ABDA-CBI-SEAC. Book thread.

Sorry to spoil the joke, mate, but just didn't get it...

 

Alberto it went like this..... I said my book was rehashed and I ended up with one book but two titles...then you said you already had the Lo wo job....so I said...Argggggh!!!!.... One title two books same book same title...get it now

 

Oooohhhh... This is what happens when I read only the first few words... Tought you were teasing us with your library, so I decided to fire back :redface:

Well, sorry to read about your misfortune, mate; blame Murphy for this one.

 

"Images of War - The Fall of Malaya and Singapore" by Jon Diamond

As the title says it's basically a collection of photos with brief description of operations in Malaya and Singapore during 1941-42. Majority of the photos about Allies I already have seen in other publication but there are some interesting photos of Japanese forces. Problem is that some of them are too general and could be (and many probably are) taken anywhere in the Far East and for some I'm sure that they are not from Malaya or Singapore at all. And some photos from the same series (or sequence) are dispersed over different sections of book. But the worst part are captions. They give too little information and some are .. well quite annoying. I guess it probably just me, but I like when the captions are precise as much as they could be. It is especially annoying when the name of the units is written wrong. I mean 9th Gurkha Regiment instead of 9th Gurkha Rifles, and instead of the VCO you have Gurkha Warrant Officer. Is it really that hard to learn the Indian Army regiment names and ranks. I was quite exited about this book but ended quite disappointed. But this is just my opinion, maybe others will find this book interesting. I guess that I become little less tolerant on the mistakes that could be easily prevented with little more research and care. And I am even less tolerant to the new published books when today it is quite easy to find almost anything by using google or any other search engine.

 

Anyone read Narrow Road to the Deep North? Looks very interesting novel based on the authors father's experiences as a POW.

 

I have not come across this title before zahonado. Judging by your recommendation and Owen'sc extra info on the other thread, it looks like a must read for us

 

I'm approaching the end of zahonado's new book, 'Before the Show'. This is based around her father's personal diaries, which recount his time and experiences in India and Burma during the fight back years of 1943-45. I have enjoyed reading about the social life of an officer in India, how they entertained themselves and how the climate and enviroment effected their everyday lives.

Reading about Ray Cooper's time in the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers during the second Chindit Operation, has brought an interesting new angle, not just on the operation itself, but on the men whose names I knew, but of whose character I did not.

A well constructed and wonderful book, which gives a pricless insight into an officer's sub-continental experience during WW2.

 

Sol, no it is not just you. Here is my review from Amazon.

Images of War The Fall of Malaya and Singapore by Jon Diamond,
This is, in many ways, a very poor book, but, despite the one-star review that follows, I suspect that everyone will buy it anyway. My only hope is that the publisher may take some of the following criticisms on board.
Let me explain.

This is another volume in the familiar ‘Images of War’ series.
It follows the normal format, a brief introduction followed by five narrative chapters and an epilogue. Interspersed between the chapters are the photographic sections, in broad chronological/topical groups.
There are a couple of maps and they are quite good (despite the Changi error – the airfield was constructed during the Japanese occupation).
There are no notes, and it seems that no bibliography or reading list was deemed necessary.

The author demonstrates a poor style of writing. Clunky and awkward at best, it is downright incomprehensible at worst. It reminds me of scrappy schoolboy homework; it needed a lot more work before it was handed in.
The text is also quite repetitive; I certainly grew quite bored by the constant mention of the Buona Vista and Johore Batteries and their limitations. The normal Malayan campaign clichés abound.

The real problem is that the author doesn’t seem to have complete command of the subject, and this he demonstrates over and over again.
There are numerous errors. Here are a few examples.

His grasp of the geography is laughable, as the introduction proves, for it seems that in Malaya “…waterways make their way from the mountains to the sea…” Really! We also learn that “The Straits of Johore, named after the Sultan of Johore”. Presumably the English Channel is named after the King of England.

