Sebastian P. Breit's Blog, page 14

Review - The War Diaries of FM Lord Alanbrooke

Review - The War Diaries of FM Lord Alanbrooke

Only very few books I've ever read have left me with a sense of having gained some genuine insight into the machinations that drive human history. This is one of them. The diaries of first General Alan Brooke, later FM and Lord Alanbrooke cover the full duration of WWII, the European as well as Asian theater, and seldom has a more intimate and critical account of that time been given.



It shows us Alan Brooke, the private man loving and fascinated by nature, driven by a keen sense of duty, sportsmanship, love of family, love of country and, ultimately, his love of birds. A hobby ornithologist, Brooke found refuge and calm in his observation of birds, a kind of inner sanctum that allowed him to wind down in the sparse hours his mind was not preoccupied with first his military and later also his political duties. 
However, it is also an account of a man who - perhaps only subconsciously - realized he was witnessing the twilight of the empire he had grown up and lived in. His reports time and again bemoan the quality of senior military leadership in the British forces, something he attributes to the fact that too many of the good men were lost, for nothing, during the last war. His forces are strechted too thin, equipment is always sparse, and the longer the war goes on, the more the realization dawns that the British Empire is relegated to playing second fiddle to the Americans upon whom it has grown dependant.

But more than a book about Alan Brooke himself the "War Diaries" are a first hand account of his contemporaries: Eisonhower and Marshal, Stalin, de Gaulle and most importantly, Winston Spencer Churchill.

"Never have I admired and despised a man simultaneously to the same extent."

If you've got your knowledge about Churchill from common school books, from Brendan Gleeson's magnificent miniseries, or from Doctor Who you're in for a rough and unpleasant ride. The picture Brooke paints of Britain's most famous PM is no less grand than the one Churchill has painted for himself. As one contemporary once quipped, "Winston has written a book about himself and called it The Second World War". But Brooke's piece has more dark spots on it, and some of the colors he uses are a lot shriller. And since he spent literally every day with the man, I'm inclined to believe his account as far as WSC is concerned, because he describes a real human being.



'His' Winston Churchill is a fascinating personality: excentric (he describes more than one instance where the PM summoned him to a meeting only clad in a chinese-dragon embroidered bathrobe or were he lay almost naked in bed) industrious, well-read, tenacious, a natural born orator, stalwart, funny, aggressive and eager to be where the fighting is.

But the other side of the coin weighs heavier, for the PM proved himself to be a man defined by a narrow perspective, infatuated beyond reason with what should have been sideshows of the war, a man lacking nearly all understanding of strategy, vindictive, prone to recklessness and heavy drinking, lacking personal and military caution, a man who easily took advice contrary to his own ideas personal and who was prone to stack discussions with those he believed to be Yes-men, and ultimately a man who did not give a damn about the chain of command. As great as his judgement of his own people was, as lacklustre was the one of others, especially Stalin and the Americans who he was occasionally poised to raise to near sainthood.



Going by Alan Brooke's account, often the full voices of the War Cabinet and the CIGS and his chiefs were needed to discourage Churchill from a particular course of action. And only minor changes in who sat were and how the war played out may very well have produced severe consequences under these circumstances.



Final Verdict: 5/5 (A). Great account by a barely known man who nonetheless helped win WWII. Offers detailed insights into the leading echelons of Great Britain during the war, especially w/regards to military matters and, above all, the character of Winston Churchill. You should get this book.

The WWII Game I'd Like to See

The genre of the WWII related game has been stagnating recently, after achieving its heyday in the first half of the 2000s. Shooters have been far and few between since the Call of Duty and Medal of Honor series have moved on to more recent combat theatres. Even before that, the subgenre had begun to enter a phase of nauseous repitition, with what felt like the hundredth variant of the D-Day landings playing out on ever so incrementally tweaked new grafics engines. The RTS front has been ever so silent since the last entry into the Company of Heroes series, Tales of Valor, in 2009. And on the side of grand strategy games, Paradox' Hearts of Iron III stands tall and unchallenged as the memory-chewing ugly successor to the fine-tuned genius that Hearts of Iron II ended up being in the end (yes, I hate HoI 3). And even though Rebellion's Steve Hart claims that the market is ready for a new batch of WWII-related games again, none besides his own Sniper Elite 2 are in sight.


[image error]
"Theatre of War". Managing single soldiers maybe is a wee

bit too much micromanagement. Squads should do.
With that kept in mind, here's what would make me happy. I'd like to see a client-based, free-to-play, MMORTS game.



