|
Post by hairy apple on Nov 7, 2010 0:27:57 GMT -5
Just got finished reading "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors". Hands down best military book I've ever read. If you don't know, it's about the Battle of Samar where a couple of US destroyers and small aircraft carriers got suprised by the main Japanese battle fleet, including the largest and most powerful battleship ever built. They destroyers pretty much sacrificed themselves to try to save the carriers and did, only one CVE was sunk. The Japanese were so bloodied by the savage attack from the destroyers that they turned away and did not finish off the carriers even though they had sunk the destroyers. Military history books can be pretty dry reading, but this feels like you are reading a novel. It's one of the best books I've ever read.
|
|
|
Post by volkssturm on Nov 7, 2010 11:17:11 GMT -5
I've read about that battle before. It was amazing. The escort carriers were supporting the landings, so their available ordnance was mostly HE for ground attack, but they threw everything they had at the Japanese. They even had F4F's and F6F's doing strafing runs against the battleship and the cruisers and dropping depth charges. Anything that'd make a boom and/or pick off some Japanese sailors.
|
|
|
Post by volkssturm on Dec 21, 2010 11:30:47 GMT -5
Just finished "Hitler's Panzers" by Dennis Showalter. Very good, readable account of the development of the German armored forces and how they were used and evolved through the war.
One curioushistorical point struck me as I was reading it. The Christie suspension was invented by an American. The US Army tried Christie's early tank designs and rejected them. The British based their cruiser tanks on Christie's design, but until late in the war consistently produced underpowered, underarmored, under gunned and mechanically less than reliable tanks. The Russians bought Christie's design and produced the T-34. The Germans were greatly surprised and alarmed when they first encountered T-34's. The question is, why? How did their intelligence services miss the T-34? The Russians got the formula right with the T-34: sloped armor of adequate thickness, wide tracks for cross-country mobility, a high speed suspension system, a gun capable of defeating all opponents (when introduced), and an engine powerful enough to move the whole thing. Where they fell down was crew training, tactics and lack of radio (and the two man turret in the earlier version).
|
|
|
Post by juliuslt on Jun 25, 2011 10:25:51 GMT -5
I want to introduce this book - "Sniper Ace: From the Eastern Front to Siberia" by Bruno Sutkus. I haven't read a lot of books, but sure I did read this, because Bruno Sutkus was from my region (Lithuania), and this book was published in lithuanina too (not tons of books about ww2 are in my language). Sutkus was great sniper, he has a gold sniper's badge. This books is specific, cause about 60 pages of book was mostly dry facts (records) with his succesfull shots. There were few combat scenes as i remember, but mostly book is about his life in war and after it, how he survived later,... There are some documents and photos too. Well, I just give you links with book review and Sutkus's biography, if you are interested. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Sutkuswww.historyofwar.org/bookpage/sutkus_sniper_ace.html
|
|
|
Post by volkssturm on Jun 25, 2011 11:04:10 GMT -5
Interesting guy. Lithuanian-German. He was lucky the Russians didn't shoot him out of hand at the end of the war. I had a German teacher in college who was a Volga-Deutsch, (descended from Germans who settled in Russia in the 1700's). He and his family had headed west with the German retreat because it wasn't healthy for anyone connected with the Germans to stay in Russia. Terrible times.
|
|
2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
|
Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 28, 2012 14:18:42 GMT -5
I just read WARGAMES an inside look at 20th Century Reenactors by Jenny Thompson. She got invited to attend a series of (initially Great War Events and then later WW2 reenactments) with the idea of writing about it. It is clear she got hooked and hence her perspective and reflections are quite balanced. She shares the good, the bad, the comical and the pathetic and is spot on with her insightful observations. It is a fun read, a sad read and a reflective experience. In my opinion it should be required reading for people entering our hobby and for those with a strong enough relationship, required reading for their significant others. It examines the politics, the passion, the quirks and the psychology of our hobby very thoroughly. It will probably reinforce the notion that we are a weird bunch for those holding dear that sentiment but for those who don't condem but don't understand it provides a lot of "oh I see why..." and for those of us addicted it provides some clarity as well.
I enjoyed this book a lot.
|
|
HornetWSO
Private 1st Class
"We may not have a history, but we have a rendezvous with destiny!"
