Military History

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anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
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I've just finished Mad Mitch's Tribal War, about leaving Aden in the 60's I can remember him on the teli as a hero, and bought it at the Argyle and Sutherland Museum brilliant book, middle east hasn't changed, too busy fighting each other to get organized.

g3org3y

20,606 posts

190 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
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Electric Beaver said:
Got a kindle fire for my birthday recently and looking for more military history books to read. Halfway through Chickenhawk which is excellent, and have read all Stephen Ambrose / Anthony Beevor which were great but struggling for inspiration now. Any time period is good, recently read one about the battle of Towton (largest battle / number of deaths on British soil - estimated at 28,000!!).
If the WW2 area is of particular interest I can recommend:

- Beyond Band of Brothers (Dick Winters). Really enjoyed this. Honest, interesting and very insightful especially give Winters' rise through the ranks as the war progressed. Very much recommended.
- Parachute Infantry (David Webster).
- With the Old Breed (EB Sledge). For the Pacific Theatre of War.


jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
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g3org3y said:
- With the Old Breed (EB Sledge). For the Pacific Theatre of War.
Heck, thought I had replied to this thread with that very book in it? Few days ago?? It is grim reading.

Anyway, in with that, "strong men armed" by Robert Leckie. Covers the whole campaign but not as detailed as Mr Sledge. The author also fought in the campaign.

Kokoda trail by Paul Ham as well. The Aussies hold off invasion in Papua and New Guinea. That is also a harrowing read.

Turning the Tide by Ed Offley, battle of the Atlantic and what was done to win it.

Audio books for me so not sure they are as a reader version.


hidetheelephants

23,772 posts

192 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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knight said:
Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer...
I read Forgotten Soldier a few months ago; pretty gutwrenching stuff, a clear explanation why the threat of being sent to the eastern front was a good way to get a soldier to behave and also why the germans lost in Russia. It's a translation and not a great one so it's not the easiest read but worth persevering with.

g3org3y

20,606 posts

190 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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jmorgan said:
g3org3y said:
- With the Old Breed (EB Sledge). For the Pacific Theatre of War.
Heck, thought I had replied to this thread with that very book in it? Few days ago?? It is grim reading.

Anyway, in with that, "strong men armed" by Robert Leckie. Covers the whole campaign but not as detailed as Mr Sledge. The author also fought in the campaign.
Grim but a good read imo. yes Such 'front line' records are always more insightful (and IMO interesting) than a recounting of events à la Ambrose.


BryanC

1,107 posts

237 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2015
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I've just finished 'Normandy 1944 - the road to victory' by Richard Doherty.

300+ pages of factual stuff that leaves you drowning in statistics, quotes, character references, military tactics and order of battle information. I had no doubt that this would be a very useful reference for Military History scholars but had to be tackled in pieces and put down frequently when my bedtime eyes started to droop.

What I hadn't read before, and this came out in the latter pages, is that there was a very good argument for mounting the D-Day invasion a year earlier in 1943. This was proposed as potentially quite possible as when Rommel arrived on the Atlantic Wall, he considered it was very weak and he initiated a serious programme of bunker building, beach defences, mines and so on, which our guys would probably not have had to face as they did in 1944. The book also elaborated on the early British and GI build-up and suggested we were ready 12 months before the invasion with forces in strength.

He then states the number of holocaust victims that might have been saved etc etc by being released a year earlier.

Just something for you to consider in this MH thread.
Liddel-Hart described a different point of view like this as 'the other side of the hill'.
Its worth a read.


Edited by BryanC on Wednesday 23 December 18:07

AlexHat

1,327 posts

118 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2015
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+1 to Sniper One - Dan Mills
Also in the same area (and mentioned in Dan's book) Barefoot Soldier - Johnson Beharry

If you've read Vulcan 607, I can recommend Rowland White's Storm Front

Elroy Blue

8,686 posts

191 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2015
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If you like aviation read Robin Old's book.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7709454-fighter...

A great book about a superb leader.

knight

5,205 posts

278 months

Friday 4th March 2016
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I'm currently reading two books,

Antony Beevor's "Ardennes 1945" and "Stuka Pilot" by Hans Ulrich Rudel

PanzerCommander

5,026 posts

217 months

Monday 14th March 2016
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I can second Geoffrey Wellums Book First Light, its very good.

A while ago I read Memoirs of a Panzer Commander by Hans Von Luck, it was a very interesting read, covers from the early stages of the war right up to his subsequent capture and eventual release by the Russians.

