Chris Taylor – Illustratör

The Philippines were declared an American Territory on January 4, 1899, and fortification construction soon began on the islands in the mouth of Manila Bay.Among the sites built were Fort Mills (Corregidor), Fort Frank, and the formidable "concrete battleship" of Fort Drum. The defenses suffered constant Japanese bombardment during World War II, leading to the surrender of American forces. In 1945 the forts were manned by Japanese soldiers determined to hold out to the bitter end.This title details the fortifications of this key strategic location, and considers both their effectiveness and historical importance.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the military importance of the Hawaiian Islands became clear.Oahu in particular was a key bastion in projecting America's military power in the Pacific. The island was turned into a military fortress - and yet it also became the site of one of America's greatest defensive failures, the Japanese attack of December 7, 1941. By the end of World War II, the harbor itself was the most heavily defended in the world, and the island had earned the sobriquet "Fortress Oahu".This illustrated guide documents the development of the coastal, air and land defense systems that served to protect Pearl Harbor and Honolulu from 1907 to 1950, and seeks to understand why these failed at a critical point.

In the course of the Peninsular War, Wellington’s army fought several hard battles and smaller actions, but it was the bloody sieges that troubled him more than anything else.Indeed, the performance of his army during the sieges was probably the most disappointing aspect of what was otherwise an extremely successful campaign. Taking 1808 as its starting point, this title deals with the fortress sieges that involved Wellington’s Anglo-Portuguese army, and concentrates on four key sites in particular (Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Burgos and San Sebastián).All of these played a vital role in the war due to their strategically important positions. It documents both the sieges and the storming of the fortresses, as well as the general role of the fortresses in Spain and the impact they had on the thinking of the commanders and strategies of the armies involved.

The West Wall (or the Siegfried Line as the Allies called it) played a crucial role in the bitter fighting of 1944 and 1945 in North-West Europe.Constructed in the period immediately after the remilitarisation of the Rhineland in 1936, the Wall stretched for 300 miles from Cleve in the north to the Swiss Border and consisted of some 14,000 pillboxes. The Wall initially blunted the US attack, and Hitler used it as a foundation from which to launch the Ardennes Offensive.This is a detailed look at the development and form of this key fortification, examining the principles of its defence in visual depth, and discussing its fate in the wake of the Allied onslaught.

In the summer of 1940, Britain asked itself not 'will Hitler invade?' but 'when?'SEALION, the German invasion plan, provoked the construction of pillboxes, coastal defences, heavy-gun emplacements and anti-aircraft batteries, as well as the formation of the Home Guard and covert groups. Later, new dangers replaced SEALION: radar detection systems were expanded during the Blitz years, as were intelligence-gathering systems and listening posts. From 1944, Britain was again faced with a deadly threat, Hitler's 'Vengeance weapons'.This book provides a concise assessment of Britain's defensive systems, and presents a vivid picture of war on the home front.

For 40 years following the end of World War II, the Western democratic governments and the Eastern Bloc Communist powers were locked in the ideological, political, and economic struggle of the Cold War.The United States and the Soviet Union developed missile systems capable of delivering conventional and nuclear explosives against enemy massed bomber formations in the air, and of delivering retaliatory nuclear payloads against ground targets located on distant continents. The missile systems played both a defensive role, and a potential offensive role, which was parlayed to the public as deterrence against attack by the rival bloc.This illustrated guide provides a detailed overview of the fixed-launch-site strategic missile systems of the United States.

In 1961 US Special Forces units began entering remote areas of Vietnam dominated by the Viet Cong. Their task was to organize local defense and strike forces aimed at stopping the enemy from gaining further control of such areas. The Green Berets set up fortified camps from which indigenous troops defended local villages and attacked and harassed the enemy. How these camps were constructed, developed, and defended is documented here for the first time.This book also covers the weapons, barriers, and obstacles used in these camps, providing specific examples of camp design, and details how they withstood the test of battle against a determined and resourceful enemy.

Following the fall of France and the surrender of Paris on 14 June 1940, the British Government announced that the Channel Islands had no strategic importance and would not be defended.The Germans occupied the islands from the end of June onwards and remained in control until the end of the war. On 10 October 1941 Hitler announced his intention to 'convert them into an impregnable fortress', and the islands formed the most heavily fortified and defended section of the entire Atlantic Wall.This book describes the design, construction and manning of these defensive positions, as well as considering more widely the occupation of the Channel Islands by the Germans.

