Airborne Landing to Air Assault: A History of Military Parachuting
Many books have been written about military parachuting, in particular about famous parachute operations like Crete and Arnhem in the Second World War and notable parachute units like the British Parachute Regiment and the US 101st Airborne Division, but no previous book has covered the entire history of the use of the parachute in warfare. That is why Nikolaos Theotokis’s study is so valuable.

He traces in vivid detail the development of parachuting over the last hundred years and describes how it became a standard tactic in twentieth-century conflicts. As well as depicting a series of historic parachute operations all over the world, he recognizes the role of airmen in the story, for they were the first to use the parachute in warfare when they jumped from crippled aeroplanes in combat conditions

Adapting the parachute for military purposes occurred with extraordinary speed during the First World War and, by the time of the Second World War, it had become an established technique for special operations and offensive actions on a large scale. The range of parachute drops and parachute-led attacks was remarkable, and all the most dramatic examples from the world wars and lesser conflicts are recounted in this graphic and detailed study. The role played by parachute troops as elite infantry is also a vital part of the narrative, as is the way in which techniques of air assault have evolved since the 1970s.
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Airborne Landing to Air Assault: A History of Military Parachuting
Many books have been written about military parachuting, in particular about famous parachute operations like Crete and Arnhem in the Second World War and notable parachute units like the British Parachute Regiment and the US 101st Airborne Division, but no previous book has covered the entire history of the use of the parachute in warfare. That is why Nikolaos Theotokis’s study is so valuable.

He traces in vivid detail the development of parachuting over the last hundred years and describes how it became a standard tactic in twentieth-century conflicts. As well as depicting a series of historic parachute operations all over the world, he recognizes the role of airmen in the story, for they were the first to use the parachute in warfare when they jumped from crippled aeroplanes in combat conditions

Adapting the parachute for military purposes occurred with extraordinary speed during the First World War and, by the time of the Second World War, it had become an established technique for special operations and offensive actions on a large scale. The range of parachute drops and parachute-led attacks was remarkable, and all the most dramatic examples from the world wars and lesser conflicts are recounted in this graphic and detailed study. The role played by parachute troops as elite infantry is also a vital part of the narrative, as is the way in which techniques of air assault have evolved since the 1970s.
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Airborne Landing to Air Assault: A History of Military Parachuting

Airborne Landing to Air Assault: A History of Military Parachuting

by Nikolaos Theotokis
Airborne Landing to Air Assault: A History of Military Parachuting

Airborne Landing to Air Assault: A History of Military Parachuting

by Nikolaos Theotokis

Paperback

$26.95 
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Overview

Many books have been written about military parachuting, in particular about famous parachute operations like Crete and Arnhem in the Second World War and notable parachute units like the British Parachute Regiment and the US 101st Airborne Division, but no previous book has covered the entire history of the use of the parachute in warfare. That is why Nikolaos Theotokis’s study is so valuable.

He traces in vivid detail the development of parachuting over the last hundred years and describes how it became a standard tactic in twentieth-century conflicts. As well as depicting a series of historic parachute operations all over the world, he recognizes the role of airmen in the story, for they were the first to use the parachute in warfare when they jumped from crippled aeroplanes in combat conditions

Adapting the parachute for military purposes occurred with extraordinary speed during the First World War and, by the time of the Second World War, it had become an established technique for special operations and offensive actions on a large scale. The range of parachute drops and parachute-led attacks was remarkable, and all the most dramatic examples from the world wars and lesser conflicts are recounted in this graphic and detailed study. The role played by parachute troops as elite infantry is also a vital part of the narrative, as is the way in which techniques of air assault have evolved since the 1970s.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781526797612
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Publication date: 04/06/2023
Pages: 272
Sales rank: 607,345
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Nikolaos Theotokis, a former Greek army paratrooper, is a journalist who has reported on conflicts around the world, including the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf Wars, the Yugoslav conflict, the Falklands War, and the Troubles in Northern Ireland. He has also written extensively on defense matters and has worked for newspapers, magazines, radio, and television stations in Athens. He is the author of the book, published in Greek, Γυναίκες και Πόλεμος (Women and War).