The author provides confused, and confusing, dates and times. On page 72 he states that the Kota Bahru landing was being opposed “…a few hours later…” than 04.00 08/12/41 (crucially, perhaps, to an American, later than the Pearl Harbor attack). The timings are wrong and the International Dateline seems to have confused him, too. On page 73 it is stated that “…by midnight of 8th December…” the airfield at Kota Bahru had been captured. Is that midnight 7th-8th or midnight 8th-9th?

There are inconsistent references to the numbers of the opposing forces. This is perhaps not surprising since most accounts use the comparative size of the forces involved either as a basis for criticism, or as an excuse. Nevertheless his failure to deal with this issue represents a missed opportunity for useful analysis, and further confusion is the only result. On page 27 he refers to the surrender of 85,000 troops at Singapore, not including the 45,000 surrendered on the Malayan peninsula! 45,000? On page 72 the Japanese 25th Army is 60,000 strong but by page 156 “…the Japanese had to do battle with only 30,000 men.”

The Malayan campaign saw a difficult series of command changes and Diamond has not mastered them. Pownall is referred to as deputy commander ABDA, when he was in fact Wavell’s Chief of Staff. It is also implied that he took over as CinC Far East in November 1941, rather than on 27/12/41. There are constant references to Field Marshal Wavell, but he was a General until 1943. Worse still is the reference to Brigadier-General Stewart. Americans, eh! There are also repeated references to Heath having “…commanded the victorious 11 Indian Division in the Eritrean campaign.” He didn’t. One of the salient points of the Malayan campaign is that none of the Commonwealth formations had seen action before.

The book includes no Order of Battle, so the reader will have to look elsewhere to disprove such statements as;
Page 30 “Percival deployed his three British and Indian army divisions and three separate brigades…”
Page 117 By December 1941 the army “…was short two of its requested six infantry divisions.”
Page 121 “…mixed in with the brigades of 11 Indian Division were three regular British Army battalions…” This shows a lamentable ignorance of Indian Army organization.
Page 120 “Yamashita’s infantry was reinforced by an armoured division…” Where this idea came from I cannot say.

These are serious errors, and there are many more. Worse still there is no new information or analysis that might compensate for these deficiencies.

The photo quality is OK. The choice is a mix of the familiar and the less so, mostly from US sources (the author is American). That may be the source of some of the caption problems. Unfortunately the captions lack detailed references.

Unsurprisingly, given the above criticisms, there are many serious errors in the author’s captions. A large number simply state that which is obvious, but many are just plain wrong. Far too many state that which may have seemed obvious to the author but which are nevertheless wrong.

An example of stating the obvious on page 11; “A British infantry section on patrol crosses a wooden pontoon bridge over a Malayan river.” What does that add to what you can see for yourself – nothing!

It would be tiresome to catalogue all of the incorrect captions, but here are a few examples.
The captions to the Japanese photographs, in particular, should not be trusted. Many don’t seem to be from Malaya at all, but from China, Burma, and elsewhere. Page 135 shows a “Type 92 tank” assaulting a Malayan village. Since it is actually a Type 89, a type that was not used in Malaya, can we assume it is actually assaulting a Chinese village? The author seems to have no ability to identify Japanese tanks; almost every identification he makes is wrong. Sadly, the same is true of their artillery, small arms, etc., etc.

He is not much better with British kit. There is a nice description of a 3.7” AA gun on page 41, marred only by the fact that it is not a 3.7” AA gun at all. On the next page there is an equally nice photo of a Bren Gun on an AA mounting. Shame that the picture was taken in the Middle East. The “Bren Gun” on page 63 is actually a fine photograph of a Vickers-Berthier LMG. Page 51 has a detailed description of the Lanchester armoured car, so it is a pity that the accompanying picture shows Marmon-Herringtons instead.

