Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => The Second World War => Topic started by: Helen on September 10, 2011, 11:49:26 PM
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Hello fellow adventurers. I was asked if I could start a new sticky with the above title.
So we can get the ball rolling so to speak we need to have a few guidelines.
Books that are reviewed must have mainly WWII content or be strongly related to WWII in a way that it would benefit the readers of this sub-section.
Wierd War II and What If stuff have its own section on the forum.
Books that are furthering revisionism or the like are not allowed. Moreover, books with a political content and in a WWII historical context are allowed.
Examples of interesting books that would be allowed: Uniform literature, Armoured Battles of WWII, Osprey series, WWII Battle Sites of Europa, Spanish Voulenteers on the Eastern Front, Historical OOB's etc.
Please remember if posting pictures you must insure you follow the guidlines set out in the use of symbols:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=9125.0
I hope you will find this thread informative as reviews are submitted for comment.
Cheers,
Helen
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Great idea :)
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Okay. A quick review of Gordon Rottman's US Combat Engineer in Osprey's Warrior Series.
As a WWII gamer, I found Rottman's book to be an excellent source on the organization, equipment, and capabilities of the WWII US combat engineer.
Our group recently ran a NWE game and deployed two US engineer squads. They were not organized as they shiould have been, but now with the new information they will be.
We found the list of MOSes and the different sets of equipment for Construction and demolition most useful for future planning.
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Very quick review of a book I recently read.
Attack on Pearl Harbor by Alan D. Zimm
The author is a former Operational Researcher for the US Navy the attack is dissected in planning, execution, objective and evaluation. Lot of wargaming stuff like damage modelling, attack procedures and hit percentage. He also discuss japanese wargaming prior to the operation and his points have much more sense than Fuchida and Prange (and he completes Parshall and Tully exposure of Fuchida the liar...).
He made interesting comment about selection of targets (BBs were the main objective Carriers were just an after tought), lack of proficency by Japanese pilots and lot of problem in the entire operation. Also defective and wrong japanese loads (Egusa's 16 Val wasted their non armor piercing bombs on the Nevada, several torpedo planes fixated on the target ship Utah).
All in all a very interesting reading and a perfect primer to WW2 naval combat for the wargamer.
Note: as an historian I would call it "revisionist" because he challenge several accepted "truth" about pearl harbor, but every new historical research is a revision of previous knowledge. I fear a certain british author has tainted the term as can we, please please, switch from "revisionist" (itself a neutral term) to a better definition of what cannot be posted?
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I'll start with one of my absolute favourites.
'With The Scots' - A Soldiers Struggle For Europe 1944-45. Peter White.
A vivid and graphic account written by an officer at the sharp end of the KOSB actions, from the battle for Walcheren right through to the bitter end at Bremen. Very readable, full of detail, sad, gripping and very worthwhile. Lots of details of the actions and people involved.
The original manuscript was apparently hidden away for 50 years.
Highly recommended. A book that I come back to often.
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Two other interesting read thanks to SOAS library:
"The Battle for Wau" and "On To Salamua" by Mark Philip Bradley. Cracking good stuff. They have to be read in roder and you get a feeling of the Salamua campaign. First class historical writing with awesome maps (especially in Wau) and good referencing. You have also one action involving the Papuan Regiment.
Have to say I am really impressed by the book published by the Australian Army Historical Unit.
Arrigo
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"Quartered Safe out here" George MacDonald Fraser
The Flashman Chronicles author's experiences with the Northumbrian Reg't against the Japanese
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If you can find a copy, I highly recommend Behind the Burma Road, by Peers and Brelis. This is the story of OSS Detachment 101. Showing how they worked with the local populations, e.g., the Kachins, against the Japanese. An excellent read.
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In the same vein, 'Beyond the Chindwin' by Bernard Fergusson is a superb, first-hand account of the first major Chindit operation, 'Operation Longcloth'. It is written by the column commander, from diary notes his own recollection and, unusually, was written just days after the operation itself in 1943, so the information is still fresh in the author's mind.
It is not a balanced view of the Chindits or the war, it is an unapologetically subjective story of one column's experiences and I found it completely absorbing. It's not in print any more, but second hand copies can be picked up for under a tenner.
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As a reference book, undoubtably the best I've ever come across is - 'For King and Country: British Airborne Uniforms, Insignia and Equipment in World War II'. It's not cheap (I got mine for a bargain price of £25), but is the single most comprehensive guide I've ever encountered, in any genre.
