Been looking forward to this one for a while now. Eddie and I met the author at the Chindit Old Comrade Dinner in June this year.
I think they have already done Military, Air Force and Naval as separate books in this series Here is one on military commanders by the Times, but I do believe Steven is referring to the Telagraph books further down the link, I have book 1&2 of the Military Obituries and can highly recommend them. The Times Great Military Lives: Leadership and Courage - from Waterloo to the Falklands in Obituaries Times Times Books: Amazon.co.uk: William Hague, Ian Brunskill, Guy Liardet, Michael Tillotson: Books
Not exactly soon, but one in 2012, and one in 2013, with two more to follow afterwards: Progress on Books « The Crusader Project I am hoping for a draft contract from the publisher for the 2013 publication this week. All the best Andreas
Published 3rd November, 2011 (hardback) The Real 'Dad's Army' by Rodney Foster The FIRST Home Guard diary ever discovered (the diary was found for sale on eBay) - verified by the Imperial War Museum Dad's Army, the iconic comedy series, is as well-known today as it was forty years ago; the reaction to the sad passing of co-creator David Croft shows its legacy is as strong as ever. Here, for the first time, is the full inside story of the Home Guard, the ragtag volunteer army that defended the coast of Britain from German invasion during the Second World War. Colonel Rodney Foster, who retired to Hythe in the south of England after a military career in British India, joined the Home Guard in 1940 and kept a diary every day - a highly illegal act at the time. Writing from the village hall, abandoned barns, churches and makeshift officers' messes, he records with a unique wit and wisdom the everyday details of family life during the war. Antiques dealer Shaun Sewell discovered the diaries on eBay in 2009. He, editor Ronnie Scott and Rodney Foster's great niece Anne Kingston are available for publicity. Also available are diary extracts and watercolour images painted by Col. Rodney Foster.
Whoops - Penguin here is a link to it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Dads-Army-Diaries-Rodney/dp/0670919829/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317233576&sr=1-1 and another book on the Home Guard In Search of the Real Dad's Army: The Home Guard and the Defence of the United Kingdom 1940-1944: Amazon.co.uk: Stephen M. Cullen: Books
A quick shout-out also for Paul MacKenzie's Home Guard book (ignore the absurd Amazon price - there are plenty of inexpensive used editions available). Best, Alan
Blue Sky Warriors - The RAF in Afghanistan in their Own Words Antony Loveless Haynes ISBN 978-0-85733-199-9 £8.99 6 Oct 2011 This is not quite WWII but deals with the contemporary conflict in Afghanistan, told by the Aircrew, Groundcrew and Commanders in their own words. Afghanistan offers a hostile environment for air and ground operations, we are in the 6th year of the conflict there - many aircrew have done several tours and the fact that women appear on the front-line is something we sometimes forget, the image of the Aircraft fitter made me recall that things have changed a little! Antony Loveless has written an account that gives the personal stories of a cross-section of personnel ranging from the air commodore in charge to the cooks. I recommend this highly The images I have uploaded are Crown Copyright (thank you Haynes)
When You're Smiler by Nigel Smales Eddy 'Smiler' Smales was an accidental pioneer in British feature films in the 1930s, combat filming in the 1940s and television news from the 1950s. His is an extraordinary story of an ordinary bloke who didn't make history but was there to film bits of it happening. When You’re Smiler gives a personal perspective on the dramatic evolution of factual film and television in the mid-20th Century set against the social, political and military history of the times. It tells tales of halcyon days in the British film industry and of early life and times at BBC TV News, but its primary focus is on Smiler’s adventures with the ground-breaking British Army Film & Photographic Unit during WW2. The story is illustrated with 83 photographs and sprinkled with anecdotes of well-known characters Smiler worked with, including Alexander Korda, Laurence Harvey, Peter Ustinov, David Niven, Dickie Attenborough, Bernard Montgomery, Reginald Bosanquet, Frederick Forsyth, John Mills, Michael Aspel and many others. Everyone knows these names but what of the forgotten heroes of the AFPU - people like Smiler who made Desert Victory, perhaps the most famous campaign film of all time? They never get the credit they deserve. When You’re Smiler does its bit to put that right by including a selection of their stories together with an original and most definitive record of the 400-plus men (and two women) who served in or alongside the AFPU in some role at some stage. Explore online preview copy at Issuu - wordsbydesign's Profile. Print-on-demand service begins on 1 November 2011 at Self Publishing, Book Printing & eBook Publishing | Lulu.com. Hardback price £16.99 plus P&P (£3.99 in UK).
