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 Helion
 Bloody
Streets:
The Soviet Assault
on Berlin, April 1945
(A. Stephen
Hamilton)
On 16 April 1945,
the Soviet Army launched the fourth largest offensive of WWII with the goal to
capture Berlin in five operational days. The Soviet Army took four days just to
breech the prepared German defenses along the Seelow Heights, followed by
another four days to reach Berlin. Berlin's fall occurred after another eight
days of bloody street fighting-sixteen days after the operation began and eleven
days longer than planned.
The backbone of
Berlin's defense was the German LVI Panzer Corps, newly formed and under
strength. This corps bore the brunt of the Soviet 5th Shock, 8th Guards, 1st and
2nd Guards Tank Armies' attack along the Seelow Heights and was faced with
holding Berlin against the combined weight of seven separate Soviet Armies from
two competing Soviet Fronts. Supporting the LVI Panzer Corps were various
formations of the Volkssturm, Hitler Youth, and SS, as well as smaller ad hoc
formations of foreign volunteers and locally formed units.
The Battle of Berlin
precipitated the death of Adolf Hitler and the fall of the Third Reich-at a high
cost. Soviet operational daily casualty rates were among the highest of the war.
They lost more than the equivalent of a Tank Army in armor and self-propelled
guns in the streets of Berlin.
Bloody Streets is a
massive new work that uses previously unpublished German, Russian, and Allied
first person accounts, as well as previously unused primary sources and
photographs, including aerial imagery, to bring to life the largest urban
assault in military history. All aspects of this battle are covered with new
insights into how it was planned, shaped, and executed.
This book uniquely
presents a day-by-day account of the tactical fighting throughout the city's
ruins in greater detail than previously published. German and Soviet units come
to life through vivid first person accounts and insightful analysis that are
interwoven to provide a complete picture of the brutal urban combat that ensued
in the bloody streets of Berlin.
Hard cover, Size: 9"
x 12", 368 pages, 220 b+w photos, 8 pages color AFV profiles, 10 maps, 11
tables.
Price: $89.00 USD / $110.00 CDN/INT
THIS TITLE IS TEMPORARILY OUT
OF PRINT.
 Panzerschlacht
- Armored Operations on the Hungarian Plains, September - November 1944
By Perry Moore
"Panzerschlacht" covers in detail the unraveling of the southern sector of
the Eastern Front during late summer and autumn 1944, which led to some of the
largest and most vicious, yet unknown, tank battles of the Second World War.
Slammed by continuous Russian attacks that ripped the Romanian Front to
pieces and by late August had caused Romania to defect to the Soviets, Germans
forces were left threadbare. Only Hungary narrowly failed to defect to the USSR,
and was coerced into remaining Germany's ally. Despite a gross imbalance in
numbers, the German Army, and more notably, their Panzer divisions (some with
only 30 AFVs) delayed, disrupted and destroyed much larger Russian units with
successful counter-attacks.
As the Russians blitzed through Romania and neared Hungary in late August
1944, it was the Hungarian Army that stymied the Red horde. The Hungarian units
pulled themselves together and in September conducted two very important and
overlooked counterattacks: Arad and Torda. The Arad counterattack sent the
defending Romanians reeling, forcing them to give up the city of Arad and beyond
as the Hungarian 1st Armoured Division faced little opposition. At Torda, the
Hungarian 2nd Armoured Division also made significant gains towards the mountain
passes until the arrival of Russian armor. The book covers these in detail with
maps so often missing in other accounts. Both battles temporarily put the
"brake" on the Russian Blitzkrieg.
From mid-September until November, the focus of the Russians now became the
Hungarian Plains - a flat area ideally suited to the massive and chaotic tank
battles that occurred throughout October. The Russian operations around Debrecen
envisioned the 6th Guards Tank Army and others cutting out the seemingly meager
German and Hungarian forces across the line northwards to Debrecen and
Nyiraghaza. Their plan, if successful, would encircle the whole German 8th Army
still holding on east in the mountains. It was aimed to deal a crippling blow.
However, the German commanders saw the writing on the wall and began to withdraw
their 8th Army. As the Russians ground northwards, the German 6th and 8th Armies
fought tooth and nail during their withdrawal. It was no easy victory for either
side.
