No such thing Mate, always good when something rattles you and doesn’t seem quite right. Let me know if you can verify any of his claims as the book certainly seems of interest. The fact he became known as a fiction writer after the war could be key though!
My wife was tidying up some of our bookshelves today and found this, cant remember reading it so am going to give it a try. Its not very thick 86 pages and a map. Nothing on telly so here we go!
It gets a few mentions earlier in the thread but I'm currently about 2/3rds through Monte Cassino by Matthew Parker, I'm finding it fascinating, even though I've been to Cassino twice and wandered the hills I've done it with no real understanding of the battle(s) and dispositions of forces so to get a much clearer timeline, idea of the terrain, nations involved, command difficulties, poor planning/coordination and bigger political and campaign picture has been really useful. Heading up to the Monastery and peaks beyond is hard going but its very peaceful and relaxing (in an odd way) and this has got me keen to visit again, this time with more planning of where to go and what to see.
I've got a couple on the go: 12 Days in May by Brian Cull which is very factual, predominantly about the RAF fighter squadrons involved in France immediately after the German attack in 1940. It's a great achievement, trying to piece together events using limited resources but it comes across a little dry compared to the companion light bomber book 'Valiant Wings' of this period by Norman Franks. Other than the combat reports there's little extra about the individual pilots, so it's a shame that the interviews weren't expanded a bit to put a bit of flesh on the recurring names. In fairness this is more my personal preference as it's no doubt intended as an accurate scholarly text, a job which it certainly achieves. The others is Renegade by Mark E Smith, which I've probably subconsciously picked up in response to the above book as this one is pure ranting and personal views as you'd imagine! Good old Chairman Mark of The Fall settling scores. I won't dwell on this one anymore though as it's obviously not WW2 related!
I picked up Tom Renouf's Black Watch and started reading it, thinking I'd like to read a personal memoir for a change. Ironic that a lot of it is a history of 51 (Highland) Division. I have and have read Salmond's book so I'm skipping and skimming some of it
Ben-Ghiat is a historian of authoritarianism and this book looks at the common traits of authoritarian leaders and how democracies can prevent their rise.
Oops. I will leave it to a mod to sort this out. ( Why the pic is on a separate post ) The book " A Thousand Shall Fall " is one of the best reads....EVER! From Sir Arthur Harris: I consider it not only the best and most true to life war book I've read about this war, but the best about all wars of my lifetime. ISBN 978-1-55002-454-8
I agree, it's a superb book, probably the best Bomber Command book I've read. I'll have to find my copy in my stash and re-read it!
Re-reading the Story of Changi Singapore, by David Nelson. I first read this back in 2009 when I was given a copy on loan, the book makes much more sense to me second time around and answers a few questions I've had for a while now. I bought this copy from the museum when I visited Kanchanaburi War Cemetery a few years ago.
Coming to the end of Shark Squadron by Bert Horden, a Kittyhawk pilot with 112 squadron from Alamein, through to Malta, Sicily and Italy. Very good account of ground straffing/bombing in an aircraft the pilot seemed very happy with. Plenty of little anecdotes and pictures of flak damaged aircraft. Very enjoyable.
It's advertised as Renouf's memoir, but there is very little of his experiences in it. Most of it is a history of the division (and I've already read Salmond's history). For someone who was a very active member of the Highland Division Association, I can understand wanting to pay tribute to the other soldiers of the division. And perhaps at the time he wrote it, Salmond's history was not available. (I know that he wrote an addition to Salmond's history for the postwar history of the division, but I don't know whether that expanded edition went into print before or after Black Watch.) He was also wounded and out of action for some of 1944, and away on leave for all of April 1945 what with traveling to and from the UK. If you don't know the history of the division then it will undoubtedly be a better read. If you do know it there is a lot that you can skip, including 75 pages covering the division's war prior to Normandy.
Chris, I met Tom Renouf with Stolpi on my first Battlefield Tour back in 2012. A group of veterans were driven to Arnhem via British Taxis. A most interesting day. Perhaps Stolpi will dive in here with a comment or two.
We had a short private conversation. Apparently Tom had a lot of his own stories... I wish he'd put them all in the book