Posts: 551
|
Post by HornetWSO on Feb 28, 2012 17:32:25 GMT -5
Just got finished reading "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors". Hands down best military book I've ever read. If you don't know, it's about the Battle of Samar where a couple of US destroyers and small aircraft carriers got suprised by the main Japanese battle fleet, including the largest and most powerful battleship ever built. They destroyers pretty much sacrificed themselves to try to save the carriers and did, only one CVE was sunk. The Japanese were so bloodied by the savage attack from the destroyers that they turned away and did not finish off the carriers even though they had sunk the destroyers. Military history books can be pretty dry reading, but this feels like you are reading a novel. It's one of the best books I've ever read. My Grandfather was a Lt JG on DD in that battle. As a kid I could never get him to talk about the war. It wasn't until I was a veteran that I understood why.
|
|
2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
|
Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 29, 2012 0:31:49 GMT -5
The bravery and aggressiveness of the destroyers completely turned the tide of that engagement. By all rights and odds the Japanese should have won an incredible and very one sided victory. Their battleplan worked almost exactly as scripted and the US bit into their bait, hook line and sinker. The massive flottila that came upon the landing ships and lightly armed support craft should have wiped them off the ocean. But for the banzai charge by the destroyers and the feint air attacks by the jeep carriers that fooled the enemy into thinking it was a larger force the battle would have been a smashing Japanese victory and the landings would have been in jeopardy. An amazing story
|
|
|
Post by Schmozilla on Feb 29, 2012 21:43:30 GMT -5
When I was in 8th grade last year I read "night" by Elie Wiesel it was one of the best books I've read behind the hunt for red October
|
|
|
Post by volkssturm on Aug 4, 2012 19:54:31 GMT -5
About halfway through "September Hope: The American Side of A Bridge Too Far," by John C. McManus. This book concentrates on the 82d Airborne and 101st Airborne operations during Market Garden, which have been somewhat eclipsed by the British First Airborne's epic battle at Arnhem. It's in style similar to "A Bridge Too Far", with lots of personal anecdotes describing the action from Grunt level. The movie version of "ABTF" doesn't really give a good impression of the fighting south of Arnhem. Besides the major bridges, the 101st and 82d were tasked with attempting to capture quite a few secondary bridges to hedge their bets for capturing enough intact. This made for a confusing situation, with airborne and German troops all mixed up. Also, the bridges were protected by AA guns which the Germans turned against ground troops, including a considerable number of 88mm guns. The 88 was a fiercesome anti-personnel weapon when fired against troops in woods (tree bursts) or sheltering behind buildings. A good read so far.
|
|
|
Post by SNAFU on Feb 21, 2013 10:47:06 GMT -5
I just finished "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge about his fighting on Peleliu and Okinawa and I have to say this is now one of my favorite books. I could hardly put it down, and I definitely recommend it to anyone looking to get a first hand account of the fighting in the pacific. I hear Robert Leckie wrote a few as well about his time on Guadalcanal and Peleliu so I'm hoping to read those next.
|
|
|
Post by volkssturm on Feb 26, 2013 19:46:50 GMT -5
Not WWII, but worth a look. Jake Tapper's "The Outpost." About Combat Outpost Keating in Afghanistan. I heard an interview with Tapper a few days ago and picked it up. Just getting started, but it's so far it's a good read. Basically, the powers that be decided they needed an outpost in an isolated part of Nuristan province. They sited the base in a valley below three mountains, difficult to supply by air or road. When they finally decide to abandon it and start tearing the base down, the 50+ Americans still in the base were attacked by 400-500 Taliban fighters, who of course had occupied the high ground.
|
|
|
Post by shiftsup on Feb 26, 2013 22:55:18 GMT -5
I picked up a used copy of Bloody Clash at Sadzot by William B Breuer. Good read. Deals mostly with the 509 PIB during the Bulge. This is a non fiction book.
The Devil's Guard by George Robert Elford is another good read. It's a war fiction book dealing with former Waffen SS;s exploits at the end of wwi and as a member of the French Foreign Legion in the first Indo China War.
|
|
|
Post by volkssturm on Aug 18, 2013 18:24:17 GMT -5
Currently reading "Shanghai 1937 : Stalingrad on the Yangtze" by Peter Harmsen. This is an area I haven't done much prior reading on, beyond the China-Burma-India theater and General Stillwell. Some interesting stuff. The Chinese under Chiang Kai Shek had been trying to modernize their army and had hired German advisers to do it. General Hans von Seeckt, the former head of the Reichswehr in the 1920's had started the process. By 1937 General Alexander von Falkenhausen was heading a 70 man mission. They were trying to train the Chinese based on their experience in WWI, particularly emphasizing stosstruppen tactics. The goal was to have 60 fully trained modern divisions, but there were only a few divisions ready by 1937, including the 87th and the 88th. The Chinese were also deficient in artillery and had made the mistake of hiring Italian advisers to modernize their air force.
