March Past! Memoir of a Commando Leader from Lofoten to Dieppe & D-Day

March Past! Memoir of a Commando Leader from Lofoten to Dieppe & D-Day

written by Lord Simon Frazer and published by Frontline Books - £25 -

Hardback - Pages 400

At the outbreak of war in 1940, Simon Frazer, the 15th Lord Lovat and a former

Guards officer, was mobilized from the reserve list to join the Lovat Scouts, the

British Army’s first sniper unit that had been formed by his father during the Boer

War. The following year he volunteered for one of the new Commando units then

being created.

Lovat was personally involved in the training of the Commando troops on the West coast of Scotland. He was eventually attached to, and led, No.4 Commando. On 3 March 1941, Nos. 3 and 4 Commando launched a raid on the German-occupied Lofoten Islands. In this successful attack, Operation Claymore, the commandos destroyed fish-oil factories, petrol dumps, and even eleven ships. They also seized encryption equipment and codebooks, as well as captured 216 German troops.

Promoted to temporary major, Lovat led 100 men of No.4 Commando and a 50-man detachment from the Canadian Carleton and York Regiment in a raid on the French coastal village of Hardelot in April 1942. For this action he was awarded the Military Cross on 7 July that year.

Lord Lovat was involved in further raids against the German-held French coast, most notably Dieppe, during which No.4 Commando destroyed the coastal battery at Varengeville-sur-Mer in a text-book commando attack. This resulted in Lovat being awarded the DSO.

Such was the effect the Commando raids had on German morale, Lovat had 100,000 Reichmarks placed on his head, dead or alive.

Promoted to brigadier, Lovat formed the 1st Special Service Brigade (later the 1st Commando Brigade) which stormed ashore on D-Day to secure the eastern flank of the attacking forces. In this, he famously instructed his personal piper, Bill Millin, to pipe the commandos and himself ashore, in defiance of specific orders not to allow such an action in battle. In the subsequent fighting Lovat was seriously wounded, effectively ending his active career.

March Past! Is a book about Simon Frazer, the 15th Lord Lovat who would become on of

the original men who help set up and train young Commando soldiers based up in Scotland.

In fact if you read those old Commando comic books as a kid, Lord Lovat was one of those

men the comic books could have been based upon. His career, where he fought, what he did

and achieved were feats of heroes. This book is based upon his memoirs and they have

been put together in a great way that shows the real portrayal of a real hero who achieved

some astounding feats in WWII. The other thing that stood out was this was a man who was

blessed with being from a ‘higher’ position, and yet he was one of those men who mixed well

with his fellow soldiers, he was one of the guys. A really good book put together well and

really sells the story of a real hero.

Hitler's Henchmen - Nazi Executioners and How They Escaped Justice After WWII

Hitler's Henchmen - Nazi Executioners and How They Escaped Justice After WWII

written by Helmut Ortner and published by Frontline Books - £18.99 - Hardback -

Pages 136

Helmut Ortner reveals a staggering history of perpetrators, victims and bystanders in

Hitler’s Germany. He explores the shocking evidence of a merciless era – and of the

shameful omissions of post-war German justice.

Johann Reichhart was a state-appointed judicial executioner in Bavaria from 1924 until the end of the war in Europe. During the Nazi era, he executed numerous people who were sentenced to death for resisting National Socialism, including many of those involved in the 20 July 1944 bomb plot on Adolf Hitler.

As a member of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, the SS organisation responsible for administering the concentration and extermination camps, Arnold Strippel served at a number of locations during his rise to the rank of SS-Obersturmführer. These included Natzweiler-Struthof, Buchenwald, Majdanek, Ravensbrück and Neuengamme, where he was responsible for murdering the victims of a series of tuberculosis medical experiments. Like Reichhart, Erich Schwinge was also involved in the legal sphere during the Third Reich. A German military lawyer, in 1931 he became a professor of law and, from 1936, wrote the legal commentary on German military criminal law that was decisive during the Nazi era.

Aside from the part they played in Hitler’s regime, these three men all had one further thing in common – they survived the war and restarted their careers in Adenauer’s Federal Republic of Germany.

In Hitler’s Henchmen, Helmut Ortner uncovers the full stories of Reichhart, Strippel, Schwinge and others like them, Nazi perpetrators who enjoyed post-war careers as judges, university professors, doctors and politicians. Had they been gutless cogs in the machinery of the Nazi state, or ideologized persecutors? Ortner reveals that it was not only their Nazi pasts that were forgotten, but how the suffering of the victims, including resistance fighters such as Georg Elser and Maurice Becaud, and their relatives was suppressed and ignored.

