{"title":"Frank Van Lunteren","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"blocking-kampfgruppe-pieper-book-frank-van-lunteren-9781636241289","title":"Blocking Kampfgruppe Pieper","description":"In December 1944 an enormous German army group crashed through the thin American line in the Ardennes forest. Caught by surprise, the Allies were initially only able to throw two divisions of paratroopers to buttress the collapse - the 82nd Airborne, which was rushed to the area of St. Vith, and the 101st, which was trucked to Bastogne.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49740803768593,"sku":"NGR9781636241289","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51607040164113,"sku":"CIN163624128XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/163624128X.jpg?v=1750863527"},{"product_id":"battle-of-the-bridges-book-frank-van-lunteren-9781612002323","title":"The Battle of the Bridges","description":"Operation Market Garden has been recorded as a complete Allied failure in World War II, an overreach that resulted in an entire airborne division being destroyed at its apex. However, within that operation were episodes of heroism that still remain unsung.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50095326167313,"sku":"CIN1612002323G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50679018914065,"sku":"GOR006906524","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53073266376977,"sku":"CIN1612002323VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1612002323.jpg?v=1751433957"},{"product_id":"battle-of-the-bridges-book-frank-van-lunteren-9781612004778","title":"The Battle of the Bridges","description":"Now in paperback: the story of the 504th PIR in Operation Market Garden.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50163701678353,"sku":"CIN1612004776G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50275633725713,"sku":"NGR9781612004778","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50509712556305,"sku":"CIN1612004776VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52091418083601,"sku":"GOR014485550","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53602088517905,"sku":"GOR011956647","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1612004776.jpg?v=1751376247"},{"product_id":"spearhead-of-the-fifth-army-book-frank-van-lunteren-9781612004273","title":"Spearhead of the Fifth Army","description":"This work is the third book by Frank Van Lunteren on the 504th P.I.R. in World War I, focusing on their role in the Italian theater. Upon the completion of the Sicily and Salerno Campaigns in 1943, the paratroopers of Colonel Reuben Tucker's 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment were among the first Allied troops to enter Naples. A ghost town at first sight, the residents soon expressed their joy at being liberated. Four weeks later the 504th--upon the special request of General Mark Clark--spearheaded Fifth Army's drive through the notorious Volturno Valley--the Germans' next stand. January 1944 seemed to promise a period of rest, but the landing at Anzio meant deployment for the paratroopers again, this time by ship. A bombing raid during their beach landing was a forecast of eight weeks of bitter fighting. Holding the right flank of the beachhead along the Mussolini Canal, the paratroopers earned their nickname Devils in Baggy Pants for their frontline incursions into enemy lines, as well as their stubborn defense of the Allied salient. In this work H Company's attachment to the British 5th Grenadier Guards are painted in comprehensive light for the first time. Using war diaries, personal journals, letters and interviews with nearly 80 veterans, a close-in view of the 504th P.I.R. in the Fifth Army's Italy Campaign is here provided in unsurpassed detail. This work is the third by Van Lunteren on the 504th P.I.R. In World War I following The Battle of the Bridges and Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper. As readers will see, however, the Italian theater held second place to none in terms of grueling combat and courage against formidable odds, and an extremely expert enemy.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50458332659985,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50458334200081,"sku":"CIN161200427XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52107055563025,"sku":"CIN161200427XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52652272779537,"sku":"GOR014576917","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/161200427X.jpg?v=1751408551"},{"product_id":"birth-of-a-regiment-book-frank-van-lunteren-9781637583807","title":"Birth of a Regiment","description":"Book I in the campaign history of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Birth of a Regiment is an authoritative, action-packed account of the 504th’s seminal role in Sicily and Italy, the first two U.S. airborne drops in the European Theater of Operations. Drawing on hundreds of eye-witness testimonies, Frank van Lunteren puts readers at the scene of historic battles as described in the words of the men who fought them. New archival sources in English, German, and Italian further enrich the narrative, along with fresh maps and previously unpublished photographs from archival sources and the veterans’ private collections.  Activated in May 1942, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment earned high praise for its very first mission when it effected the first U.S. mass regimental combat jump of World War II in the invasion of Sicily. According to German General Kurt Student, “if it had not been for the Allied airborne forces blocking the tanks of the Hermann Göring Division from reaching the beachhead, that Division would have driven the initial seaborne forces back into the sea.”   Led by Col. Reuben Tucker, the 504th subsequently dropped into the endangered Fifth U.S. Army beachhead at Salerno; bitter fighting led to hard-won success at Altavilla and Hill 424 and the regimental motto “Strike and Hold.” Birth of a Regiment is the first book-length account of the birth of U.S. airborne forces, and the first to fully capture the details, danger, and crucial stakes of the initial 504th missions in the unforgettable voices of the newly minted paratroopers who fought the first Allied battles in the ETO up through the victorious entry into Naples.   These initial missions were all the more important, in that they would determine future Allied strategy, planning, and tactics. It is not to be forgotten that Sicily was a testing ground for the Allied coalition: the first time an American army and a British army, managed at the top by a unified Allied staff, would undertake a major campaign. According to James M. Gavin, the Commanding General of the 82nd ABD at the end of the war, who had jumped into Sicily himself: “What was learned in that first cooperative action affected the whole outcome of World War II.”   