Ironically, it was the Chinese who initiated full scale war at Shanghai. The Japanese had been making serious incursions in north east China. Chiang and his advisers were feeling pressured to do something and decided that since they didn't have the strength to go head on against the Japanese in the north they'd launch an attack on the Japanese in Shanghai to take pressure off the north. Shanghai at the time was a peculiar institution. It was the commercial center of China and in the 19th century foreign powers had established an international settlement where they exercised extraterritorial powers, including having their own police and stationing troops. The Japanese were represented by a very large marine detachment, as well as naval vessels anchored in the river. Chiang deployed the 87th and 88th divisions to destroy the Japanese forces. The Chinese forces made some headway initially, but despite heroic efforts, their lack of experience compared to the Japanese and Japanese superiority in the air and support from naval gunfire, and the arrival of Japanese reinforcements put the Chinese on the defensive and Chiang's plan backfired, giving the Japanese an opening in a region where they hadn't originally planned to attack.
What's really interesting about Shanghai is how much it demonstrated, to those willing to learn, what the next European war would be like.
|
|
Navy Doc
Private
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
Posts: 38
|
Post by Navy Doc on Jul 28, 2014 19:14:30 GMT -5
Read 'Flags of Our Fathers' last year while I was waiting to start my training school: I don't have a huge historical-analysis synopsis to go with it, but coming from a lifelong bookworm, it's easily my favorite. It doesn't gloss over the parts of war that make it so horrific and ugly, and makes the heroes out to be real people. For those of you that don't already know, it's about the battle for Iwo Jima; more specifically, the flag-raising on Mount Suribachi.
Does anyone know of any good books about Navy pilots? I recently learned my Granddad flew Corsairs on and off the USS Guadalcanal, I'm eager to find out more about his history (since, sadly, he's no longer around to tell me himself)
|
|
|
Post by ssgjoe on Jul 28, 2014 19:45:08 GMT -5
Here are the books I read recently.
Black Angels by Rupert Butler Excellent book that tells the history of the Waffen SS very well. It was very informative and very interesting.
Five Years: Four Fronts by Georg Grosjohan Probably one of the best books I've ever read. Mr. Grosjohan was a German officer during the Second World War. It starts and briefly introduces his experiences in the Reichswehr (he has another book that goes into more detail about his pre war years). He starts out as a leutnant and rises to Major. He shares his experiences during his 5 years serving on combat. It is very interesting and gives a first hand account on the life of your average German soldier.
Rommel as Military Commander by Ronald Lewin This book is not as exciting as the previous one. But it's still great and informative. Maybe a little dull at parts, but there's good information in there. Rommel is probably my one most favorite person in history (besides Christ, but we won't go there) and I loved learning more about him.
Battle: Story of the Bulge by John Toland This is another great book. It is very detailed with personal accounts from the Battle of the Bulge. The author spent years researching and conducting thousands of interviews, including interviews of Otto Skorzeny and Jochen Peiper. I highly recommend it.
All are good books and I recommend them all.
|
|
|
Post by mentosfreshmaker on Jul 28, 2014 22:40:56 GMT -5
I'd like to add a couple, if I may:
For WWII specifically, I'd like to mention "Notes of a Sniper", by Vassili Zaitsev. His words, his experiences, biggest battle of human history. Hard to beat, really. If you've read Rattenkrieg (The War of the Rats)...this is what it's based upon. The history behind the fiction, if you will, and every bit as compelling.
For general (US) Army immersive fiction, give W.E.B. Griffin's seven-volume opus "Brotherhood of War" a try. Some of the better books written about men in the military. Do NOT allow your head to explode when he makes a glaring technical error, and you'll enjoy yourself immensely.
A nod to one of my all-time favorites: "Starship Troopers" by Robert Heinlein. Do NOT pick up this book expecting it to be like the craptacular movie. This is all about the mind of the military, and the most important question of all..."Why do we fight?"
