Theirs the Strife: The Forgotten Battles of British Second Army and Armeegruppe Blumentritt, April 1945...

— —

John Russell

Theirs the Strife

The Forgotten Battles of British Second Army and Armeegruppe Blumentritt, April 1945

John Russell

$75

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Helion & Company
28 October 2021

20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Military history; Second World War; Regiments

Theirs the Strife tells the story of a series of bitter actions fought 75 years ago between the British and the Germans during the closing days of the North-West Europe campaign; a time when the war's result was no longer in doubt and, for the Allies, the race nearly won. The many short but intense engagements of the final weeks have, however, been uncelebrated by historians. The few British narratives covering the period make at best only passing reference to the engagements and rarely do they mention the courage required of the exhausted men of British Second Army to prosecute the war to its end.

The book's narrative concentrates on the battles fought by VIII and XII Corps to cross the rivers Weser and Aller, as it was on these rivers that the British advance crashed into the raw but young and well-motivated troops of a recently-raised naval infantry division and a Waffen-SS battalion of Hitler Youth, organisations whose soldiers were determined to fight to the best of their ability in their first and probably last battle. Although the outcome was never in doubt, the resilience and courage of the Germans came as a most unpleasant surprise to the British and checked them in their advance to the Elbe. The narrative is studded with first-hand accounts and photographs and supported by some 100 maps and figures, giving the reader unparalleled understanding of the action. The author provides detailed information on the organisations, weapons and equipment of the participating German and British formations and units, and in the epilogue there is in-depth analysis of the Second Army's strengths and weaknesses and the reasons why the German units were prepared to fight on when all was so obviously lost.

AUTHOR: John Russell was educated at Sherborne School and has a degree (BA Geography, Archaeology, Modern History) from Durham University. He was commissioned into The Queen's Regiment in 1974 having attended RMA Sandhurst. His operational service career included Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Postings included Belize, Germany, Australia and The Netherlands. He attended the Army Staff College, was awarded the MBE in 1992 and commanded an infantry battalion from 1993-96. He retired in 2015. He has intensively researched the fighting of April 1945 and has run numerous battlefield tours for the British Army on the events described in the book. He belongs to a family with strong connections to the British armed forces: his grandfather was in the Royal Navy, his father in the Parachute Regiment and Royal Sussex Regiment, his older son served in The Queen's Dragoon Guards, while his younger son is a doctor in the Reserve Army.

97 b/w photographs, 25 b/w figures, 74 b/w maps

By: John Russell
Imprint: Helion & Company
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 245mm, Width: 170mm,
ISBN: 9781914059391
ISBN 10: 1914059395
Pages: 502
Publication Date: 28 October 2021
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified

John Russell was educated at Sherborne School and has a degree (BA – Geography, Archaeology, Modern History) from Durham University. He was commissioned into The Queen's Regiment in 1974 having attended RMA Sandhurst. His operational service career included Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Postings included Belize, Germany, Australia and The Netherlands. He attended the Army Staff College, was awarded the MBE in 1992 and commanded an infantry battalion from 1993-96. He retired in 2015. He has intensively researched the fighting of April 1945 and has run numerous battlefield tours for the British Army on the events described in the book. He belongs to a family with strong connections to the British armed forces: his grandfather was in the Royal Navy, his father in the Parachute Regiment and Royal Sussex Regiment, his older son served in The Queen's Dragoon Guards, while his younger son is a doctor in the Reserve Army.

Reviews for Theirs the Strife: The Forgotten Battles of British Second Army and Armeegruppe Blumentritt, April 1945

It is a great blend of in-depth research, lavish map coverage, and excellent photographs. Certainly a must have if you are considering walking the battlefields, or if you are looking for a somewhere to stage an interesting battlefield study. * Royal Anglian News 14/06/2021 * This well-written narrative is an excellent insight to the life of the late war soldier and touches all aspects, including noting the numbers of German troops buried in each town and village. […] Thoroughly recommended for armchair historians, Model-makers and wargamers. * Scale Military Modelling International Magazine 16/08/2021 *