Airborne: The Combat Story of Ed Shames of Easy Company
By (Author) Ian Gardner
Foreword by Ed Shames
Introduction by Ed Shames
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Osprey Publishing
1st May 2017
20th April 2017
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Second World War
Air forces and warfare
Military veterans
Battles and campaigns
Autobiography: historical, political and military
Modern warfare
940.541273092
Paperback
328
Width 129mm, Height 198mm
282g
A member of the legendary Band of Brothers, Ed Shames was involved in some of the most important battles of World War II. His incredible combat record includes parachuting into Normandy on D-Day, and service during Operation Market Garden, at Bastogne and in Germany itself. Shames own words and recollections fuel a searing account that gives a soldiers glimpse into the ferocity of the fighting on the ground and the close fellowship that developed between the men in Easy Company. The first member of the 101st Airborne Division to enter Dachau concentration camp, just days after its liberation, Shames ended the war in the bombed out shell of Hitlers Eagles Nest, surrounded by his comrades in arms. Written by the author of the critically acclaimed Tonight We Die As Men, this is the phenomenal story of a remarkable young lieutenant during World War II, from training at Toccoa, Georgia right through to the collapse of the Third Reich.
Col. Ed Shames is a Band of Brothers veteran. He received a battlefield commission into E (Easy) Company of the 506th PIR on 13 June 1944 in Carentan, France. He survived the war before eventually retiring as a Colonel. He is an active member of veterans societies. Ian Gardner served for five years in Support Company, 10th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment as a medic before leaving the Territorial Army in 1993 due to injury. Always enthusiastic about military history, several years after leaving 10 Para Ian became interested in World War II US Paratroopers. After a visit to Normandy in 2000 he decided to focus on the 101st Airborne Division, and in particular the Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which led to the critically acclaimed Tonight We Die As Men, co-written with Roger Day. Currently self-employed, he is married with two grown up children and lives near Aldershot in Hampshire.