Paperback Books by Patrick Delaforce

Originally a Territorial unit with its roots in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the 49th Infantry Division saw action in the ill-fated Norwegian campaign in 1940, before it was appointed to garrison Iceland where it stayed for two years. In August 1944, under the command of the Canadian Army, the Polar Bears acted as Monty''s left flank after the invasion of France. Following the battle for Normandy, the Polar Bears played a key role in the capture of Le Havre, campaigned vigorously in Belgium and garrisoned the ''island'' between Arnhem and Nijmegen during the winter of 1944. They helped to take Arnhem and then liberated Utrecht and Hilversum; and the Recce regiment were the first to arrive with their armoured cars in Amsterdam. In the final weeks of the war the Polar Bears played a humanitarian role by bringing desperately needed food supplies to the starving population of Holland. During the campaign in North West Europe, the Polar Bears were a completely British division with units drawn from Yorkshire, Durham, Royal Scots Fusiliers, Tyneside Scottish, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Kent Yeomanry and Suffolk Hussars. In August 1944 they were joined by the South Wales Borderers, the Gloucesters and the Essex regiments. The Polar Bears suffered 11,000 casualties and earned a Victoria Cross. Following the successful formula adopted for his other divisional histories, Patrick Delaforce draws on contributions from the soldiers who fought with the Polar Bears - privates, NCOs and officers alike. In their own words they tell just what it was like as they fought through from Normandy to the relief of Holland.

Commanded by the controversial Major-General Ivo Thomas, the 43rd (Wessex) Division was branded the Fighting Yellow Devils’ out of respect by its Wehrmacht and Waffen SS opponents. The 43rd’s distinctive divisional badge of a golden Wyvern — half-serpent half-dragon — was to be seen in all the ferocious battles in Normandy, the Low Countries and Germany between June 1944 and May 1945. They suffered 12,500 casualties including 3,000 killed in action. The 43rd had its roots firmly in the West of England, drawing its infantry battalions from the county regiments of Cornwall, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Worcester, with occasional reinforcements during the Normandy campaign by ‘foreign’ regiments from Berkshire, Essex and other counties. This book tells the story of the division’s campaign in Northwest Europe, from Normandy to Bremerhaven, in the words of the soldiers who actually fought with it: privates, sergeants and young company commanders, all have their individual tales to tell. Here are first-hand accounts of the landings on the shores of Normandy; the battles for the River Odon, Hill 112, Maltot and Mont Pincon; the break-out to the River Seine and the forcing of the vital bridgehead at Vernon; the only infantry division to make a single-handed attempt to relieve Arnhem — a gallant and costly failure; the clearance of the Roer triangle (Operation Blackcock) and the Reichswald (Operation Veritable); the crossing of the River Rhine and the advance northwards to take the port of Bremen; and the final triumphant advance to the Cuxhaven peninsula northwest of Hamburg.

Early in 1945 the British Liberation Army (BLA), who had battled their way from the Normandy beaches to the borders of Germany, embarked on Operation Eclipse. This was the end-game of the Second World War, the unique military campaign to invade and conquer Hitler s Third Reich and liberate 20 million enslaved nationals from Holland, Denmark and Norway; to free multitudes of displaced persons (DPs) or slaves; and inter alia to free the survivors of twenty concentration camps and many Allied POW camps. The Allied Military Government (AMG) brought law and order to 23 million German nationals in the allocated British zone of occupation (BAOR) and appropriate retribution too. A thrilling race with Stalin s Red Army ensued to reach the Baltic. A matter of a few hours and Denmark and Norway would have been swept into the evil Soviet empire. The author fought vigorously as a junior RHA officer in the five great river battles Rhine, Dortmund-Ems, Weser, Aller and the Elbe. Soon after VE Day he was the junior officer in War Crimes Tribunals in Hamburg and Oldenburg and witnessed Mr Alfred Pierrepoint administering the hanging of prison camp guards. Illustrations: 75 black-and-white photographs

