What are you reading at the moment?

I've read all of those except Stamboul Train, which I believe was written when he was sill quite young.

The Third Man I read on holiday and thoroughly enjoyed; The End of the Affair was a very powerful piece of writing that completely conveyed the desperate, obsessive nature of love.

If I were to recommend more, they'd probably be The Heart of the Matter (set in Sierra Leone during the war--quite like something by Joseph Conrad or Somerset Maugham and his best work that I've read--moral dilemmas: feels like a film noir) and Our Man In Havana (very funny in places and with a great sense of location).

Everybody who mentions it says that Travels With My Aunt is a joy, yet quite unlike his other tales.

I have it on my shelf but haven't yet got around to it.

 

Thanks Charley, Heart of the Matter was next on my list and I’ve actually read Our Man in Havana already (cracking piece of dry humour, reminded me of some Evelyn Waugh novels, Scoop in particular).

Stamboul train is indeed an early one. Nothing wrong with it but his other books are definitely superior.

 

The three US hospitals mentioned are just ten minutes down the road from me.Most of the casualties that passed through there did'nt return to duty.Most were shipped back to the states, or were returned to lighter duties elsewhere only a few returned to their combat units.
One casualty was sent from as far a field as Pearl Harbour.Entertainment was via dances,trips to the local pubs, (must of done a roaring trade) and also a few marriages took place there.
It's now mainly a housing estate, nature reserve,with a few industrial units.

Graham.

 

Ace Air Reporter - Harry Harper. Random one I picked up that was published in 1943. Harry claims to be the first air reporter, writing for the Daily Mail at the dawn of flight. The book covers his meetings with the Wright Brothers, Bleriot, Albert Ball and a host of other famous names from the pioneering days. He’s quite critical about the Government for a lack of vision for the commercial and military value of aeroplanes but the rest of the book is very much in the ‘magnificent men in their flying machines’ vein which I found quite entertaining.

 

Recent reading matter:
1. Tolkien Binge: The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, The Lord of the Rings, Morgoth's Ring
2. Raymond Chandler, The Little Sister
3. David Glantz and Jonathan House, Stalingrad
4. Michael Palin, Erebus
5. Somme Binge: The Somme, Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson; Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, Somme; Peter Hart, Somme
6. Murder, Incorporated Binge: Burton Turkus and Sid Feder, Murder, Incorporated; Rich Cohen, Tough Jews; Patrick Downey, Gangster City
7. Gettysburg Binge: Harry Pfantz, Gettysburg: the First Day; Noah B. Trudeau, Gettysburg; Stephen Sears, Gettysburg

 

Finished this little 60 page memoir in one sitting. The author was a Wellington observer shot down in Germany but managing to evade to Switzerland after a 6 week trek, travelling at night. He joined the legation in Berne for over a year before making his way to Spain and eventually getting back to England via Gibraltar. A very understated account but he does mention a party with Pat Reid in Switzerland. Strange he was never decorated for such an impressive loan evading effort.

 

Interesting read so far with good coverage of all the different shades of forces across the political spectrum.

 

I am currently reading Atomic Salvation: How the A-Bomb attacks saved the lives of 32 million people by Tom Lewis (ISBN: 9781922387028), not my area of general interest, but it is promoting me to read other sources. When I have finished, I will be writing a review for the Military History Society of NSW.

 

Finished another excellent title by Fighting High Publishing. Richard flew a tour on Whitleys in 1940 and then a second tour on Wellingtons that covered the UK and the Western Desert. 62 ops in total, followed by instructional postings, finishing the war in the Far East dealing with accident investigations. Well written vibrant account fleshed with detail from Steve Darlow make this a very good read. One interesting part is that he seemed to constantly worry about the fuel capacity of the Wellington and had several ops where he got back with very little left in the tanks, a problem he never seemed to have with the Whitley.

 

I've put the books on the Desert War aside (for the moment) and started reading the two volumes on the French Expeditionary Force in Italy which recently arrived by post:




Volume 1 deals with the Winter Campaign (1943/1944) and Volume 2 with the Spring an Summer Campaign 1944. After that the French forces, mostly French colonials troops from Morocco, Algeria, Senegal and Tunesia, were transferred to Southern France and fought in the Alsace.

Will have to dust off my French dictionnary a bit

 

Typical French! Writing in their own language that I'm too lazy to learn.
This week I'm mostly reading David Glantz's Barbarossa Derailed, which is quite heavy going.

 

I read his When Titans Clashed ... which is impressive, but also full of detail. I still have to finish his Kursk book.

