What are you reading at the moment?

I think I'm going to have to give it a go.

One of the small reasons I haven't yet, it is that I've been looking around in vain for a first edition--it has a beautiful dustjacket featuring an illustration of an elephant in the jungle and a 14th Army shield.

 

Hi SDP,

I tend to keep notes of people mentioned in the books I read about Chindit 1. Unfortunately, there is no mention of Douglas Witherington in either book. Sorry about that.

Steve

 

I always like to acquire the oldest hardback edition of these sorts of books. The main reason for this is I find they often contain useful/excellent photographs, which seem to disappear in later editions.
My copy of Elephant Bill has no dust jacket and was an ex-library book printed in 1959. Williams was friends with one of the lesser-known officers on Operation Longcloth, Captain Derek Clive 'Fish' Herring, who supplied some of the photographs for the book.

 

And maps.

A cheaper second edition often scraps the maps.

I should have known that you'd manage to scrape a Chindit connection!

Incidentally, have you heard of the following chap:

At Your Service: A Belated Autobiography of Lieutenant General Sir Brian Kimmins KBE CB DL

It was published last year through the agency of his son, a long while after the author's death. Apparently, he ended the war a Major-General, and as staff man spent a lot of time bouncing from HQ to HQ in the Far East. He's only on my radar as I collect memoirs by British Generals--I wondered whether you'd heard the name.

 

Not come across Kimmins on my research journey CF.

Elephant Bill became much more relevant for me on the second read. It is likely that Williams' second book about his time with elephants, called Bandoola, refers to one of the animals he leant to Wingate in 1943. These animals were only supposed to assist in the movement of heavy supplies up until the Chindwin. Sadly, they were used to ferry the cargo across the river and one elephant was lost.

 

Steve

No problem. He was my Great Uncle and developed a system for parachuting mules into the jungle. At one stage he was left behind with, I believe, a wounded chap and was not expected to survive but they were spotted by a flyer who landed and rescued them. In later life he was Chief Vet to the Jockey Club. A good life - pity he never wrote a book!

 

I have heard about this development before. I remember talking with a Chindit from the second operation, he told me that they had experimented with this in 1944. He was sure that the mules had to be sedated before they were dropped in. Fascinating subject. I have written about the unsung heroes of Chindit folklore, the mule, several times for the Chindit Society newsletters.

 

I ordered a copy of this book the other day and the lady at the publishers kindly sent me a catalogue of available titles.
There are a number of Second World War-Era interest, so I'll upload it here.

I also have the Wyldbore-Smith book, and Joan Bright Astley's memoir is wonderful.

Maj-Gen Sir Brian Wyldbore-Smith
Joan Bright Astley - Wikipedia

 

Hi there, I´m the new one!
I´m atm reading Saat in den Sturm - a 15 years old member of the SS from Austria writing about his way through the years of WW2.

 

Watt served in 3RTR in France, Greece and the Western Desert, eventually being commissioned. Just finished reading the section on Greece, where he served in C Squadron, Robert Crisp's squadron. In fact Watt's tank was one that Crisp took over when his went U/S. So I dug out my copy of Crisp's The Gods Must Be Neutral to compare accounts. Watt ranks Crisp as a brave officer but a little too "gung-ho" for some of the men's liking. Crisp's account is par for the course for many British officer accounts of the period. Fellow officers are identified by nicknames or proper names, enlisted men have no names and are identified by what they do: my sergeant, my operator, the gunner, the driver. The accounts match up fairly well but it's an interesting illustration of the culture of the British Army of the time.

 

I know I'd like to read that, Orwell I am not surprised that someone would consider Crisp a little too gung-ho. There was at least one crazy charge he carried out in Brazen Chariots...

For myself I am taking a pause from D-Day Commando about 48 RM Commando, because I have just too many library books out and I need to read them. So next up is The Miracle of Dunkirk by Lord.

 

As an update, whilst browsing on Amazon last evening, I came across this update on the Williams book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elephant-C...F8&qid=1505505011&sr=8-31&keywords=Burma+wars

 

I've spotted that in the past, but elsewhere I read poor reviews that put me off purchasing it. The consensus, if I recall correctly, was 'not bad if you haven't read the original'.

 

Yes, the reviews on Amazon are fifty-fifty. I was curious whether the author had picked up any new information and as discussed before, photographs of Williams with his elephants. There is one I the original book, but it is very blurred.

 

I feel like I'm finally making some progress on "getting rid" of books in my to-read pile. I finished D-Day Commando and am now working on my last book out from the library...

An in-depth look at Operation Totalize.

 

This:



The first page grabbed me (it's a collected edition of his wartime short stories):

 

I've just begun, The Burma Wars 1824-1886, by George Bruce. Been meaning to read this for ages.

 

I'm working on this one right now. About half way through actually. Nice little read I must say, well it is nice if you like to read about the guerrilla war in the Philippines during the occupation of 1942-45. I do, so I highly recommend reading it. Anyway, USN Commander Chick Parsons escapes from the Philippines with his family after the Japanese conquest of the islands. He is tasked to return to the PI to evaluate fledgling guerrilla movements, many of whom are just bands of thugs preying on Japanese supply lines, civilians and other groups. Commander Parsons also establishes supply routes and oversees the distribution of those supplies to those who desperately needs them in preparation of Mac's big return.

 

Entered new ground: started reading about the Seven Year's War or - as the Anglo-American colonists called it - the French & Indian War:



The second book is written by C.P. Stacey, known author of the official history of the Canadian Army in WW2

Planning a new Canadian BFT for next year

 

One week here in Canada was sufficient to complete the mind control exercise.