{"title":"Books by Peter Jacobs","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781399075336","title":"Night Duel Over Germany","description":"Bomber Commands night offensive against Nazi Germany, which lasted for nearly six years, was one of Britains major contributions to the Allied effort during the Second World War. But the decision to conduct its main operations at night only came about following heavy losses by day, when its pre-war medium bombers had been found lacking in modern air warfare. The Luftwaffe, too, had its early problems. Initially without a dedicated night fighter, it was ill-equipped to defend the Reich, and so the stage was set for what would become one of the most critical strategic encounters of the war.Things had to change on both sides. Soon there came new and more capable aircraft, in ever-increasing numbers, coupled with new tactics and technology, as each side strove to gain the upper hand. It became a fascinating encounter between the crews of Bomber Command and the Luftwaffes night fighter force, the Nachtjagd, with no shortage of courage and heavy losses on both sides. Amongst the epic encounters were Bomber Commands Thousand Bomber raids, the attack on the German V-weapons research establishment at Peenemnde, the campaigns against the industrial Ruhr, Hamburg and Berlin, and the disastrous raid on Nuremberg.This new publication consolidates accounts from both sides and from all ranks of service in an effort to provide a comprehensive account of some of the most ferocious nocturnal engagements of the Second World War.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298729603445,"sku":"9781399075336","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399075336_1470efab-0f87-4dad-8bf1-04837b985beb.jpg?v=1786019667"},{"product_id":"9781526796523","title":"Codenamed Dorset","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis gripping history details the remarkable exploits of a Commando and Special Operations Executive operative during the Second World War. It is a story of extreme courage and a revealing portrait of a man who ultimately gave his life for the liberation of France. This is the first time his story has been told in full.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eColin Ogden-Smith was among the first to volunteer for the newly created Commandos. In 1942 he transferred to the SOE and joined the elite Small Scale Raiding Force to carry out raids across the Channel. He participated in Operation \u003ci\u003eBranford\u003c\/i\u003e, a raid to the island of Burhou, just north of Alderney, on 7 September 1942, and then,later in the year, Operation \u003ci\u003eBasalt\u003c\/i\u003e, a Commando attack on SarkWith the approach of the D-Day landings, Ogden-Smith volunteered for a new, clandestine group known as the Jedburghs - which represented the first real co-operation in Europe between SOE and the Special Operations branch of OSS.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Jedburghs were small teams of personnel from British, American, French, Dutch and Belgian forces that were inserted into Occupied Europe from June 1944 onwards to link up with the local Resistance groups and conduct sabotage and guerrilla warfare against the Germans.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn July 1944, under the cover of his code-name Dorset, Major Colin Ogden-Smith parachuted deep behind enemy lines as the leader of Team \u003ci\u003eFrancis\u003c\/i\u003e. Three weeks later he was dead, killed in action fighting German troops alongside his French comrades so that others could make their escape. Seventy years on, the French community still remembers the gallant Major Anglais.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56302209630581,"sku":"9781526796523","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781526796523_982d4b14-94a7-4e3c-8c46-33c5d732c55b.jpg?v=1786022039"},{"product_id":"9781784389529","title":"For King and Country at Loos","description":"‘Deeply regret to inform you that 2\/Lt C F B Hodgins 2\/Wiltshire Regt is reported killed Sept 25\/26. Lord Kitchener desires to express his sympathy. Secretary War Office.’ – Telegram from the War Office dated 29 September 1915This is the true and previously untold story of one man’s war on the Western Front during the First World War. As a young man, still in his teens, Charles Francis Burgoyne Hodgins, known as Charlie, answered the call to ‘do his bit’ for King and Country. Like so many others, he was never to return. He was killed on 25 September 1915, on the opening day of the Battle of Loos, and is one of many thousands who now lie in cemeteries near the former battlefields of northern France. According to an officer in his battalion, he died 'leading his men with great gallantry, and even when wounded, tried to rise and take them on'.Drawing on the many letters, photographs and telegrams Charlie sent home, along with newspaper articles, war archives and other personal accounts, historian Peter Jacobs has pieced together the final moments of Charlie’s short life. This is a compelling and poignant tale of personal courage and one family’s loss. But it also tells of the tragedy and suffering experienced by a generation of men during the First World War.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305212424565,"sku":"9781784389529","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781784389529_c1c04a61-1be6-4899-a560-520b568de264.jpg?v=1786025515"},{"product_id":"9781784389574","title":"The Churchill Deception","description":"To carry out one clandestine mission required courage, but to do it four times required courage on a quite extraordinary scale. Yet, that is exactly what Peter Churchill did. Peter Morland Churchill was born in Amsterdam in 1909 to British diplomat William Churchill and his wife Violet. A particularly gifted linguist, upon graduating from university, Churchill followed in his father’s footsteps and entered into the British diplomatic service before eventually joining the Home Office Advisory Committee.Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill’s professional exploits and linguistic prowess led him to the Special Operations Executive (SOE) – a secret British organisation formed in 1940 to carry out subversive warfare against the enemy in Nazi-occupied Europe. Churchill was among the early volunteers for the SOE, and joined as an Intelligence Officer in the French Section in 1941\\. Throughout his time in the organisation, Churchill made it into France on four separate missions. Each of these assignments were hazardous, requiring courage, resourcefulness and tireless hard work. Churchill was successful in his first three missions, but these hazards caught up with him and he was captured at the beginning of his fourth deployment to France. He endured torture, solitary confinement and the everyday horrors of the concentration camps as a result. He eventually made it back home at the end of the war and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his outstanding courage.The story of Peter Churchill and his time in the SOE is an incredible one. This remarkable history truly does justice to these experiences and will captivate any reader interested in the SOE or in the Second World War in general.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305289298293,"sku":"9781784389574","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781784389574_04d7278e-c957-4c65-b8ac-550c48b5bd64.jpg?v=1786025517"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-peter-jacobs.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}