Operation Plunder was Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s swan song. It is rarely mentioned in the Second World War history books, and when it is, both American and British military historians dismiss it as being ultra-cautious. Monty was by nature a cautious commander with dwindling manpower resources. Operation Market Garden in September 1944 had not been successful in achieving a major lodgement over the Rhine. Monty knew that Hitler regarded the Rhine as his final barrier, and his storm-troopers and paratroops had fought like demons for four weeks in February/March 1945 defending the Siegfried Line in Operations Veritable and Blockbuster. Presumably they would continue to defend their own country to the bitter end. So, in command of a British, a Canadian and an American army Monty ensured by very careful planning, including a huge airborne drop in Operation Varsity, that the great onslaught would be furious, quick, ruthless and highly successful. And so it was. Patrick Delaforce fought in Blockbuster, Plunder and all the river battles in his armoured battle group, which reached the Danish frontier just before Stalin’s Cossacks.The book is part of a Fonthill trilogy by Delaforce: Monty’s Rhine Adventure (Market Garden); and Invasion of the Third Reich (the campaign after Plunder). Illustrations: 194 black-and-white photographs and maps

In this third volume on the progress of the Second World War after the D-Day landings, Patrick Delaforce examines the final weeks of World War Two, beyond the Yalta Conference, when the question to be asked was not who would win, but how to prevent the war dragging on and also how to prevent Hitler from implementing a scorched earth policy across the Reichland. Then there was the race to win territory as the Russians, too, clawed their way across Europe. Operation Eclipse, begun in March1945, both prevented the Russians from occupying Denmark in violation of the agreement at Yalta but also occupied the Kiel naval base. The book also examines events immediately after the surrender and Hitler''s suicide, and the creation of the short-lived fourth reich under the leadership of Admiral Donitz. As well as Denmark, the book also covers the liberations of both Holland and Norway. Most poignant of all, the liberation of the prisoners of war is covered as well as the freeing those that had toiled for Hitler against their will, as slaves. The book ends with the famous war crimes trials and the beginnings of the Cold War.

This is the second volume, but the last to be published of a trilogy - the other volumes being Smashing the Atlantic Wall and The Battle of the Bulge. Monty''s Rhine Adventure begins immediately after the Normandy invasion with the euphoria surrounding the belief that the war would soon be won. However, it was not to be as easy Monty hoped. The book covers the difficult next few months as the Allies slogged through France and Belgium fighting stern and skilled Nazi resistance. However, the centrepiece of Monty''s Rhine Adventure is Operation Market garden - Monty''s bold plan to cut through the German defences via the eight bridges which spanned the Dutch/German border. The book deals with the plan, its execution and its aftermath in rigorous detail. Had Market Garden gone to plan, it might have led to the overall defeat of the Third Reich before the end of 1944. As it was, it was the Russians that entered Berlin first in May 1945. Nonetheless, this period remains one of the boldest and most exciting of the Second World War.

From-the-turret story of a British tank division in World War II Follows the division through the Normandy campaign, the liberation of Amiens and Antwerp, flank protection during Operation Market Garden, and the final drive into Germany Raw firsthand accounts from commanders, riflemen, bombardiers, and tank crews Reveals what life was like at the sharp end of the Allies'' war effort

In 1655 a beautiful, talented young Huguenot girl of 15 married a humble mean little clerk'' called Samuel Pepys. Elizabeth le Marchant de St. Michel died when she was 29. "Pepys in love - Elizabeth''s Story" is a totally factual account derived from Lord Braybrook''s edition of the Diary. It includes other new research, including Huguenot and French records of her life, her eccentric family, her menage, her wild tempestuous marriage with the ''Saviour of the Navy'', of her numerous admirers from the Duke of York, ''My Lord'' Edward Mountagu, the Bordeaux wine shipper William Batailley... to Samuel''s lifelong friend William Hewer. This book sheds new light on the ''lost'' paintings of Elizabeth Pepys, and on the Pepys family Huguenot connections.

There have been many books about Sir Winston Churchill, but few that capture the essence of the man like .