This book looks at various people that were part of the Nazi regime managed to escape blame and carry on a significant lifestyle after the war. The whole book was well written and quite interesting, with quite a bit of research gone into it in what is usually a complicated Nazi regime, but I should probably say that I preferred the second half of the book. Which veered off more into two lesser known assassination attempts on the life of Hitler. In summary I liked this book and I found it quite interesting, but I felt it was two books in one.

Hurricanes in Action Worldwide

Hurricanes in Action Worldwide written by Adrian Stewart and published by

Pen & Sword Books - £22 - Hardback - Pages 224

The Hawker Hurricane was the RAF’s most valuable fighter asset in the Second World

War, yet even today is relatively under-appreciated by the general public. Yet from the

early months of the war it was the single engine fighter most often encountered by the

Luftwaffe and during the Battle of Britain it made 80% of the successful interdictions of

enemy formations.

As this superbly researched book written by a leading authority on the air war reveals, this was only the start of the Hurricane’s war service. Its reliability and versatility ensured that variants saw action in more war theatres worldwide than any other fighter. Indeed, as the RAF’s Official History recalls ‘Everywhere the Ubiquitous Hurricane was to be seen’.

This book follows the ‘Hurri’ to Russia, Malta, North Africa and as far afield as Burma, Sumatra and Java.

Seaborne versions fought in the Battle of the Atlantic and defended the Mediterranean convoys. In the ground attack role Hurricane fighter bombers made countless sweeps over occupied Europe. Pilots’ first-hand accounts supplement the text.

Readers are left in no doubt as to the massive contribution that the Hurricane made to ultimate victory.

As the blurb says on the back of the book, the hurricanes were the planes of the RAF that were doing the donkey work of the flying rather than the ‘glorious’ Spitfire that gets all the praise. This book intends to sell the hurricane to the reader which it does do a great job in doing, as it talks about the heroes, the dogfights and we hear all the stories from around the world where the hurricanes had a strong influence. But there was a minor point for me in the book and that was that it seemed to be missing something, maybe there was a lack of characters, or maybe it was just me and all we wallow in is the glories of the Spitfire. But other than that this was a good read, and it was nice to read about the Hurricane rather than the Spitfire. The book has enough good pictures, and those who are big fans of the Hurricane will enjoy this book.

Landscapes of the Norman Conquest

Landscapes of the Norman Conquest written by Trevor Rowley and

published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 368

For a long time, the Norman Conquest has been viewed as a turning point in English

history; an event which transformed English identity, sovereignty, kingship, and culture.

The years between 1066 and 1086 saw the largest transfer of property ever seen in

English History, comparable in scale, if not greater, than the revolutions in France in

1789 and Russia in 1917. This transfer and the means to achieve it had a profound

effect upon the English and Welsh landscape, an impact that is clearly visible almost

1,000 years afterwards.

Although there have been numerous books examining different aspects of the British landscape, this is the first to look specifically at the way in which the Normans shaped our towns and countryside. The castles, abbeys, churches and cathedrals built in the new Norman Romanesque style after 1066 represent the most obvious legacy of what was effectively a colonial take-over of England. Such phenomena furnished a broader landscape that was fashioned to intimidate and demonstrate the Norman dominance of towns and villages.

The devastation that followed the Conquest, characterised by the ‘Harrying of the North’, had a long-term impact in the form of new planned settlements and agriculture. The imposition of Forest Laws, restricting hunting to the Norman king and the establishment of a military landscape in areas such as the Welsh Marches, had a similar impact on the countryside.

This is an extraordinary book, the amount of detail, research and knowledge is fantastic. To me as someone interested in local history and knowledge this book is perfect and packed with detail. It was really good to find out how the Normans would want to put their own stamp on a new country, just like other groups that have invaded previously. Even something little like learning how the Normans wanted a presence in most towns, it was good to read the reasons why and how. Or learning about burghs, hundreds & wapentakes, and how land was divided up on a Norman basis. The book contains a really good number of photographs both black & white and colour, along with good detailed maps. The bibliography was also very useful and I will be diving into that too for more local research. As I said I found this book to be a really good read and very informative, I will definitely be re-reading this one and can only recommend this book to everyone.

The Fortress Kingdom - The Wars of Aethelflaed and Edward the Elder, 899–927

The Fortress Kingdom - The Wars of Aethelflaed and Edward the Elder, 899–927

written by Paul Hill and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback -

Pages 248

In this the second part of his four-volume military and political history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Paul Hill follows the careers of Æthelflæd, Alfred the Great’s eldest daughter, and Edward the Elder, Alfred’s eldest son, as they campaigned to expand their rule after Alfred’s death. They faced, as Alfred had done, the full force of Danish hostility during the early years of the tenth century, a period of unrelenting turbulence and open warfare. But through their military strength, in particular their strategy of fortress building, they retained their hold on the kingdom and conquered lands which had been under Danish lords for generations.