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Still reading 'Crucible of Fate' by Andy Johnson. It is set in and around Sword beach on D-Day, written by an ex-soldier it is a cracking read featuring both British and German points of view from a number of characters whose stories intertwine.
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"The Last Battle" by Stephen Harding
A well written book by the author detailing an unusual episode during the very last days of the war set in the Austrian Alps in which French honor VIPs are being held in a castle aptly named Schloss itter by SS guards.
The setting is played out in the castle being defended by members of the Austrian resistance, Austrian soldiers in Wehrmacht service, one SS officer, one American Sherman Tank plus crew with four US tank riders and the French honor VIPs against elements (approx company plus support elements) of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division "Götz von Berlichingen."
This could easily be turned into a scenario for wargamers wishing to game something a little different.
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"The Last Battle" by Stephen Harding
A well written book by the author detailing an unusual episode during the very last days of the war set in the Austrian Alps in which French honor VIPs are being held in a castle aptly named Schloss itter by SS guards.
The setting is played out in the castle being defended by members of the Austrian resistance, Austrian soldiers in Wehrmacht service, one SS officer, one American Sherman Tank plus crew with four US tank riders and the French honor VIPs against elements (approx company plus support elements) of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division "Götz von Berlichingen."
This could easily be turned into a scenario for wargamers wishing to game something a little different.
I heard about this history. The only time in WWII when Germans fought Germans. Would make an absolutely awesome movie, too.
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Just finished Berlin by Antony Bever and found it a superb read.
Had expected when i first picked it up to be yet another history of the fall of Berlin in 1945 but the book is much,much more than that and covers the late stages of WW2 in Europe in a manner which is hard to put down and covers both the Western and Eastern fronts. Along with the broad sweep of history you are also given individual eye witness accounts of the events from all the nationalities involved in the final stages of the war in Europe from the High command, individual soldiers, through to civillian population.
Well worth a read
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Whilst i realise this is an old post, if anyone wants a PDF copy of my book 'The Holland Patch' about the 2nd Battalion the South Staffordshire Regiment at Arnhem, send me a message with your email, its been published once about 13 years ago, and i was going to republish it, but ill health etc etc kicked it into touch, one thing no maps or pics in the PDF, just a damn good read, if i say so myself.
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Ive had the pleasure of reading this book, available from Amazon, it's a very heavy and large book, packed with information and photographs and put together extremely well, whilst its price may seem high, its certainly not for what you get.
http://guardsmagazine.com/bookreviews/booksummer16_01Tunisia.html
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I'll start with one of my absolute favourites.
'With The Scots' - A Soldiers Struggle For Europe 1944-45. Peter White.
A vivid and graphic account written by an officer at the sharp end of the KOSB actions, from the battle for Walcheren right through to the bitter end at Bremen. Very readable, full of detail, sad, gripping and very worthwhile. Lots of details of the actions and people involved.
The original manuscript was apparently hidden away for 50 years.
Highly recommended. A book that I come back to often.
I totally agree with all you have said abo e an amazingand evocative book. White was a South African artillery officer who found himself transferred to a Kings Own Scottish Borderers bn in 1944.
His book reminds me of Ambrose's 'Band of brothers' and would make a great film, the only major problem is its British, and if portrayed correctly the Scots would all have very strong accents which would need sub titles to make sense! Having been and Englishman in a Scottish Bn, I can tell it can be hard work.
Any one interested in the British infantry in the late war really should have this book. Incidentally the author was an artist by profession and the drawings in the book are all from his collection many done at the time.
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I'll agree with the recommendations for "With the Scots" and add a couple more
Hell in Hurtgen Forest: The Ordeal and Triumph of an American Infantry Regiment by Robert S Rush. Very detailed account of the fighting in the Hurtgenwald by the US 22 Infantry Regiment. It is revealing for his analysis of the US replacement system as well as the fighting.
D-Day to Victory: The Diaries of a British Tank Commander - Sgt Trevor Greenwood, based on diaries kept during the fighting from Normandy through to VE day in Europe so giving a feel for the day to day life in a tank regiment.
