Army Commandos 1940 45 Elite Chappell
The amount of time from early 1940 to the end of 1942 was a time of gloom and uncertainty for the British, who stood alone versus the collected might of the Axis powers. They seriously necessitated a champion, and were to find this in a little strength of soldiers who inspired them with a series of daring raids versus the coasts of ‘occupied Europe’, getting the heroes of the British public and of the British Prime Minister who had invented them. This title explores the wartime history of the British Army Commandos whose bravado did so much to raise the morale of the British public.
From the PublisherAn unrivalled illustrated reference source on fighting men and commanders, past and present. Each volume is packed with full colour artwork, making military history unambiguously accessible to fanciers of all ages.
About the AuthorMike Chappell comes from an Aldershot family with British Army connections stretching back various generations. He enlisted as a teenage private in the Royal Hampshire Regiment in 1952. Over the next 22 years of infantry soldiering, some of them expended with the Gloucester Regiment, he held each rank and some regimental appointments up to WO1 and Regimental Sergeant Major. He retired in 1974, as RSM of the 1st Battalion The Wessex Regiment (Rifle Volunteers), after seeing service in Malaya, Cyprus, Swaziland, Libya, Germany, Ulster and home garrisons. He begun painting military subjects in 1968 and since then has gained international popularity as a military illustrator.
Army Commandos 1940 45 Elite Chappell Photo
Army Commandos 1940 45 Elite Chappell Picture
Army Commandos 1940 45 Elite Chappell Image
Army Commandos 1940 45 Elite Chappell Photo
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 Fine Study of FIne Men
By El Cutachero
ARmy Commandos published 2001, is the trade edition of Elite No. 64 so this review is identical to that.
The famed British Commandos had their origins in the dark days of 1940 after the Army had been forced to evacuate at Dunkirk. Although the active campaigning continued in the Middle East and war broke out in the Far East in Dec 1941, those were peripheral campaigns and would never result in the defeat of Hitler’s forces. The attack on the Soviet Union in 1941 led to a powerful ally but Stalin was always on the lookout for the main chance and there was always a possibleness that he would make an armistice with Germany well into 1943.
The Navy and the RAF could strike directly at Germany’s far flung forces but the only one that could strike Germany itself was the RAF.
The Army hence underneath the direct orders of Churchill combed it is ranks and those of the alien exiles in Britain for men of initiative and daring. These units were firstborn known underneath respective titles but in the end they settled on Commandos, a term taken from the valorous opponents of the Boer War, whose mounted raiders wreaked such mayhem on the railbound British attackers in 1900.
For the basi two years, raids were conducted from the sea on islands in the North Sea, Norway, the French Coast, and in the Middle East. After the turn of the tide of war, the Commandos acquired much more heavy armament and became what is termed light infantry serving on the flanks of the forces landing in Normandy.
There has always been much controversy within the armies of the world objecting to elite forces on the grounds that they take the best men and leave the plodders to trudge on. Of course, this is for the most part specious because in all cases that I know of special troops amounted to very few in a mass army. But it has hindered US Special Forces and Rangers over the years.
In the case of the British Army Commandos this led to their disbandment after WWII. Today the Special Air Service carries out these specialized raiding tasks while there are still Commando units in the Royal Marines.
This work shows the frequent fine work of this author and illustrator. Everything he has ever done has been of quality.
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