He is clearly equally unfamiliar with Indian and Malayan forces. On page 38 he refers to the inexperienced “Federated Malay States Regiment”. There was no such thing; these are regulars of the Malay Regiment. The 9th Gurkha Rifles are repeatedly referred to as the 9th Gurkha Regiment, and they now seem to have Warrant Officers, too. The Straits Settlements Volunteer Force is re-named the “Singapore Straits Volunteer Force”. Close enough, I guess!

These errors extend to the air force photos. Page 47 has 453 Sqn RAAF Buffalos misidentified as 454 Sqn. This error would have been easier to spot had the photo not been reversed. Page 67 has a picture of Blenheim I in flight “…over Tengah airfield en route to its new base at Alor Star…”
The problem is that the squadron code is YX, which belonged to 54 OTU RAF. They did fly the Blenheim I, but never left the UK. It is amazing how much English hedgerows look like Malayan terrain, isn’t it? Was that caption made up on the spot, or was it the archive’s error?

This same lack of familiarity leads to misidentification of some important personalities. See the photos of Wavell (as CinC India!) inspecting with Brooke-Popham. That isn’t Brooke-Popham.

If this bloke was simply a hack author perhaps it would be understandable, if not forgivable, but, the blurb tells us, Diamond is “a keen collector of wartime images.” Keen, maybe, but completely lacking in analytical skills!

This is a photo book; everyone with an interest in the campaign will buy it, despite its shortcomings. Perhaps the publisher can reflect on these criticisms and, in future, choose authors who know their subjects and can write. Perhaps a better editor would be a good idea, too. It seems inconceivable to me that all of these errors slipped through without comment.
The concept of this book is fine, and the photos are mostly OK; if I were the publisher of this book I would pulp the remaining copies and employ a knowledgeable author and a good editor to do a re-write. That is not going to happen, so, if you are interested in this campaign, buy the book. Just don’t bother to read the text. There are plenty of good accounts of the loss of Malaya, read one of those instead. By all means look at the pictures, but don’t trust those captions.
What a missed opportunity – one-star.

 

'

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Commanding-Far-Eastern-Skies-Wolverhampton/dp/1910294446/ref=sr_1_125?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1437618248&sr=1-125&keywords=helion

Commanding Far Eastern Skies: A Critical Analysis of the Royal Air Force Air Superiority Campaign in India, Burma and Malaya 1941-1945

 

That is a great review CC. You find even more mistakes than me. I'm must say that I'm really disapointed with this book. Nice collection of films taken before and during the Malayan Campaign could be found on the British Pathe site (or theit YouTube channel). Maybe it would be better if some stills from them were included in the book. Yes that would probably cost more but than the book could be much better. Generally I found Pen and Sword serie of image books infirior to those published by Concord or Squdron.

 

Try this site, mate: http://www.criticalpast.com/​

 

Lads, am not about to let this thread die, at least until my reading gets to the Burma chapter, which I am not that far from, either, and I can replenish my ammo dumps:

"The Invasion of the DEI", a translation by Dr. Willem Remmelink, from Leiden University, of the volume covering land operations against the NEI (the "D" stands for "Dutch") from the collection of the War History Office of the National Defense College of Japan. In fact, there are plans to translate a second volume (out a hundred+!!!), the one covering naval operations within ABDACOM and the rest of the Indian Ocean.

 

Well said Warlord.

I'm reading the wonderful, Another Man's War by Barnaby Phillips.

We helped Barnaby collate sources for this book and the documentary he released in 2012:

http://www.aljazeera...5228487172.html

View attachment 23_09.jpg

 

New from Pen & Sword books, comes a re-publication of Bernard Fergusson's, Wild Green Earth.

This is an account of the author's second foray into Burma in 1944, when he led as Brigadier, the 16th British Infantry Brigade. Charged with leading a mightier force than the year before, but still having to march into enemy territory, unlike the other Chindit Brigades which entered Burma by air; Fergusson recounts the trials and tribulations of his journey, including the interminable march to Indaw and of course the shocking loss of his commander.