In the late-19th century, with the advances in technology and the increase in America's economic stature, a new round of fortification building began in the United States and its overseas territories.Locations such as Portland, Boston, New York, Baltimore, Charlestown, Savannah, Key West, Los Angeles and San Francisco were all extensively fortified. This book provides a concise introduction to the design, development and purpose of American coastal defenses in the "modern" era (1885–1950), a period defined by the use of concrete, steel, and powerful breech-loading rifles.It covers the emplacements, weaponry, equipment, and people that defended their country in times of great change and uncertainty.

In 1943, Hitler ordered his forces to occupy the Italian mainland to protect the Third Reich's 'soft underbelly'.After the successful Allied landings in Salerno, the Germans fought a series of hard, rearguard actions as the Allies slowly pushed north up the peninsula towards the Alps. These actions were based around the construction of a series of defensive lines, including: the Gustav Line, anchored on Monte Cassino, the Hitler Line, the Caesar Line, and the Gothic Line.This book explores the development and form of these defensive systems, examining the key fortifications in visual depth and discussing their fate in the wake of the Allied onslaught.

During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong (VC) main forces and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) were forced to hide weapons and supplies underground and to dig protective shelters to counter massive US firepower.Their field works defended villages, hidden base camps, and fortified complexes, and took the form of trench systems, individual fighting positions, crew-served weapon positions, bunkers, caches, and extensive tunnel complexes. Camouflage and deceptive measures, and the employment of obstacles and booby traps, went hand-in-hand with such works.This illustrated guide takes a detailed look at the VC/NVA tunnel systems, field fortifications, base camps and camouflage and concealment measures employed during the Vietnam conflict.

The United States has been developing space for many years, and satellites provide the US Military with an unparaleled advantage over its adversaries.Constellations of both military and civilian satellites provide protection and support for military operations; deliver ballistic missile early warning; supply reliable, secure and jam-proof communications; gather audio-visual intelligence; predict weather patterns; guide navigation; and deliver guided-weapons targeting, as well as a host of other missions. This book explores the design, development and usage of US military space systems, as well as past and future threats to the systems. The current relevance of this topic to the international community as a whole is key, as space becomes the next, if only virtual, theater of warfare.

From June 1941, the Soviets were forced to undertake large-scale defensive operations in the face of the overwhelming German blitzkrieg assault, operations which ran counter to their preference for highly mobile, offensive warfare.Lessons were quickly learned across a wide variety of terrain and climates, including the open steppes, dense forests, wooded swamps, cities, and in snow and ice, where the availability of construction materials differed greatly. The first to cover this topic in the English language and containing detailed information about the trenches, bunkers, observation posts and weapon positions, this book examines field fortifications built from local materials by infantrymen, as well as their use of mines, field camouflage techniques, and construction tools.Alongside illustrations throughout, Gordon L. Rottman provides a first fascinating insight into Russian defensive attempts against the overwhelming might of the German Army.

An in-depth examination of one of the most frustrating and costly efforts by the US Army in the European Theater of Operations.The Allies first encountered the Siegfried Line (Westwall) fortifications in September 1944, having pursued the retreating Wehrmacht through Belgium and the Netherlands. The border area around Aachen had been fortified with a double line of bunkers, and both the terrain and the weather made things difficult for the Allies.With illustrations throughout, this book focuses on the involvement of the US First and Ninth armies in the six-month fighting, including the hellish fighting for the Hürtgen forest.

A fascinating analysis of the most ambitious military fortification program of World War II.With Germany's gradual loss of the strategic initiative to the Allies, in 1942 Hitler was forced to construct an impenetrable wall of fortifications along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast. This book deals solely with the structures on the French coast, starting with the Pas-de-Calais and extending down to Spain.It features detailed illustrations and diagrams of the various sections of the Atlantic Wall and the role that they played, giving a thoughtful analysis of some of the most accessible fortifications of World War II.

The border between East and West Germany was closed on 26 May 1953. On 13 August 1961 crude fences and walls were erected around West Berlin: the Berlin Wall had been created.The Wall encircled West Berlin for a distance of 155km, and its barriers and surveillance systems evolved over the years into an advanced obstacle network. The Intra-German Border ran from the Baltic Sea to the Czechoslovak border for 1,381km, and was where NATO forces faced the Warsaw Pact for the 45 years of the Cold War.This book examines the international situation that led to the establishment of the Berlin Wall and the IGB, and discusses how these barrier systems were operated, and finally fell.