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Old 22-01-19, 19:42
Mike Cecil Mike Cecil is offline
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Default Book Review: The Unit Guide

The Australian Army History Unit publishes books through a couple of different publishing houses. One of the latest is The Unit Guide: The Australian Army 1939 to 1945 by Graham McKenzie-Smith. Graham has been studying the subject for many, many years, and published a couple of paper-back unit listings for Western Australia and the Northern Territory many years ago - they have long been one of my 'go to' places for Army unit information for units serving in Australia during the Second World War.

His latest compilation is several magnitudes larger in scope and content. Six volumes presented as a boxed set. Volumes are 235mm x 160mm approx, hard cover in a deep green. Within the pages, each unit identified is presented in a couple of paragraphs, providing information on raising, the location at various times, and the disbandment. Each volume covers a different group of units, for example, Vol 5 is the Aust Army Service Corps and Aust Electrical and Mechanical Engineer units and is 706 pages.

Comparing the units listed by Graham and those in my Unit & Unit Serial book published several years ago (now out of print), there are some differences, but in the main, the two compliment each other, with my book providing the War Office Unit Serial number for the majority of units listed by Graham. Graham has listed some Units that I don't, and vice versa. But what he hasn't listed is both obscure and minor, and in no way detracts from what is a magnificent reference source on Australian Army units of the Second World War.

Not a cheap set of reference books, but most certainly worth the dollars.

The publisher, Big Sky, have chosen to use a very dark gold inscription on the cover and spine of each volume, and the outside of the case, which are very difficult to read - I have to move the book around in the light to get the right angle to read it. Annoying, but not a deal breaker. The box colour and embossing on the set I received certainly don't match the image on the company website for clarity/visibility/readability:

http://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/b...he-unit-guide/

For those overseas contemplating the purchase of The Unit Guide, be warned that the packaging for overseas shipment was rudimentary at best, resulting in impacted and damaged corners of the casing and a couple of the volumes. There really isn't any excuse for just dumping such a nice bookset into a cardboard box and throwing it into the mail, but that's what I got.

Mike Cecil
Colbert WA USA
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Old 22-01-19, 20:24
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hrpearce hrpearce is offline
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Thanks for the heads up.
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Robert Pearce.
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Old 29-01-19, 12:23
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hrpearce hrpearce is offline
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Books arrived today, looks like two years of reading awaits me. Looking forward to having an office/ library in a few months. The gold writing on the spines is almost impossible to read under the led lights in the shed.
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