''A thoroughly researched and amply illustrated book that lets the facts, and the soldiers, speak for themselves.'' Western Morning Mail ''This book is a collection of memories from officers and men who took part in the battles of Le Cahier, Le Bon Repos, Evrecy, the Falaise Gap, the Antwerp and Lommel bridgeheads, and against the Panzers in the Ardennes, right through to the end in Hamburg. Their accounts, in common with most battle stories, are a mix of sombre fact and hilarity, admirably linked by the author''s easy-to-read narrative. This book is recommended reading.'' Soldier Magazine One of Monty''s ''green'' divisions that took part in Operation Overlord, the brutal battle for Normandy, the 53rd Welsh Division served with great distinction throughout the rest of the war. They were brilliantly led by Major General Bobby Ross. After playing a major part in the fighting in Belgium, they were moved south to fight the Panzers in the Ardennes, breaking the Siegfried Line and on into the Rhineland where they captured Weeze. They ended the war by occupying ruined Hamburg. It was at great cost as they suffered 10,000 casualties in eleven months of the NW Europe campaign. This remarkable book features the tales of over 60 men, NCOs and officers who took part in this campaign story.

When Monty was given Allied command of the D Day landings he wasted no time gathering around him individuals and formations he could trust. Foremost among the latter were two armoured brigades: 4th (Black Desert Rats) and 8th (Red Fox''s Mask). Both these brigades had unrivalled fighting records whether in North Africa, Sicily or Italy. They had proved themselves in bitter fighting against Rommel''s Afrika Korps and the Italians. Once ashore in Normandy the two superb brigades went on to enhance their reputations on the journey to the heartland of Hitler''s Third Reich and final victory. The author has written a fast moving and enthralling account of war at the sharp end.

When Monty was given Allied command of the D Day landings he wasted no time gathering around him individuals and formations he could trust. Foremost among the latter were two armoured brigades: 4th (Black Desert Rats) and 8th (Red Fox''s Mask). Both these brigades had unrivalled fighting records whether in North Africa, Sicily or Italy. They had proved themselves in bitter fighting against Rommel''s Afrika Korps and the Italians. Once ashore in Normandy the two superb brigades went on to enhance their reputations on the journey to the heartland of Hitler''s Third Reich and final victory. The author has written a fast moving and enthralling account of war at the sharp end.

The 51st Highland Division was the most famous infantry division that fought with the British Army in WW2. It was the only infantry division in the armies of the British Empire that accompanied Monty from during Alamein to BerlinAfter the 1940 disaster at St Valry when many were killed or captured, the re-formed 51st were a superlative division, brilliantly inspired and led. The Highway Decorators (after their famous HD cypher) fought with consummate success through North Africa and Tunisia and from Normandy into the heart of Germany. Blooded at Alamein where they suffered over 2000 casualties they pursued the Afrika Korps via Tripoli and Tunis fighting fierce battles along the way. They lost 1,500 men helping to liberate Sicily. Back to the UK for the second front, the Highlanders battled their way through Normandy bocage, the break-out to the Seine, triumphal re-occupation of St Valry, and were the first troops to cross the Rhine, fighting on to Bremen and Bremerhaven. In the eleven months fighting in NW Europe in 1944 and 1945 the Highlanders suffered more than 9000 casualties.

"A touching story, carefully and sensitively told - sheds a private sidelight on the public life of Nelson. The numerous illustrations add another dimension." The Lady This is the strange story of a mother and her son, and their intimate relationship with England''s greatest naval hero. Lady Frances ''Fanny'' Nelson was Nelson''s wife and love for fourteen years. She was from a good family, brought up in the rich plantation life on Nevis in the West Indies. In 1787 she married an unknown naval captain. He was very unpopular locally, had no particular prospects, lived on his pay and was no catch at all. Fanny was his loyal devoted wife - and his equally devoted widow - until she died in London in 1831 at the age of 70. Most biographers of Nelson have failed to give her more than a cursory glance, hypnotised as they have been by the dynamic sea captain and his mistress. Fanny was beautiful, intelligent, and well read. She spoke excellent French, dressed always a la mode, painted watercolours better than most, and played the piano. She wrote entertaining letters, had a wide circle of friends, was presented at court and was a favourite with all the Lords of the Admiralty and their wives. She lived a long and extremely interesting life, partly in London, Bath, Paris or Devon. Moreover although she failed to give Nelson a child, she did give him her son by her first marriage, Josiah Nisbet, to whom the Admiral was deeply attached and whom he called his son-in-law''. Josiah saved Horatio''s life at the battle of Santa Cruz, after his arm was nearly severed by grape-shot. Having seen him fall and searched for him on the ground, Josiah carried him, bleeding and unconscious, to a waiting boat, where a sailor formed a tourniquet that stopped Nelson from bleeding to death. He then helped to paddle the boat to the safety of a waiting ship, where Nelson''s arm was later amputated. Later, in Naples, Josiah too fell in love with the bewitching Emma Hamilton."

