Blitzkrieg Poland (Images Of War - Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives)

After staging several false incidents to try and make out that acts of unprovoked Polish aggression were now being carried out against the Third Reich, and with the signing of the secret accord between Russia and Germany in Moscow, an official communique was released in late August 1939 to Poland 'that its patience was now at an end'. A few days later at 0445 Hours on 1 September 1939 the Reich's Armed Forces responded to what it now claimed to be 'Polish provocations' by starting to carry out Unternehmen Fall Weiß - The Invasion of Poland - with hostilities commencing without any kind of formal declaration of war. This new, informative, and it must be said sometimes disturbing, illustrated history of the September Campaign of 1939 by The Wehrmacht is written by longtime writing duo Jonathan Sutherland and Diane Canwell. The images that make up this collection are all drawn from three unidentified individual unpublished personal photo albums of Wehrmacht members now in the possession of the individual who gave both Authors permission to share them. This was done in the hope that their wider availability might allow their owners to be finally identified. All three served in different units throughout this short but unquestionably savage opening chapter to the second world war. One album (and the largest of the group) belonged to a German Infantry Signals Officer, another belonged to a Germany Army Medical Officer, and the final one belonged to an Officer of the Waffen SS. "These photographs are taken from three unpublished albums featuring the German invasion of Poland in 1939. One set was taken by an SS officer, another by a regular officer and a third by a soldier attached to a medical unit. Included are German units on the move, tanks, artillery and aircraft.There are several shots of recently knocked out Polish vehicles, captured Polish troops and civilians. The shots reflect the rapid pace of the German advance through Poland, some of the cities, towns and villages show signs of heavy fighting, whilst others appear to be untouched. One of the sets show a German unit mounted in fast open cars, heavily armed, speeding through the Polish countryside, another features armored vehicles and engineers and a third the ambulance teams moving up to the front through devastation and chaos.There are also numerous opportunities throughout the book to see uniforms in their various guises and how they were actually worn in practice. There are shots of earlier German armor, antique Polish armor and photographs of German troops at rest and preparing to move forward again." --Publisher description These photographs are taken from three unpublished albums featuring the German invasion of Poland in 1939. One set was taken by an SS officer, another by a regular officer and a third by a soldier attached to a medical unit. Included are German units on the move, tanks, artillery and aircraft. There are several shots of recently knocked out Polish vehicles, captured Polish troops and civilians. The shots reflect the rapid pace of the German advance through Poland, some of the cities, towns and villages show signs of heavy fighting, whilst others appear to be untouched. One of the sets show a German unit mounted in fast open cars, heavily armed, speeding through the Polish countryside. Another features armored vehicles and engineers, while another shows the ambulance teams moving up to the front through devastation and chaos. There are also numerous opportunities throughout the book to see uniforms in their various guises and how they were actually worn in practice. There are shots of earlier German armor, “antique“ Polish armor, and photographs of German troops at rest and preparing to move forward again These photographs are taken from three unpublished albums featuring the German invasion of Poland in 1939. One set was taken by an SS officer, another by a regular officer and a third by a soldier attached to a medical unit. Included are German units on the move, tanks, artillery and aircraft.There are several shots of recently knocked out Polish vehicles, captured Polish troops and civilians. The shots reflect the rapid pace of the German advance through Poland, some of the cities, towns and villages show signs of heavy fighting, whilst others appear to be untouched. One of the sets show a German unit mounted in fast open cars, heavily armed, speeding through the Polish countryside. Another features armored vehicles and engineers, while another shows the ambulance teams moving up to the front through devastation and chaos.There are also numerous opportunities throughout the book to see uniforms in their various guises and how they were actually worn in practice. There are shots of earlier German armor, antique Polish armor, and photographs of German troops at rest and preparing to move forward again. [Elib]