Location: Western Front, 1944Factions: Germany & USA (later expansion possible to: UK, Polish, Free French, multinational Waffen-SS)Terrain type: fully destructible/changeable, 3-D based on Google Earth, using randomized tilesets representative of general terrain and localesGrafics: high end, zoomableUnits: historical; smallest would be infantry squads and individual vehicles; player would start with a company-sized unit he can "buy" before joining the campaign using "game points"
"game points" are gathered by winning battles and achieving randomized in-game objectives (take church bell tower, hold bridge, mine X, etc.) or can be bought for real money
units can be upgraded using gathered "game points"; EXP gained and not converted into "game points" can be carried on into the next game
abilities of units would change with upgrades (add camouflage, ability to dig in, efficacy of their fortifications, Panzerfausts, speed of field repairs, etc.) 
Promotions: winning X amount of battles open Y amount of "game points", opens up larger unit sizes up till full battalion or regiment



Modes: Balance & Challenge

"Balance" would mean that
the game searches for engagements of units of the same size, ie. company-sized vs. company-sized; 
players gather EXP for themselves and their units, but would not affect the overall strategic situation; labelled as "Skirmishes"
game point acquisition is halved
"Challenge" would be the real competitive game mode.
Two basic battle modes: regiment -sized and battalion -sized, allowing for a maximum of six players on one map (3 vs. 3 battalions; 3 vs. 3 companies)
Players would have the option to withdraw from the battle;
battles in "Challenge" mode would affect the overall strategic map


"King Arthur". The blue flag represents a battlefield objective.
Objectives and goals:

Simply put, to win the whole theatre is the final goal. However, the intrinsic dynamic nature of the game should open up possibilities like affecting the enemy by cutting off anf encircling his advanced units on the strategic map. On the tactical battle maps, I'd opt for a combination of a timer- and objective based approach. You start with a basic time account of, say, sixty minutes. If you are on the offensive, every captured objective gains you additional time.



Objectives in and by themselves also should offer boni: a captured church with its tower should boost your line of sight and the efficacy of your infantry within its perimeter; a captured hill should boost the accuracy of your artillery, and so on.



These are my preliminary ramblings. What are your wishes in a new WWII game? Tell me - doesn't have to be an RTS!

The Windermere Boys

Near Windermere, central Lakeland (UK)
'The Windermere Boys' were young Jewish survivors of the Holocaust of WW2. After the end of the war they came from the horrors of the death camps to this green and pleasant land. There was a life worth living after all. 

In August 1945 approximately 300 young Jewish boys, survivors of the European Holocaust of WW2, were airlifted to RAF Crosby-on-Eden near Carlisle. They were taken onwards by coach through the green and pleasant land of the English Lake District to the hosel at Calgarth, Windermere. After the horrors of the Holocaust, the war, the loss of close family and friends and starvation these young Jewish boys had found a haven. Or was this Heaven that they had found?



This group of children became known as 'The Windermere Boys'. For once, they had a bed to sleep in with clean, white, bed sheets There was food on the table - and seemingly pleanty of it. This may have been wartime Britain with strict rationing in force. But for some of these children who had known real hunger in the concentration camps regular food on the table was a luxury. Many of the children used to stash food away in case this the time arrived when, once again, there was no food on the table!



'The Windermere Boys' also found freedom, fresh air, green fields and blue skies, at least some of the time - this was Lakeland after all. 'The Windermere Boys' did not stay in Windermere for long. The orphaned boys were found homes throughout Britain, with many finding a home among the Jewish commuity around Manchester and Salford.



But the first days of welcome freedom at Windermere were not forgotten. The Manchester Jewish Museum in connection with the Lake District Holocaust Project, Windermere has collected together an archive of the memories of many of these 'Windermenre Boys'. Contemporary artists in the fields of music, painting, photographs and images have interpreted the collective memory of the 'Boys' to tell their story to the modern world. This was a story waiting to be told and one that should be widely known.



first seen here.

PM Stoltenberg apologises for WWII Jews' deportation

Found here.



"Without relieving the Nazis of their responsibility, it is time to for us to acknowledge that Norwegian policemen and other Norwegians took part in the arrest and deportation of Jews."



"Today I feel it is fitting for me to express our deepest apologies that this could happen on Norwegian soil," he said at today's UN International Holocaust Rememberance Day ceremony at Oslo's Akershus Quayside.



He continued, "This year it is 70 years since the German cargo ship SS Donau set sail from this dock on its shameful mission. Five hundred and thirty-two Jews had been brutally rounded up and stowed on board."



"Only nine of them were to return. The last of the survivors who is still alive is Samuel Steinmann. I am especially pleased to have you here with us today."



The Prime Minister also highlighted the fate of Ruth Maier, who was 22 when she was arrested in November 1942. She was killed five days later in a gas chamber in Auschwitz.



He mentioned her story would not have been known if it had not been for writer and Gunvor Hofmo and Jan Erik Vold, a lyric poet, translator, and author.



"The Holocaust came to Norway on Thursday 26 November 1942. Ruth Maier was one of the many who were arrested that day. [...] On 26 November, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, the sound of heavy boots could be heard on the stairs of the boarding house "Englehjemmet" in Oslo," said PM Stoltenberg.



"A few minutes later, the slight Jewish girl was seen by her friends being led out of the door of Dalsbergstien 3. Ruth Maier was last seen being forced into a black truck by two big Norwegian policemen."



Saying whilst there was no question the Nazis carried out the murders, the PM declared, "but it was Norwegians who carried out the arrests. It was Norwegians who drove the trucks."