The so-called ''Battle of the Bulge'' was one of the most important battles of World War Two. It was certainly America''s largest and most crucial land battle, at one stage involving half a million men. · Contains individual stories from American, British and German combatants in the Ardennes battle · Well illustrated with photographs and battle plans

Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, aka ''Monty'', was Britain''s most celebrated general during World War Two, leading the British Army to famous victories from Africa to NW Europe. The 3rd British Infantry Division was commanded by Monty'' in the 1940 campaign leading up to Dunkirk. The title Iron Sides derived from its brilliance in adversity in the Great War. Predictably - a dangerous honour - Monty chose the division to spearhead the Normandy invasion by landing on Sword Beach on D-Day. Attrition battles followed, from Operations Epsom and Goodwood to Market Garden, Veritable and finally the capture of Bremen. Monty designed their distinctive insignia of red and black triangles. The men came from all over Britain: Norfolk, Suffolk, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Lincolnshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Middlesex, the Scottish Borders and Ulster - it was the most British of all the Army divisions. The price of victory was appalling: 15,000 casualties including 2,588 killed in action, but two Victoria Crosses were won. It was a magnificent fighting record, led by the famous ex-Desert Rat, Major-General Bolo'' Whistler.

Immediately after Hitler halted his proposed invasion of Britain in 1940, he secretly ordered the building of an Atlantic Wall. Using material from British, American, and Canadian archives, a top military historians pieces together a unique, barely known story from the war--and memorializes the Allied soldiers caught behind it in appalling conditions.

In this delightful book, scores of British soldiers tell their amazing stories of life – and death - in the front line of the Allies'' advance from Normandy to Hitler''s Germany. In eleven months of bitter fighting the combined efforts of the British and their allies ground down their ruthless enemy. Each and every man has a unique story to tell, whether they were infantry, tank crews, gunners, sappers or in vital logistic and supporting units. Their experiences make for powerful and fascinating reading. First-hand accounts of the landings, liberation of towns and villages, fierce actions, not all successful, the cost of war in life and material being home the magnitude of the venture and the range of emotions that were experienced by generals and the most junior soldiers.

This book is a masterly assessment of Adolph Hitler''s life, career, and beliefs, drawn not only from the subject''s personal writings and speeches, but also from accounts of those who knew him, loved him, and loathed him.

The end-game of the Second World War, as told by one of Britain''s best know writers on the period.

A detailed and exciting history of the old Welsh division to take part in Operation Overlord.

Monty''s Marauders

This is the second volume, but the last to be published of a trilogy — the other volumes being Smashing the Atlantic Wall and The Battle of the Bulge. The book starts with the German evacuation of Dunkirk, the liberation of Antwerp, Operation ''Market Garden'' and Montgomery''s move into the Rhineland. The book ends following General Kurt Student''s attempt to halt the advance of the allied troops at the Rhine with a ferocious counter-attack.

The 7th Armoured Division - the Desert Rats - was the most famous British fighting formation of World War Two, and the Division remains a household name to this day. This book covers the Desert Rats'' early name-making campaigns, particularly their deployment in the vitally important North African theatre.

This celebration of the man, his life, and his monumental achievements is presented as an attractive gift book and written by an expert on the subject.