Caraktere Publishing announce the publication of “Ligne de Front” No.59 on 18 December 2015. This edition, while mostly focussing on WWII themes also has a feature on the struggle by the Iraqi government and US coalition forces to prevent Baghdad slipping into chaos in 2006, as well as an article on NATO’s military exercise “Dynamic Response 2015”.

As usual, this edition is published in French language only, but with Caraktere’s publications normally including many photographs, this might still be of interest to those unable to read French. The full contents of this issue are as follows:

The arsenal of the Third Reich: between excellence and technological dead end:
During World War II, the Third Reich develops a wide range of weapons of a kind intended to ensure the superiority of the Wehrmacht over opponents. Banking on quality more than quantity, but without a sufficiently developed industrial fabric, Hitler’s Germany equips itself with materiel which will be widely taken up by the post-war Allied armed forces. Indeed, the Nazi combat equipment is often ahead of its time, anticipating modern armaments of the 1950s and 1960s. However, beyond the technological limits of the time, other developments lead to technical nonsense, even resulting in tactical aberrations without any military use.

Japanese anti-tank tactics: human mines:
When the word Kamikaze (divine wind) is used, it generally evokes Japanese pilots belonging to the "special attack units" crashing their planes on American warships to inflict maximum damage. Nevertheless, these suicidal actions were not restricted to airmen. The Japanese Navy also used human torpedoes in vain attempts to reverse their fate. It is often overlooked that the Imperial Army also adopted these extreme methods in attempts to destroy the Allied tanks.

The battle for Baghdad: the Iraqi quagmire:
In 2006, after three years of US presence in Iraq, the country is embroiled in a civil war between the various factions, Shi’ites and Sunnis. The Iraqi authorities and the coalition led by the United States undertake to restore security in the capital, Baghdad, before the situation degenerates into chaos.

The Flemish Black Lion in the Waffen-SS:
Between 1940 and 1945, Belgium provided no national contingent to the occupying armies, but two regional forces, one Walloon, the other Flemish. Members of the latter wore a yellow badge of a rampant black lion on their left sleeve.

Entering the country of the Nibelungen: the Allies cross the Rhine:
The first Allied soldiers to reach the River were Lieutenant-Colonel Frost’s paratroopers at Arnhem. But the failure of "Market-Garden" led to what was then called the "miracle of the West" by the autumn of 1944: the Germans succeed against all odds to re-establish a coherent front. And when the 5th French DB reaches the turn of the great river near Mulhouse on 19 November, the Allies are locked for weeks in a terrible static battle. They had to fight hard to overcome the defences of the Rhine, which together with the Westwall, constituted the last defence of the Reich in the West.

SS paratroopers on the Baltic! The SS-Fallschimjäger-Battalion 500 in summer 1944:
After the failure of operation "Rösselsprung" at the end of May 1944, the SS‑fallschirmjager - Battalion 500 is withdrawn from the Balkans to be refitted. Reduced to a quarter of its theoretical strength, led by SS‑Hauptsturmfuhrer Siegfried Milius, it is then sent to the Baltic, where the paratroopers are to be engaged in special operations. The outbreak of operation “Bagration” will then change the situation, and the Waffen‑SS participate in the disaster of the tumultuous battle for Lithuania.

Dynamic Response 2015: War in the East:
Following an increase in tensions in the region, a column of tanks and troops 'aggressively' cross the Polish border and head for the Czech Republic. This deliberate violation of international law causes an immediate military response from Berlin, Vienna and Prague, which hurry Kampfgruppe to the area, intended to halt the enemy's advance.

Available from December 18th 2015, on newsstands, or from their sales department at http://www.ligne-front.com/enkiosque.php