What are you reading at the moment?

Finally got round to starting ' A Wander Through Wartime London; 5 Walks Revisiting The Blitz ' by Clive Harris and Neil Bright

Literally just read the introduction but already the level of detail and research seems excellent.

 

I'm saving my poor little brain for when Fields of Fire by Terry Copp turns up in the post. Anyone read it?

 

And so far it has been excellent. It's the third book from this author I've bought following his works on Arnhem and Barbarossa and he is a really first class writer and historian.

 

I have just started "Lost Voices of the Royal Navy', eyewitness accounts collected by Max Arthur - have not yet got far enough to comment, but I am already enthralled.

Edna

 

I have just started "Lost Voices of the Royal Navy', eyewitness accounts collected by Max Arthur - have not yet got far enough to comment, but I am already enthralled.

Edna

I always love anything by Max Arthur.

 

'Return via Rangoon' by Phillip Stibbe. I managed to pick up a 1947 first edition back in the summer. Stibbe led one of the rifle platoons to which my Grandad was attached on Chindit 1.

I had already read the book 3 years ago, a 1990 paperback edition and really enjoyed it. However, to my great joy this first edition has greater detail about the training and early days in the Burma jungle.

I cannot for the life of me work out why he/publishers would cut out large chunks of wonderful info (and names of soldiers) from the original text. This info gives a much more rounded description of what went on.

Perhaps it is just my need for new detail?

 

Just read Only the Enemy in Front by Richard Doherty about the Recce Corps. Brilliant book-found out a lot about where my dad went (a 56 Recce). Lesley

 

I have just started "Lost Voices of the Royal Navy', eyewitness accounts collected by Max Arthur - have not yet got far enough to comment, but I am already enthralled.

Edna

Have now got intellectual indigestion - I had lost the habit of reading with notebook or record cards to hand, and this book certainly needs personal reminder recording; A few references on the back page is not adequate.

Personal quotes from Russian convoys, med. forays and anything else worth recording, arranged in date order more or less. Some Fleet Arm accounts lost among the general naval stories, but well worth a read.

Edna

 

I finally finished reading An Army at Dawn a few weeks ago, and I hate to say that I was severely disturbed by my findings. The book was well written and easy to follow. There was so much of information available that I was not aware of. It's hard for me to say, but the truth is that the US Army was in no way, shape or form ready for modern warfare in 1942. We performed extremely poorly, both in the landings in Algeria and later in the Tunisian Campaign. We were weak in doctrine, leadership and training. Sad to say that many good men were lost before we finally got a grip on what we were dealing with in the Tunisian Campaign when the US 2nd Corps squared off with the Afrika Korps. The debacle at Kasserine was nothing short of disgraceful. Green troops and poor leadership are a recipe for disaster. Good thing we had two big oceans to hide behind all along! Fortunately the US learned from the terrible lessons in Northwest Africa. I think that the experience there, coupled with the Louisiana Maneuvers of 1941 contributed greatly towards our maturing in the martial skills area.

I am looking forward to the second part of the liberation trilogy as soon as I catch up with my other periodicals.

 

On Radji Beach - Ian Shaw

 

Just started U-Boat Killer by Capt Donald MacIntyre (fighting the U-Boats in the Battle of the Atlantic). First few pages already has me interested.

 

Unbroken.

Very good book.

 

Re-reading Kipling, The Drums of the Fore and Aft not WW2 but a favourite of mine since I was a a school-kid in the 60s.

 

To Revel in Gods Sunshine ,The story of RSM J.C.LORD, M.V.O.,M.B.E by Richard Alford

 

'Grandfather Longlegs' the life and gallant death of Major HP Seagrim, G.C, D.S.O and M.B.E.

Brilliant!!!

 

The Bitter Sea by Simon Ball, got some good reviews by all accounts, look forward to finishing it.

 

Robert Radcliffe - Dambuster (Fiction)

 

We Gave Our Today, Burma 1941 - 1945 by William Fowler

My Mum remembers a photograph on my Dad's parents wall of him in his IWT felt bush hat, like the guys on the front of the book, sadly we no longer have the photo, fascinating book though!
JKW

 

'SAS... A Soldiers Story' and '3 Para'