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I have just finished reading "Come to Dust" by Robin Maugham. It is a slightly fictionalised (names changed and a few real life persons merged into one character) account of his time in 4CLY serving in North Africa. The author took part in Operation Crusader as a troop leader (in a Crusader regiment as it happens) and in Gazala as the regiment's IO (with much dashing about in a scout car). It is a gripping narrative combining vivid descriptions of actions he was involved in with nitty gritty detail of what desert service was like and some personal reflections. The book was written from the author's hospital bed as he recovered from wounds sustained in the Gazala battles and published in 1945. Out of print, of course, but highly recommended and well worth tracking down if you can find a second hand copy. Mine was ex-library stock found on the internet.
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"Brazen Chariots by Robert Crisp". It's essentially a diary of one Honey troop commanders experiences during the desert Crusader battles. It really gives you an idea of what it was like in a tank during these confusing and sometimes terrifying battles. I dig this one out every two years or so just for a good read.
"Guns of Normandy", "Guns of Victory" and "Where the Hell are the Guns" are books by Canadian George G. Blackburn. He was an artillery officer with the 3rd Canadian division in Normandy and Holland. A gritty and extremely personal experience of what it was like in Normandy and after. He details how the guns worked and the devastation a full AGRA (Army Group Royal Artillery) could do the the Germans. A lowly FOO could call in an SOS and get every gun within range to hit a target the size of a football pitch in a few minutes.
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Review of Jason D Mark's Island of Fire: The Battle for Barrikady Gun Factory. (Leaping Horseman Books)
Note: this is not a boast that I own this rare book. It was a pain to get, I have hunted book shops and car boot sales for ages in the hope of getting it, then my wife ruined my game and bought a copy from the author in Australia.
This book only covers a 3 month period of the battle, but in that time so much blood was shed by both sides for what rubble remained of the gun factory, and the drama and tragedy experienced by soldiers there makes for incredible reading.
Mark explains how he personally interviewed many German and Russian veterans to get as many first hand accounts as possible. He researched low level formation reports from both sides, and concentrates on smaller unit movements rather than large scale operations. Admittedly this book is more orientated around the German Pioneer battalions and their stories, as Mark states, we do not have many records from German section commanders.
As an ex soldier myself, I genuinely had to put the book down a few times, as the graphic descriptions from the veterans really made me think about that level of suffering, and how I would not wish that upon anyone. It also gave me even more respect for the soldiers of the Eastern Front, to fight in that environment with minimal support, food or ammunition must have been horrendous.
Each soldier who is mentioned or interviewed is annotated with their date of birth, and date of death/ MIA. Just reading these margin passages, clocking the age of some of these soldiers makes it more real than many of the books I have read. There are hundreds of pictures and maps, even detailing which corner of a certain house on the map was manned by whom. An incredible attention to detail, I would not be doing it justice by trying to describe every faucet.
The to and fro, and brutality of the house to house fighting, is explained well, describing individual actions, after a while of reading the maps and units, you can almost see the action in your mind's eye. Keen attention to detail to soldiers equipment and weaponry is a great addition, as by that point it was very safe to assume that no one in the Barrikady area was using standard SOP kit, accounts of the Germans preferring the PPsH are rife in the book. Mark's approach really does give a feel of a grunt's perspective. It does not linger too long on the overarching battle raging through Stalingrad, but holds a microscope over one fiercely contested area.
It is a flipping expensive book. And it has taken me a year to get through it without damaging it. But it has been worth every penny, as I have yet to read so detailed an account on any battle in Stalingrad yet, and arguably have not read a book that has forced me to empathize so much with the soldiers who fought so bravely there.
If you are interested in the Stalingrad theater, I cannot recommend this enough.
Jay.
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I am not sure if anyone has mentioned this book about the Malaya Campaign: Japan's Greatest Victory/Britain's Greatest Defeat (Amazon: https://amzn.to/2MSHTwu). It's by Masanobu Shuji the Japanese Colonel in charge of the operation. The speed at which the Japanese army advanced down the Malay peninsular is amazing and described in quite some detail. Stepping away from the military history, it is also interesting to see that Shuji glosses over the Japanese atrocities that were carried out on the civilian population and gives you an insight into how some of the Japanese army saw the war they were fighting. I used the book when I was researching the fall of Singapore and, as I mentioned, if you read between the lines, it's an interesting take on the campaign.
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Thanks for your review.
Having spent a period of time posted in Malaya it was good to tour some of the battles.
All the best,
Helen
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I got interested in the Malaya campaign and the fall of Singapore when I worked there myself about ten years ago. I spent my weekends visiting the battlefields of a campaign that I knew very little about before.
