A compact volume on the history, organisation, uniforms and equipment of the Communist-led and non-Communist resistance groups resisting German occupation.
During 1941 the Germans occupied first Greece and the former Yugoslavia, then enormous areas of European Russia. Once the front line troops had moved on the struggle continued as bands of resistance fighters waged war against the occupation forces until their final withdrawal. The term 'partisan' is associated with Communist-led bands and they were often the most fanatical defenders of the Soviet realm. However, there were also non-Communist resistance groups which were nationalist and broadly constitutionalist and as a result a complicated three-way war developed.
This book details the guerrilla war which was waged in the various regions and the uniforms and equipment of the combatants.
NIGEL THOMAS PhD is an accomplished linguist and military historian, formerly at Northumbria University, now a freelance military author, translator and military uniform consultant. His interests are 20th-century military and civil uniformed organizations, with a special interest in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe. He has written widely for Osprey with titles such as MAA 518 Polish Legions 1914–19 and Elite 227 Armies of the Baltic Independence Wars 1918–20. He was awarded a PhD for the study of the Eastern enlargement of NATO.
Peter Abbott is a retired university lecturer. He has written or co-authored a number of Men-at-Arms titles for Osprey, including Men-at-Arms 379: Armies in East Africa 1914–18. He is particularly interested in 19th and 20th century armies that are less well known to the English speaking reader, and he has been collecting material on the various Ukrainian forces for many years.
MIKE CHAPPELL comes from an Aldershot family with British Army connections stretching back several generations. He enlisted as a teenage private in the Royal Hampshire Regiment in 1952 and retired in 1974, as RSM of the 1st Battalion The Wessex Regiment (Rifle Volunteers), after seeing service in Malaya, Cyprus, Swaziland, Libya, Germany, Ulster and home garrisons. He began painting military subjects in 1968 and has gained worldwide popularity as a military illustrator. Mike has written and illustrated many books for Osprey.