Books on war

[Ryan]

Sold.
Cheers Robert.
They'll be sent tomorrow.

[hrpearce]

Ryan the books arrived today thank you. I now have a years reading ahead of me.

[Ryan]

Found this trolling ebay tonight.
For Aussie Fleet Air Arm nuts....yes I have a copy of this already. Rare and a great price.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Wings-Acr...item336cdbde6e

[Phil Waterman]

Clicked on the Wings Across the Sea The History of Australian Naval Aviation link and got a kick out of the two planes on the cover A4 and S2 both happen to be aircraft that my father worked on developing for the US Navy. Both enjoyed very long service with both the US and other Navy s around the world.

I've read the detailed history of both aircraft and one of the things that I found of interest was the modifications made to them by various other countries to make them more suitable for their operational needs.

Cheers Phil

[hrpearce]

At Corowa this year there was a book titled, Missionary turnes spy, I bought a copy and have just finished it. A good insight into the lives of the coast watch.

[Luke R]

Just finished "Nicky Barr an Australian air ace" by Peter Dornan
Bloody fantastic read, a real adventure story if i can call it that.

To quote the blurb.

"In 1939, at the age of 23,Nicky Barr was chosen to represent Australia in the international rugby world tour.
The day after the squad arrived in England, war was declared and the tour was cancelled.
Nicky immediately signed up to become a fighter pilot in the RAAF and while fighting Rommel's famed Afrika Korp in North Africa, quickly rose through the ranks to become a squadron leader.

In the space of twelve months, Nicky shot down over twelve enemy planes, and was himself shot down three times.
The third time, he was seriously wounded (including a leg injury that put an end to his rugbyplaying days), then captured and sent to Italy as a hospitalised prisoner of war.
Nicky escaped four times-including once from a moving train.
On the fourth escape he successfully evaded recapture and, together with a group of special operation commandoes, took part in a series of clandestine operations behind enemy lines and helped fellow prisoners of war escape.

Nicky Barr earned a reputation amongst allies and enemies alike for his acts of bravery, selflessness, dogged determination and infectious sense of humour.
His is a story of adventure, war, courage and mortality, and the love for his wife that sustained him through it all.


Luke

[Willanthry]

I'm reading a good one at the moment; "ANZAC's Dirty Dozen: 12 Myths of Australian Military History", edited by Craig Stockings (one of the lecturers here at ADFA). It's a collection of essays debunking several strongly held myths, including the "birth" of our military history at Gallipoli, our ability to punch above our weight, our soldiers being more ethical than others and more. The book is continuing from where the Zombie Military History series left off, and is very well researched and for some, quite confronting.

I have no financial interest in the selling of this book, by the way, i've just found it an incredibly interesting and enlightening read!

[jack neville]

I picked up a full set of the official history of WW1 a few years ago. First edition in really good condition. I started reading them but it was taking longer to read them than te war actually lasted. Will finish them eventually but the detail was fascinating and gives a greater insight to the reality than anything else I have ever read about WW1.

[Mike Cecil]

Jack, I can only agree. I think the official historians who have given us the WW1, WW2, Korea and 'South East Asian wars' series have given us an incredible resource. While there are (inevitably) some errors, they are collectively an incredible piece of work. They are often my first stop when researching a particular historical aspect.

The 'post vietnam' official histories are currently being worked on by a very dedicated group of professional historians: I'm looking forward to the publications being released.

Only recently, I finally purchased the last two first editions to complete my Aust WW2 official history set (I had reprints, but that's just not the same.....).

Mike C

[Marc Montgomery]

Ya gotta love the Hollywood film "The Great Escape"... never let the facts get in the way of a good story sez the Hollywood crowd.
For the true story
The Great Escape- A Canadian Story by Ted Barris

[Ryan]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BRITISH-A...item1e888e8a14

An older excellent book on allied tanks.
Has a good coverage to the rear of the book on Australian Sentinels and carriers as well as Canadian tanks.

No connection.

[hrpearce]

Just finished Gallipoli Air War, I found it a very interesting insight into early aviation.

[hrpearce]

Vicki gave me a book for my birthday,

Michael Veitch
The epic battle in the skies
above Port Moresby
44
days
75 squadron
and the fight for Australia.

Another chapter we were not taught in history, what an awful ordeal they endured.

[Mike Cecil]

Just finished reading the above, a detailed account of the attacks on the Norsk Hydro factory at Vemork, Norway, producing heavy water for atomic developments in Germany. You may remember the 1965 Heroes of Telemark movie about the same subject, and there was a more recent TV series about the subject, too.

Highly recommended: Neal Bascombe has done a fantastic job of drawing all the threads together, and writing a gripping account of all the operations against the plant and its product. I'd read an earlier work of his (Hunting Eichmann) so had a good idea that this new book would be well researched and written, and I was not disappointed.

ISBN 9780544368057.

Mike