I've finished a couple in quick succession, taking advantage of the two month unlimited kindle subscription that Amazon have offered up (must remember to cancel it!). The first was Worm's Eye View by Arthur Hughes, a diary of the authors time in France with 18sq flying reconnaissance blenheims, later converting to a bombing role as he was forced back to the UK for the Battle of Britain. This is absolute gold dust, being a painfully honest account of the author's beliefs and thoughts while events were unfolding around him. He regularly questions the whole purpose of a purely defensive waiting role, the lack of fighter protection and the belief that he's very much on borrowed time as his fellow pilot's are posted as missing. There some graphic sections of action, that have an amazing immediacy as they were recalled only hours after the events described. The strength of this narrative however is the social history side, relating conditions in the phoney war regarding the French villagers, the different characters of other squadron members and interaction with their French counterparts. This deserves a much wider audience, definitely needing a further print run as I can't source a hard copy anywhere. In contrast is Bomb Doors Open by Ken Trent, a Lancaster pilot from the latter stages of the war who did a tour of operations and then transferred to 617 in the closing months to drop tallboy and grand slam bombs. This was published when Ken was in his 90s but is again a very descriptive account, not pulling any punches and also dealing with his home life a well as service. His first DFC was awarded after a particularly hazardous raid, which is covered in detail. Of interest was his immediate meeting with a second tour pilot who proved a mentor, giving survival tips that I've not read about before such as arriving a minute later than advised over a target and shadowing unfortunate crews that had been coned in searchlight so they could be used as cover. He also acknowledges struggling with fear, which he managed to alleviate to some extent by getting heavily involved with a local farming family, helping milk cows and performing other agricultural tasks during his time off. Both books are highly recommended. Very welcome during the tedium of lockdown!
After much searching, finally found a copy of this long out of print title which I'm almost done reading. Good coverage of the SAAF against the Italians and some excellent photos.
I have just purchased both for my Kindle. I didn’t go via the Kindle Unlimited trial option, I had enough bloody grief with Amazon last month signing me up for a Prime trial without my ever having requested it, the cheeky sods. They then make it so hard to even speak to them to discuss it. But I didn’t mind one iota buying, both books are very well priced and look like great reads. Thanks very much for the recommendations.
Finished Unarmed Into Battle. Very good book - only problem is that I would have liked it to be longer.
Continuing with my kindle splurge while it's gratis, I've read a couple of short books by Lex McAulay. Looks like he focuses on RAAF personnel and has written plenty of these books at about 60 pages each over the past few decades. I opted for one on Clive Clisby, a 1 squadron pilot who lost his life in the Battle of France. I expected nothing from this to be honest, but was pleasantly surprised to find that he'd had access to family letters and had interviewed Clisby's sister. It helped gain a slight insight into the life of a young man who could easily have been forgotten. It seemed well researched with only one error I noted (Boy Mould listed as POW rather than KIA in Malta). I've also finished one on a Malta night fighter pilot who he interviewed, and will continue to download these as they're good additions to the memoirs I focus on largely.
Maybe a bit contentious ! Having read most of the standard works on Nuremberg I thought I might risk this, if only to see where and how his bias shows. So far nothing too obvious but a definite hints of which direction he wants to take the reader in. Mention of the Tu quoque arguement (the Allies did it too), that the laws introduced were ex post facto and the treatment of the prisoners. Some interesting pieces about the use of German labour as a form of reparation with (allegedly) thousands being ship to Russia which will need further researching. [I bought it in a 2nd hand bookshop (which shall remain nameless) and said to the owner that I was in two minds whether to, as Irving has a rather tainted reputation. "Oh", he said "you should read it and make your own mind up". I almost expected to be invited to see his "Special Collection" in the back room" ! Anyone remember Father Ted ? ]
I'm reading some fiction in the form of, Shadow over Babylon, by David Mason. It deals with the attempted assassination of Saddam Hussein just after the 1st Gulf War.
Just picked up (B Company 9th Battalion The Border Regiment by Raymond Cooper) for 20 quid was well chuffed to get it at that price and its in decent nick for an ex library book.
I'm reading: Guiding Me Home and Away, by Dave Thomas. He was one of my childhood heroes watching QPR in the mid-1970's. Sadly, he has lost his site over the last few years. All proceeds go to Guide Dogs for the Blind, so can't go wrong really.
Cheers Steve I'm half way through it and yes it's very good so far. It was a thrill for me to read that the 9th were actually stationed at Cockermouth in the old industrial school and at the Globe hotel.
Hi Michael, I read it many years ago, when I was not sure where my grandfather had served in Burma and read just about everything there was on the subject. Steve
There's a prelude about the strategic situation which is about 26 pages, the Americans get 30 pages, Indian units roughly 18, 16 intermediate pages, then Op Dickens gets 34 pages, plus 12 pages analyzing it, and then the Poles get 12 pages. And of course these are relatively small pages with a fair number of pictures.
Currently reading this and really enjoying it, helped by him talking about a lot of the places I've visited fairly recently, Sienna, Lucca, Perugia, Ferrara, Assisi etc really helps to link things up
Don't be deterred by the length. I have it and while I've read longer treatments of the battle I consider it a pretty good book. Graham worked with Shelford Bidwell and he was a good writer who knew the subject.
I have been reading a motorcycling book I bought years ago and have never got around to reading. It is a book titled ‘Stealing Speed’ by Matt Oxley, subtitled ‘The Biggest Spy Scandal in Motorsport History’. It deals primarily with the defection of East German MZ rider Ernst Degner in 1961 to the west and, in particular, to Suzuki to whom he passed on a lot of two stroke technology. Apart from being a gun rider, Degner was also a mechanic of considerable ability (weren’t they all in those days), so he brought skilled hands along with the parts and drawings to Suzuki. There is a Second World War connection and I wonder if the author/publisher hasn’t played it up a bit with the book. I first became aware of Degner’s story through the books of motorcycling journalist Vic Willoughby who made trips to East Germany in the 1960’s to meet the engineer behind MZ’s success Walter Kaaden and write about the motorcycles. As a young engineer Kaaden had worked for the Nazi's on the Henschel HS 293 radio guided rocket-propelled missile and the Messerchmitt 262. According to the book he worked on the V-1 as well and was at Peenemunde when the RAF bombed it. Was he a Nazi? I guess he certainly worked for the Nazi regime, but he probably had no choice. The author swings around on this point at one stage saying that he was ‘no Nazi’ while later identifying Kaaden as ‘a former Nazi rocket scientist’. Regardless it was Kaaden who persevered a few years later with MZs, initially developing an RT125 (think BSA Bantam) and ending up several years later at the factory with the fastest 125 and 250cc two stroke racing bikes in the world, when they hung together. I was disappointed in the book in that the author never explained in detail the link between Kaaden’s rocket making activities and the development of two strokes apart from a brief mention of acoustic resonance and varying pressure zones in the V-1's combustion chamber and tail pipe. I think Kaaden was a bright engineer, regardless of his background, and was crucial to Degner's success. It is not a bad book and certainly describes Degner’s defection and the 1960’s motorcycling scene well- it was a particularly brutal era for motorcycle racers. Personally I would have liked a bit more meat on the bones regarding Kaaden’s technical achievements. If you want to read about the bikes themselves Willoughby's books are still a good read. Scott