D-Day, Arnhem & The Rhine

D-Day, Arnhem & The Rhine written by Robert F. Ashby and published

by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 176

Foot soldiers, commandos, parachutists, naval seamen, bomber and fighter pilots –

their varied personal experiences of the Second World War have been widely recounted,

and the parts they played in the conflict are well known. But there are specialized wartime

roles that have received very little attention, notably the gallant actions of the men of the

Glider Pilot Regiment. That is why Robert Ashby’s rare and vivid pilot’s memoir is so

valuable. In it he offers a fascinating insight not only into the major operations he took

part in – including D-Day, Arnhem and the Rhine crossing – but into the exacting flying

skills required to carry out perilous glider landings on enemy territory while under fire.

His account of his hair-raising training, together with his pen-portraits of his comrades and officers, takes the reader inside the world of a ‘citizen soldier’. The glider landings at Arnhem and the intense fighting that followed are the climax of his narrative, offering us a remarkable insight into one of the most controversial Allied disasters of the entire war.

This book is about the life of Robert Ashby, a pilot who was involved in Operation Market Garden and the Operation on D-day in Normandy, what makes a difference to these is that they are the personal papers and writings of this airman. Ashby was lucky in that due to the mess of Market Garden, he wasn’t captured in Arnhem and managed to make it back to Britain. His thoughts on this particular part of his life are interesting in that we know how hard it was to take the bridges in Arnhem and many were under threat from the Germans. But this shows the importance of personal papers from individuals such as Robert Ashby.

This 177-page book was an interesting book and one you don’t really hear much about in his role as a glider pilot, but a quite interesting read. I would recommend this book as you don’t often get books about this role in the war.

Ethel Gordon Fenwick

Ethel Gordon Fenwick written by Jenny Main and published by

Pen & Sword Books - £22 - Hardback - Pages 200

A great nursing reformer, Ethel Gordon Fenwick was born before the age of the motor

car and died at the start of the jet age. When she began her career, nursing was a vocation,

unregulated with a dangerous variety of standards and inefficiencies. A gifted nurse, Ethel

worked alongside great medical men of the day and, aged 24, she became the youngest

matron of St Bartholomew’s hospital London, where she instigated many improvements.

At that time, anyone could be called a nurse, regardless of ability. Ethel recognised that

for the safety of patients, and of nurses, there must be an accepted standard of training,

with proof of qualification provided by a professional register.

Often contentious, Ethel was a determined woman. She fought for nearly thirty years to achieve a register to ensure nurses were qualified, respected professionals. A suffragist and journalist, she travelled to America where she met like-minded nursing colleagues. As well as helping to create the International Council of Nurses, and the Royal British Nurses Association, she was also instrumental in organising nurses and supplies during the Graeco-Turkish War, and was awarded several medals for this work. Thanks to her long campaign for registration, a year after her death nurses were ready to take their place alongside other professionals when the National Health Service began in 1948.

A lovely little book about a nursing pioneer and forerunner of high stands and hard work. Ethel would see her nursing profession as almost on a par with the doctoral profession, she saw training, standards, nursing care and professionalism as the essential ingredients to lifting the whole nursing to the high standard it needed to be. This book is written with a lot of facts and evidence which shows there has been a lot of research put into the book and it’s very well written. It would be good to see this book get more notice so that the likes of Ethel Gordon Fenwick are not forgotten but given the respect and recognition she deserves.

How Britain Shaped the Manufacturing World

How Britain Shaped the Manufacturing World written by

Phillip Hamlyn Williams published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback -

Pages 256

The peoples of the British Isles gave to the world the foundations on which modern

manufacturing economies are built. This is quite an assertion, but history shows

that, in the late eighteenth century, a remarkable combination of factors and

circumstances combined to give birth to Britain as the first manufacturing nation.

Further factors allowed it to remain top manufacturing dog well into the twentieth

century whilst other countries were busy playing catch up. Through two world

wars and the surrounding years, British manufacturing remained strong, albeit

whilst ceding the lead to the United States.

This book seeks to tell the remarkable story of British manufacturing, using the Great Exhibition of 1851 as a prism. Prince Albert and Sir Henry Cole had conceived an idea of bringing together exhibits from manufacturers across the world to show to its many millions of visitors the pre-eminence of the British. 1851 was not the start, but rather a pause for a bask in glory.

This book traces back from the exhibits in Hyde Park’s Crystal Palace to identify the factors that gave rise to this pre-eminence, then follows developments up until the Festival of Britain exactly one century later. Steam power and communication by electric telegraph, both British inventions, predated the Exhibition. After it came the sewing machine and bicycle, motor car and aeroplane, but also electrical power, radio and the chemical and pharmaceutical industries where Britain played a leading part.

