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A very good military read

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A very good military read

Old 13th Sep 2018, 07:08
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Please try via Air-Britain historians. I understand he is a member.
be lucky
Daavid
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Old 10th Oct 2018, 19:14
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Angry Operation Big by Colin Brown

ISBN 978 1 4456 8285 3 Amberley Publishing
What a corker. The Race to Stop Hitlers A Bomb. Reads more like a James Bond Novel than fact. for instance. 21st June 1940 SS Broompark Ex Bordeaux arrives Falmouth bearing. The entire stock of Norwegian Heavy Water liberated from France, all of the French nuclear research archive and 27 French nuclear scientists all gathered in by Wild Jack Howard 20th Earl of Suffolk and a swashbuckler of the first swash. He aslo incidentally comes home with working examples, drawings and spare parts for the 20mm Hispano cannon plus 600 tons of American machine tools destined for the French aero industry and 'liberated' from the dockside. As if that's not enough excitement Werner Heisenberg he of the Uncertainty Principle, subjects Leipzig to to an atomic blast in 1943 when a small experimental reactor with no scram facility runs away and blows up. Pictures available on Bing!
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 10:11
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Biography of Lord ("Sam") Elworthy due out end of October, should be an interesting read. However, a very good read IMHO is Anthony Furse's biography of Wilfrid Freeman. Without Freeman I suspect we might have lost the air war, and thus been defeated by Germany

Last edited by Wander00; 24th Jan 2019 at 14:58.
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Old 23rd Jan 2019, 07:52
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"Malta Spitfire" by George Buerling & Leslie Roberts. ISBN 978-1-906502-98-0

Have to recommend this one; just read it and could not put it down. The biography of George "Screwball" Buerling, written in 1943 and therefore has some of the raw emotions that can be lost in other biographies written after WWII had ended.
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Old 23rd Jan 2019, 18:18
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WanderOO. Can you offer an ISBN for the biog of Wilfred Freeman,please ? Regards.
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Old 23rd Jan 2019, 19:51
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cafesolo - My copy's ISBN is 1-86227-079-1. BTW it's Wilfrid, not Wilfred
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Old 23rd Jan 2019, 22:44
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Across an angry sea by Lt Gen Sir Cedric Delves experiences when he led D Squadron 22 SAS during the Falkands War. os well worth a read. Very descriptive book not just about the battles he and his men fought but also of the environment they operated in.
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Old 24th Jan 2019, 09:35
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Innominate. Thank you. Have ordered.
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Old 24th Jan 2019, 14:59
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And I have amended to Wilfrid
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Old 24th Jan 2019, 16:55
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May I humbly recommend to anyone suggesting books of interest to include the ISBN number ? I went first to "Just Books.co.uk. to find No Trace. Then to Amazon,the same. When Innominate set out the ISBN (post 484,above ) I returned to Just Books to find a whole page of offers for this publication,mostly offered through Amazon. And magic ! From nothing to another full page. Incidentally, the prices offered at Just Books were marginally more than the prices at which Amazon were dealing.

Thank you,WanderOO,for the amendment.

Happy reading to all Ppruners. Cafesolo.
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Old 8th Feb 2019, 13:10
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Another good military read - from a different perspective

Tales of daring do, punching holes in the sky, pressing on regardless and wizard heroics are all part and parcel of the the military aviators life. There is a pleathora of good reads out there ....but sometimes, something a little gentler can put things into perspective especially when viewed from the ground. John Mount's novel "Rig a dig dig (Boy Entrant Blues)" does just that

It's a novel largely about the 'rites of passage' suffered by 16 year old boys joining up at time of great social change, but where old and sometimes cruel traditions were paramount ensuring the continuation of the higherarcic "Entry System" of Boy training. It is set at St Athan during the early sixties where the main character joins up with the 45th Entry and we follow him through ITS, the Wings, workshops and graduation to his first posting. As an ex BE myself, there are so many "been there, done that, got the t-shirt" moments that it took me very little time to read. (It is pretty obvious that much of it is based on Johns own experiences as a B/E with the 45th) Having said that, it IS a novel and should appeal to many outsiders who just like a good read. My good lady is reading it now and she asked if it really was like that back in the day. She is a good few years younger than me and she said it gave her a great insight to my early 'formative' years in the Air Force. Apparently, she understand me much better now!!!!

Those of you who have gone through the B/E or Apprentice training of the 50s and 60s should find it very entertaining and will nudge at the memory banks a bit. If you went through St Athan in those times you WILL find so much comes flooding back. Those of you who were direct entry, Cranners, Sleaford Tech or whatever might just have their eyes opened a bit.

A word of warning, the layout is a little random at times as John has self published, but, as I say, well worth a read.

