An Englishman At War The Wartime Diaries Of Stanley Christopherson Dso Mc Bar 1939 1945
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An Englishman at War by Stanley Christopherson Pdf
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY. From summer camp in Yorkshire in August 1939 all the way to the smouldering ruins of Berlin in 1945, via Palestine, Tobruk, El Alamein, D-Day and Nijmegen, An Englishman at War is a unique first-person account of one man's war. Christopherson's regiment, The Sherwood Rangers, started as amateurs, equipped with courage but very little else, and ended up one of the most experienced, highly trained and highly decorated tank regiments in the British Army. They were not only the first British troops to enter Paris and the first unit to cross into Germany, but also took part in the last cavalry charge undertaken by the British Army in Palestine in 1940. Over the course of the conflict, the regiment amassed an astonishing thirty battle honours. Stanley Christopherson himself was to rise from a junior subaltern to become the commanding officer of the regiment after the Normandy invasion.
An Englishman at War: The Wartime Diaries of Stanley Christopherson DSO MC & Bar 1939-1945 by Stanley Christopherson Pdf
‘An astonishing record...There is no other wartime diary that can match the scope of these diaries’ James Holland ‘An outstanding contribution to the literature of the Second World War’Professor Gary Sheffield From the outbreak of war in September 1939 to the smouldering ruins of Berlin in 1945, via Tobruk, El Alamein, D-Day and the crossing of the Rhine, An Englishman at War is a unique first-person account of the Second World War. Stanley Christopherson’s regiment, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, went to war as amateurs and ended up one of the most experienced, highly trained and most valued armoured units in the British Army. A junior officer at the beginning of the war, Christopherson became the commanding officer of the regiment soon after the D-Day landings. What he and his regiment witnessed presents a unique overview of one of the most cataclysmic events in world history and gives an extraordinary insight, through tragedy and triumph, into what it felt like to be part of the push for victory.
An Englishman at War by Stanley Christopherson Pdf
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY. From summer camp in Yorkshire in August 1939 all the way to the smouldering ruins of Berlin in 1945, via Palestine, Tobruk, El Alamein, D-Day and Nijmegen, An Englishman at War is a unique first-person account of one man's war. Christopherson's regiment, The Sherwood Rangers, started as amateurs, equipped with courage but very little else, and ended up one of the most experienced, highly trained and highly decorated tank regiments in the British Army. They were not only the first British troops to enter Paris and the first unit to cross into Germany, but also took part in the last cavalry charge undertaken by the British Army in Palestine in 1940. Over the course of the conflict, the regiment amassed an astonishing thirty battle honours. Stanley Christopherson himself was to rise from a junior subaltern to become the commanding officer of the regiment after the Normandy invasion.
The First World War Diaries of Manchester Pals Captain Charlie May written and kept in secret and published now for the first time. A born storyteller, Charlie May s vivid eye for detail and warm good humour brings his experience in the trenches (and the experience of millions of ordinary men like him) to life for a 21st-century readership. Captain Charlie May was killed, aged 27, in the early morning of 1st July 1916, leading the men of B Company, 22nd Manchester Service Battalion (the Manchester Pals) into action on the first day of the Somme. This tolerant and immensely likeable man had been born in New Zealand and against King s regulations he kept a diary in seven small, wallet-sized pocket books. A journalist before the war and a born storyteller, May s diaries give a vivid picture of battalion life in and behind the trenches during the build-up to the greatest battle fought by a British army and are filled with the friendships and tensions, the home-sickness, frustrations, delays and endless postponements, the fog of ignorance, the combination of boredom and terror to which every man that has ever fought could testify. His diaries reflect on the progress of the war, tell jokes good and bad, give details of horse-rides along the Somme valley, afternoons with a fishing rod, lunch in Amiens, a gastronomic celebration of Christmas 1915 and concerts in Whiz Bang Hall . He describes battles not just with the enemy, but with rats, crows and on the makeshift football pitch all recorded with a freshness that brings these stories home as if for the first time. The diaries are also written as an extended and deeply-moving love letter to his wife Maude and baby daughter Pauline. I do not want to die, he wrote Not that I mind for myself. If it be that I am to go, I am ready. But the thought that I may never see you or our darling baby again turns my bowels to water. Fresh, eloquent and warm, these diaries were kept secret from the censor and were delivered to his wife after his death by a fellow soldier in Charlie s company. Edited by his great-nephew and published for the first time, these diaries give an unforgettable account of the war that took Charlie May s life, and millions of others like him."
