From the Battlefield to the Big Screen - Audie Murphy, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh and Dirk Bogarde in WW2

From the Battlefield to the Big Screen - Audie Murphy, Laurence Olivier, Vivien

Leigh and Dirk Bogarde in WW2 written by Melody Foreman and published by

Frontline Books - £22 - Hardback - Pages 248

Look closely behind the lives of the stars who appeared in a host of legendary war films

and discover how memories of their real-life experiences in the armed forces were

haunted with heartbreak and yet filled with extraordinary heroism. Just what did America’s

most decorated soldier Audie Murphy go through in battle which led him to star as himself

in the classic war film, To Hell and Back?

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Murphy joined the US Army aged just 17. He went on to fight at Anzio, the Colmar Pocket, and Nuremberg. And for single-handedly holding off an enemy attack he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. But Murphy’s military and celebrity stardom did little to extinguish the pain of his private battle to fit in to a new post-war world he perceived as disappointing, shallow and unfulfilling. Tormented by PTSD Murphy was a man unable to escape from his past. Only the great director and decorated wartime documentary maker John Huston gained Murphy’s true respect.

When war broke out on 3 September 1939, a number of British stars, including Laurence Olivier, his future wife Vivien Leigh, and David Niven, were in the United States under contract to the Hollywood Studios. Keen not to ‘shirk their duties at home’, and against advice from the British Consul, they made their way back to Blighty.

Olivier joined the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm as a pilot. Then with Churchill’s approval he directed and starred in powerful propaganda films, including Shakespeare’s Henry V. In 1943 the beautiful Vivien Leigh ruined her health by enduring the brutalities of the North African climate to entertain the troops in the desert. Meantime, Dirk Bogarde was a British Army intelligence officer seconded to the pioneering RAF Medmenham where he studied aerial photographs and pinpointed enemy targets for Bomber Command. As Lieutenant van den Bogaerde he was posted to France just after D-Day. He went on to star in many leading war films such as Appointment in London (1953) and King and Country (1964). Years later in 1991 Sir Dirk Bogarde was interviewed by the author of this book. He had witnessed the horrors of Belsen in April 1945 and said it changed his attitude to life forever.

In this book, the author honours the real-life stories of some big screen idols who showed true grit behind the glamour.

This book takes a look at four individual film stars and their lives as military figures and and their roles as Hollywood film stars. The book takes a look at all four people Audie Murphy, Laurence Oliver, Vivean Leigh and Dirk Bogarde, and they all come into the war at various times and hold different roles in  different arms of the forces. The book was an interesting one and it was nice to read about their experiences, but the book didn’t really grab my interest, I think this is maybe because I don’t really have much knowledge of the four stars and this book might be aimed more at older readers.

Women Interned in World War Two Sumatra

Women Interned in World War Two Sumatra written by Barbara Coombes
and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 272

Thousands of women and children were among those who struggled to leave

Singapore just before capitulation on February 15 1942; their hope was to reach

safety. For many that hope was never realised; countless numbers drowned as

ships were bombed and sunk on their way to ‘safety’. The ‘lucky’ ones who

survived the onslaught of the ships would become guests of the Japanese; many

of these would not live to see the end of the war.

Two very different women fleeing on those last ships and subsequently interned in

camps throughout Sumatra were Margaret Dryburgh, a missionary and teacher, and

Shelagh Brown, a secretary at the Singapore Naval Base. Their paths crossed briefly

prior to the catastrophic events of 1942 and met again in internment. The ‘Captives

Hymn’ composed by Margaret Dryburgh was initially sung by herself along with

Shelagh Brown and friend Dorothy MacLeod on 5 July 1942. It has since been sung

at services throughout internment and continues to be sung at services all over the

world. Music and faith were fundamental to both their lives and Margaret’s creative

talents lifted the spirits of everyone during those dark and difficult days.

In a remarkable partnership, when the women were struggling to find something new

that would lift their flagging spirits, Margaret and fellow internee Norah Chambers

produced a ‘Vocal Orchestra’ using women’s voices in place of instruments. The

first performance stunned the entire camp; they had never heard anything so

beautiful and momentarily made them feel that they were free and floating away

with the music.

