ONE AGAINST TWELVE - The 87th BCA in the Defence of the Alps, June 1940
ONE AGAINST TWELVE - The 87th BCA in the...

ONE AGAINST TWELVE - The 87th BCA in the Defence of the Alps, June 1940

L20250063
In stock
€20.38
Publication

How the French stood their ground against Italian soldiers in the Queyras in June 1940.

The Battle of the Alps is one of the rare engagements to have ended in a French victory during the 1940 campaign in France. While the armies of the north and east were subjected to the blitzkrieg tempo imposed by the enemy, the soldiers of the Alps managed to halt the Italian army — yesterday's ally — despite their numerical inferiority.

Through this study, discover the Queyras sector where the men of the 87th BCA held their own against a numerically superior enemy through audacity and valour. What were the reasons for their success? Could they have held out against the Germans?

Author: Damien Vargas, French Army officer and historian.

Preface by Max Schiavon.

Illustrated book with a fine central section featuring maps, sketches, photographs and original drawings.

 

Secure Payment

 

Delivery

  Call Us

(+33) 01.79.75.05.50

 
Author 1
Damien Vargas
Publication date
May 2025
Pages
300
Cover
Paperback
Format
14.8 × 2 × 21 cm
Language
French
Publisher
L'Escadron Editions
Les Éditions L'Escadron

You might also like

The Battle of the Alps – 1940
Out of stock
Bookshop

The Battle of the Alps – 1940

L20210126
€28.34
OUT OF PRINT The definitive book on the Battle of the Alps, France's only victory in 1940. In June 1940, as France was suffering the worst military defeat in its history, the Army of the Alps resisted Italian assaults with success and even managed to counter the flanking attack launched by the Germans in the direction of Grenoble and Annecy.
View
FRÉJUS - LAVOIR - Men and Fortifications 1891–1945
In stock
Bookshop

FRÉJUS - LAVOIR - Men and Fortifications 1891–1945

L20230098
€34.12
Since Antiquity, the Charmaix valley and the passes of Fréjus, La Roue and the Vallée Étroite have been important communication routes between the Maurienne valley and the Val di Susa. In 1860, the annexation of Savoy by France created a new frontier in the Alps. In 1882, Italy's accession to the Triple Alliance led to the creation of Alpine troops and...
A Lieutenant with the Tanks - An Eyewitness at the Heart...
In stock
Bookshop

A Lieutenant with the Tanks - An Eyewitness at the Heart of the 1940 Turmoil

L20240208
€18.48
A Lieutenant with the Tanks is a previously unpublished account of the 1940 campaign, written by Claude Peignot, officer of the 5th BCP. Particularly vivid, it casts an unsparing eye on the operations, the competence of the commanders and the equipment. The notebooks are annotated and explained by Camille Vargas, an author specialising in world conflicts...
General Olry - Victor of the Alps - June 1940 General Olry - Victor of the Alps - June 1940 2
In stock
Bookshop

General Olry - Victor of the Alps - June 1940

L20250002
€23.60
A graduate of the École Polytechnique and an artilleryman, René Olry (1880–1944) belongs to that category of soldiers who, with equal distinction, earn the admiration of their superiors, their peers and their subordinates. A man of character, he combined exceptional intellectual abilities with unwavering determination. A specialist in mountain operations,...
Fortifications in the Southern Alps – France, Italy. Vol. 3 Fortifications in the Southern Alps – France, Italy. Vol. 3 2
Delivery 10/15 days - Livraison 10/15 jours
Bookshop

Fortifications in the Southern Alps – France, Italy. Vol. 3

L20250021
€61.61
In this third instalment of "Fortifications dans les Alpes", the reader discovers at the outset the geostrategic aspects of the Southern Alps region, as well as the difficult movement through the high valleys and the advantages of the narrow passes that are easy to barricade. The illustrated narrative then explains the complex tactical operations in the...