Available as paperback only through Amazon books but very reasonably priced at around £6:50.
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Old 8th Feb 2019, 14:35
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Originally Posted by Hamish 123
Totally agree, Murray Peden's book is fantastic. Really strong on the day to day minutiae of the training process, and then being on a heavy bomber squadron. You have to constantly remind yourself that the author was only 18/19 at the time, and a pathfinder captain on Halifaxes! Brilliant book.


Halifaxes? I must have read the wrong book.
Stirlings and B 17s, and not Pathfinders either.
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Old 8th Feb 2019, 17:32
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Tempting. The 45th were 'Senior Entry' when I arrived at Saints in Jan 63 (48th Entry).
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Old 9th Feb 2019, 09:09
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Mike Brooke has kindly sent me a copy of his latest book "Flying Past" as a "fund raiser" for RAFA Sud Ouest France. I could not resist a quick look:it recounts his experiences display flying in aircraft from the earliest days of flying to (then) modern jets. Fascinating stuff as there is a lot about the flight characteristics of very different aeroplanes. Usual disclaimer but strongly recommended. My copy is on order. (ISBN 978 0 7509 8768 4)

(His previous 4 books are very readable too)

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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 19:34
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A very good military read

A review of Ladies of Lascaris: Christina Ratcliffe and the Forgotten Heroes of Malta's War: This account of the life of an interesting lady and acquaintances set against the backdrop of the Second World War siege of Malta is a ‘good read’: all that an author may expect. The thread of the story, Christina Ratcliffe, is interesting in itself but superimposed on the well-researched situation of Malta at war it creates a tale of the indomitable spirit of the population.

The story of a young girl, perhaps a little feckless but strong in character, travelling so widely in the 1930s would be interesting enough. This story shows how she develops into a charismatic lady under very difficult conditions who helped create an entertainment group in the early part of the war and became a watch supervisor in the plotting room of the wartime Air Headquarters of the most bombed area in the world.

Her romantic involvement with an RAF pilot and the dangerous life he led is well recorded without being mawkish. Her commitment to Warburton is shown to be complete making the decline of her later years more poignant and touching.

To complete the story, creating a real feel for the time, the recollections of various characters living in Malta makes for a complete picture of how people of different callings were affected by the privations of a siege that lasted for over two years.

I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys a good factual human story set against a fascinating account of a crucial period of history.
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Old 24th Feb 2019, 06:52
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My contribution:

Novels:
Convenant with Death- John Harris. The life and death of a New Army Battalion on the Somme. Loosely based on the Leeds Pals.
Bomber- Len Deighton. Covered already.

Non Fiction:
To the victor the spoils- Sean Longden. The 21st Army Group in NW Europe 1944-45. More of a 'social history'- you won't look at a WW2 vet in quite the same way again.
Singapore Burning- Colin Smith. Staggering incompetence at virtually every level. Hardly anyone comes out of it with any credit although it does shed a slightly better light on Arthur Percival and the bum deal he got dealt. Also deals in detail with the loss of the PoW and Repulse in detail.

Favourite quote: Apparently Arthur 'Bomber' Harris and Adm Tom Phillips had served together prior to going their separate ways and frequently had animated discussions about the battleship vs aircraft debate. After one such debate an exasperated Harris said Tom, one day you'll be standing on the bridge of your battleship and it will be sunk by torpedo carrying aircraft. As you slip beneath the waves your last thought will be "That was a f*****g big mine".
Whilst not a great fan of Harris and if true, I did think it rather good.
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Old 3rd May 2019, 11:18
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A leader from the front Col Robin Olds

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Old 8th May 2019, 22:05
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"The Earth Is Weeping" : Peter Cozzens"
The epic story of the Indian Wars of the American West. A very readable and interesting book. Nothing to do with flying but it is military. Over 500 pages but it reads very easily and gives the story from both sides. it was quite an eye opener to me just how much the disunity amongst the tribes contributed to their own downfall. Highly recommended.
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Old 9th May 2019, 05:45
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Sagittarius Rising

Sagittarius Rising by Cecil Lewis RFC WW1

No Moon Tonight by Don Charlwood RAF WW2
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Old 9th May 2019, 12:42
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Jackw106, thank you for the YouTube video of Christina Olds' tribute to her Dad. So full of love and pride, and rightly so. I would commend it to all, never mind the book itself on which her presentation is based.

You need to put aside an hour and threequarters to do so, which I only realised when she wasn't half way through, but you won't regret it, and I defy anyone who does so to have a dry eye at the end of it. His headstone is surrounded by bottles and coins. You bring a fresh bottle to replace an empty one, you drink a toast and "Throw a Nickel on the Grass...". Most will know why, just watch the video if you don't. Hell, watch the video even if you do!
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