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False Flags

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The epic untold story of German raider voyages to the South Seas during the early years of World War II.
  • 15 August 2016
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False Flags tells the epic untold story of German raider voyages to the South Seas during the early years of World War II. In 1940 the raiders Orion, Komet, Pinguin and Kormoran left Germany and waged a & pirate war' in the South Seas - part of Germany's strategy to attack the British Empire's maritime trade on a global scale. Their extraordinary voyages spanned the globe and are maritime sagas in the finest tradition of seafaring. The four raiders voyaged across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans as well as the Arctic and Antarctic. They sank or captured 62 ships in a forgotten naval war that is now being told in its entirety for the first time. The Orion and Komet terrorised the South Pacific and New Zealand waters before Pearl Harbor when the war was supposed to be far away. The Pinguin sank numerous Allied merchant ships in the Indian Ocean before mining the approaches to Australian ports and capturing the Norwegian whaling fleet in Antarctica. The Kormoran raided the Atlantic but will always be remembered for sinking the Australian cruiser Sydney off Western Australia, killing all 645 sailors on board in tragic circumstances. False Flags is also the story of the Allied sailors who encountered these raiders and fought suicidal battles against a superior foe as well as the men, women and children who endured captivity on board the raiders as prisoners of the Third Reich.

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Price: $29.99
Pages: 336
Publisher: Exisle Publishing
Imprint: Exisle Publishing
Publication Date: 15 August 2016
Trim Size: 9.25 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9781925335156
Format: Hardcover
BISACs: HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / General, HISTORY / Military / Naval, HISTORY / Maritime History & Piracy, HISTORY / Military / Strategy, Maritime history, Military history, Second World War
REVIEWS Icon
"This is a fascinating book. The story is well supported by historic photographs, maps and the use of eyewitness reports.”
-Military Books Australia

"Deception, violence and waste are the ingredients of war...Stephen Robinson’s handsome, well documented book is full of events that illustrate this... Raiders were fighting ships disguised as merchantmen, crewed by trained naval seaman deeply committed to serving the German war effort. Like Caribbean pirates from the days of sail in some Boy’s Own world, they masked their evil intent by sailing under assumed flags... before hoisting aloft the German Navy flag, like a modern day Skull and Cross Bones, and savaging an unwary prey." - Outstanding 2 page review Click here to read the review.
- The White Ensign - The Journal of the Naval Association of Australia.

"Stephen Robinson undertook extensive research for this book in the German, British, Australian and NZ naval records. He uncovered never-before-accessed eyewitness accounts and declassified intelligence reports. Many of the crews and passengers of the ships targeted by the raiders ended up as prisoners of war, while others were set adrift in life rafts."
- Australian Defence Magazine

"A meticulously researched and fascinating history of a now largely forgotten aspect of World War II."
- Australian National Maritime Associantion Newsletter

"anyone with an interest in naval history will find this book well worth a read."
- Navy New

Introduction

  1. The raiders prepare
  2. The Orion’s Atlantic war
  3.  The Hauraki Gulf operation
  4. The Pinguin’s first victories
  5. The Northeast Passage
  6. The Tasman Raider
  7. The Far East Squadron
  8. The Australian minefields
  9. The Indian Ocean pursuit
  10. Nauru and the phosphate ships
  11. Hilfskreuzer Kormoran
  12.  The castaways of Emirau Island
  13. Von Luckner, spies and the fifth column
  14. Return to Nauru and intrigue in Japan
  15. The raider war in Antarctica
  16. The Kormoran in the Atlantic
  17. Remote encounters and the islands of despair
  18. Tanker hunt in the Arabian Sea
  19. A new operational area
  20. The voyage of the Adjutant
  21. Destination Bordeaux
  22. The Galapagos Islands raider
  23. Encounter off Shark Bay
  24. The Kormoran–Sydney battle
  25.  The fleet of lifeboats

Epilogue

Appendixes: the raiders

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Index