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I was there in 1980 and 1985.
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Kokoda - by Peter Fitzsimons
This is an account of the fierce fighting on New Guinea in late 1942, between a rag-tag group of Australian reservists and regular infantry, and a well equipped Japanese invasion force determined to force their way south across the jungles and mountains to reach Port Moresby, a valuable harbour, airfield and possible launchpad for operations against Australia. It is gripping and evocative and a fascinating account of a battle not widely known outside Australia.
A word of caution though; Fitzsimons is an enthusiastic, one might even say fanatical, republican and his anti-British and anti-American sentiment drips from the pages. Whilst rightly attempting to highlight an important Australian victory that was rare in that it was directly defending a threat to the Australian mainland rather than the broader Allied aims of the war, he rather over-plays his hand and displays wilful blindness to the importance of broader strategic aims. There is great bitterness in his writing towards the fact that Australian military decisions were part of a larger scheme which meant that Australian troops were posted elsewhere by senior commanders, which in his view meant they were protecting British or American interests, not Australian. If you can get past his lack of military understanding and unashamed partisanship (which is understandable, it's an Australian book for an Australian readership after all), it's a good read and well worth the time.
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I'm currently reading 'Barbarossa' by Alan Clark (deceased now but he was a Tory MP and notable, ahem, 'swordsman').
It's pitched very much at how the various generals and Hitler directed the invasion of Russia and covers a lot about how internal disagreements affected the campaign. That said, it is very readable and although it emphasises the history in military history (if that makes sense) more than I would usually like, I would recommend it.
I've got a couple of Osprey to read next (one of the Gebirgsjager books and one on the Caucasus) but after that I'm looking at buying Beevor's Stalingrad.
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When Paris went dark, the city of light under german occupation 1940-44
Ronald Rosbottom.
So far quite a good read, , will do a full report when complete
Cheers
Matt
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My current wargaming project is centered around the participation of the 1st Canadian Division in Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. Of the many resources I've enjoyed in doing my research, my favourite sources are two books by Farley Mowat, The Regiment and And No Birds Sang. Mowat was commissioned to write The Regiment as a history of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment in WWII, and he followed up several years later with And No Birds Sang as a more personal memoir of his experiences in the war.
The Regiment recounts the experiences of the Hasty Pees throughout the war, and is full of detailed descriptions of the battles in which the regiment participated, lots of scope here for creating wargame scenarios. Mowat is a great story teller, which managed to land him in hot water through his long writing career from time to time as he wasn't always one to let facts get in the way of a good story. I've not heard of any challenges of his WWII books, but since his other writing has been challenged for accuracy, it's worth taking these books with a grain or two of salt.
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My current wargaming project is centered around the participation of the 1st Canadian Division in Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. Of the many resources I've enjoyed in doing my research, my favourite sources are two books by Farley Mowat, The Regiment and And No Birds Sang. Mowat was commissioned to write The Regiment as a history of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment in WWII, and he followed up several years later with And No Birds Sang as a more personal memoir of his experiences in the war.
The Regiment recounts the experiences of the Hasty Pees throughout the war, and is full of detailed descriptions of the battles in which the regiment participated, lots of scope here for creating wargame scenarios. Mowat is a great story teller, which managed to land him in hot water through his long writing career from time to time as he wasn't always one to let facts get in the way of a good story. I've not heard of any challenges of his WWII books, but since his other writing has been challenged for accuracy, it's worth taking these books with a grain or two of salt.
Interesting to hear your thoughts on this. Thank you.
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I remember reading "And No Bird's Sang" over thirty years ago and several passages still resonate in my memory. Farley Mowat was a wonderful story teller and I found this book, at times to be harrowing and utterly wrenching.
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I'd certainly give 'Death Traps' by Belton Cooper a check. The book follows the advance of the 3rd Armored Division, from their humble beginnings at the shore of England and all through their journey as Operation Spearhead. It's essentially Cooper's memoirs of service as a leading member of the mechanic and recovery team. The stories within paint a very grim reality of the tragic war and tell of many brave and, questionably stupid, soldiers as they fight the battles through the advance on German territory.
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As its that time of year where modellers oftren have to provide ideas for a relative as to a Christmas present just got the Landcraft series book on the Sdkfz 234 series of armoured cars and on a quick flick through it looks excellent.
Nice color pics of colour schemes, some fine builds, lots of BW detail pics and some interesting details on unit allocations.
L