* • * ILLUSTRATED * * * ENCYCLOPEDIA ILLUSTRATED WORLD WARD ENCYCLOPEDIA 14 VOLUME ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA ANZ/nBIASEDACCOUNTOFTHEMOSTDEVASTATING WARKNOWNTOMANKIND CONTAINSTHEORIGINALTEXTPREVIOUSLYPUBLISHEDIN THEUNITEDKINGDOM PL.U.S. BACKGROUNDARTICLESBYAGROUPOFDISTINGUISHED HISTORIANS...ENLIVENEDWITHCOLORPHOTOGRAPHSRECENTLYUNCOVERED BASEDONTHEORIGINALTEXTOF LieutenantColonelEddyBauer EDITOR-IN-CHIEF BrigadierPeterYoung,dso,mc,ma CONSULTANTEDITORS BrigadierGeneralJamesL.Collins,Jr.U.S.A. CHIEFOFMILITARYHISTORY,DEPARTMENTOFTHEARMY CorrelliBarnett FELLOWOFCHURCHILLCOLLEGE,CAMBRIDGE EDITORIALDIRECTOR BrianInnes H. S. STUTTMAN INC. Publishers CONTENTS 24 VOLUME CHAPTER 130 BRITAIN'S COMMANDOS 1821 CONFUSION INTHEBALKANS 1891 TroubleinYugoslavia •Churchillpressures THEBRUNEVALRAID 1825 Bulgaria•Communistcoupprevented• Malinovsky slows down • Tankclashes ST.NAZAIRE:THEAFTERMATH 1828 s•tic8eth•ArmSkyorezsecnayp'essr•aidHu•ngaMrailainnoavrsmkiy- rolls on • Germans exhausted • 6th SKORZENY:HITLER'SACE Army forced back by Tolbukhin • Last COMMANDO 1832 desperateeffort•Wrongcompromise• Tolbukhin's advantage • "Fortress" DESERTFREELANCERS:"POPSKI'S Budapest besieged PRIVATEARMY" 1836 CHAPTER 131 SAS:THEWINGEDSWORD 1841 EISENHOWER SLOWS DOWN 1907 Manpower shortages • The Allied com- manders disagreeoveraims •TheGer- CHAPTER 128 man forces • Rundstedt's objective • FINLANDDROPSOUT 1849 Hitler's grandiose scheme • The Allied Puppetgovernment•TheBalticstatesover- assaultonWalcheren •Struggleforthe run • Guderian clashes with Hitler • Westwall • Montgomery or Bradley Estonia invaded • Riga falls to Ere- THEINTERNEES:ORDEALOFTHE menko•Communicationscut• Manner- CIVILIANS 1924 heimcalledtopower•Theconsequences CHAPTER 132 ofFinland's"defection".......and Germany's contingency plans • Rela- INTOTHESIEGFRIEDLINE 1932 tions with Russia renewed • Manner- Metz falls • Patton into the Westwall • heiminformsHitler•EvacuationofFin- AlliedforcesinAlsacereshuffled • The land • Finland's peace FrenchpressontotheVosges RUSSIA'SWAR EFFORT 1864 CHAPTER 133 ©OrbisPublishingLimited1972.1978 THEFIGHTFORALSACE 1941 ©JaspardPolus.Monaco1966 CHAPTER 129 Theattackgoes in • The French reachthe DEFEAT IN THEBALKANS 1869 R•hi1n9ethfiArsrtmy..ca.u»ghtBal•ck7tchouAnrtmeyr-haetltdacuksp IllustratedWorldWarII Encyclopedia Untonescu recommendsretreat • Rumanian • Leclerc'scharge ISBN0-87475-520-4 peaceovertures • Rumaniancollapse• CHAPTER 134 Antonescu overthrown • 6th Army routed • The right course? THECOLMAR POCKET 1952 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmer THERUSSIAN PARTISANS 1882 HitlerandColmar • Notenough manpower 1 PU405120-16S . COMMANDOS BRITAIN'S Britain'sCommandoswereborn Earlyin1941therewasafinal Themencamefromawidecross atGuernsey." as an act of military defiance reorganisation: each commando section ofthearmy. Some were Scepticismaboutthevalueof inthegrimmonthsafterDunkirk. was to consist offive troops of Regulars,othersReservists,and thecommandosgrewintheser- Churchill had first envisaged threeofficersand62men,witha Numbers 1 and 2 Commandos vice ministries. The men them- themasstormtroopstospearhead heavyweaponstroopofabout40. had men from the territorial selvesbegantofeelfrustrated. counter-attacks against the TheWarOfficehadsentouta battalions who had operated as Thenon March4, 1941, Num- expected German invasion in circulartocommandsintheU.K. independent companies in Nor- bers3and4Commando,with52 1940. But Lieutenant-Colonel askingforvolunteersforspecial way. Royal Engineers, conductedthe DudleyClark,MilitaryAssistant service of an undefined and ThefirstCommandoraidtook first big raid ofthe war on the to the C.I.G.S., suggested that hazardous nature. They had to placelessthanthreeweeksafter LofotenIslandsoffNorway. they could be used offensively. befullytrainedsoldiers,physical- theforcehadbeenconceived.On Itwasacompletesuccess;for ByJune1940,12armycomman- ly fit, able to swim, and quite thenightofJune23-24,120men onecasualtythecommandostook doshadbeenformed.Initiallythey incapable of being sea-sick. landednearBoulogne.Therewas 216 prisoners, demolished fac- consistedoftentroopsof50men. "Courage, physical endurance, abrieffirefightandtheywithdrew tories and fuel supplies, and butthiswastoocumbersome.In initiativeandresource,activity, A raid on Guernsey proved captured11ships. October1940pairsofcommandos marksmanship,self-reliance,and abortive and Churchill growled Commandos and Combined were grouped into Special anaggressivespirittowardsthe "Let there be no more silly Operations were now accepted ServiceBattalions. war"weredemanded. fiascos like that perpetrated asalethalandeffectiveweapon. 1821