Personally interviewed by the author over a period of 20 years, nearly 200 veterans of the 504th recount their remembrance of combat, permitting readers of Birth of a Regiment to relive epic battles of the ETO through the words of the very men who made history. Participants include survivors and witnesses of the tragic decimation of 23 aircraft and the death of 164 paratroopers and crew when U.S. troops mistook them for the enemy and fired on their planes as they flew into Sicily. Veterans recount the ferocious, desperate battle at Biazzi Ridge, and the later regimental action at the Salerno Beachhead, where the 504th crucially took Hill 424 after a night drop and seaborne landing. Having undisputedly proven their prowess, Tucker’s troopers were chosen to spearhead the Fifth Army drive into Naples.   These dramatic, unforgettable memories of the war provide new information from the foxhole view on up, giving historians and lay readers alike fresh perspective on the initial U.S. engagements in WWII and the difficult birth of Allied airborne operations. The volume is enriched by new maps and historic archival photos, including many previously unpublished photos and provided by 504th veterans.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51041750941969,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51041754186001,"sku":"NIN9781637583807","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53065540534545,"sku":"GOR014724012","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/163758380X.jpg?v=1750863940"},{"product_id":"blocking-kampfgruppe-peiper-book-frank-van-lunteren-9781612003139","title":"Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper","description":"In December 1944 an enormous German army group crashed through the thin American line in the Ardennes forest. Caught by surprise, the Allies were initially only able to throw two divisions of paratroopers to buttress the collapse the 82nd Airborne, which was rushed to the area of St. Vith, and the 101st, which was trucked to Bastogne.After their successful campaign in Holland, Colonel Reuben Tucker s elite 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment was resting and refitting in France when news came of the German breakthrough. Most dangerous to the Allies was the German spearhead of the 1st SS Panzer Division led by Jochen Peiper, which aimed to sever the Allied front. The 504th was committed to block the SS advance, and within 48 hours of their arrival Colonel Tucker s paratroopers were attacking the SS-Panzergrenadiers of Peiper s battlegroup, eventually forcing them to withdraw.More ferocious fighting ensued as follow-up German units forced a U.S. retreat from St. Vith. In adverse weather conditions against the German 9th SS Panzer and 3rd Fallschirmjager Divisions, the 504th lived up to it s regimental motto--Strike and Hold. Although some rifle companies were whittled down to less than 50 paratroopers, the Americans doggedly fought on until victory was achieved. Moving quotations of letters to the next-of-kin provide insight into the impact of their deaths both on the battlefield and homefront. In this work Van Lunteren provides a fascinating, close-in view of the 504th P.I.R. during the Battle of the Bulge as well as its gallant sacrifice. Using never before published diaries, letters, battle reports and interviews with over 100 veterans, a comprehensive account is painted of a triumphant U.S. regiment in one of the fiercest fought campaigns in the history of the U.S. Army.REVIEWS ... The reader is thrust into the midst of the battle as if they were direct participants. One is engulfed in the personal experiences by named members of the 504th to include the verbiage of the citations for awards of bravery and self-sacrifice. One is also almost mesmerized by the, at times, excess of detail of both individual and elements of small unit actions. And this, not only from the perspective of the 504th but also, that of Peiper s Kampfgruppe. For, in many ways, this book is a two way street covering not only the U.S elements, but also the enemy s and that is what is necessary if one is to truly appreciate what the 504th achieved Winter 2016 The Airborne QuarterlyAn inspiring and heart-breaking account of just one part of one campaign in the bloodiest war on record.. Books Monthly UK Military historian Frank van Lunteren set himself three tall-order tasks: ferret out all relevant primary sources, no matter how obscure; weave the evidence together into an engaging narrative (and crafting clear tactical accounts is among the toughest of writing chores); and produce the most thorough history of the part played by the officers and men of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the Ardennes Campaign. Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper scores high on all counts.D.K.R. Crosswell, author of Beetle: The Life of General Walter Bedell Smith Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper continues Frank van Lunteren's superb series on the famed 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II. Masterfully telling the gripping account of little-known battles against the best-equipped, most elite and fanatical troops of the Waffen SS panzer divisions, the author details the brutal battles waged on the northern shoulder of the Bulge in Germany's last, desperate offensive during the freezing winter of 1944-1945. Over a hundred interviews, including many new and never-before-published first-person eyewitness accounts by both 504th veterans and their German adversaries take the reader into the midst of the fighting as Tucker's troopers charge across open ground to attack armored flakwagons and heavy reconnaissance vehicles with little more than small arms, grenades and machine guns. Van Lunteren's work stands as a lasting testament to the tremendous heroism and devotion to duty of the tough paratroopers of the 504th. I highly recommend this outstanding book.--Phil Nordyke, 82nd Airborne Division historian and author of More Than Courage: The Combat History of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II and All American All the Way: The Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II, and other titles.Frank van Lunteren gives us the rare privilege of hearing in personal and touching detail the stories of the Battle of the Bulge as recounted by the paratroopers of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Never have I actually felt the cold and desperation of the Bulge as I did while reading this book. Enduring the most brutal conditions of the winter war, the 504th went face-to-face with elite Waffen SS in Germany's final bid to conquer Europe. Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper is a timeless sago of courage, determination and victory.--Barbara Gavin Fauntleroy, author of The General and His Daughter: The Wartime Letters of General James M. Gavin to His Daughter Barbara. Full of first-hand accounts by 504 Parachute Infantry Paratroopers who fought at the Battle of the Bulge, Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper chronicles the long-overlooked contributions of the regiment in this pivotal battle of World War II. Frank van Lunteren has researched and compiled the personal accounts of these Devils in Baggy Pants into a story destined to be a lasting testament to the sheer determination and bravery of these men.Dominic T. 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