That Astonishing Infantry' by Michael Glover,Jonathan Riley Pdf
The Royal Welch Fusiliers were present at all Marlborough's great victories; they were one of the six Minden regiments; they fought throughout the Peninsula and were present at Wellington's final glorious victory at Waterloo. In The Great War their officers included the writer poets Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves; their 22 battalions fought not just on the Western Front but at Gallipoli, in Egypt, Palestine, Salonika, Mesopotamia and Italy. In WW2 they won battle honours from the Reichswald to Kohima. More recently they have served with distinction in the war against terror in the Middle East. Like so many famous regiments the RWF are no longer in the British Army's order of battle having been amalgamated into the Royal Regiment of Wales. But this fine book is the lasting memorial to a fiercely proud and greatly admired regiment.
Lion Rampant is Robert Woollcombe's graphic account of his experiences as a front-line infantry officer with the King's Own Scottish Borderers during the desperate battle for Normandy and the Allied advance into Germany. Vividly evoking the confusion, horror and comradeship of war - from the killing fields of Normandy bocage, through house-to-house fighting in shattered Flemish towns, to the final Rhine crossing - Lion Rampant is a powerful, authentic and moving story, telling with extraordinary clarity how the author, his fellow officers and the men of his company lived through one of the most bitter campaigns in history.
"If you survive your first day, I'll promote you." So promised George Wilson's World War II commanding officer in the hedgerows of Normandy -- and it was to be a promise dramatically fulfilled. From July, 1944, to the closing days of the war, from the first penetration of the Siegfried Line to the Nazis' last desperate charge in the Battle of the Bulge, Wilson fought in the thickest of the action, helping take the small towns of northern France and Belgium building by building. Of all the men and officers who started out in Company F of the 4th Infantry Division with him, Wilson was the only one who finished. In the end, he felt not like a conqueror or a victor, but an exhausted survivor, left with nothing but his life -- and his emotions. If You Survive One of the great first-person accounts of the making of a combat veteran, in the last, most violent months of World War II.
A gripping account of the Second World War, from the perspective of a young tank commander. In 1944, David Render was a nineteen-year-old second lieutenant fresh from Sandhurst when he was sent to France. Joining the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry five days after the D-Day landings, the combat-hardened men he was sent to command did not expect him to last long. However, in the following weeks of ferocious fighting in which more than 90 per cent of his fellow tank commanders became casualties, his ability to emerge unscathed from countless combat engagements earned him the nickname of the 'Inevitable Mr Render'. In Tank Action Render tells his remarkable story, spanning every major episode of the last year of the Second World War from the invasion of Normandy to the fall of Germany. Ultimately it is a story of survival, comradeship and the ability to stand up and be counted as a leader in combat.
The renowned historian and author of Normandy ’44 recounts the operations and personal experiences of the legendary Sherwood Rangers during WWII. One of the last cavalry units to ride horses into battle, the Sherwood Rangers were transformed into a “mechanized cavalry” of tanks in 1942. After winning acclaim in the North African campaign, they spearheaded one of the D-Day landings in Normandy and became the first British troops to cross into Germany. Their courage, skill and tenacity contributed mightily to the surrender of Germany in 1945. Inspired by Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers, historian James Holland profiles this extraordinary group of citizen soldiers. Informed by never-before-seen documents, letters, photographs, and other artifacts from Sherwood Rangers’ families, Holland offers a uniquely intimate portrait of the war at ground level. Brothers in Arms introduces heroes such as Commanding Officer Stanley Christopherson, squadron commander John Semken, Sergeant George Dring, and others who helped their regiment earn the most battle honors of any in British army history. Weaving their exploits into the larger narrative of D-Day to V-E Day, Holland offers fresh analysis and perspective on the endgame of WWII in Europe.
