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ARMY GROUP NORTH 1943 SECRET BATTLE PLANS AND ANALYSIS

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,500.00 USD
ARMY GROUP NORTH 1943 SECRET BATTLE PLANS AND ANALYSIS
ARMY GROUP NORTH 1943 SECRET BATTLE PLANS AND ANALYSIS
Outstanding presentation book: "The Campaign Against the Soviet Union by Army Group North Year of the War 1943", 17 1/2" x 12", beige cloth covers with emblem of Army Group North at lower right corner and marked as a "Secret Object...until the end of the war". Approx. 200pp. with multiple maps, illustrations, photographs, graphs, overlays, etc., proof number 31. A mountain of information is contained within these covers, certainly meant only for top level review. Includes frontis portraits of commanding Gen. Georg von Kuchler and his immediate subordinates, list of Knights Cross recipients, and about 70 full-page maps showing the disposition of hundreds of infantry, panzer, artillery, flak, and transport units at several periods during the year, with explanatory text. These maps have been meticulously prepared, and contain an extraordinary amount of detail including the advance and retreat of German and enemy forces. The rear of the presentation bears graphs showing losses and replenishment of soldiers in the 16th and 18th Armies, those wounded and sick (44% died or were permanently relieved), replenishment of fuel, ammunition, provisions, etc., shipping arrived per port, ammunition consumed, etc. and finally, a map showing the position of the group as of Dec. 31, 1943. At this point, the war had started to turn as the siege of Leningrad was becoming fruitless thanks to intense Soviet pressure and the Lake Ladoga lifeline, and the Germans barely escaped the Demyansk Pocket. Cover is a bit worn at edge and has a few spots, binding repaired, contents are fine. Bears the bookplate of Col. Chester B. McCoid II who may have "captured" this volume. McCoid was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and parachuted into Normandy on D-Day. Wounded by ground fire before even exiting the aircraft, McCoid nevertheless landed with his unit. He would again be wounded in the war, and continued on to serve in Korea and Vietnam, being the last soldier outside Saigon to leave the country.