Panzerschlacht covers all of these operations in detail. Using excellent
color maps and detailed orders of battles showing unit strengths, the reader can
follow this David versus Goliath event as it unfolded. A large number of rare
archival photographs, many previously unpublished, complement the text.
Full-color artwork provides detailed information about the camouflage and
markings carried by the vehicles involved in the fighting, including the
rarely-seen Hungarian AFVs. A variety of German, Hungarian, Russian and Romanian
sources were used by the author. Overall, this is an excellent account of a
hitherto-unknown series of major tank battles fought on the Eastern Front in the
autumn of 1944.
Hard cover, Size: 9" x 12", 136 pages, 120 color and b+w photos, 18 maps.
Price: $60 USD / $66 CAD/INT
 PANZER
GUNNER -
From My Native Canada to the German Osfront and Back.
In Action with 25th Panzer Regiment, 7th Panzer Division, 1944-45
by Bruno
Friesen
The bulk of the
book is a detailed account of the author's training, and his subsequent service
with 25th Panzer Regiment, part of 7th Panzer Division. As the title suggests,
Bruno Friesen served as a gunner aboard Panzer IV's, before crewing the
lesser-known Jagdpanzer IV tank hunter. The author provides a fantastic amount
of information about these two vehicles, and how the crews actually fought in
battle with them. This kind of "hands-on" detail has almost never been available
before, particularly such extensive information concerning the characteristics
and combat performance of the Jagdpanzer IV.
Hardcover, small format (6"x9"), 264 pages, some
illustrations. Price: $50 USD / $55 CAD/INT
 Operation
Bagration -
The Destruction of Army Group
Center June-July 1944, A Photographic History
by Ian BaxterOperation Bagration - the Russian codename for
the 1944 summer offensive, which led to the complete
annihilation of Army Group Center - was without doubt the most
devastating defeat ever experienced by the German Army during
the Second World War. Yet this mammoth offensive has for years
been completely overshadowed by the Normandy campaign, which was
unleashed just three weeks prior to Bagration along the shores
of northern France. The battle which the German forces of Army
Group Centre endured on the Eastern Front that fateful summer
was more catastrophic than that experienced on the Western
Front, but the English-speaking world remains largely ignorant
of its details. This book reveals the lesser-known battle in the
East and demonstrates the gallantry and self-sacrifice of the
German forces against overwhelming odds.
Drawing previously on rare and unpublished photographs
accompanied by in-depth captions the book vividly describes how
the German forces of Army Group Centre endured a massive Russian
offensive three years to the day after Germany's 1941 invasion
of the Soviet Union. Fighting over many of the same
battlefields, it reveals how scores of German troops were urged
on by their Führer to defend their positions to the death in a
desperate attempt to prevent the mighty Red Army forces from
recapturing Byelorussia, the last bastion of defense for the
Germans before Poland. The Bagration offensive was a
bloodthirsty battle of attrition which resulted in a catastrophe
of unbelievable proportions. Throughout the book the author
provides an absorbing analysis of this traumatic battle and
shows how German soldiers continued to fight to the bitter end
amidst the constant hammer blows of ground and aerial
bombardment, and endless armored and infantry attacks. Although
many German units continued to wage a grim and bitter defense
the Red Army swamped the already overstretched front lines.
The Soviets punched massive holes in the disintegrating
defenses almost everywhere, letting through a
seemingly-unstoppable flood, pushing apart and encircling many
precious German Panzer and infantry divisions. In the end
Bagration cost the Wehrmacht more men and material than the
catastrophe at Stalingrad sixteen months earlier. The shattering
defeat of Army Group Center resulted in the loss of over 300,000
men and witnessed Soviet forces pushing exhausted German
remnants out of Russia and through Poland to the gates of
Warsaw.
Hard cover, Size: 8 1/2" x 11", 144 pages, over 160 b+w photos
and maps. Price: $60 USD / $66 CAD/INT
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 Panzer Lehr Division, 1944-1945
by Fred Steinhardt
The Panzer Lehr Division was one of the most elite German
armored formations in existence in early 1944. Its baptism
of fire was in the deadly Normandy bocage. Although
suffering heavy losses in Normandy, the Division continued
to fight in North-West Europe until the end of the war,
seeing particularly notable service during the Ardennes
Offensive and in the Ruhr. The first volume in the new
Helion series WWII German Military Studies prints an
extensive number of reports written by former officers of
the Division, principally its commander Fritz Bayerlein.