My wife would not forgive me if I did not mention the following:
"Sub Rosa: The OSS and American Espionage". Specifically, because her grandfather is the very same "Sgt. Norman Franklin" (actually, he wasn't an Army NCO at all, this was his cover identity, but that is his actual name) listed for Mission Alexander, part of the O.S.S. Jedburgh team. Also, he has written, but will not allow publication until his death (he's 90 and going strong!) a volume of his own, specifically detailing his missions behind the lines as an O.S.S. officer, which will bear the title "Jedburgh".
Fun Fact: Pick up a copy of the old movie "Empire of the Ants". Her grandfather, upon retirement from the Central Intelligence Agency (he stayed through the O.S.S. - CIA shift), became a professional actor. He plays the part of the Mayor in that film. He was also, in 2012, finally allowed to accept the award of the Croix de Guerre, in the grade of Chevalier, for his actions on behalf of the French people during the war.
|
|
|
Post by volkssturm on Oct 23, 2014 17:11:44 GMT -5
Just finishing "The Breaking Point: Sedan and the Fall of France, 1940" by Robert A. Doughty. The book focus on the critical few days in May 1940 when the Germans advanced through the Ardennes and broke through the French lines around Sedan, opening the way for the advance to the sea. One criticism I have is that he sometimes gives so much detail that your eyes start to glaze over. On the plus side he quotes some first hand accounts of the fighting. He also gives a good overview of the contrasts between German and French tactical thinking. The Germans were much more flexible. German commanders typically led from much closer to the front (sometimes on the front). French doctrine was based on their WWI experience. Every movement was to be carefully planned. Advances were never supposed to go beyond of supporting artillery. Commanders remained at headquarters where they controlled the operations at a distance. The French were also heavily dependent on landline communications and seemed to be wary of using radios for fear of interception, even denying forward units permission to use radios when their landlines went down. This cost them heavily, as often the landlines were among the first things to go in when they were attacked.
The author points several misconceptions about the German attack. The crossing of the Meuse and development of the bridgehead was primarily an infantry operation, not the armored "spearhead" it was portrayed as. Small units of German infantry and engineers infiltrated the French lines, taking out bunkers, sometimes with supporting fire from AT guns, assault guns and tanks, but often with grenades and explosives. The real use of armor came later, in the exploitation of the breakthrough. The Luftwaffe support in practical terms as far as the ground battle went was more psychological than substantive. Very few French tanks or bunkers were destroyed by bombing, but the frequent air attacks, and the lack of effective allied fighter cover, eroded the will of the French soldiers, particularly the supporting troops, to fight. The artillery seems to have been particularly effected, with many crews pulling out or abandoning their guns unnecessarily. If the French had been able to bring sufficient artillery to bear on the German crossings early in the battle the bridgehead could have been snuffed out. As it was, the French were always about two steps behind the Germans and the rest is history.
|
|
|
Post by volkssturm on Dec 11, 2014 13:43:19 GMT -5
My latest reading is "The Spearheaders: A Personal History of Darby's Rangers" by James Altieri, and "Bloody Ridge and Beyond" by Marlin Groft.
"The Spearheaders" is a reprint of the 1960 book by James Altieri. Mr. Altieri volunteered for the First Ranger Battalion when it was formed in Northern Ireland and served through North Africa, Sicily and Anzio. He was an adviser on the movie "Darby's Rangers" which was inspired by his 1945 book of the same name. The book gives a very good impression of how the Rangers trained and fought.
"Bloody Ridge and Beyond" is the memoir of Marlin "Whitey" Groft, who joined the Marines after Pearl Harbor. Being of short stature, an Army recruiter turned him down, so he went to the next recruiter, a Marine, who signed him up. He volunteered for the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, or "Edson's Raiders", and served on Tulagi and Guadalcanal, participating in the battle of Bloody Ridge, New Georgia and Okinawa. I'm very impressed with his writing style. This book is a good companion for "The Pacific", "Helmet for My Pillow" and "With the Old Breed."
|
|
|
Post by FritzoftheMidwest on Dec 12, 2014 0:43:24 GMT -5
Vietnam Related= While at EAA Air-Venture 2 years ago, I had the pleasure of listening to General Patrick Henry Brady give a "Warbirds in Review" forum. His book, Dead Men Flying was an exceptional read on a part of history easily overlooked; the medical evac teams of callsign "Dust Off".
|
|
2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
|
Post by 2nd Bat on Dec 12, 2014 13:19:28 GMT -5
Dustoff pilots were incredibly heroic and there is no greater sound etched into my mind than the whop whop whop of a HUEY. Even today (40+ years later) I still react emotionally when I hear them. (I was medevac'd by helicopter so its pretty close to home) As for the question about NAVAL air pilots of WW2, FLYBOYS by the same author who wrote FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (brady) is very very good.
