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Remembered Today:

New Book: The Most Secret Place on Earth


andrew pugh

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Good Evening All.

This is for all the people interested in tanks. There is a new book out called The Most Secret Place on Earth by an author called Pugh, not me. Its all about Canada Farm at Elveden in Suffolk and the tank trials and development. I haven't read it, but I thought I would let you folks know.

Regards

Andy

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Hi Tanks3.

It looks quite interesting telling how they made exact replicas of trenches in certain areas of the Somme, so they could practice.Looks worth £8 or £9 for a read.

Regards Andy

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What a title. I've heard, "The Most Secret Place on Earth" said about at least a dozen places, and now three in the UK alone!

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living close by and having worked for a company that used to farm there i shall be making a purchase ...title dos`nt bother me

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Looks interesting - thanks for posting.

John

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Mine arrived yesterday. Favourable first impression - sources given, acknowledgements to people and organisations you might expect and a note detailing corrections that shows the author is keen to get matters right. Haven't read a word yet, it's been a busy weekend, but it's a handy size for reading on the commute.

Gwyn

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Mine arrived today. I jumped straight to chapter 14 and I am underwhelmed to say the least.

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I started at the beginning and found it interesting, it is essentially about Elveden and should not be considered a detailed history of the tanks in battle.

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I agree entirely with Mark's assessment. It's quite readable though one thing that grated slightly was an overuse of parentheses (and parentheses within parentheses (if you can believe that) though I often fall into the same stylistic trap (if I'm honest)). It is at its best when dealing with Elveden. When it came to Flers I thought the use of accounts from both British and German perspectives was well done, albeit the decision to use D.G. Browne to provide a contemporary view on the Gaza battles was odd as he wasn't there.

Gwyn

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It is indeed at its best when dealing with Elveden. I can understand why he included Flers but the chapter on Palestine is both out of place and flawed. For a full account of Gaza I strongly recommend my book, due out in 2017.

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Signed copies available?

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Of course, but they may end up worth less than unsigned copies.

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No Scaly, it's not a miss. It is primarily about Elveden, a place that gets scant coverage in books by the likes of Fuller, Liddell Hart, etc, and so is worth a look on that basis.

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I certainly don't feel the money was wasted, and am glad to add it to the collection. It's true that Trevor Pidgeon covers Elveden to some degree but this book has a good number of photos and Pidgeon's has none, although Pidgeon does provide a good field guide which this book needs. But my reference for Flers will still be Trevor Pidgeon's book and it looks like my reference for Gaza will be Gareth's.

Gwyn

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I have to write it first Gwyn!

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I have a gripe about the book that is the subject of this thread: Bovington is in Dorset not Hampshire. Twice that mistake is made. I know it may be minor in the greater scheme of things but it makes me doubt other assertions in the book.

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I tend to agree: if such a simple mistake is made, how many other, slightly more important, mistakes are slipping through?

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