Just started reading this today...I bought this from the author in person at it's release in Waterstones in Portsmouth on Saturday, he also signed it for me! Top Bloke....with an interesting past it seems
North American F86 Sabre- Owners Workshop Manual From Haynes who did the recent volume on the Tiger Tank an excellent aircraft volume giving the history of the F-86 Sabre and taking the renovation project of the only remaining airworthy aircraft through from inception to completion. North American F-86 Sabre Owners' Workshop Manual: An Insight Into Owning, Flying, and Maintaining the USAF's Legendary Cold War Jet Fighter: Amazon.co.uk: Mark Linney: Books
Hi My second book is due out in November/December. Silk Drop - The Green Devils' Invasion of Crete - Matador Fiction - Harvey Black My first novel is good (I would say that wouldn't I? ), but I'm really excited about my second one. Working on Book 3, only 95,000 words to go! HB
SOE and The Resistance: As told in The Times Obituaries: Amazon.co.uk: M. R. D. Foot, Michael Tillotson: Books
Lost At Nijmegen About the 504th and 508th PIR at Nijmegen in the first days of Market Garden "Lost at Nijmegen" - Foreword
Escape From Hong Kong Tim Luard Hong Kong University Press ISBN 978-9888-083763 320pp Published 15 Dec 2011 £28.45 On 25 December 1941, the day of Hong Kong's surrender to the Japanese, Admiral Chan Chak - the Chinese government's chief agent in Hong Kong - and more than 60 Chinese and British intelligence, naval and marine personnel made a dramatic escape from the invading army. They travelled on five small motor torpedo boats - all that remained of the Royal Navy in Hong Kong across Mirs Bay, landing at a beach near Nan'ao. Then, guided by guerrillas and villagers, they walked for four days through enemy lines to Huizhou, before flying to Chongqing or travelling by land to Burma. The breakout laid the foundations of an escape trail jointly used by the British Army Aid Group and the East River Column for the rest of the war. Chan Chak, the celebrated 'one-legged admiral' , became Mayor of Canton after the war and was knighted by the British for his services to the Allied cause. His comrade in the escape, David MacDougall, became head of the civil administration of Hong Kong in 1945. This gripping account of the escape draws on a wealth of primary sources in both English and Chinese and sheds new light on the role played by the Chinese in the defence of Hong Kong, on the diplomacy behind the escape, and on the guerillas who carried the Admiral in a sedan chair as they led his party over the rivers and mountains of enemy-occupied China. Escape from Hong Kong will appeal not just to military and other historians and those with a special interest in Hong Kong and China but also to anyone who appreciates a good old-fashioned adventure story
There's a few new titles on the horizon that I thought some others might be interested in. First off two from Grub Street In 1940, the defence of Great Britain rested with a handful of volunteer aircrew, Churchill's 'few'. Overshadowed in later folklore by the more famous Spitfire and Hurricane pilots, there were other pilots, observers and air gunners - just as courageous - flying the Bristol Blenheim MKIV-F. The future of the country and arguably that of the free world depended also on their skill, morale and sacrifice. Remarkably little has been chronicled of these men and their aircraft - the 'Trade Protection' squadrons formed by Hugh Dowding - allotted to 11 Group in October 1939. The aircraft's range and endurance made it suitable for defence of coastal shipping against attack on the southern and eastern shores of Britain, and for operations further afield. Indeed during bitter fighting casualties among Numbers 235, 236, 248 and 254 Squadron Blenheims were high on operations over Norway, Holland, France, Dunkirk and then the Battle of Britain where the Blenheims were completely outclassed by Messerschmitt 109 and 110 fighters and fell easy victims, scythed from the sky. But the record of the aircraft and their crew was an immensely proud one. Drawing on contemporary diaries, periodicals, letters, logbooks, memoirs and interviews with survivors, lauded historian Andy Bird reassesses the vital role they played and repositions it in history. In doing so, he justifiably embraces the heroes we have left behind. Due out Spring/Summer this year (hopefully it's been postponed at least twice) Coastal Dawn: Blenheims in Action from the Phoney War Through the Battle of Britain: Amazon.ca: Andrew Bird: Books Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945: Volume One: North Africa, June 1940-January 1942 By Christopher Shores June 2012. Not much more to say on this than after more than 40 years from Fighters over the Desert an updated book is eagerly awaited! First in a multi volume series Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945: Volume One: North Africa, June 1940-January 1942: Amazon.ca: Christopher F. Shores: Books From MMP books It's listed in the soon section of the MMP website which usually means a release in the next couple of months. MMP Books In Passage Perilous: Malta and the Convoy Battles of June 1942 By Vincent O'Hara November 2012. O'Hara is one of the best of the newer naval historians and I look forward to his take on these battles. In Passage Perilous: Malta and the Convoy Battles of June 1942: Amazon.ca: Vincent P. O'Hara: Books June 2012. TWO ROADS TO WAR: Amazon.ca: ROBIN HIGHAM: Books and finally Likely to become the English language reference on the ships of the Italian Navy June 2012 MUSSOLINI'S NAVY: Amazon.ca: MAURIZIO BRESCIA: Books
By Axel Urbanke, to be published in April , hard back large format, (23cmx28cm, 220 pages 200 photos, 5 in colour with 25 colour maps. Price 56 Euros plus postage. The book is to be published by "Luftfahrtverlag START , and in keeping with their magazine text will ( most likely) be in English and German. For my part I am looking forward to seeing some photos of U489 - as yet have nenver seen one of the Milk Cow. Will scan the flyer in the next day or two.