|
|
2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
|
Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 25, 2015 16:02:12 GMT -5
I just finished an outstanding book about a B17 crew that crashed in Greenland and while all crewmembers miraculously survived the intial crash they had to endure months on an arctic glacier. They eventually established communications and an intensive, lethal and frustrating effort was launched to rescue them. The ordeal reads like an over the top Hollywood movie but the author backs up that it is totally and unapologistically non fiction. Twists and turns, incredible acts of heroism and selflessness. A lot of insight about Greenland and its sudden importance in the war.
I really loved this book. It is called FROZEN IN TIME. Written by the author of Shangri La which I am now going to find. he finds obscure tales from WW2 and just when you think all the stories have been told new ones bubble to the surface.
|
|
2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
|
Post by 2nd Bat on Mar 15, 2015 0:32:21 GMT -5
Just finished up "lost in Shangri La" by this same author. A similar true tale about airplane crash survivors but this time in the jungles of New Guinnie in a remote newly discovered valley filled with warring natives who took the White men (and hollywood gorgeous WAC) as Spirits and aircraft flying over as other worldly indications of the end of days. fascinating tale with humor, tragedy, irony and lots of incredible twist and turns and a hollywood desperate nick of time rescue. I loved this book. According to the author 100% unalterred historical facts. He even interviewed the natives involved who were children at the time to get their perspective which is quite interesting. During the war little was really known about jungle survival and absolutely nothing was known about these stone aged people who knew nothing of the outside world until WW2 brought modern man in their midst.
These survivors and their paratrooper and aviation rescuers were heroic in a way that seems unthinkable today.
|
|
|
Post by volkssturm on Jun 19, 2015 13:40:38 GMT -5
Just finishing up "First Over There" by Matthew J. Davenport. It's about the First Division and the first American offensive action in WWI, the Battle of Cantigny. Not a big battle by First World War standards, about 300 dead on the American side, to push the Germans back a few hundred yards on about a mile and half of front, but it gives a good picture of how the war was fought in the last year. A number of things stand out. The primacy of artillery and the Maxim gun for one. If one didn't get you, the other would. And if they missed a German sniper would get you. The creeping barrage had been well developed by this point. The center of the American line advanced and overran the German front line with few casualties. The flanks were another story, with German mg's from outside the American bombardment raking the companies on right and left. Once the German line was overrun, German artillery tried to blast the Americans out and cut them off from resupply and reinforcement with barrages between the new front line and the rear areas. The weight of the artillery fire is unimaginable, considering approximately a regiment plus attachments was working on a front a mile and half wide and 400-500 yards wide, with very little cover or concealment. If there's one take away from the book, it's if you ever find yourself in World War I DO NOT volunteer to be a runner. Those poor guys got picked off left and right. A good read, but sobering.
|
|
|
Post by volkssturm on Dec 2, 2015 18:24:15 GMT -5
Just finished "The Fighting 30th Division: They Called Them Roosevelt's SS," by Martin King, David Hilborn and Michael Collins. The 30th was deployed into Normandy a few days after D-Day and fought through the bocage, at the Battles of Mortain, Aachen, the Bulge and across the Rhine. Some described them as the "outstanding infantry division of the ETO." The "Roosevelt's SS" nickname allegedly came from "Axis Sally," identifying them as an elite US unit. The book combines a chronological narrative with memoirs and interviews with participants, including a few Germans, and excerpts of after action reports. A couple criticisms: nobody seems to hire decent editors anymore; they had personal accounts fro ma fairly small number of people, though that may be all that was available, and there's maybe a bit much of the "Oh, wow!" factor, though that's pretty normal for popular military history. Overall, the book is good for a grunt's eye view of combat in NW Europe.
A particularly interesting comment came from John Nolan of G Co., 119th Inf. during the counter attack in the Ardennes: "Each platoon of Company G ha a slightly different character regarding weapons preference. Our platoon had no particular love for the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR); it was a 21 pound load to carry and a weapon that required constant maintenance to keep it operational. Each of our three squads was issued a BAR, however the third platoon thought the BAR was a great weapon and almost every third man in the platoon carried one. Sergeant Frank Wease, the third platoon sergeant, carried one and encouraged the weapons use."
|
|