What a really fascinating book that looks at the manufacturing world from the 1850’s through to the 1950’s. Piggybacking on the industrial revolution that saw Britain expand and grow greatly, saw the expansion of the manufacturing industries such as Coal, Metals, Textiles, Glass, Electrical and so on. It was really interesting and reading about some big companies and industries and how they started, some are now long gone but some are still around today. 

This book begins from the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace and continues for the next 100 years and covers the inter-war years too. There were some nice photographs to accompany the text which I probably would have liked to have seen more of. But overall, this has been an interesting read and I would recommend it to others if you enjoy this period of history.

The Men Who Flew the Heavy Bombers

The Men Who Flew the Heavy Bombers written by Martin W. Bowman and

published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 220

Martin Bowman’s considerable experience as a military historian has spanned over

forty years, during which time he has amassed a wealth of material on the participation

by RAF and Commonwealth and US 8th and 15th Air Force crews in the series of

raids on the cities and oil transportation and industrial targets in the Third Reich,

culminating in ‘Round-the-Clock’ bombing by the RAF, operating at night on the

largely forgotten Stirling, the gamely Halifax and ultimately the more successful

Lancaster, and the US 8th Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator crews

by day on a target list so long and wide-ranging that it defies the imagination.

Hundreds of hours of painstaking and fact-finding research and interviews and correspondence with numerous airmen and women and their relatives, in Britain, America and beyond has been woven into a highly readable and emotional outpouring of life and death in combat over the Third Reich as the men of the RAF and Commonwealth and American air forces describe in their own words the compelling, gripping and thought-provoking narrative of the Combined Bomber Offensive in World War Two, which resulted from the RAF nocturnal onslaught and the American unescorted precision attacks on targets throughout the Reich until the P-51 Mustang escort fighters enabled the 8th to assume the mantle of the leading bombing partner in theatre.

Half of the U.S. Army Air Force's casualties in World War II were suffered by Eighth Air Force, with in excess of 47,000 casualties, with more than 26,000 dead. RAF Bomber Command lost 55,573 men killed out of a total of 125,000 aircrews and 8,403 wounded in action while 9,838 became prisoners of war.

RAF and American bomber crews could therefore be forgiven for thinking they had won a pyrrhic victory; one that had taken such a heavy toll that negated any true sense of achievement, though, if nothing else, the human effort spent by RAF Bomber Command and the Eighth Air Force did pave the way for the Soviet victory in the east.

The good thing about any of these ‘The Men Who Flew’ books by Martin Bowman is that you get another side of the story, rather than the battles or official details of warfare. You get the actual stories of bravery, worry and the social changes of men having to go to. Of course, these different planes all different types of pilot skills whether you're flying an English Lightning or a USAAF Heavy Bomber. What you also have in this book is the stories of the American pilots flying over here in a foreign country to them and having to learn about the new ways of being in a different country.

What you have is a number of very different stories, some sad, some euphoric being experienced by the American airmen. So not only were they having to participate in a war, they were having to learn to be accepted in a foreign country, where US servicemen weren’t always welcomed by everyone. I find these books fascinating and enjoy hearing from the flyers of these machines and the stories are always told in a detailed but fun way making them an easy read. An excellent book and recommended very much.

Himmler - Hitler's Henchman

Himmler - Hitler’s Henchman written by Ian Baxter and published by

Pen & Sword Books - £14.99 - Softcover - Pages 119

Heinrich Himmler has a strong claim to be Adolf Hitler’s most powerful subordinate.

He was certainly the main architect of the Holocaust. Appointed Reichsfuhrer-SS in

1929 he built the SS into a million strong paramilitary force and took control of the

Nazi concentration camps system. From 1943 he became Chief of German Police

and Minister of the Interior with command of the Gestapo as well as the

Einsatzgruppen, who committed appalling atrocities and murder in occupied Eastern

Europe and Russia.

Despite his lack of military experience in the closing stages of the War he was appointed by Hitler as Commander of Army Group Vistula. Realising the war was lost, Himmler attempted to open peace talks with the Allies. Learning of this, Hitler dismissed him of all his posts in April 1945. Detained and arrested by British forces, he committed suicide on 22 May 1945.

The wartime career of this cruel and capable man is captured brilliantly with contemporary fully captioned images in this Images of War series work.

A book about one of the most evil men in history, Heinrich Himmler was one of Adolf Hitler’s henchmen, one of the chosen few for the Third Reich. Himmler was the one who became the main architect for the campaign to rid the world of the Jewish population as he took control of the Nazi concentration camp system. Along with this he was also responsible for the SS, German police system and Minister of the Interior and also headed up the detested Gestapo & Einsatzgruppen. As you can see he certainly wasn’t the nicest of men to know in life. 

