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showing 4,213 library results for 'navy'

Naval aviation in the Second World War : rare photographs from wartime archives /Philip Kaplan. "The first aircraft carriers made their appearance in the early years of World War I. These first flattops were improvised affairs built on hulls that had been laid down with other purposes in mind, and it was not until the 1920s that the first purpose-built carriers were launched, but no-one was as yet clear about the role of the carriers and they were largely unloved by the 'battleship admirals' who still believed that their great dreadnoughts were the ultimate capital ships. World War II changed all that, At Taranto, Pearl Harbour, and in the North Atlantic, the carrier, the ugly duckling of the world's navies, proved itself to be the dreadnought nemesis. As the tide of war turned, the fast attack carriers of the U.S. Navy spearheaded the counter-attack in the Pacific while the makeshift escort carriers helped to seal the fate of the German U-boats in the Atlantic. The carrier, and naval aviation, thus emerged into the post-war world as the primary symbol and instrument of seapower; it would play a crucial role in the strategic encirclement of the Soviet Union and enabled western airpower to be rapidly and effectively deployed in areas of conflict as remote as Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands and the Gulf. Kaplan describes the adventure of the young American, British, and Japanese naval aviators in the Second World War. It is an account of their experiences based on archives, diaries, published and unpublished memoirs, and personal interviews with veteran naval airmen of WWII, providing a vivid and often hair-raising picture of the dangers they encountered in combat and of everyday life aboard an aircraft carrier. It considers some of the key aspects of the WWII naval aviator's combat career, such as why it was that only a tiny minority of these pilots - those in whom the desire for aerial combat overrode everything - accounted for such a large proportion of the victories. In the major carrier actions of that conflict, from the Royal Navy's attack on Taranto which crippled the Italian fleet in 1940, to the Japanese carrier-launched surprise attack on U.S. Navy battleships and facilities at Pearl Harbour in 1941, to the carrier battle of Midway in 1942, and the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot of 1944, through the Japanese Kamikaze campaign against the U.S. Carriers in the final stages of the Pacific war, this book takes the reader back to one of the most exciting and significant times in modern history."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.7"1939/1945"
Women on the front line : British servicewomen's path to combat /Kathleen Sherit. Women on the Front Line explains how women went from unacknowledged participation in combat in the Second World War to the opening of all combat roles by 2018. It explores why regular service was offered after the war; the struggle to establish careers; the first crack in the non-combatant principle - the late 1970s decision to train servicewomen in the use of small arms; why the Royal Navy was the first to open its main combat role (seagoing in warships) to women in 1990; and the consequences for the RAF and the Army. The non-combatant principle governed the number of women that could be recruited, roles they could be trained for, postings, promotion chances, pay and pensions. Being non-combatant also affected women's status in the eyes of servicemen as they could not fulfil the complete range of duties that fell to men. But women's careers were not only blighted by the principle that they were non-combatants. The second major obstacle was the treatment of married women and those who became pregnant. This book brings out the growing gulf between employment rights and armed forces' policies. The armed forces' assertion that they had a right to be different from society began to crumble. This made a crucial difference to servicewomen who acquired the opportunity to continue with their careers if they chose. Confronting policies on women's employment led to recognition of wider issues such as treatment of ethnic minorities, bullying and sexuality. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.00820941