Coming Soon to a Bookshelf Near You

I found that to be so unbelievable that I had to go and look it up for myself! ... and ... ...Oh Dear! (and please accept my apologies for my doubting!)

I know that the author isn't a native English speaker, but... ...is there even any army in the world where the battalion numbering would work like that? It's either shocking editing, translating or the understanding of the author ... hopefully one of the first two. Unit designation and language difficulties (which should surely have been edited for an English language book) aside though (and not being well 'up' on Cassino), how does the actual factual detail regarding the action read?

Dave

 

I'll speak only to what I know well: it's broadly accurate but a) very derivative of earlier sources (I can name which accounts key sentences come from) and b) misleading in places. Examples from what I've just browsed: 1/4th Essex are said to have 'reinforced' D-Coy 25 (NZ) Battalion in the castle, whereas in fact the castle was in handed over and the New Zealanders left ("Here's your castle, mate--don't lose it.") Elsewhere, he's a bit hazy on the Rajputana Rifles and seems to lump them together--the 1/6th & 4/6th were both heavily involved and their MMG Battalion was also in action, so you really want to know who is who.

It sometimes mentions Germans by name, rank and unit: not just a mass of paratroopers--that's the only virtue I see here.

 

Thanks for that ... so not really a recommended 'first read' about the battle then?

Think I'll stick to the (few) accounts that I already have then.

Cheers,
Dave

 

Of possible interest: Wargaming (who makes World of Tanks etc) is following up their republication of Hunnicutt's Firepower with a book by their employee, Irish-born ex-tanker Nicholas Moran ("The Chieftain") on the technical development of American tank destroyers, called Can Openers.

Sample page:


The Chieftain's Book: Can Openers - The Chieftain's Hatch

 

First impressions:

1) It's an attractively presented, well organised and well-made book. No cheapo materials here.

2) It is going to be great for researchers as it is almost as much a bibliographical and research document as it is a narrative--many, many sources are cited and unpublished recollections and interviews abound.

3) Understandably it is heavy on the R.A. aspect, but all units are exhaustively introduced and placed in context--the authors have gone to great lengths to record everybody who was at Ruweisat Ridge over this period.

More later.

 

Charles, how did you get a copy so soon? I thought it wasn't out yet. Appreciate your thoughts on it greatly!

 

Copies are available on abebooks:
Day Rommel Was Stopped - AbeBooks

I often order books from there before their North American release date.

 

I was patiently waiting and then found that The Book Depository had copies in stock early. I don't always buy from them, but one huge advantage is that all their books are sold with free delivery worldwide--any book, even something epic like an After The Battle title that weighs about as much as a baby.

 

Incidentally, I have an update on this: the owner of the militaria store here (Military Antiques Toronto) bought the business. (Sadly, I don't think I know his name.) He's revamped the website, and plans to continue the business. Apparently he didn't get all of the previous stock, but will reprint books and publish new ones in the future.

 

Has anybody read this (from last year)?



Three young men gazed at him from silver-framed photographs in his grandmother s house, `beheld but not noticed, as angels are in a frieze full of mortal strugglers . They had all been in the Second World War, a fact that surprised him. Indians had never figured in his idea of the war, nor the war in his idea of India - and he thought that he had a good idea of both.One of them, Bobby, even looked a bit like him, but Raghu Karnad had not noticed until he was the same age as they were in their photo-frames. Then he learned about the Parsi boy from the sleepy south Indian coast, so eager to follow his brothers-in-law into the colonial forces and onto the front line. Manek, dashing and confident, was a pilot with India s fledgling air force; gentle Ganny became an army doctor in the arid North-West Frontier. Bobby's pursuit would carry him as far as the deserts of Iraq and the green hell of the Burma battlefront.The years 1939-45 might be the most revered, deplored and replayed in modern history. Yet India s extraordinary role has been concealed, from itself and from the world. In riveting prose, Karnad retrieves the story of a single family - a story of love, rebellion, loyalty and uncertainty - and with it, the greatest revelation that is India s Second World War.Farthest Field narrates the lost epic of India's war, in which the largest volunteer army in history fought for the British Empire, even as its countrymen fought to be free of it. It carries us from Madras to Peshawar, Egypt to Burma - unfolding the saga of a young family amazed by their swiftly changing world and swept up in its violence.

I think one of the three men was with 5th Ind Div in the desert and then Burma.

Previews here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Farthest-F...008115737/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

Press article on the publication of this book has interesting photographs:

The day the Brits stopped Nazi Germany's Erwin Rommel | Daily Mail Online

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arnhem-Bat...1515742552&sr=1-8&keywords=martin+middlebrook

 

Love and War in the Apennines by Eric Newby.
Already reviewed on here (2009-10) by Drew,and mentioned by Ron. Just started, I'm going to enjoy it.
But it's the first time I've seen it. I'm staying with my daughter , just moved back 'home', and she has it.
I've read another excellent book by Newby, A short Walk in the Hindu Kush - nowt to do with WW2 though.

 

I've got a couple of books on order, at least one of which I don't think has been mentioned here and came out recently:

The Desert Air Force in World War II: Air Power in the Western Desert, 1940-1942
Ken Delve
Published June 2017
Pen & Sword, 282 page hardcover
I want to expand my knowledge of the desert war up into the skies! I've got a book on Raymond Collishaw and the desert air war on order from the library but it'll be a while before I get it

The Black Panthers at War:: : The 761st Tank Battalion and General Patton's Drive on Germany
Gina M DiNicolo
2016
The 761st Tank Battalion was a segregated African-American armour unit which served in Europe in the last 6 months of the war. I figured ... it's Black History Month here and I could honour that by reading about this unit. It took a long time, but the unit received a Presidential Citation for Extraoardinary Heroism which was signed by President Jimmy Carter. http://asagordon.byethost10.com/LIBERATORS/CITATION.HTM?i=1

 

WingLeader - Aviation Books and Collectables

Dambuster Lancaster

Just being released in time for 75th Anniversary.

 

Canadian author Donald Nijboer has a book on anti-aircraft artllery coming out soon friom Stackpole Books called Flak in World War II.

 

Just out. No reviews available yet.



One of the bloodiest European battles of the Second World War was that from January to June 1944 for the Gustav Line, anchored on Monte Cassino, famous for its Benedictine Abbey. Better known as the Battle of Cassino, the campaign only ended when Rome was liberated. With General Sir Harold Alexander in overall command, the Allied Army Group in Italy, consisted of Fifth (US) and Eighth (British) Armies. Both were truly multi-national with some 20 allies nations involved. The book recognises the contributions of all elements and flags up the inevitable national tensions and rivalries exacerbated by restrictions of terrain and weather. Allied commanders, using ingenuity, highly effective artillery and sophisticated close air support, finally triumphed over their formidable German adversaries. Cassino: January-June 1944 examines the campaign from the political/strategic levels to the tactical, using official records, accounts from commanders and participants, including interviews. The Author has conducted many battlefield studies and written extensively on the War in Italy.

All about sources. If he's turned up something new, I'm interested; if it's more of the same, I've probably read enough.

Anybody seen it?

 

Yes, ordered it last week, delivered on Friday, read it over the weekend.... Richard Doherty knows the battleground extremely well.

 

All right, I didn't want to be predictable, but, sorry, I can't help it.

Is there much material specifically covering 4th Ind Div?

 

Covers the history of the battle period from January to May 1944 in great detail - so yes, the Feb/March days in depth, about 100 pages on the NZ Corps all told.