This true account, using personal diaries and family documents traces Margaret

Dryburgh and Shelagh Brown’s journey from childhood through to adulthood and

internment. Early life shapes adult life and perhaps contributed to their response to

captivity which showed courage, tenacity, perseverance and surprisingly, given the

appalling conditions, a good deal of humour.

Women Interned in World War Two Sumatra follows the story of two women
from Singapore that had been living there but were trying to flee when the
Japanese invaded in 1942. The story follows Margaret Dryburgh and Shelagh
Brown, two quite different women bought together by harsh circumstances.
We see how the two women try to keep their spirits up during a time of
confinement, we learn how the two women grew up from children and how
they became strong women and what they had to go through from primary
sources and personal accounts. I found this book/story to be quite a moving
one, and if you want to learn what life is like as a prisoner in a camp in a
foreign country, this book is certainly up there with the best of them. It has
certainly been quite a moving book to read.

Land Craft 11: Pakwagen SDKFZ 234/3 and 234/4 Heavy Armoured Cars German Army, Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe Units - Western and Eastern Fronts, 1944–1945

Land Craft 11: Pakwagen SDKFZ 234/3 and 234/4 Heavy Armoured Cars

German Army, Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe Units - Western and Eastern Fronts,

1944–1945 written by Dennis Oliver and published by Pen & Sword Books -

£16.99 - Softcover - Pages 64

Experience in the Polish and French campaigns had convinced the German high

command of the value of fast-moving, armed reconnaissance vehicles. But it was

realised that many of the early designs were too lightly-armed and development

of a heavy eight-wheeled prototype resulted in the Sdkfz 234 series of armoured

cars, the first of which entered service in late 1943. Built by the firm of Büssing-NAG,

these sturdy and reliable vehicles were gradually up-armed and served in the

infantry support role and eventually as tank killers, largely as the result of Hitler's

desperation to arm as many vehicles as possible with anti-tank weapons.

Drawing on official documentation and unit histories Dennis investigates the

formations that operated these vehicles and uses archive photos and extensively

researched colour illustrations to examine the markings, camouflage and technical

aspects of the Sdkfz 234/2, 234/3 and 234/4 armoured cars that served on the

Western and Eastern Fronts in the last months of the war. A key section of his book

displays available model kits and aftermarket products, complemented by a gallery

of beautifully constructed and painted models in various scales. Technical details

as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also

examined, providing everything the modeller needs to recreate an accurate

representation of these historic vehicles.

This book follows the same format as all the previous books, which I must state is an excellent format. Although I might not be a huge modeller fan, I build a few a year. But I love reading these books, you get a history run-through, drawings in various stages and design, camouflage designs dependent on the theatre of war, various photos of the machine in real life, photos of the models in various scenarios and then you get detailed information/tables about the numbers and where they were allocated. These are really first-class books, and if I find them incredibly helpful the avid modeller must love them. 

This particular book looks at the rarely mentioned Pakwagen from the German army, now I can see these as being an asset in North Africa or wide open space terrains like you would find on the Eastern front because you need vehicles to be quick and agile. In my opinion, it looks like a beefed-up Land Rover/Jeep with a big gun, so I can see its benefits in certain battles and landscapes. But I can see them being taken out quite quickly. I’ve really enjoyed this book and certainly one for the avid modeller.

The Ocean Class of the Second World War

The Ocean Class of the Second World War written by Malcolm Cooper

and published by Seaforth Publishing - £30 - Hardback - Pages 216

They entered the vanguard of the Allied shipping effort at a time when the German U-boat

threat was at its most dangerous, and British shipping resources were stretched to the limit.

They were deployed in the North Atlantic, on the long supply routes around Africa to the

Middle East, in the Russian convoys, in operations in support of the invasions of North

Africa and Italy and the land campaigns which followed, in the D-Day landings and later

amphibious operations on the south coast of France. Finally, some of the class joined an

invasion force making its way towards Malaya when Japan surrendered in August 1945.