 

Because We Are Canadians (2003) by Charles Disbrowe Kipp with Lynda Sykes.

It's been a while since I've finished reading the book, and it's taken me this long to write the review. First let me correct the rank of the author of the quote I gave to canuck earlier. The German paratrooper's name wasn't Lt. Col. Carl Heinz Holst but rather Lt. Carl Heinz Holst. I guess Lt. Carl looked like Lt. Col. to my tired old eyes.

As for the book itself, I had a difficult time writing a review because while I did not enjoy it I didn't dislike either. The author, Kipp, passed away three years before it was published. It was edited and submitted for publication by his long time neighbour and friend, Lynda Sykes. She based it on the stories about the war he told and the letters and diary he kept. It helps greatly if one knows a bit about the history of the Canadian Army in France and Holland. Kipp's story follows the battles of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division, but they are not differentiated by their operational names.

There are some interesting observations, like Canadian and Polish Sherman tanks firing on each other during the battle for the Falaise gap. And he pulls no punches about his dislike for officers, particularly young platoon commanders who came and went with frequent regularity, and his particular open disdain for his Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. John Grant McQueen, formerly of the Calgary Highlanders and the First Special Service Force. Kipp had nothing good to say about McQueen whatsoever. Conversely, he has fulsome praise for his company commander, Maj. A. Gilles.

Without going into the details, Kipp, rightly, has a lot of complaints about his treatment by Veterans' Affairs after he left the Army while trying to get a medical pension, but in reading the book it has to be said that a lot of why he didn't was his own fault. And I think this may be at the crux of why I didn't like the book. Don't continually do the wrong thing when wounded or possibly suffering a heart attack which will ensure your medical records will not be a true record of your battlefield injuries then complain for 30-years about how no one believes you because your appeals don't reconcile with the paper trail.

Kipp also complains about how he was never decorated even though he says he was recommended for several decorations in writing during his service. He blames this for his decision not to accept a reversion to Private from Corporal on the first day he reported to the Lincoln and Welland Regiment then in England. I think by the time Kipp and the regiment got to Holland, any ill will he may have brought upon himself would have either been forgotten or otherwise dispensed with, but he holds on to this as the reason for his not getting decorated. I feel like I was obligated to suspend judgement on this issue.

There are also two small factual errors in the book. British Sherman tanks were not armed with 6-pounder guns, and Kurt Meyer was not given a high ranking position in the West German Army after the war. But these are minor issues.

Bottom line, this is not a reference I would keep on my personal shelf. I'll sign it out of the local library if I need it again.

Cheers,
Dan.

 

Some would say just about my level below but I did manage to read the whole of James Holland Normandy 44 over the Mar/to June period (and would add I thought it was very well done and enjoyed it) and set up his Battle of Britain book ready to go which is still ready to go
but back to my first waffle should take me all of a few hours with tea breaks

 

After a couple of positive comments about "Because We Are Canadians" on the forum I picked up a copy and read it a few months ago and really just couldn't get into it, I'm used to memoires being very understated and modest about the individuals own contribution so I think the fact this one really played up Mr Kipp's part seemed to sit oddly, maybe he was the perfect soldier but it did read like a Platoon of him would have ended the War in 1944 - bits like how he should have been decorated but there was a grudge etc as mentioned above seemed unlikely. It was a book I found myself having to persevere with rather than looking forward too.

 

Half way through this 1946 anthology of short accounts that appeared in the RAF Journal during WW2. Highly recommended for anybody into social history as this contains accounts from all sorts people at all levels in the RAF, including things like driving crash tenders, hatred of the room stoves, an explanation of slang as well as the usual aerial accounts. While naturally a bit thin on concrete details in some areas, a few stories have set me off googling for more info, inc the crew who sank two U boats in 20 mins and the story of the only Lithuanian in the RAF.

 

Crikey been looking at this chap you mentioned

Romualdas Marcinkus - Wikipedia.

 

Bit of a tear jerker as the account finishes with how happy they were to find out he was ‘safe’ and a POW at that point.

 

I think you've hit the nail on the head. One has to persevere with it to finish. I'm wondering if Kipp had been alive while the book was being prepared if the finished work would have read the way it does. Some of the problems may have been as a result of a well meaning, but strictly amateur, editor and co-author. I think he deserved a better book.

 

My mother-in-law wanted to get me a book for Christmas and, unashamedly with grandad’s service in mind I admit, I had no hesitation in asking for this.

At £12, the hardback isn’t badly priced on Amazon either.