The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler by William L. Shirer Pdf
A concise and timely account of Hitler’s—and fascism’s—rise to power and ultimate defeat, from one of America’s most famous journalists. American journalist and author William L. Shirer was a correspondent for six years in Nazi Germany—and had a front-row seat to Hitler’s mounting influence. His most definitive work on the subject, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, is a riveting account defined by first-person experience interviewing Hitler, watching his impassioned speeches, and living in a country transformed by war and dictatorship. Shirer was originally commissioned to write The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler for a young adult audience. This account loses none of the immediacy of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich—capturing Hitler’s ascendence from obscurity, the horror of Nazi Germany’s mass killings, and the paranoia and insanity that marked the führer’s downfall. This book is by no means simplified—and is sure to appeal to adults as well as young people with an interest in World War II history. “For nearly 100 years William L Shirer has spoken to us of fascism, Nazis, and Hitler . . . [He] tells the unvarnished truth as he experienced it . . . I figured this school-type book wasn’t going to tell me anything new. But when I started reading, I realized that I wasn’t reading for the facts anymore. I listened to his story and heard the urgency in his voice: a voice from nearly 60 years ago telling us the truth about today.” —Daily Kos
A remarkable World War II survival story and combat memoir by “an indestructible wartime tank commander” (The Telegraph). In campaign after campaign, from the defense of Calais in 1940 to the defeat of Germany in 1945, Bill Close served as a tank commander in Britain’s Royal Tank Regiment—and he survived. His tanks were hit eleven times by enemy shellfire and he bailed out. He was wounded three times. He finished the war as one of the most experienced and resourceful of British tank commanders, and in later life, he set down his wartime experiences in graphic detail. His book is not only an extraordinary memoir; it is also a compelling account of the exploits of the Royal Tank Regiment throughout the conflict. As a record of the day-to-day experience of the tank crew of seventy-five years ago—of the conditions they faced and the battles they fought—it has rarely been equaled.
Bill Bellamy was a young officer in the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars from 1943 to 1955. He served in 7th Armoured Division in the North West Europe campaign, landing in Normandy on D+3, fought throughout the Battle for Normandy and into the Low Countries as a troop leader in Cromwell tanks, and was latterly a member of the initial occupying force in Berlin in May 1945. Against the rules, Bill kept diaries and notes of his experiences. His account is fresh and open, and his descriptions of battle are vivid. He witnessed many of his contemporaries killed in action, and this life-altering experience clearly informs his narrative. The accounts of tank fighting in the leafy Normandy bocage in the height of summer, or in the iron hard fields of Holland in winter, are graphic and compelling.
This account, following on from Unicorns - The History of the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry 1794- 1899, covers the Regiments war service between 1900 and 1945.During the Boer War the SRY formed part of the first volunteer unit to see active service overseas fighting the Boer Commandos as cavalry. For its role in the ill-fated 1915 Gallipoli campaign, the Regiment was awarded the Kings Colour and then fought Allenbys victorious campaign against the Turks.During the Second World War the Regiment initially saw service in Palestine, at the siege of Tobruk and the fall of Crete. After acting as Special Forces in Ethiopia, they were converted to armour and fought through from Alamein to Tripoli before returning to North-west Europe for D-Day and the advance to Germany. In so doing they won thirty Battle Honours and 159 awards including eighty-three for gallantry.General Sir Brian Horrocks later wrote no armoured regiment can show a finerrecord of hard fighting. Hence the title of this invaluable regimental history.
Edward Teddy Mortlock Donaldson was one of three aviator brothers to win the D.S.O. during World War II. He joined his brother in the R.A.F. and was granted a sort-service commission. He quickly became both a stunt pilot and a crack-shot, winning the R.A.F.s Gunnery Trophy One and leading the R.A.F.s aerobatic display team. When war was declared Donaldson was commanding No 151(F) Squadron flying Hurricanes and in their first engagement destroyed six enemy aircraft, shooting down many more in the following months. For his leadership of the squadron during the battle and his personal tally of eleven, plus ten probable destruction's he was awarded the D.S.O. He then spent three years as a gunnery instructor in the USA where he taught American Gun Instructors and helped set up new gunnery schools. On his return to England he converted onto jet aircraft and commanded a Meteor squadron. This lead to him being selected to command the Air Speed Flight, established in 1946 to break the world record. Teddy eventually snatched the title, setting a new speed record and breaking the 1000 km/h barrier. He retired as an Air Commodore and became the Air Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. He died in 1992.