Table of Contents

List of Plates ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgements xiii

Glossary and Abbreviations xv

Chapter 1 The Origins of Military Parachuting 1

Parachuting in the First World War 2

Manually-Operated Parachutes 4

Chapter 2 The Four Pioneer Nations 7

The Soviet Union 7

Italy 9

The United States 12

France 14

Chapter 3 The German Paratroopers 17

Early Operations 19

The Battle of Crete 21

Later Operations 24

Chapter 4 The British Paratroopers 28

Operation Colossus 30

The Bruneval Raid 32

North Africa 35

Norway 36

Greece 37

Chapter 5 Other Allied Paratroopers 40

The Poles 40

The Belgians 41

The Canadians 42

The Greeks 44

The Australians and New Zealanders 45

The South Africans 46

Inter-Allied and Joint Allied Units 47

Chapter 6 Allied Airborne Operations in Europe (I) 49

Sicily 49

Mainland Italy 53

Normandy 56

Southern France 65

Chapter 7 Allied Airborne Operations in Europe (II) 68

Arnhem 68

The Battle of the Bulge 79

East of the Rhine 83

Chapter 8 Japanese, Indian, Gurkha and Chinese Paratroopers 90

The Japanese 90

The Indians and Gurkhas 96

The Chinese 97

Chapter 9 Allied Airborne Operations in the Pacific 98

Dutch New Guinea 98

The Burma Campaign 100

The Invasion of the Philippines 101

America's Return to Corregidor 104

The Last Combat Jump in the Pacific 107

Chapter 10 Second World War Special Operations Units 109

The SAS 109

The 'Devil's Brigade' 116

SOE and OSS 117

The Jedburgh Teams 118

The Brandenburger Division 119

The SS Special Operations Unit 120

The SS Parachute Battalions 120

Chapter 11 Parachutes and Pilots in the Second World War 122

Deadly Bail-outs 123

Bailed-out Airmen and Airwomen 124

Bail-outs in Suicidal Mid-Air Attacks 127

Owen Baggett 129

Shooting at Bailed-out Airmen 129

Chapter 12 Other Paratroopers 132

The Bulgarians 132

The Romanians 133

The Finns 134

The Portuguese 135

The Spaniards 135

The Serbians 136

The Turks 136

The Peruvians 137

The Argentinians 138

The Brazilians 138

Chapter 13 Post-1945 Operations (I) 140

Indonesia (1946-1949) 140

Albania (1947-1952) 142

Malaya (1948-1960) 143

Korea (1950-1953) 145

French Indochina (1946-1954) 149

Algeria (1954-1962) 155

Cyprus (1955-1960) 160

The Suez Crisis (1956) 162

U-2 Bail-outs (1960) 165

Tunisia (1961) 166

Cuba (1961) 167

Chapter 14 The Arab-Israeli and Indo-Pakistan Wars 169

The Middle East Wars 169

The Indo-Pakistan Wars 180

Chapter 15 Post-1945 Airborne Operations (II) 186

Western New Guinea (1961-1963) 186

Borneo (1963-1966) 187

Aden (1964-1967) 191

The Congo (1960-1965) 194

The Dominican Republic (1965-1966) 197

Chad (1969-1993) 198

Anguilla (1969) 200

Oman (1970-1976) 201

East Timor (1975-1999) 203

Djibouti (1976) 204

Chapter 16 Airborne Forces and the Vietnam War 206

Combat Jumps 208

Airborne Units in Air Assault and Ground Operations 212

Chapter 17 Airborne Operations and Air Assaults, 1972-2018 219

Northern Ireland 222

Cyprus, Uganda, and England 223

The Soviet Army in Afghanistan 224

The Iran-Iraq War 225

The Gambia 226

The Falkland 227

The Lebanon 229

Grenada 229

Kashmir 231

Honduras and Panama 231

The Gulf Wars 231

Somalia 233

Sierra Leone 234

US and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan 234

A Kill-or-Capture Mission 237

Sumatra, the Central Africa Republic and Mali 237

Notes 239

Sources 263

Index 273

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