Æthelflæd’s forces captured Derby and Leicester by both force and diplomacy. Edward’s power was always immense. How each of them used forts (burhs) to hold territory, is explored. Fortifications across central England became key. These included Bridgnorth, Tamworth, Stafford, Warwick, Chirbury and Runcorn (Æthelflæd) and also Hertford, Witham, Buckingham, Bedford and Maldon (Edward), to name a few.

Paul Hill’s absorbing narrative incorporates the latest theories and evidence for the military organization and capabilities of the Anglo-Saxons and their Danish adversaries. His book gives the reader a detailed and dramatic insight into a very sophisticated Anglo-Saxon kingdom.

This is an incredibly well written and researched book about early British history involving

Aethelflaed, Alfred the Great’s daugther & Edward the Elder. This is the time around

Aethelflaed’s emergence and chance to expand the kingdom, during a period in which

she had to contend with the Saxon’s being present. The book looks at her dominance

politically and militarily, and I enjoyed learning about how influence played a big part

with how the emergence of wanting a strategic presence in various towns around

England to gain a presence and influence with the local population through the

building of burghs. This book is the second part of 4 books and this book has been

a brilliant read and has been thoroughly enjoyable and learn from. Most certainly

recommended.

Naval Eyewitnesses - The Experience of War at Sea, 1939–1945

Naval Eyewitnesses - The Experience of War at Sea, 1939–1945 written by

James Goulty and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 264

Although many books have been written about naval actions during the Second World

War – histories and memoirs in particular – few books have attempted to encompass

the extraordinary variety of the experience of the war at sea. That is why James

Goulty’s viv-id survey is of such value. Sailors in the Royal Navy and the Merchant

Navy experienced a war fought on a massive scale, on every ocean of the world, in a

diverse range of ves-sels, from battleships, aircraft carriers and submarines to merchant

ships and fishing boats. Their recollections are as varied as the ships they served in,

and they take the reader through the entire maritime war, as it was perceived at the time

by those who had direct, personal knowledge of it.

Throughout the book the emphasis is on the experience of individuals – their recruit-ment and training, their expectations and the reality they encountered on active service in many different offensive and defensive roles including convoy duty and coastal de-fence, amphibious operations, hunting U-boats and surface raiders, mine sweeping and manning landing and rescue craft. A particularly graphic section describes, in the words of the sailors themselves, what action against the enemy felt like and the impact of casualties – seamen who were wounded or killed on board or were lost when their ships sank.

This is an excellent book about life in the Royal Navy during World War Two, this book looks at the views and opinions of most ranks on board from a wide variety of ships and vessels. I think this is what makes this book is all the opinions of the variety of shipmen, how they see things, the thoughts on the war and also the daily routines of being on board a ship or submarine. In fact, I enjoyed all of this book because the information at the start of the book was also informative and useful like the timeline and the abbreviations. A solid book that really informs you about life in the Navy during WW2.

The Son that Elizabeth I Never Had

The Son that Elizabeth I Never Had - The Adventurous Life of Robert Dudley’s

Illegitimate Son written by Julia A. Hickey and published by Pen & Sword Books

- £22 - Hardback - Pages 224

Sir Robert Dudley, the handsome ‘base born’ son of Elizabeth I’s favourite, was born amidst

scandal and intrigue. The story of his birth is one of love, royalty and broken bonds of trust.

He was at Tilbury with the Earl of Leicester in 1587; four years later he was wealthy,

independent and making a mark in Elizabeth’s court; he explored Trinidad, searched for the

fabled gold of El Dorado and backed a voyage taking a letter from the queen to the Emperor

of China. He took part in the Earl of Essex’s raid on Cadiz and was implicated in the earl’s

rebellion in 1601 but what he wanted most was to prove his legitimacy. Refusing to accept

the lot Fate dealt him after the death of the Queen, he abandoned his family, his home and

his country never to return. He carved his own destiny in Tuscany as an engineer, courtier,

shipbuilder and seafarer with the woman he loved at his side. His sea atlas, the first of its

kind, was published in 1646. The Dell’Arcano del Mare took more than twelve years to write

and was the culmination of a lifetime’s work. Robert Dudley, the son Elizabeth never had, is

the story of a scholar, an adventurer and an Elizabethan seadog that deserves to be better

known.

For someone who was considered ‘base born’ or illegitimate, Robin Dudley actually turned out to be a fine young man who had to fight or prove he deserved better than what life had labeled him. He tackled numerous jobs, the type that were of the kind you would expect with connections, as he was an engineer, shipbuilder, explorer to mention a few. Clearly a man that gets little notice or attention, but he turns out to be a rather interesting character. An intriguing book that has been very well written by the author Julia A. Hickey.