My book-buying "problem"

I guess life’s too short to have too many regrets, but I know what you mean.

He hailed from Mobile, if I recall correctly.

 

Agree. I found it an interesting little book on another armoured rarity.

 

Just leaving this here...

​

P.S. I appreciate that this is not PC but in my defence it is a historic document.

 

Oh no ... Canadian humor for sure !!

 

“To be a book-collector is to combine the worst characteristics of a dope fiend with those of a miser.”

Robertson Davies

 

He was from the Portable City. He was a professor at University of Montevallo until 1990. Don't know if he drove back and forth, but Montevallo is a good distance from Mobile.

Regardless, either one is close.

 

I had a similar feeling about 10 years ago when I picked up a local paper and read about the death of John McEwan who wrote "Out of the Depths of hell" about his time as a Japanese POW - I had read it and knew he had grown up about a mile from me but assumed he had already passed away - when he died he was still about a mile away and I wished I had known so I could have made contact, hopefully to meet and chat but at the very least to thank him for his service and his book.

 

I'm quite sure that many of us have that regret. There are several veterans who I wished I had spoken to or in more depth before they passed on. I put some of that down to the youthful illusion that they would always be there.

 

I just missed meeting the one man who was captured with my grandfather in May 1943 and who survived his time as a POW in Rangoon Jail. All the others (four) perished in the prison. I have made contact with all the other families over the last 10 years, but missing Leon is a great regret.

 

Two trickle ins today:


and


Both look promising

 

I'd strongly recommend When Dragons Flew, after the talk of veterans we didn't meet I'm glad to say that many of the veterans featured I did have the honour of meeting, my first copy (I now have 3 different versions) has about 20-30 Border autographs, unfortunately only 1 is still alive

 

Am currently reading Forgotten Victor, about O'Connor. Two takeaways:

If O'Connor had somehow been running the battle of Gazala he would not have stood for all the slipshod thrown together unrehearsed plans that didn't work.

And it's not so surprising now to me that he got captured, as he had a habit of personal reconnaissance, even if his party didn't know how far the Germans had advanced.

 

Still going strong. Absolutely indebted to men such as Wilf.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Wilf is a great lad (told me off for calling him Mr Oldham), I haven't seen him for years but have had a few chats with him and exchange letters

 

This one is good, but rather iffy in many aspects. His account of day-to-day activities and oddities of military procedure for everyday common occurrences is good. His accounts of some the historical facts about the fighting, well not so much.

In one paragraph, he mentioned his regiment encountering Panthers and Tigers in late June in Normandy. He was in the US 112thIR/28thID and we all know how many Tigers faced the US beachhead. In the same paragraph, he again mentioned the "dreaded 88" when referring to HE artillery landing among advancing infantry. Apparently that is the only medium artillery piece the Wehrmacht had. And finally, he spoke of the US "47mm" ATG that held off the aforementioned Tigers. I thought this might be a one-time misprint, but he has referred to the main towed US ATG at the time as a 47mm in several other places.

Some of the writing is a bit unpolished (something I know a thing or two about), but considering he wrote this himself in his latter years, I can understand.

I'm a little past halfway through it

So far, I give it a 6/10, good niche (medical officer) account, but there are better autobiographies out there.

 

Slowing but not stopped:

 

Did it again ...



... ordered this volume of US Army in WW2, "The Supreme Command" ... which completes my collection of the 'Green Books' of the European Theater of Operations.
A bargain: Hardcover (used) for $ 35,00 (incl. postage)

Edit : Book arrived today and it's a beauty!

Also available in digital on the internet; but I prefer a book.
See: The Supreme Command - U.S. Army Center of Military History

 

Very nice nick if that's the one. I've got a couple but they're mostly ex-lib bargains.