Virtually all of these reports have remained unpublished
since they were written soon after the end of WWII. They
cover all aspects of the Division's history, although with
particular emphasis upon events in Normandy, the Ardennes
and Germany. A number of the reports include detailed
order-of-battle and other organizational data. A very large
number of situation maps are also featured. Important though
the reprinting of these documents is, this book is made
doubly important thanks to the linking text and expert
annotations from editor Fred Steinhardt. In effect, this
book provides an extremely detailed chronological history of
the Division's activities, in greater detail than has yet
appeared in print before. / This new series is designed at
bringing into print previously unavailable archival material
covering all aspects of the German Armed Forces during the
1933-45 period. / Volume 1 contains an extensive series of
previously unpublished reports covering all aspects of
Panzer Lehr Division's combat history, especially in
Normandy, the Ardennes and Germany 1944-45. / Many reports
feature detailed order-of-battle data and are supported by a
large number of situation maps. / Extensive linking
commentary and annotations from the editor mean the book as
a whole provides an extremely detailed narrative of the
Division's activities 1944-45. / Publication marks a major
contribution to the history of the Panzertruppen during the
final year of WWII.
Hard cover, Size: 6" x 9", 304 pages, 25 b+w photos,
85 maps, tables and diagrams. Price: $60 USD / $66 CAD/INT
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 From
Retreat To Defeat
- The Last Years Of The German Army on the Eastern
Front 1943-45, A Photographic History by Ian
Baxter.
From Retreat to Defeat is a unique insight into the last
desperate years of the German Army at war on the Eastern Front 1943-45. On the
vast steppes of the Soviet Union, it describes how the German Army together with
the elite mountain troops and Luftwaffe field divisions played a decisive role
in trying to stem the rout along the disintegrating front lines.
Drawing on previously rare and unpublished photographs with in-depth
captions, the book provides an absorbing analysis of this traumatic period of
the war. It reveals in detail how the beginning of the end began at the battle
of Kursk, and how this massive operation led to the Red Army recapturing huge
areas of the Soviet Union and bleeding white the German armies it struck.
Despite the adverse situation in which the German Army was placed, soldiers were
still infused to fight to the bitter end and attempt to build new lines of
defense. But as the Red Army launched its long-awaited summer offensive in 1944,
code-named "Operation Bagration", the book reveals how the German Army were
forced to withdraw under the constant hammer blows of ground and air
bombardments. Those German forces that survived the artillery barrages, the
onslaught of the tank armadas, and mass infantry assaults, streamed back from
the battlefield and fought vicious battles through the Baltic states,
Byelorussia, and built up new defences along the Vistula in Poland.
As
the final months of the war were played out on the Eastern Front it depicts how
the German Army, with diminishing resources, withdrew across a devastated Reich
and fought out the last battles with party militia forces around a bombed and
blasted Berlin.
Hard cover, Size: 8 1/2" x 11", 160 pages, more than 190 b/w photographs and
maps. Price: $60 USD / $66 CAD/INT.
 Hitler's Miracle Weapons Volume
1 - Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine
(Helion/F. Georg)
This surprising new title includes claims by the author that
the Germans had tested nuclear weapons by 1944! Commences with a review of the
German nuclear weapons program and then turns to a survey of the Luftwaffe
aircraft being modified or purpose built to carry the weapons and then turns to
the Kriegsmarine delivery systems.
Hard cover, large format, 127 pages, English text, 25 black and
white photographs plus 1 map. Price: $55 USD/ $61 CDN/INT.
 Twilight of the Gods.
(Helion) This is the story of Erik Wallin, a Swede, who fought on the
Eastern Front during 1944 and 1945 with the 11 SS-Panzergrenadier Division
"Nordland".
Hard cover, small format, 143 pages, English
text, 16 black and white photographs plus 1 map. Price: $35 USD/ $39 CDN/INT.
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