I have the promise of Adolf Gallands book, The First And The Last when my mate finishes reading it, supposed to be pretty good.

Flip Martian

19,505 posts

189 months

Thursday 31st March 2016
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Some great suggestions in here, thanks all. Some from me:

Colditz, The German Story by Reinhard Eggers - he was a guard there. Interesting counterpoint to the books by Major Pat Reid, for example.
Christmas Truce: The Western Front December 1914 by Malcolm Brown. Of course it couldn't last - but that first xmas was something quite different for both sides.
If This Is a Man / The Truce by Primo Levi. 2 books in 1 volume. Not an easy read - for the POW subject matter and the translation from Italian - but very moving and worth persevering with.
I Flew For The Fuhrer by Heinz Knoke - very readable account of a luftwaffe squadron leader, from idealistic soldier to a disillusioned man stretched to breaking point from all the sorties and seeing so many friends die. Riveting.
Somme Mud by E P F Lynch. Written by an Aussie conscript into WW1. Very well written.

Joey Ramone

2,150 posts

124 months

Monday 4th April 2016
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BryanC said:
I've just finished 'Normandy 1944 - the road to victory' by Richard Doherty.

300+ pages of factual stuff that leaves you drowning in statistics, quotes, character references, military tactics and order of battle information. I had no doubt that this would be a very useful reference for Military History scholars but had to be tackled in pieces and put down frequently when my bedtime eyes started to droop.

What I hadn't read before, and this came out in the latter pages, is that there was a very good argument for mounting the D-Day invasion a year earlier in 1943. This was proposed as potentially quite possible as when Rommel arrived on the Atlantic Wall, he considered it was very weak and he initiated a serious programme of bunker building, beach defences, mines and so on, which our guys would probably not have had to face as they did in 1944. The book also elaborated on the early British and GI build-up and suggested we were ready 12 months before the invasion with forces in strength.

He then states the number of holocaust victims that might have been saved etc etc by being released a year earlier.

Just something for you to consider in this MH thread.
Liddel-Hart described a different point of view like this as 'the other side of the hill'.
Its worth a read.


Edited by BryanC on Wednesday 23 December 18:07
Have a look at how many Divisions the Allies would have been able to land in Normandy in 1943. It was estimated by COSSAC at 3-4. Now have a look at how many divisions the Germans would have free to move to that region during that same period. Aside from the 46 that they had in the 'Western' theatre as a whole, there were another 14 or so in Italy in 1943. Without an Allied attack on Sicily and then Italy in July-Sept 1943, which in turn caused the collapse of the Italian Fascist Govt, those 14 Divs would have been free to sit in Western France, spread between Normandy and the Pas de Calais. No need for an Atlantic wall. Just vast numbers of tanks, artillery and troops able to move rapidly to whatever sector of the front was threatened.

One stat to bear in mind. The assault on Omaha Beach on 6 June very nearly failed. It very nearly failed because just one battalion of the German 352nd Div decided they were going to put up a fight. One battalion nearly shoved an entire Division back into the sea. Now imagine that instead of one battalion of the 352nd Div, it was an entire SS Division. And then replicate those force ratios along the entire length of the landing beaches.

Total carnage.

BryanC

1,107 posts

237 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
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Joey Ramone said:
BryanC said:
I've just finished 'Normandy 1944 - the road to victory' by Richard Doherty.

300+ pages of factual stuff ...............

Edited by BryanC on Wednesday 23 December 18:07
Have a look at how many Divisions the Allies would have been able to land in Normandy in 1943. It was estimated by COSSAC at 3-4. Now have a look at how many divisions the Germans would have free to move to that region during that same period. Aside from the 46 that they had in the 'Western' theatre as a whole, there were another 14 or so in Italy in 1943. Without an Allied attack on Sicily and then Italy in July-Sept 1943, which in turn caused the collapse of the Italian Fascist Govt, those 14 Divs would have been free to sit in Western France, spread between Normandy and the Pas de Calais. No need for an Atlantic wall. Just vast numbers of tanks, artillery and troops able to move rapidly to whatever sector of the front was threatened.

One stat to bear in mind. The assault on Omaha Beach on 6 June very nearly failed. It very nearly failed because just one battalion of the German 352nd Div decided they were going to put up a fight. One battalion nearly shoved an entire Division back into the sea. Now imagine that instead of one battalion of the 352nd Div, it was an entire SS Division. And then replicate those force ratios along the entire length of the landing beaches.

