Ed Gilbert

A highly illustrated account of the battle for Blanc Mont Ridge in 1918, where the US attackers broke the German line and sent them into headlong retreat in one of the major US victories of World War I. The dominating Blanc Mont Ridge complex in the Champagne region of France was home to some of the most complex German defences on the Western Front. Its heights offered artillery observation that made even approaching the ridge virtually suicidal. Pessimistic about the ability of depleted and demoralized French units to capture the position, Général Henri Gouraud was granted the use of two American divisions: the veteran 2nd “Indianhead” Division, including the 4th (Marine) Brigade, and the untested 36th “Arrowhead” Division of the Texas and Oklahoma National Guard. This fully illustrated book describes this Allied offensive with American troops in the vanguard, and shows how despite the heavy losses it sustained to both manpower and supporting armour, they eventually forced the Germans to abandon most of the region in one of the largest withdrawals of the war.

'Were it not for the Navajo Code Talkers the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima and other places' (Anonymous, Marine Corps signal officer). Ed Gilbert uses personal interviews with veterans to tell their fascinating story. Beginning with the first operational use of Native American languages in World War I, he explores how in World War II the US again came to employ this subtle, but powerful 'weapon.' Despite all efforts, the Japanese were never able to decode their messages and the Navajo code talkers contributed significantly to US victories in the Pacific. Approximately 400 Navajos served in this crucial role. Their legend of the 'code talker' has been celebrated by Hollywood in films, such as Windtalkers, and this book reveals the real-life story of their extraordinary involvement in World War II.

The US Marine Raider was an "elite within an elite." Modelled on British Commandoes, they were the earliest forerunners of the various Special Operations units of the modern US military. These units would conduct operations with only the equipment they could carry on their backs; their heaviest weapons were light mortars and light machine guns. Highly trained in close-in fighting, the Raiders were expected to be equally skilled in watercraft, jungle survival, and jungle warfare. This title will follow two Raiders through some of the toughest raining ever to be experienced by a Marine and onto combat during the Makin Raid, and through the horrific jungle battles of the Solomon Islands.

III Marine Amphibious Force was conceived as a division command for a small Marine Corps commitment to Vietnam. Within four years it had grown to a reinforced corps of two divisions, an air wing, and the division-sized Force Logistics Command. This organization was unique in Marine Corps history in that it merged combat and major logistical functions under a single field command. This book examines the origins and constantly changing organizational structure of III MAF, and demonstrates how it conducted its savage struggle against Viet Cong guerrillas and North Vietnamese Army regular forces in the northern provinces of Vietnam.

Following Korea, by 1960 tanks and their crews had proved themselves to be a fundamental part of the Marine Corps' combined arms team. When the Marines were ordered to Vietnam in 1965, they took their tanks with them. This book explores this decision, which created a political storm. The presence of the tanks became a lightning rod for accusations of an 'escalation' of the war. Nevertheless, the tanks not only proved their value in the anti-guemilla campaigns, but amid the bitter conventional fighting and extraordinary casualties at Hue City. The ability to undertake such radical change and to prevail demonstrated the versatility, courage and tenacity that are the hallmarks of the 'ordinary' Marine.