To quote from the book `` Most shocking is the reticence of Lord Louis Mountbatten. When he took over as Supreme Commander in South East Asia he boasted of the diversity of his command: there were Indians, British and Gurkhas. American and Chinese, East and West Africans, Burmese, Australians and Dutch. But apparently no Canadians.. Given that Canadians in Burma outnumbered Australians six to one, one wonders if the omission is not more intentional than inadvertent.. Mountbatten arrived in India still smarting from criticism about the Dieppe raid and therefore somewhat allergic to the word.....Canadian.`` Forum Members. That is the end of the quote from the book written by a Canadian who was there.
I was thinking we should start a Mountbatten or Dieppe thread elsewhere... Finished Commando Strike and I could not resist starting Tobruk: The Great Seige Reexamined by Harrison. Thanks to you folks who recommended it to me!
There are enough threads and content on this site related to Dieppe to keep you reading for several days.
Reading through "Castle of the Eagles" by Mark Felton, recounting the true story of the escapes, both attempted and successful, of several high-ranking officers from Castle Vincigliata in Italy (by high-ranking I mean Generals!). It is a fascinating read, and interesting to note that the age range of these gentlemen ran from 42 to 63 years old at the time. RRTB
https://www.amazon.ca/Hitlers-Forgo...&sr=8-1&keywords=Hitler's+forgotten+flotillas Just received this and it looks like a very comprehensive look at the smaller craft of the Kriegsmarine (R-boats,Marinefährprahm, etc)
I'm actually reading this. It plopped through my letter box today and although it's quite a slim booklet it's got a lot in it:
A good case study of railways, their importance to early twentieth society and how they were an integral part of early modern conflict.
Turvey (1949) Earle Birney Just found this old book which I had not read for over 35 years. A brilliant satire and devastatingly funny. Apparently, every Canadian Legion, post WW2, had several, well worn copies. Birney, a World War II veteran, still burning over military bureaucracy, wanted to satirize this aspect of war while that memory was hot, and he knew that the book would have to sound authentic to resonate with soldiers. But he accepted the editing to get the book out. Even without the swearing, Turvey had a ring of authenticity. Before the end of the book, the fighting leaves some characters with horrible wounds while others suffer disease and a few die. It is, after all, a war story. The reason the humour survives the story’s frame lies in the personality of protagonist Private Thomas Leadbeater Turvey. Turvey embodies all the Canadian soldiers who signed up with naive intentions and little idea of what they had ahead of them. The humour comes from Turvey’s misfortunes along the way. Sometimes he suffers bad luck, but more often he creates his own problems through gullibility and his interest in the opposite sex. Accident-prone, simple-minded, and light on education and commitment, Turvey does not excel at military life. His story borders on farce. But the detail and characters make it all seem just plausible - and seriously funny.
I'm currently studying Modern History at college, and this book is one I used for a research paper - very illuminating and an interesting read.
Moved back to WW2. Book has great coverage of the campaign in the Alps in 1940. French and Italian OOB, descriptions of combat and amazing photographs,
The charidee shop kindly provided an untouched copy of the most recent edition of Winkle Brown's autobiography for a quid. It's very readable. Quite the chap. Starting to think these light postwar memoirs are actually the best when someone asks for a recommendation that might get them started on WW2 reading. Bit worried I may be becoming increasingly interested in... aeroplanes...
I finished Frank Harrison's book on Tobruk, just great. Thanks for the recommendation. I'm now reading Terry Copp's Cinderella Army, which follows up Fields of Fire in reassessing Canadian army performance in NW Europe, after Normandy.
One of the better squadron histories I've read. Well produced, great selection of pictures, does a good job of looking at both sides of the combats mentioned and reconciling claims. Covers the squadron from formation, time in Russia post war, East Africa all the way to the Far East. Includes colour profiles of the types the Squadron flew as well.
This weekend started Peter J. Conradi's ' A Very English Hero- The Making of Frank Thompson' ; Frank Thompson served with SOE, was a scholar, linguist , and poet. He was executed by Bulgarian fascists in 1944 aged 23. Books I am dipping into rather than reading cover to cover , Lynette Roberts ' Diaries, Letters and Recollections, and Lynette Roberts , 'Collected Poems'.
Perhaps not bad, but potentially expensive. Like tanks and weaponry and anything cool (or not so cool: Bunsen burners of the Third Reich, Hairdryers in Fascist Italy) and mechanical, you get almost absurdly specific publications issued in small numbers for high prices. I have read a number of memoirs from Fighter and Bomber Command, but the more technical and less human end of their experience leaves me comparatively cold.