Total carnage.
Thanks Joey for the alternative view - my note was hypothetical but worth hearing with an open mind while we can assume that the Wermacht were still very mobile and could move quickly to any threat.

Following a holiday read of 'Watching War Films with my Dad' by Al Murray (AKA The Pub Landlord ) I've followed up one of his footnotes to read 'It Doesn't Snow in September' by Robert Kershaw which offers a German version of the Arnhem drop. So far so good and it has already hinted at how luck - good or bad depending on which side you are on, which leads to a successful military outcome.

Did anybody catch the BBC documentary on the work of Gordon Welshman, the lesser known genius at Bletchley Park and whose book on the Enigma was stopped and pulped, while he was treated shamefully. Its on BBC catch-up for the next 28 days :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b069gxz7

I was amazed to see that they sent a Spitfire over Germany, just to trigger a coded Enigma report which they could use as an intercept and as a starting point to break the transcript. Imagine the pilot briefing...a jolly over the channel, stooge around over Germany, come back and avoid any trouble...or something like that !

Military history remains a fascinating subject.

ClaphamGT3

11,269 posts

242 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
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Pursuit by Ludovic Kennedy. As well as being an accomplished journalist and author, Kennedy was a naval officer during the Second World War and served as 1st Officer in the destroyer Marshona during the Bismark action. pursuit is a gripping and excellently written 1st hand account of the action from Bismark's break-out through to her sinking.

I'd also call out Battle for the Falklands by Max Hastings & Simon Jenkins, Bomber Command by Max Hastings and U Boat Killer by Donald MacIntyre - again, excellent 1st hand history

2volvos

660 posts

200 months

Monday 23rd May 2016
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My two penneth worth...

Panther Soup by John Gimlette - more a travel book really, but based upon the route up from Marseille, through Alsace, Germany and Austria of an American tank commander, who accompanies the author.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/books/review/Whi...

A somewhat mixed review but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Battle of Britain - James Holland

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Britain-James-Holl...

This BoB history stood out for me (although there are some others that are really good and already mentioned in this thread) as it not just tells the story of the summer '40 air battle, but the land and sea battles that led up to it. The Battle of France is covered really well.

Paris After the Liberation - Beevor and Cooper

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Paris-After-Liberation-19...

Clearly covers more than just the wartime years, but brings home quite how messy and un-clear cut the aftermath of the Occupation was. From our position of hindsight it's clear who the Good Guys were after WW2, but on the ground at the time it was not so obvious, and the events that transpired weren't inevitable at all.

cardigankid

8,849 posts

211 months

Saturday 28th May 2016
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cardigankid said:
The River War by Winston Churchill
Rocket Fighter by Mano Ziegler
The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer - another vote for that one
Sagittarius Rising by Cecil Lewis
And:-

The Reason Why by Cecil Woodham Smith
I Flew for the Fuhrer by Heinz Knoke
Pathfinder by David Blakeley
Guerrilla Days in Ireland by Tom Barry
Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre - truth genuinely stranger than fiction

Edited by cardigankid on Saturday 28th May 21:29

cardigankid

8,849 posts

211 months

Saturday 28th May 2016
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Voldemort said:
Waterloo - Bernard Cromwell

Him of the Sharpe books has written a factual account of Waterloo. Good writer + great story = highly recommended book.

Napoleonic wars are not a subject I'm familiar with and Cromwell doesn't speculate, just gives you the facts as he found them (with numerous quotes from source material and a comprehensive list of sources): I was left with the impression that this wasn't so much a battle that Wellington won, but one Napoleon lost.
I agree - this is a remarkable book - Wellington famously said that to write the history of a battle would be like trying write the history of a dance. However that is exactly what Cornwell has managed to do and done it with a level of detail and vividness that brings it to life. Sharpe's Waterloo was a great book but this is even better.

For Wellington aficionados, you have read Jac Weller's trilogy Wellington in India, Wellington in the Peninsula and Wellington at Waterloo.

jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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^^^^^
Hmmm. Next on my audio books lists I think?

king_ZS

45 posts

92 months

Wednesday 27th July 2016
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If your interested in SF or Vietnam history.

Across the fence by John stryker Meyer.

PH5121

1,963 posts

212 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
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I enjoyed a book about WW2 which I read on my summer holiday, it was entitled 'Arnhem - The Battle for Survival' by John Nichol and Tony Rennell.