​Over the course of my research, and not least because my own grandfather was found to be a member of 5 Column in 1943, I have read many of Bernard Fergusson's books. It is wonderful to see this new impression of The Wild Green Earth, as in my opinion the author's writings are always skilfully delivered and prove most worthy reads.

To find out more about the new publication, please follow the link to the Pen & Sword website:

The Battle for Burma-Wild Green Earth

 

The mere fact that this brigade went in ON FOOT, makes this job worth reading.

 

"First In, Last Out: An Unconventional British Officer in Indo-China" by J P Cross.

This book covers authors time in the French Indo-China in 1945 and as Military attache in Laos during 1970s until it fall to the Communist. I included it here mainly because the first part. Cross arrived in the FIC with 1/1st KGV's Gurkha Rifles of 20th Indian Division. Their task was to accept surrender of the Japanese Forces there and to provide order until the French troops arrive. The book gives stories of the first clashes with Vietminh together with Japanese forces now as allies.

But majority of the book gives his memories as a military attache in Laos from 1972 till 1976. He tried to describe totally confusing situation in the Laos during those days. It is was of the rare books which covers these two subjects. It is well written in interesting book.

 

"Under Two Flags" by Norman Hiscox

Author served in various units of the Royal Artillery during the war like 651 Air Observation Post Squadron finally finishing as FOO in the 9th Field Regiment RA, 20th Indian Division in Burma. He served with them during the Imphal Campaign and the Liberation of Burma. Book doesn't contain much details about actions but its still a nice reading.

 

"The Path of Duty: The Life and Times of Bill Beyts" by Ian Trenowden with Mark Trenowden.

As the title says this is a story about Bill Beyts. Book was written while both Bill and Ian (author) were still live and it was recently published and available only for Kindle. It covers Bill's life from the early days until 1980s. Bill Beyts was commissioned in the Rajputana Rifles during 1920s and served with his unit, 3/6th Rajputana Rifles on the NW Frontier and in (pre-war) Burma where he earned MC. During the war he trained the Resistance Army in the Britain and later joined SOE and took part in several missions on Andaman islands in the Bengal Sea. Later he took command of his old unit 3/6th Rajputana Rifles, 19th Indian Division and led this unit during the operations around Mandalay. After the Indian Independence he leaves the Army and went to Kenya with his family. He bought the farm there but after the Mau Mau rebellion was forced to leave the country and return to Britain. book gives some nice info about battalion commander duties and his unit organization.

 

"Burma 1942 - The Road from Rangoon to Mandalay" by Alan Warren

I wasn't very exited about this book because there are already some great books which covers this theme. But as majority of this books is long out of publishing and some are quite rare and expensive I thought that it wasn't such a bad idea to have another one. And the book isn't bad, it's good book, generally. For those who are already quite familiar with the First Burma Campaign it wouldn't provide much new things. I found only two or three new things but it is a good introduction to those who don't know much about actions in Burma during 1942 and want to learn more. Unlike almost all other books this one give one additional thing - a two chapters about the Japanese Indian Ocean Raid and bombing on bases on Ceylon. Image section is quite poor and all photos would be very familiar to anybody who ever read any book about war in Burma. But my biggest critic is concerning maps. Maps are bad. There were 13 of them but only two gives unit movements. All other are just a blank map with some roads, rivers and places on it and are totally useless for the story. One of them show Sittang-Kyaikto road over whole two pages with only several places and net of the roads and paths without any meaning, indication of the actions, unit or anything useful. Total waste of space. Still it not a bad book but form me Grant's "Burma 1942 - Japanese Invasion" stays by far the best book about campaign.

 

Well obviously I'm not very good in this reviews. I've tried to describe a little about book, mostly units, actions and places mentioned inside and give my thoughts about them. If anyone want to know anything more about them just give me a note and I'll try to provide a more details.

And one more thing. I'm glad to see that Pen & Sword decided to republish Ferguson's "Wild Green Earth". I wish that some other rare books would be soon available in bookstores. But why they have to give it such pompous title "The Battle for Burma". Wasn't its original title enough?