The book does look at his early life for a moment but the three chapters in the book, concentrate on the early invasion of the East, being the architect of Genocide and his role as War Lord. The information in the book is very comprehensive and detailed and is supported throughout with a great number of photographs which is primarily what the aim of the book is. But my only downside of the book is many of the photographs are very similar, it reminds me of a Tory minister being shown around workplaces during an election campaign so that the workers can wonder at the visiting gentry. But to be honest, most of these photos seem to be official-type publicity photos, so one shouldn’t really be surprised. I love the Images of War Series, and even this book I should think fits nicely into the range.

D-Day Gunners

D-Day Gunners written by Frank Baldwin and published by Pen & Sword Books

- £25 - Hardback - Pages 272

Part history book and part travel guide, D-Day Gunners is aimed at anyone interested

in the artillery on the D-Day beaches and landing grounds. While the heritage of the D-Day

beaches and landing sites is well documented, this rarely includes the artillery story.

The author of this book aims to correct this by providing a visitors' guide to the artillery

stories associated with the battlefield heritage that remains on the D-Day beaches,

mapping the fire-plan for D-Day against the known German locations, and looking

at what happened at these places.

There is relatively little explanation about the role of the artillery in general or the deeds of artillerymen, in particular those of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. This book tells of the significance of artillery on D-Day and the part it played in the outcome. Initial reports published stressed that the coastal defences were effectively neutralized by the bombing and that no significant counterattacks developed on D-Day. However, post-war accounts increasingly attributed allied success to allied firepower.

The book tells the story of the men who served the guns on the D-Day beaches, and the effects they had on the outcome of the battles on D-Day and afterwards. This volume is primarily about British Gunners and certain German Kannoniers. The book has been written as a guide to the battlefields on the D-Day beaches and landing grounds, telling the gunners’ stories that are not always commemorated on memorials, interpretation boards, or recorded in more general guides. These poignant stories include war poets and heroes decorated for bravery, or just the tales of some of the men buried in the war cemeteries or commemorated on the memorials. It also provides a guide in lay terms of the technical impact of field anti-tank and AA artillery on the war.

A second volume will tell the story of artillerymen on the American beaches and landing grounds.

This book covers the D-Day operations of World War Two, looking primarily at the locations of the landing grounds and the artillery used in the early morning attack. It looks at the importance of the artillery and tells the stories of the men manning the artillery units from both sides, which often gets forgotten about.

The book also serves as a battlefield guide that tours along the various beaches used for landings and then looks at the artillery guns & firing plans used. The book contains a large number of photographs, plans and maps which really do help explain the information though out and then does a great review of the beaches used. This feels like a thoroughly detailed and comprehensive book and in my very humble opinion, this has the look, feel and detail of a really decent book that would sit on the top of anyone's book on the D-Day subject. 

The Real Gladiator - The True Story of Maximus Decimus Meridius

The Real Gladiator - The True Story of Maximus Decimus Meridius written

by Tony Sullivan and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 -Hardback -Pages 208

“Are you not entertained?” shouts Russell Crowe, playing the part of General Maximus

Decimus Meridius in the Oscar winning 2000 film Gladiator. The crowd, having

witnessed Maximus defeating several gladiators, cheer in response. Film goers

too were indeed entertained with the film grossing nearly half a billion dollars. This

book covers the historical events that film was based on. From the Germanic wars

on the northern frontier to the gladiatorial arena in Rome. From the philosopher emperor,

Marcus Aurelius to the palace intrigues during the reign of his son. We will discover

how Commodus really died and which of the characters actually fought in the arena.

Readers will meet two generals, Pompeianus and Maximianus, who most resemble our hero General Maximus. Also Lucilla, the sister of Commodus, who in reality married her General, but detested him. The book also focuses on warfare, weapons and contemporary battles. It will compare the battle and fight scenes in the film with reality from contemporary sources and modern tests and reenactments.

The reader will discover that fact is not only stranger than fiction, it is often more entertaining. The real history was certainly as much, if not more, treacherous, bloodthirsty, murderous and dramatic than anything the film industry has created. Anyone who answered “yes!” to the question posed by Russell Crowe’s character in the film, will indeed be entertained by this book.

This book is based upon the man Maximus Decimus Meridius, now while you might have seen the film Gladiator, which was fictional, this book is based upon the true story of the man and his life. A really fascinating and gripping read this book explains his life, career and what he managed to achieve. We read about army life, being a gladiator, Marcus Aurelius, taking part in the gladiatorial games, fighting and warfare all tidily done in seven chapters. The book contains a good number of pictures, diagrams and maps which really do add to the overall story. This was a well-written book by the author Tony Sullivan, who I have read before and I find him an excellent writer and to the point on most things. If your into Roman history you should really like this book, it’s not often you get such a good book about an individual soldier.