail allowing the reader to see the destruction and devastation of the German attacks – and the crippling losses the Luftwaffe sustained.

Czechoslovakia, a vital European economy, was dismantled by Nazi Germany. The Sudetenland was annexed, and the rest of the nation became the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Hitler replaced Reichsprotektor Konstantin von Neurath with Reinhard Heydrich in September 1941 due to unmet production quotas. Known as the "Butcher of Prague," Heydrich imposed martial law, leading to widespread arrests and executions.In response, the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, led by Edvard Beneš, devised Operation Anthropoid to assassinate Heydrich. Josef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, members of the exiled Czech Army trained by the British Special Operations Executive, parachuted into Czechoslovakia on 29 December 1941. Despite Heydrich’s suppression of the Czech resistance, local supporters assisted them.On 27 May 1942, Gabčík and Kubiš attacked Heydrich as his car slowed at a bend. Gabčík’s Sten gun jammed, but Kubiš’s grenade wounded Heydrich. Though they escaped, Heydrich died eight days later.

Berlin, situated deep within Soviet-controlled East Germany, became a flashpoint in the Cold War as tensions between former allies escalated. By the late 1950s, the western sectors of Berlin prospered, while East Berlin struggled with economic and political oppression. Increasing numbers of East Berliners sought to defect to the West, turning Berlin into a major escape route.In response, the East German government, with Soviet approval, secretly planned to seal off the city. On the morning of 13 August 1961, the Berlin Wall began to rise, splitting the city for the next 28 years. The Wall became a symbol of division, desperation, and escape attempts. Many tried to cross the Wall, but at least 101 people lost their lives in the process.The Wall also became a symbol of Cold War confrontation. Shortly after its construction, American and Soviet tanks faced off at Checkpoint Charlie, marking a tense moment between the superpowers. Over the next 44 years, West Berlin stood as a symbol of Western resistance to Communist expansion. The rise and fall of the Berlin Wall marked key moments in the Cold War, shaping its history and signaling both the beginning and the end of the conflict.

By the summer of 1943, Mussolini’s position had become untenable. On 24 July, he was forced to summon the Grand Council, and the next day, he was arrested by order of Italy's king. Mussolini was held in the Hotel Campo Imperatore for two months before being rescued in a daring operation by Fallschirmjäger and Waffen-SS commandos on Hitler’s orders on 12 September.Taken to Germany, Mussolini, now a shadow of his former self, was urged by Hitler to continue his leadership. On 23 September, he proclaimed himself head of the Fascist Republic of Salò. From October 1943 to April 1945, Mussolini lived in the Villa Feltrinelli on Lake Garda.As the war neared its end, US 10th Mountain Division troops captured the villa on 30 April 1945 but found Mussolini had already fled. He had escaped Milan with his mistress, Clara Petacci, and other fascists, heading towards Lake Como. The couple was captured by partisans on 27 April in Dongo, and Mussolini was executed the next day in Mezzegra.Their bodies were displayed in Milan’s Piazzale Loreto on 29 April 1945, just as Hitler married Eva Braun in Berlin, marking the final, tumultuous days of Mussolini’s life.

On 26 May 1940, the Admiralty issued the directive for Operation Dynamo, aiming to rescue the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from Dunkirk. Initially, they expected to evacuate only 45,000 men within two days, anticipating that enemy action would soon end the operation. However, the outcome exceeded all expectations.Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, a fleet of naval and civilian vessels evacuated 338,682 men, a feat considered impossible. The scale of this success prompted The New York Times to declare Dunkirk a word of reverence. The British Army’s Quartermaster-General called it "unprecedented in the history of war."The Dunkirk evacuation has been immortalized in numerous books and films, becoming one of the defining moments of British history. Today, many artifacts from the operation remain, including shipwrecks, rifles, and photographs, each serving as poignant reminders of the event. Through 100 objects, this book tells the powerful story of The Miracle of Dunkirk, bringing the past to life by showcasing these historical remnants and memorials.

