Tag archives for oral history
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 At the age of 19 he joined 4/8th Gurkhas at Kohima just as they were withdrawn to rest.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.…
Book Review – Behind the Lines by Russell Miller
Behind the Lines: The Oral History of Special Operations in World War II by Russell Miller My rating: 4 of 5 stars A very interesting collection of first hand accounts by those involved with the Special Operations Executive or the OSS special operations during WW2. The book is split into chapters covering broad themes or areas of operation. Maquisards (Resistance fighters) in the Haute-Savoie département in August 1944. Third and fourth from the left are two SOE officers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Almostall of the book is in the direct quotation from the various special operationspersonnel. There is a broad range of people interviewed for the book, most of them only appear to have been used in one section, although a couple may have been used more than once. This shows the attitudes they had to the work and the people that…