What are you reading at the moment?

Dunkirk - Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

Sub-titled Fight to the last Man.

This is a wide ranging and impressive book, rich with details and stories of the British and to a certain extent French fall back to the beaches of Dunkirk.

He not only includes the military situation but also the diolauge between the British and French Politicos and how that effect the troops on the battlefield.

A very good read and well worth the time and expense. I doubt if there will be an finer book on the subject, so it worthy of a place in any collection.

 

I've wondered about Flyboys - seems like a good read. I'm usually wary of such books about the USAAF as the seem to be a lot more gung-ho in comparison to the RAF memoirs and histories. I may have to give it a go.

Am in the middle of Hidden Victory: The Battle of Habbaniya by Air Vice-Marshal AG Dudgeon, about the defence of the RAF base at Habbaniya in Iraq by a small team of instructors of the No.4 Flying Training School based there during the insurrection by Iraqi rebels, and supported by the Luftwaffe.

And I really enjoyed Dunkirk, though it did take quite a while to read as I kept getting distracted.

 

Prisoners of the Japanese _ Gavan Daws

Sub-titled POWs of the Second World War in the Pacific.

I have to say that I did not really like this book, but I suppose that is because I read Surviving the Sword by Brian MacArthur which was by far a much better book.

But it does have its good points but not all that many. Still it fills in some details missed out by MacArthur and it was cheap from a book sale in the town!

 

Saw a piece in last weeks paper on a new film that's coming out called Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, written in 1938. Sounded good so I bought the new reprint of it from Persephone Books. I have just shamelessly enjoyed a 'women's novel' from the 1930's.

And now back to the ruddy pdf's on moorland ecology and management.

 

What was it about, Kitty?

I'm still on Owen's Down to Earth. Rather embarrassing as I got 50 pages into it, enjoyed it immensely, put it down (big mistake) and then got busy for a month! Back into it now and am immersed in the world of Mac!

 

Good to hear Andy. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

I've had some great feedback through my website of late and a letter from a BofB veteran who read it as well.

My enthusiasm to launch into the next book is absolutely peaking at the moment. These tales need to be told.

Cheers,

Owen

P.S. I won't tell you how it finishes

 

aww go on :>

Andy was basically about a 40year old spinster who gets sent to the wrong address for a job and ends up flowering and getting the life she has always wanted. Very Cinderella-ish. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Shame i can;t say the same for all the PDF's

 

Motorworld by Jeremy Clarkson for a change. I do find myself reading it like he speaks though complete with tonal changes of voice. The Clarkson style I guess you'd call it!

 

Alamein to the Alps - 454 Squadron RAAF 1941-1945 by Mark Lax.

 

Just finished reading Guests of the State : The Story of Allied and Axis Servicemen Interned in Ireland During World War II by T. Ryle Dwyer. What, at first appears to be just about the crews that were interned, ends up being a great analysis of the difficult position that the Irish State was in over the long years of the war, with poilitical pressure from both within and from outside to join either side.

It also highlights how personality played a major part in the political conflicts.

At the end of the day, one actually believes that the Luftwaffe internees behaved much better than the Allied ones. But don't think this is a dry book. There are some great, and sometimes hilarious, stories of escape attempts. And the case of the American pilot was ordered back to Ireland by his superiors because he had broken parole and hence had not acted like a gentleman.

This site was invaluable for filling in the gaps on the technical details like serial numbers, outcome of crews etc:

Aircraft Landings Ireland 1939 - 1946

 

I am now reading Beam Bombers: Secret War of No.109 Squadron: Michael Cumming

It is written in a completely different style to the above and its taken me a couple of days to get into it. The writing is quite lyrical actually. Haven't got to the "gripping" stuff yet, but still well worth the effort of hunting down a copy.

 

I have also picked up a copy (cheaper than retail but still damn expensive :frusty of Phoenix from the Ashes: The Indian Army in the Burma Campaign: Daniel P. Marston I intend to savour this one.

A full review Second World War Books Review

 

Reading Material

At present I am reading"Voices from the Fortress" by Paul Rea. The story of other Rank Escapers who when finally caught were put into a Czechoslovakian Concentration Camp.

Cost ; a gift from an Australian friend.:becky:

 

Night after Night - New Zealanders in Bomber Command by Max Lambert.

 

I'm reading "Gold Warriors: America's Secret Recovery of Yamashita's Gold" by Sterling and Peggy Seagrave. It's quite a read.

 

Dipping in and out rather than reading cover to cover is this book that I picked up because I thought it would be handy reference. But it's turned out to be well written and the narrative is quite readable:

Bombs Gone: Development and Use of British Air-dropped Weapons from 1912 to Present Day by MacBean & Hogben.

As its nearly 20 years old the last chapter or so is rather dated but the rest is an excellent introduction to the subject, especially as there's virtually nothing else out there on RAF ordnance.

I've also just picked up a rather tatty copy of STOLEN JOURNEY by Oliver Philpot. Philpot was one of the trio who escaped using the Wooden Horse (made famous by Eric Williams). And there's a few drawings by Ronald Searle (who did the original St Trinians drawings, and who was himself captured at Singapore).

 

Excellent pick up by the sounds of it, Kyt, even if it is a tatty copy. I managed the same with a tatty-ish copy of Reflections from a Darkened Cockpit recently. Was disappointed it was a bit dog-eared and scuffed but worth the effort!

 

Well, with not internet for four days, I've had the opportunity to catch up with some reading.

I finished Beam Bombers #111

I then read Amazon.co.uk: Coastal Ace: Biography of Squadron Leader Terence Malcolm Bulloch: Tony Spooner: Books in a day. It's a very good, and easy read written by a fellow Coastal Command and BOAC pilot who knew Bulloch well. The details of Bulloch's missions, and to some degree his personality, are well detailed. Well worth a read (if you can pick up a cheap copy).

Then I started two books. The first is RDFI - The detection of aircraft by radio methods 1935-1945: The Location of Aircraft by Radar Methods 1935-1945: Michael Bragg which is an excellent history of the development of RDF (The 1 in the title is for ground radar - RDF2 was airborne radar). It goes into the political, as well as the technical details. The technical aspects are detailed but not overly so - even a complete novice like myself could understand most of it.

The other book (for light relief) is The Forgotten French: Exiles in the British Isles, 1940-44: Nicholas Atkin which looks at the "myth" that all French exiles were supporters of De Gaulle. It starts by looking at the history of the small French exile communities over the last century or so. It then examines those french who were rescued at Dunkirk (of whom a very large number were either transported back to France to carry on fighting for the two weeks or so before the surrender, or elected to return to France after the surrender). It then goes on to examine the great divisions between the different French groups in Britain, and the problems De Gaulle had in establising himself as a leader of a viable army-in-exile.

I've also been dipping into the Bombs book I mentioned in an earlier post, and have had a browse through a book I received for free Amazon.co.uk: Even the Birds Were Walking: The Story of Wartime Meteorological Reconnaissance: John Kington,Peter G. Rackliff: Books

 

Kyt,

You're a reading machine!

Cheers,

Owen

 

Welcome back Kyt.

Your reaing 4 days, me a year!