Short online histories

Discussion in 'British Indian Army' started by Maureene, Jan 5, 2014.

  1. Maureene

    Maureene Well-Known Member

    Fold3.com which has previously been mentioned as a source of some online histories, has at the time of writing, free access to its online books, in addition to other records.

    I don't know who long this free access will last.
    Fold3 Browse

    See post 78, page 4 of this topic, for some online books
    Short online histories

    Cheers
    Maureen
     
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  2. Maureene

    Maureene Well-Known Member

    I subsequently found out the free period above was around VE Day.

    Fold3 is having another free period, including online books

    This is because of the military related "Memorial Day", a federal holiday in USA, the last Monday of May. If it is the same as last year the free period will extend to 11.59 pm GMT of next Tuesday. The website says "Ends Monday" but this would be US time.



    Cheers
    Maureen
     
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  3. Maureene

    Maureene Well-Known Member

    Available online

    Valour Triumphs: A History of The Kumaon Regiment by K C Praval 1976

    This is the current name. In 1945 it was renamed the 19th Kumaon Regiment, and prior to that, from 1922 was the 19th Hyderabad Regiment, with prior earlier names.
    http://lib.perdana.org.my/PLF/PLF2/Digital_Content/PLF/000013/OCRed/Valour Triumphs.pdf
    Edit:You may need to copy and paste this link, or try the archived link
    Wayback Machine

    Includes WW2, pages 87-143

    Cheers
    Maureen
     
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  4. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    Many thanks, Maureen.
     
  5. idler

    idler GeneralList

    Yes, thank you. It's a nice sharp scan as well.

    The section about the name change was quite useful background.
     
  6. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Back in 2018 members referred to the First Indochina War, in particular Peter Dunn's book with that title. The book is based on a PhD thesis and is available free via, albeit with a different title, with 795 pgs.: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/29525/1/10731681.pdf

    An earlier, for many controversial book is George Rosie book, from 1970 and that is freely available via: http://www.bannedthought.net/Britai...eBritishInVietnam-GeorgeRosie-London-1970.pdf

    For those interested in the controversy the Prologue in Peter Neville’s book ‘Britain in Vietnam: Prelude to Disaster 1945-46, published in 2007 provides an excellent overview of published works and is free to read via: Britain in Vietnam: Prelude to Disaster, 1945-46 (Military History and Policy) - PDF Free Download

    I have added more on this war, 20th Division and General Gracey on another thread: 20th Division 1945
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2020
  7. AndrewP

    AndrewP Member

    Fold3 Alert...

    Ffolkes,

    Just FYI regarding F3 & Downloading books...they have added ANOTHER layer to download a book, where AFTER you hit the "pdf" button, which used to initiate the Download function, they've now added another Download button, but that only appears 10-30 seconds later.

    The download process before was somewhat clunky, but once you got used to it, you could generally download a page in ten seconds, but now the time is at least doubled, if not tripled and the page numbers are no longer part of the download info.

    I sent them a somewhat irate, though not nasty, letter on Thurs and hope to hear back from them tomorrow, but if any of you have encountered this situation, please let them know.

    Also, I'd appreciate it if one and all would spread this news around this site.

    Thanks,

    Andrew
     
  8. Wilhar

    Wilhar Active Member

    Have really enjoyed these links, thanks all for posting. Curious whether anyone has sourced a copy of The Dogra Regiment: A Saga of Gallantry and Valour by Col. R. D. Palsokar MC (published by the regimental centre, 1982). Interested specifically in 4th battalion's actions at Magwe but would happily download the whole thing if a scan exists.
     
  9. Maureene

    Maureene Well-Known Member

    Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset has previously been mentioned as a source for some books. MCADD-PAHAR

    In both July and August 2020, this website was unavailable from mid/end of the month with the message "Bandwidth Limit Exceeded".

    It is currently available, but I wonder if the unavailability is a sign of ongoing or permanent problems. If you have been thinking of downloading a file, perhaps do it soon.

    Cheers
    Maureen
     
  10. Maureene

    Maureene Well-Known Member

    Two book files which have been previously mentioned, which were available on the now defunct Digital Library of India website have now been added to the Internet Archive (Archive.org) . There is reference to their previous DLI existence, so they appear to be exactly the same files.