The Oceans paid a heavy price for these accomplishments, one third of the class being

lost to torpedoes, bombs or mines in places as far apart as the Florida coast, the Norwegian

Sea, the Bay of Algiers and the Gulf of Oman.

While these achievements alone would merit an important place in histories of the war at sea, the impact of the Oceans stretched far beyond the direct contribution of the ships themselves. The yards where they were built also served as models for a series of new American shipyards, designed to mass produce cargo vessels with such speed and in such volume as to completely reverse the mathematics of attrition, which had run so badly against the Allies into 1942. Even more important, the Oceans’ blueprints were used as the basis for the American Liberty ship, the 2,700-strong fleet which finally tilted the balance of the war at sea decisively in the Allies’ favour and went on to underpin the post-war renewal of the world merchant fleet.

This comprehensive new history, based on extensive archival research and lavishly illustrated with contemporary photographs, restores the Oceans to their rightful place in history. The ships’ design antecedents are explained, and their ordering, financing and construction are analysed in full. Wartime operations are covered in depth, by theatre and with full details of war losses and other casualties. The book concludes with an assessment of their subsequent peacetime careers and a comparison to other war-built designs. This is a model history of a highly significant class of ship.

The Ocean Class of the Second World War was certainly an interesting book, and a very comprehensively published book. This book looks at the cargo type sea-going ships, the book goes on to explain how Britain had a minimum number of these and so had to try and get a good number of these made as the country headed into WWII. The problem was that Britain had specific specifications it wanted, and where the US was the place to go, they were reluctant to build such ships. This would lead to the UK purchasing a number of yards in the US & Canada to build what they wanted specifically, and eventually, the US would come round to the British way of thinking and would eventually build similar ships to similar designs. The book is fully illustrated with photographs, pictures, plans, drawings and diagrams, the history, story and text supporting all this is informative and detailed. This book is a very good and easy read, one I quite enjoyed learning more about. A certainly recommended read.

Republished from 9th September.

Baldur von Schirach - Nazi Leader and Head of the Hitler Youth

Baldur von Schirach - Nazi Leader and Head of the Hitler Youth written by

Oliver Rathkolb published by Frontline Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 240

Hitler made the eighteen-year-old Baldur von Schirach the offer he was hoping for, telling him

the party needed young men like him. The young man snapped up Hitler’s invitation and

enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks of the National Socialist Party, marrying Henriette

Hoffmann, the daughter of Hitler’s personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann.

In 1930 he was appointed “Reich” youth leader, and as Hitler’s loyal servant he harnessed the Hitler Youth for the ‘brown revolution’. He dreamt of a fascist Europe under German leadership and as Gauleiter of Vienna he had the city’s Jewish population deported to the death camps while enriching himself with looted Jewish art collections. But his independence of mind and artistic ideals led to tensions between Berlin and Vienna.

In 1946, Baldur von Schirach stood trial at Nuremberg, where he offered a crafty defence, confessing his role in the rise of National Socialist ideology and attacking Adolf Hitler but denying involvement in the murder of Jews. As a result, he escaped execution and was sentenced to twenty years in prison for crimes against humanity.

In the 1960s, he emerged from Spandau prison to great media attention, but he would later die in obscurity. In this critical biography, Oliver Rathkolb uses previously untapped archive material to examine a controversial figure who used his keen media savvy to paint a favourable picture of himself after the war. The book traces how this key figure in the National Socialist propaganda machine was shaped by the German political milieu – before going on to shape German youth.

Baldur von Schirach was the ‘Reich’ youth leader, a somewhat suspicious character and someone you wouldn’t necessarily trust. Schirach was a young man, only 18 when he was given a position of power and I think his ability to get on with what he wanted gave him a chance to have the power but also allowed him to keep himself at arms length which would come out after the war ended. This after all was a devious and racist person, but like lots of people of this kind, they’re happy to do the crime but will happily do anything to avoid the time. After the war, he got away with only prison time, which shows how some people got away with a lot. His time leaving prison was one he thought he could exploit, but he ended up dying in obscurity, while this might sound good, at the end of the day he got away with murder. A fascinating read into someone who doesn’t get much attention.

