dtglover Posted 24 October , 2009 Share Posted 24 October , 2009 Just finished Massacre on the Marne by Fraser Skirrow, life and death of the 2/5th West Yorkshire Regt. This is a subject close to my heart as I had an ancestor who fought in the 2/8th Battallion West Yorks Regt. It enabled me to place him on the 22nd Nov 1917 when he was killed in action, but also fascinating as had examples of letters to loved ones. Damian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Wills Posted 24 October , 2009 Share Posted 24 October , 2009 This book just creeps into the WW1 category, and it is an absolutely enthralling read, especially if you have any interest in polar exploration. Most of us know of the amazing superheroism of Shakleton's adventures in the Antarctic, but while he and the crew of the Endurance were battling against the odds at the bottom of the planet, and even more remarkle story was underway in the Arctic Sea. The tale is retold in The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk and the Miraculous Rescue of her Survivors by Jennifer Niven, and I could not put it down. I don't really want to give much more detail, as it would spoil your enjoyment. Suffice it to say, that if this had been written as fiction, my reaction would have been - "oh, come on, that simply isn't credible!" The WW1 connection is that several survivors went on to serve in WW1, and the outbreak of WW1 thwarted rescue attempts by two nations, Canada and Russia. If you like curling up on a cold night with a fanatastic yet true tale of heroism, foolhardiness, betrayal, misfortune, incompetence and mystery then take a bedtime voyage with The Ice Master. Search for it via the Amaxon and Abebooks link above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copper6197 Posted 25 October , 2009 Share Posted 25 October , 2009 It's been around quite a while, but just recently republished by Naval & Military Press; "The History of the Welch Regiment 1914-1918" by Sir Thomas Marden. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ulsterlad2 Posted 26 October , 2009 Share Posted 26 October , 2009 Just finished "Cheerful Sacrifice" by Jonathan Nicholls. Up next, "First day on the Somme", Middlebrook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinhat47 Posted 2 November , 2009 Share Posted 2 November , 2009 Reading Kitchener's Last Volunteer: The Life of Henry Allingham and For King and Country: Voices from the First World War at the same time. A visit to my local library on Saturday greatly pleased me in that they recently acquired Sagittarius Rising, Heaven High, Hell Deep and a few other autobiographies of RFC/RAF flyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nthornton1979 Posted 2 November , 2009 Share Posted 2 November , 2009 Have recently finished Lyn MacDonald's 'They call it passchendaele' - A fantastic read. Also, The Cheshire Regiment History and 'Storm of Steel' (again !) Am now reading Stephen Chamber's 'Gully Ravine - Gallipoli' - My gt gt Uncle was killed on the first day of the attack - Again, a great read (so far) Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27thBN Posted 3 November , 2009 Share Posted 3 November , 2009 Have recently finished Lyn MacDonald's 'They call it passchendaele' - A fantastic read. Also, The Cheshire Regiment History and 'Storm of Steel' (again !) Am now reading Stephen Chamber's 'Gully Ravine - Gallipoli' - My gt gt Uncle was killed on the first day of the attack - Again, a great read (so far) Neil Hi Neil I am currently reading Over the top by a H G Hartnett Story of an ex 2nd battalion Man AIF through from fromelles till the end .I am up to 3rd Ypres great stuff ,heaps of detail keeps you going , really well recommended Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Starlight Posted 3 November , 2009 Share Posted 3 November , 2009 The tale is retold in The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk and the Miraculous Rescue of her Survivors by Jennifer Niven, .....The WW1 connection is that several survivors went on to serve in WW1, and the outbreak of WW1 thwarted rescue attempts by two nations, Canada and Russia..... One of the survivors was of course Capt Hubert Wilkins MC* AIF - the only war cameraman with those awards during his time as a cameraman to my knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unitedsound Posted 3 November , 2009 Share Posted 3 November , 2009 I started reading Somme by Lyn MacDonald last night and it has already thrown up a few surprises for this L Driver. Excellent stuff. Dare I ask if Lyn is still writing on the Great War? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 3 November , 2009 Share Posted 3 November , 2009 I think you'll find her last book was 'To the last man; Spring 1918' which was published in 1998. I doubt she'll be doing anymore, there are no more old soldiers to interview. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nthornton1979 Posted 3 November , 2009 Share Posted 3 November , 2009 "Hi Neil I am currently reading Over the top by a H G Hartnett Story of an ex 2nd battalion Man AIF through from fromelles till the end .I am up to 3rd Ypres great stuff ,heaps of detail keeps you going , really well recommended " Thanks buddy, I'll have a look on Amazon for that one... I'm looking for a few more books to read Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 26 November , 2009 Share Posted 26 November , 2009 I've just finished "In the Footsteps of Private Lynch", which I thought was a very useful adjunct to "Somme Mud", following the movements of Lynch and his semi-fictional hero Nulla at the Somme and 3rd Ypres, with then and now photos and all. It's now been sent on to the next pal on the Forum reading list (see separate thread) On the same theme of AIF individuals I've now started a book recently published in Australia, "Arthur Blackburn VC" by Andrew Faulkner. For those who don't know, its subject was one of the first soldiers to land at Gallipoli, where he and a companion on a scouting mission penetrated further inland than anyone else, he won a VC at Pozières and in the second war commanded troops against the Vicy French in Syria and the Japanese in Indonesia, where he was captured and sent to work on the Burma railway. A hero indeed. So far it looks pretty good cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 11 December , 2009 Share Posted 11 December , 2009 I'm about half way through a book that has been put online "Ladies from hell" written by a soldier in the London Scottish Sergeant R. Douglas Pinkerton and published in 1918 (I'm sure many of you will have already read this) http://www.archive.org/details/ladiesfromhell00pinkuoft I do prefer an actual hard copy of a book that I can curl up with and carry around with me but once I started reading this I can't 'put it down' For those who haven't read it. A good read, written by an ordinary Tommy not long after his war. Douglas starts off as a fresh faced raw recruit who soon learns the harsh realities of trench warfare He talks about how the waiting to go 'over the top' is the worst. In this case it was waiting for a order that never came at Lille We were old men, aged immeasurably by six hours in hell s own kitchen, aged by six hours of waiting. Oh, it is the waiting that tells, my friend. You can fight eternally, you can fight and die, but the horror of waiting is unbearable So many actual hard copy books I want to/need to read but I do appreciate free online books as a veritable gold mine and a good source for research in I like the 'flip' versions that are page turnable scanned copies of the book itself so you feel as if it is a copy of the old book. This one has a 'flip' version Caryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17107BM Posted 15 December , 2009 Share Posted 15 December , 2009 This book just creeps into the WW1 category, and it is an absolutely enthralling read, especially if you have any interest in polar exploration. Most of us know of the amazing superheroism of Shakleton's adventures in the Antarctic, but while he and the crew of the Endurance were battling against the odds at the bottom of the planet, and even more remarkle story was underway in the Arctic Sea. The tale is retold in The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk and the Miraculous Rescue of her Survivors by Jennifer Niven, and I could not put it down. I don't really want to give much more detail, as it would spoil your enjoyment. Suffice it to say, that if this had been written as fiction, my reaction would have been - "oh, come on, that simply isn't credible!" The WW1 connection is that several survivors went on to serve in WW1, and the outbreak of WW1 thwarted rescue attempts by two nations, Canada and Russia. If you like curling up on a cold night with a fanatastic yet true tale of heroism, foolhardiness, betrayal, misfortune, incompetence and mystery then take a bedtime voyage with The Ice Master. Search for it via the Amaxon and Abebooks link above " oh, come on, that simply isn't credible! This was also my reaction to this book when i read it in 2002. Capt Robert Bartlett really had a will of iron. As for some of the crew.. It is a really good read, just whack your heating up that evening Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted 15 December , 2009 Share Posted 15 December , 2009 Having recently finished barrie Pitt's "Zeebrugge", and then "Poelcapelle 1917...a trail of wrecked tanks", I am now into "From the Front Line..family letters and diaries" by Hew Pike. Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steenie Posted 17 December , 2009 Share Posted 17 December , 2009 LETTERS ON CAVALRY by Prinz Kraft zu Hohenlohe Ingelfingen I have just read a work called ‘Letters on Cavalry’ by General Prinz Kraft zu Hohenlohe Ingelfingen. He, as a General in the Prussian army was legendary for moving a Division including field artillery up through Prague and onto Berlin in very short order indeed. He brought in his men and mounts not only in good order but had taken opportunity of the changing country he went through to do field exercises on the way!! He had fought in the Franco-Prussian War. This work was translated into English in 1889 by Lt Col. N. L. Walford, R.A. Due to the lack of change in the Prussian Cavalry Arm however, it was reprinted in 1911. As Walford said in the preface; ‘'since no new regulations have appeared in Germany with regard to the movement of Cavalry. . .'’ The work can only be regarded as indepth. It not only explains the whole view of the Prussian Cavalry both in the field and at home but also articulates the total mind set of this force. His writing really exposes the massive differences between the British and the Germans. Differences that would only inspire the British in believing they would out fight, out run and out ride the Prussian forces (ofcourse they would want to think that wouldn’t they). Nonetheless Prinz Kraft tells us of a most efficient weapon that had abilities in certain areas where we were lacking. This is a most marvellous work, by one of the legends in European Cavalry, written well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddell Posted 18 December , 2009 Share Posted 18 December , 2009 I finally received a copy of Hervey Allens "Towards the Flame". A memoir first published in 1926 by novelist Allen, of six weeks action during the latter stages of 1918. Allen was a Lieutenant in the 111th Regiment of the 28th Keystone division. It's regarded as a forgotten classic. Only about 100 pages ino it, but very good and fast flowing so far. Feels like your with Allen a lot of the time. Have a good christmas. Scott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelBully Posted 18 December , 2009 Share Posted 18 December , 2009 I finally received a copy of Hervey Allens "Towards the Flame". A memoir first published in 1926 by novelist Allen, of six weeks action during the latter stages of 1918. Allen was a Lieutenant in the 111th Regiment of the 28th Keystone division. It's regarded as a forgotten classic. Only about 100 pages ino it, but very good and fast flowing so far. Feels like your with Allen a lot of the time. Have a good christmas. Scott. Scott, would like to know more about this memoir, will look out for it. I often wonder why some Great War memoirs have stood the test of time such as 'Goodbye To All That', 'All Quiet on The Western France' et al and others have not. Then there is also the case of 'Testament of Youth' which got revived. Hope you also have a great Christmas Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Banning Posted 18 December , 2009 Share Posted 18 December , 2009 Recently finished Ian Passingham’s Messines book – Pillars of Fire. I am now on a non-war related book about extreme fitness and survival (best read about it rather than practice it!) but have Jack Sheldon’s German Army at Cambrai next followed by Richard van Emden’s new Sapper Martin secret diaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 18 December , 2009 Share Posted 18 December , 2009 Currently reading Sewell Tyng's The Marne and I know I have a couple of books waiting for me for Christmas........................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hel Posted 18 December , 2009 Share Posted 18 December , 2009 'With a machine gun to Cambrai' George Coppard. Absloutely brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John(txic) Posted 18 December , 2009 Share Posted 18 December , 2009 Agreed, Hel - it's one of the best. Currently on "In the footsteps of Private Lynch" (courtesy of the round-the-world peregrination - cheers, big Kev!). Just brought back from Wolverhampton Library "When this bloody war is over - soldiers' songs etc." by Max Arthur (Charlotte the Harlot is absolutely filthy, btw!) and "Machine Guns & The Great War" by Paul Cornish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 18 December , 2009 Share Posted 18 December , 2009 round-the-world peregrination . I mis-read this at first. You had me worried there for a minute, since I am next on the list I wondered exactly what I had put my name down for! Caryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acoy1stbatttigers Posted 18 December , 2009 Share Posted 18 December , 2009 hi i have just read loos-hohenzollern and loos-hill 70 both by andrew rawson in the battleground europe series both very good and detailed,i can recomend them. all the best jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John(txic) Posted 18 December , 2009 Share Posted 18 December , 2009 You had me worried there for a minute, since I am next on the list I wondered exactly what I had put my name down for! Caryl Caryl, Kevin has expressed a wish to see it before I post it on to you. I'm seeing him at the South Staffs Pals meet on Tuesday 5th Jan. so it'll be in the post after that. Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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