Description
Temporarily out of stock
Title: Battle on 42nd Street: War in Crete & the Anzacs’ bloody last stand
Author: MONTEATH PETER
Format: PAPERBACK
Publication date: 01/11/2019
Imprint: NEW SOUTH WALES UNI PRESS
Price: $35.00
Publishing status: Active
At what point does the will to
survive on the battlefield give way to bloodlust? What turns men into killers?
The
Battle of Crete was one of the most spectacular military campaigns of the
twentieth century. For the first time in history, German forces carried out an
invasion entirely from the air while poorly equipped Anzac and British forces,
and local Cretans, defended the island.
During
the campaign, one battle stands out for its viciousness. When the Germans
approached the Allies’ defensive line, known as 42nd Street, on 27 May 1941,
men from the Australian 2/7 and 2/8 Battalions, New Zealanders from several
battalions and British soldiers counter-attacked with fixed bayonets. By the
end, bodies were strewn across the battlefield. Later, a German doctor reported
that many of the bodies of the German soldiers had been mutilated.
Acclaimed
historian Peter Monteath draws on records and recollections of Australian, New
Zealand, German and British forces and local Cretans to reveal the truth behind one of the most gruesome
battles of World War II.
'This is military history at its best: deeply researched, powerfully told and proving that the essence of war is men killing other men.' — Joan Beaumont
ISBN: 9781742236032
Dimension: 234mm X 153mm