Kitty Fisher - The First Female Celebrity

Kitty Fisher - The First Female Celebrity written by Joanne Major and published

by Pen & Sword Books - £22 - Hardback - Pages 208

Generations of children have grown up knowing Kitty Fisher from the nursery rhyme,

but who was she? Remembered as an eighteenth-century ‘celebrated’ courtesan and

style icon, it is surprising to learn that Kitty’s career in the upper echelons of London’s

sex industry was brief. For someone of her profession, Kitty had one great flaw: she

fell in love too easily.

Kitty Fisher managed her public relations and controlled her image with care. In a time when women’s choices were limited, she navigated her way to fame and fortune. Hers was a life filled equally with happiness and tragedy, one which left such an impact that the fascinating Kitty Fisher’s name still resonates today. She was the Georgian era’s most famous – and infamous – celebrity.

This is more than just a biography of Kitty Fisher’s short, scandalous and action-packed life. It is also a social history of the period looking not just at Kitty but also the women who were her contemporaries, as well as the men who were drawn to their sides… and into their beds. In this meticulously researched, lively and enjoyable book we discover the real woman at the heart of Kitty Fisher’s enduring myth and legend.

An interesting read looking at the influence and some could say the start of what a celebrity culture could bring albeit a Georgian one. The book follows the story of Kitty Fisher, a celebrity made famous at the time, this book which also featured other women at the time is a fascinating look not only of women in society back then but also at the social history of the time, a time that was dominated by men, and women stayed indoors. A fascinating read.

Reading Hitler's Mind - The Intelligence Failure that led to WW2

Reading Hitler's Mind - The Intelligence Failure that led to WW2 written by

Norman Ridley and published by Frontline Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 240

Most strongly associated with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, it is often stated that

Britain’s policy of appeasement was instituted in the 1930s in the hope of avoiding war

with Hitler’s Nazi Germany. At the time, appeasement was viewed by many as a popular

and seemingly pragmatic policy.

In this book the author sets out to show how appeasement was not a naïve attempt to secure a lasting peace by resolving German grievances, but a means of buying time for rearmament. By the middle of the 1930s, British policy was based on the presumption that the balance of power had already dramatically shifted in Germany’s favour. It was felt that Britain, chiefly for economic reasons, was unable to restore the balance, and that extensive concessions to Germany would not satisfy Hitler, whose aggressive policies intensified the already high risk of war..

The only realistic option, and one that was clearly adopted by Neville Chamberlain, was to try to influence the timing of the inevitable military confrontation and, in the meantime, pursue a steady and economically sustainable programme of rearmament. Appeasement would ‘buy’ that time for the British government.

Crucially this strategy required continuously updated and accurate information about the strength, current and future, of the German armed forces, especially the Luftwaffe, and an understanding of their military strategy. Piercing the Nazis’ veil of secrecy was vital if the intelligence services were to build up a true picture of the extent of German rearmament and the purposes to which it might be put.

The many agents, codebreakers, and counter-espionage personnel played a vital role in maximising the benefits that appeasement provided – even as war clouds continued to gather. These individuals were increasingly handed greater responsibility in a bid to inform British statesmen now scrambling to prepare for a catastrophic confrontation with Germany.

In Reading Hitler’s Mind, Norman Ridley reveals the remarkable efforts made by the tiny, underfunded and often side-lined British intelligence services as they sought to inform those whose role it was to make decisions upon which the wheels of history turned.

This was quite a fascinating read in that it looks at the outbreak of World War Two from a diplomatic viewpoint with regard to the diplomatic services. A department that was in reality underfunded at this time sought to give advice and set the boundaries and aims to the then prime minister Chamberlain. The book also looks at the German intelligence side of things as well as the British role in the run-up to war, and what is good is that we see information about the various conferences and what came about from them. But at the end of the day, Hitler would do what he wanted, so it is intriguing to see how some people were fooled. An excellent book and quite thought-provoking, and certainly a book I would recommend.