Tag archives for History - Page 2
Since I Bore Arms by Robert Holding [book review]
Since I Bore Arms by Robert Holding My rating: 5 of 5 stars Since I Bore Arms is an anonymised personal account of the France 1940 campaign by an infantry private soldier. The author was a private in an infantry battalion sent to France in late April 1940. The account is unusual in that very few ordinary soldiers wrote about their experiences. Since I Bore Arms The narrative is a day by day account from getting orders to embark for France until his return to the depot in the UK after being evacuated from the beach at Dunkirk. Holding doesn't name his battalion, and he has changed the names of all those mentioned. As an ordinary soldier he didn't know much of the big picture, and usually didn't know where his unit was. What he does cover is how far…
A Child At Arms by Patrick Davis Book Review
A Child at Arms by Patrick A. Davis My rating: 5 of 5 stars A Child At Arms should be on reading lists for junior officers and anyone involved in military policy. It compares well to Sydney Jary's 18 Platoon, which was held up as an excellent example of a platoon commander's war by the British Army. A Child At Arms - review Gurkhas advancing with tanks to clear the Japanese from Imphal-Kohima road India (Photo credit: Wikipedia) In A Child At Arms Patrick Davis gives a his imperfect memory of his time in the army. Davis came straight out of school into officer training, and volunteered to join the Gurkhas in the Far East. At the age of 19 he joined 4/8th Gurkhas at Kohima just as they were withdrawn to rest. Davis is very honest in his account.…
The Nazi Hunters by Damien Lewis [Book Review]
The Nazi Hunters by Damien Lewis My rating: 4 of 5 stars A very well researched account, with a lot of detail on the SAS operations in the Vosges. While it does cover the post-war war crimes investigations most of the book is actually about the period leading to the war crimes. This is very interesting, and shows how they were operating and why so many SAS soldiers ended up in enemy hands. It also sort of explains the personal nature of the SAS War Crimes Unit's all consuming involvement in hunting down the perpetrators. The Nazi Hunters The defendants at the Nuremberg War Crime Trial in Nuremberg, Germany (Photo credit: Wikipedia) The Nazi Hunters is well researched, but it's wrapped in a little hyperbole about it being a previously untold and largely unknown story. During WW2 Hitler issued an…
Henley Fort WW2 Experience with Year 6
I went to Henley Fort with my son's Year 6 class earlier today. Year 6 at Furzefield Primary School are just finishing their WW2 history module, they've studied WW2 since September. So today was a WW2 experience for them all to get a practical feel for what it was like being a member of the Home Guard or an ARP Warden. Henley Fort do both, and we split into two groups and had an hour and a half taster of each one. About Henley Fort Henley Fort is one of the outer London defences built in the late 19th Century, similar to Reigate Fort. It's up the hill behind the city centre in Guildford. The Forts were originally built as mobilisation centres, and artillery batteries, if the UK was invaded. They saw a bit of a revamp during WW1 and…
New Bookshelf – Bookshelves Abound = #Shelfie 06
The Bookshelves Abound series continues with the New Bookshelf. This one of the five bookshelves on the upstairs landing. It sits between the Academic Bookshelf and my Writer's Bookshelf. New Bookshelf the new bookshelf, where the new (to me) books go awaiting their turn to be read (or shelved elsewhere). The New Bookshelf is where I put all my new books when I first acquire them. It's perhaps the most overloaded Games The top two shelves of the new bookshelf has board games on it. Some of these are very old, I started playing Panzer Blitz & Panzer Leader when I was at university (1989-92). Most of the others have been acquired in 1990s, although there are some recent acquisitions, notably Shogun and Settlers of Catan. Periodicals There are two journals on these shelves. The one that you can see most…