Customers who bought this product also bought:

The GMC Cargo – Workhorse of the U.S. Army The GMC Cargo – Workhorse of the U.S. Army 2
In stock
Bookshop

The GMC Cargo – Workhorse of the U.S. Army

L20250084
€24.64
Available June 16, 2025 The GMC truck is probably, along with the jeep, the best-known military vehicle of the Second World War. Acting on the principle that more is better, the U.S. Army equipped itself in 1940 with an all-terrain, four-wheel-drive truck whose payload was truly suited to the heavy logistics of world war. More than 700,000 units were...
GENERAL PAU — HE COULD HAVE BEEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, HE...
In stock
Bookshop

GENERAL PAU — HE COULD HAVE BEEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, HE CHOSE TO BE EXEMPLARY

L20260062
€21.71
Alsatian by blood shed At the age of 22, Second Lieutenant Gérald Pau was severely wounded in the right hand during the terrible Battle of Froeschwiller in 1870. Faced with amputation, he asked to be operated on without anaesthesia, so that the small amount of product available could be reserved for the more gravely wounded soldiers. This gesture, which...
D-Day Girls - Saboteurs, Spies, Resistance Fighters: the...
In stock
Bookshop

D-Day Girls - Saboteurs, Spies, Resistance Fighters: the true story of Churchill's...

L20250060
€18.96
1942. The Allies are losing the war; Germany seems invincible. Churchill, convinced that Great Britain faces an existential threat, creates a secret agency, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), whose agents are trained in every kind of technique, from sabotage to precision shooting. Their mission: to "set Europe ablaze". With most men on the front...
Five-O-Niners - 509 Parachute Infantry Battalion Vol 1 -...
In stock
Bookshop

Five-O-Niners - 509 Parachute Infantry Battalion Vol 1 - Africa Italy

L20250171
€65.40
This first volume traces the history of the battalion during a period when it still bore the identity forged by its founding generation, drawn from the earliest American parachute formations. As the first Army paratroopers to enter combat during Operation Torch, they were the pathfinders, the first in the nation to test this unconventional mode of warfare...
A French Resistance – A Bordeaux Chronicle 1940–1945
In stock
Bookshop

A French Resistance – A Bordeaux Chronicle 1940–1945

L20250079
€15.17
In June 1940 in Bordeaux, a young engineer came, through exceptional circumstances, to hold the position of chief engineer of the Rural Engineering Service. The position of this major port made the Rural Engineering Service — which physically administered the region — vital to the occupier. The author's father would be obliged to collaborate officially...
CORSICA UNDER THE TEST OF WAR 1939–1943
In stock
Bookshop

CORSICA UNDER THE TEST OF WAR 1939–1943

L20250029
€18.96
October 1943: Corsica became the first part of French territory to be liberated. This decisive action for the subsequent operations — since the Allies would be able from this strategic base to organise their landings in Italy — was achieved largely through the action of the maquis fighters. Since 1939, the war had been a distinct experience for the island...
The Battle of the Bulge – Hitler's Last Gamble
In stock
Bookshop

The Battle of the Bulge – Hitler's Last Gamble

L20240200
€22.75
In 1940, the manoeuvre that would seal the fatal fate of the Allied armies can be summarised in two stages. Alongside the diversionary attack carried out in the Netherlands and Belgium, the German armoured mass first rushed to assault its enemy in the Ardennes. After a chaotic period of a few days, it finally crossed the Meuse after brushing aside the...
The Cry of the Waves 943: The Battle of Tarawa
In stock
Bookshop

The Cry of the Waves 943: The Battle of Tarawa

L2026058
€18.01
A true tactical laboratory, Tarawa forged the identity of the Marine Corps and lastingly transformed the conduct of amphibious assaults. The Battle of Tarawa decoded by a Marine Corps general. Following a precise account of the operations, the commanders involved and the equipment used, the author offers a resolutely tactical reading of the battle,...
War Surgeon, Seeker of Peace
In stock
Bookshop

War Surgeon, Seeker of Peace

L20250078
€27.49
Preface by Jean-Pierre Raffarin Drawing on first-hand experience in theatres of operations where he operated on a thousand war wounded, Jean MAYER then conducts a broad, didactic geopolitical analysis, offering several keys to understanding the War and Peace diptych. As Jean-Pierre Raffarin writes in his preface, "The originality of his work lies in...
THE 1ST DLM IN COMBAT: CAVALRY TANKS AND ARMORED VEHICLES, 1939-1940 THE 1ST DLM IN COMBAT: CAVALRY TANKS AND ARMORED VEHICLES, 1939-1940 2
In stock
Bookshop

THE 1ST DLM IN COMBAT: CAVALRY TANKS AND ARMOURED VEHICLES, 1939-1940

L20160235
€37.87
The crucial question of armoured divisions, championed by Colonel de Gaulle in 1934 with his crusade for a professional army, had obscured from the general public a major element in the development of the French army during the rearmament period: yes, France possessed, even before the war, divisions légères mécaniques (DLM) that were light in name only....