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The Fighting Wessex Wyverns

The Fighting Wessex Wyverns

From Normandy to Bremerhaven with the 43rd Wessex Division

by Patrick Delaforce
Paperback
Publication Date: 20/08/2012

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Commanded by the controversial Major-General Ivo Thomas, the 43rd (Wessex) Division was branded the Fighting Yellow Devils' out of respect by its Wehrmacht and Waffen SS opponents. The 43rd's distinctive divisional badge of a golden Wyvern - half-serpent half-dragon - was to be seen in all the ferocious battles in Normandy, the Low Countries and Germany between June 1944 and May 1945. They suffered 12,500 casualties including 3,000 killed in action. The 43rd had its roots firmly in the West of England, drawing its infantry battalions from the county regiments of Cornwall, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Worcester, with occasional reinforcements during the Normandy campaign by 'foreign' regiments from Berkshire, Essex and other counties. This book tells the story of the division's campaign in Northwest Europe, from Normandy to Bremerhaven, in the words of the soldiers who actually fought with it: privates, sergeants and young company commanders, all have their individual tales to tell.
Here are first-hand accounts of the landings on the shores of Normandy; the battles for the River Odon, Hill 112, Maltot and Mont Pincon; the break-out to the River Seine and the forcing of the vital bridgehead at Vernon; the only infantry division to make a single-handed attempt to relieve Arnhem - a gallant and costly failure; the clearance of the Roer triangle (Operation Blackcock) and the Reichswald (Operation Veritable); the crossing of the River Rhine and the advance northwards to take the port of Bremen; and the final triumphant advance to the Cuxhaven peninsula northwest of Hamburg.
ISBN:
9781781550717
9781781550717
Category:
Second World War
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
20-08-2012
Language:
English
Publisher:
Fonthill Media
Country of origin:
United Kingdom
Edition:
2nd Edition
Pages:
256
Dimensions (mm):
234x156x16mm
Weight:
0.55kg
Patrick Delaforce

Patrick Delaforce served with 11th Armoured Division during the advance through NW Europe. After a career in the wine trade he became a professional writer. Among his books in print with Pen and Sword are Churchills Desert Rats in North Africa, Burma, Sicily and Italy, Wellington Le Beau and Montys Marauders.

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