Storming Monte La Difensa - The First Special Service Force at the Winter Line, Italy 1943 Format: Paperback

Bret Werner

ISBN 10: 1472807669 / ISBN 13: 9781472807663

Published by MacMillan Publishers, 2015

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 9781472807663

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Storming Monte La Difensa - The First Special Service Force at the Winter Line, Italy 1943 Format: Paperback
• Publisher: MacMillan Publishers
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1472807669
• ISBN 13: 9781472807663
• Binding: Soft cover
• Illustrator: Dennis, Peter; Shumate, Johnny; Gilliland, Alan
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Featuring full-color artwork, archive photographs, and first-hand accounts from participants, Storming Monte la Difensa examines the origins, execution, and aftermath of the FSSF's spectacular success at Monte La Difensa amid the savage winter conditions of December 1943.

In December 1943 Monte La Difensa was part of the formidable German defenses overlooking the Allies' route to Rome via Monte Cassino. In the First Special Service Force's first combat in the Mediterranean theater, the Force would employ its special training in mountain and winter warfare to scale the peak, capture it, and then hold it against the inevitable German counterattacks. Astonishing their superiors, the First Special Service Force had succeeded in the face of seemingly impossible odds, but suffered a 77 percent casualty rate. Their victory, founded on their aggressive doctrine and extensive training in a variety of combat techniques, would prove instrumental in the postwar development of special forces.

About the Authors

Bret Werner was raised in the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania. He is deeply involved with living history organizations with an emphasis on the soldier of the 20th century. The author is also an associate member of the First Special Service Force Association, and he attends the veteran reunions every year.

Peter Dennis was inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look and Learn, leading him to study Illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects, including many Osprey titles. A keen wargamer and modelmaker, he is based in Nottinghamshire, UK.

Johnny Shumate works as a freelance illustrator living in Nashville, Tennessee. He began his career in 1987 after graduating from Austin Peay State University. Most of his work is rendered in Adobe Photoshop using a Cintiq monitor. His greatest influences are Angus McBride, Don Troiani, and Édouard Detaille.

Alan Gilliland, a contributor to more than 70 Osprey titles, notably in the Weapon series, writes, illustrates and publishes fiction (www.ravensquill.com), as well as illustrating for a variety of publishers (alangillilandillustration.blogspot.com).