Special Operations Executive was one of the most secretive organizations of the Second World War, its activities cloaked in mystery and intrigue. The fate, therefore, of many of its agents was not revealed to the general public other than the bare details carved with pride upon the headstones and memorials of those courageous individuals.Then in 2003, the first batch of SOE personal files was released by The National Archives. Over the course of the following years more and more files were made available. Now, at last, it is possible to tell the stories of all those agents that died in action.These are stories of bravery and betrayal, incompetence and misfortune, of brutal torture and ultimately death. Some died when their parachutes failed to open, others swallowed their cyanide capsules rather than fall into the hands of the Gestapo, many died in combat with the enemy, most though were executed, by hanging, by shooting and even by lethal injection.The bodies of many of the lost agents were never found, destroyed in the crematoria of such places as Buckenwald, Mauthausen and Natzweiler, others were buried where they fell. All of them should be remembered as having undertaken missions behind enemy lines in the knowledge that they might never return.

The fighting in the Gallipoli or Dardanelles campaign began in 1915 as a purely naval affair undertaken partly at the instigation of Winston Churchill, who, as First Lord of the Admiralty, had entertained plans of capturing the Dardanelles as early as September 1914. It was the Royal Navy that bore the brunt of the initial action, supported by the French and with minor contributions from, the Russian and Australian fleets.On 3 November 1914, Churchill ordered the first British attack on the Dardanelles following the opening of hostilities between Ottoman and Russian empires. The British attack was carried out by battle cruisers of Carden's Mediterranean Squadron, HMS Indomitable and HMS Indefatigable, as well as two French battleships. This attack actually took place before a formal declaration of war had been made by Britain against the Ottoman Empire. Royal Navy submarines had already been operating in the region.When the naval operations failed, a full invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula was launched. The bitter fighting that followed resonated profoundly among all nations involved. The campaign was the first major battle undertaken by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and is often considered to mark the birth of national consciousness in both of these countries. For the Turkish forces it would prove a major victory.

The First World War touched every community and almost every home in the UK. In its wake, it left behind memories and mementos of loved ones. For every casualty there was a scar, for every death there was grief. Often the only tangible connection with those who fought, whether they survived the horrors of that brutal conflict or remained in some foreign field, are the artefacts still held, so dearly, by their families. Some might still possess the death pennies, or memorial plaques, or fathers, uncles or grandfathers sent by a grateful government, or the terrible message that told of a brother 'missing believed killed'. Not all the items held by families are sad reminders of the past. The Princess Mary Gift Fund box, sent to the men at the front for Christmas 1914, for example, contained such luxuries as chocolate and tobacco, and brought great pleasure to the men in the trenches. Items of uniforms, photographs, and, most poignant and personal of all, the letters written from the front, present the human side of an inhuman war, in a deeply moving snapshot of the past.The full-colour photographs of each 100 items are accompanied by detailed explanations of the object and the people and events which make them so special - not just to the families concerned, but to all those who hold such artefacts in cupboards, on mantelpieces or shelves, or in display cases.The memory of the men and women they represent lives on through the items they have left behind.

The miracle' of Dunkirk is one of the most inspiring stories of all time. The British Expeditionary Force had been all but surrounded, and, with the French armies collapsing on all sides, it appeared that Britain was about to suffer the heaviest defeat in its history.When Winston Churchill's War Cabinet finally accepted that the Battle of France had been lost, preparations were made to try and rescue as many soldiers as possible from one of the few ports left open to the British Expeditionary Force - Dunkirk.So rushed and chaotic was the retreat to the Channel coast, with thousands of guns, vehicles and tanks being abandoned, there was little time for soldiers to consider taking photographs of the shocking scenes of death and destruction which surrounded them. Yet images do exist of the ships and boats of all descriptions which braved the bombs and guns of the German Air Force to rescue Britain's only field army from the clutches of Hitler's panzer divisions.One man in particular, Sub-Lieutenant John Rutherford Crosby, a member of the crew of the minesweeper, and converted Clyde paddle steamer, HMS Oriole, left a legacy of dramatic images. These include the never-to-be-forgotten scenes of long lines of tired and anxious troops stretching into the sea and of bombs exploding on the packed beaches - all with his own personal little camera.Other images in this book paint a vivid and memorable picture, as no words ever could, of the greatest evacuation of troops under fire.