    Currently they are only available as pdf or torrent files (and I haven't downloaded them) In a week to two weeks (my estimation) there should be a facility available where they can be read online, via a book reader,


    Catalogued as

    Official History Of Operations On The N.w. Frontier Of India 1920-35 Part I, Ii, Iii
    Official History Of Operations On The N.w. Frontier Of India 1920-35 Part I, Ii, Iii : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

    Official History Of Operations On The N.w. Frontier Of India 1936-37
    Official History Of Operations On The N.w. Frontier Of India 1936-37 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive


    Cheers
    Maureen
     
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  11. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    Maureen:

    Thanks for sharing this with us. We appreciate you keeping us posted on your discoveries.

    David
     
  12. Wilhar

    Wilhar Active Member

    Great find, thanks Maureen.
     
  13. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Last edited: Dec 16, 2020
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  14. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    It looks quite interesting. Let us know how you made out.
     
  15. Rothy

    Rothy Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the tip. I followed your link and discovered a small range of reprints by Pawn Books on the Lulu website. I've ordered the 25th Division history and the 82nd WA one. If anyone is interested!, I'll post a few thoughts on quality when they arrive.

    Steve
     
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  16. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    The African ones looked attractive, didn't they?
     
  17. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Failure, it went for £35 plus postage.
     
  18. Rothy

    Rothy Well-Known Member

    I placed an order on 16th December for two books from Pawn Books and they have arrived today. They are ordered and printed to order via the Lulu system. They were despatched Monday and arrived today, Wednesday. As described above, both books are reprints (photographic reproductions) of what are now out of copyright books produced at the end of the war.

    The first, “The Arakan Campaign of the Twenty-Fifth Indian Division, March 1944-March1945” is a beautiful hardbound reproduction of around 162 pages. It is a detailed narrative including maps and photos. The maps were originally provided loose and here are finely reproduced and now placed in line with the main body of text. The photo illustrations are found at the rear of the book. This book is not to be confused with the short(er) history of the 25th Division, listed elsewhere in this thread and found online at Internet Archive. The book normally retails at £19.99 however I applied a discount code and got it for £17.00 plus post and packing. See:https://www.facebook.com/PawnBooks/photos/a.102016921686107/102719104949222/?type=3&theater

    The second book is really a booklet: “Arakan Assignment, The Story of the 82nd West African Division”. It is a faithful copy of an original booklet published by a West African publisher and printed in India at the end of the war. It provides a summary history of the Division and includes maps, photos and line drawings or sketches. It’s about 50 pages. This too is beautifully and faithfully reproduced. It compares with the short histories of the Indian Divisions in style and content. The normal price of this booklet is £5.99 and with discount I go it for £5.10.

    Both books have been reproduced from the originals to a very high standard. The binding and presentation are excellent. The 25th Division history in particular reproduces also the print artefacts of the original and strikes a careful balance to provide the best level of legibility.

    Post and packing for the two combined was £4.74 for priority, non-trackable mail. Other options are available. Discounts vary over time. Visit the publisher’s page at lulu.com: Lulu

    Steve
     
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  19. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    The 25th Division history looks like a decent reproduction Steve. I have pondered buying an original on the odd occasion they have appeared, but never did. Could be an option for me.
     
  20. Maureene

    Maureene Well-Known Member

    Online maps of India and Burma, which I saw mentioned elsewhere.

    I have also posted under Theatres of War/Burma & India

    Old Survey of India Maps
    Old Survey of India Maps | Zenodo
    Curated by: Mapman

    includes Maps of Burma
    63k Maps of Burma
    "A set of about 250 maps of Burma produced by the Survey of India before and during the Second World War at a scale of 1 inch per mile (63,360). Many of these maps are military reprints of earlier maps produced before the war"

    Also
    Survey of India Maps for Southern India from the National Library of Scotland
    Survey of India - One-inch and Half-inch to the mile maps, 1916 - 1951 - National Library of Scotland

    Cheers
    Maureen
     
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