Armoured Hussars 2: Images of the 1st Polish Armoured Division, Normandy, August 1944

Description

Armoured Hussars 2 provides a highly-illustrated account of the 1st Polish Armoured Division's baptism of fire in Normandy in August 1944, from Operations Totalise and Tractable to the victory at Falaise, culminating at the climactic battle on Mont Ormel - the site of this triumph was justly named `A Polish Battlefield' by the Canadians. This album contains contributions written by the distinguished military author and Normandy veteran Ken Tout, who was recently awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit by the Republic of Poland for popularising the Polish soldiers of the Second World War. Serving as a young Sherman tank crewman in the Northamptonshire Yeomanry, Ken watched the Poles go in to action on 8 August and witnessed their savage baptism of fire. The album features many dramatic photographs and documents, numbering over 250, from the renowned Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum (PISM) as well as from the author's collection. It is also supplemented by eight pages of colour plates featuring divisional armour, uniforms, maps and a centre page-spread of a close-quarter action on Mont Ormel, based on the memoirs of a regimental commander. Illustrated by the renowned military artist, Peter Dennis, this depiction also features on the front cover. This book will appeal to all who have an interest in the Second World War and the Normandy Campaign, and is a fitting tribute to those Polish soldiers who fought so gallantly for Europe's freedom as part of the Allied Liberation Army and played a decisive role in the defeat of German forces in France at the Battle of the Falaise Pocket in August 1944.

Janusz Jarzembowski was born in London to exiled Polish parents, whose father was a highly decorated Polish veteran. He has always had a keen interest in military history and associated hobbies including military modelling, touring battlefields & collecting militaria, as well as being the guardian of the family archive. Jan's career has been based in retail management in a variety of sectors with both national and niche operators, he currently works within recruitment. He is married to Carolyn, a family man with 4 children, residing in Great Burstead, Essex. David Bradley has an MA in War Studies from King's College, London and is a retired Ministry of Defence civil servant who, during the course of his career, served in a number of research and analytical appointments. He has a long-term interest in the study of armoured operations from the Second World War to the present day.

Archive photo books really work for me and this one does not disappoint. Helion have the knack of doing them really well and this one is par for the course. I really do hope there is a volume three on the basis of this one and I recommend it. * War History Online *