"I regret to say that the ideas that led to the Holocaust are still very much alive today, 70 years later. All over the world we see that individuals and groups are spreading intolerance and fear. They are cultivating violent ideologies that could lead to anti-Semitism and hatred of minorities. Norwegian Jews also tell that they are living in fear."



"In the newspaper Vårt Land, we read that some of our Jews are afraid to be visible as Jews. We cannot accept this in Norway. No one should have to hide their faith, cultural identity or sexual orientation. All people have equal worth. Everyone has equal rights, and that is how it has to be in Norway."



Out of the 772 Norwegian Jews and Jewish refugees that were deported during WWII, just 34 survived. A total of six million Jews, 1.5 million of them children, were murdered by the Nazis in the Second World War under Adolf Hitler's "Final Solution".



* * *

I'm somewhat puzzled by this apparent need of people three generations past the act to shovel ashes onto their heads, especially in the case of Norway, which was an occupied nation back then. It's a bit like saying sorry to someone who was wronged with your help but with the caveat that at that time you had a gun to your head and your family as virtual hostages! The only thing your refusal to be involved would have caused is the punishment of yourself and your loved ones. If there is someone who needs to apologize, it's the German authorities who ordered the deportations - and I believe we have done pretty much that on a non-stop basis for some decades now. As for "that the ideas that led to the Holocaust are still very much alive today": oh, yes, they are, and they are apparently been nicely fostered by the prime minister's own leftwing circles and Norway's increasing Muslim minority, and not by your usual suspects...

Gaming Market Ready for WW2 Again?

Both VG24/7 and the Gaming Examiner recently ran the comments of Rebellion studio's Steve Hart who believes gamers are ready for titles set within World War II again as the setting is a "breath of fresh air" compared to those with modern conflicts.

"… I think the market is ready for World War Two. You've seen the extra press the likes of Red Orchestra 2 have gotten because all of a sudden WW2 is a breath of fresh air whereas modern conflicts perhaps aren't.

 

I wouldn't say developers moved on, instead they gave it the respect it needed and said 'Right, we've done that to death, let's go look at something else.' It just so happens that our timing for a World War Two game is better than others out there, and gamers are ready for that now. Even better for us is that we're coming out before perhaps another Call of Duty set during World War Two, as I'm sure we'll be seeing another one of those at some point."

Now, naturally I love WWII games, and I think it'd be great to get some new ones with the graphics and physics engines newer systems do provide by now. Still, what I really want is not a rehash of the one thousandth Call of Duty clone. Give me something new, give me something daring and fresh. Mix genres. Tell engaging stories. Don't tell me for the tenth time how US troops parachuted down into Normandie on the night before D-Day (or if you do it, do it really well^^). Give me a covert ops campaign, a commando campaign. Use the OSS or the SAS for protagonists.



Hell, give me German FPS campaign! That'd be new, and it'd require some really good storywriting. Make it a compelling moral tale spanning the whole war in some 20 missions or so.



Or make it an alternative history wargame! Or how about a RTS game based on the real European map? Use Google Earth and randomly generated terrain sets and frame it into a dynamic multiplayer setting in, say, the Western Front 1944? Fully destructible terrain, on a Free2Play basis?

Getting serious about video games

Video games have somewhat of a bad reputation today: individuals have attacked games for their supposed contribution to obscenity and their debilitation of male virtue. Despite these fears, scientists have identified some benefits from gaming, ranging from improved self-worth to augmented surgical skills. In the foreign policy arena, video games can and should serve as a powerful tool for educating civilian and military personnel about war and foreign affairs.



Video games can serve to help bolster America's glaring deficiency in one crucial discipline: history. Video games focused on war and IR provide refreshing bursts of information about often-overlooked leaders and wars. These games can offer descriptive backgrounds of leaders or events (e.g. Age of Empires' description of Genghis Khan or the Crusades). These methods can sometimes provide a deeper and more-engaging understanding of history than just a textbook or lecture.



A subgenre of games, so-called "serious" games, goes further by explicitly trying to educate gamers about historical or political issues. For example, Niall Ferguson in 2007 played the World War II serious game Making History and played out some of his WWII counterfactual scenarios, such as war breaking out over German seizure of Czechoslovakia in 1938. His experience led him to conclude that his counterfactual historical scenarios "weren't as robust as [he] thought." As a result, Ferguson ended up advising this series. This episode, forcing critical re-examinations of events, anecdotally illustrates the range of useful educational experiences gleaned from games like Making History or other, current games such as Global Conflicts: Palestine or the future-themed Fate of the World: Tipping Point that can help civilians better understand history and policymaking, thereby making better choices when voting or arguing politics.



All of the above is great for civilians, but what about actual warfighters and policymakers? Games cannot finely simulate actual combat or crises, yet can provide training related to the planning and responses needed for tactical and strategic decisions. Indeed, military officers have engaged in a modern form of Kriegsspiel by using tactical warfare games for their training: for example, the Close Combat series proved so popular that in 2004 the developer released Close Combat: Marines explicitly for military training. Other games, such as the tank-simulator Steel Beasts or the situational training tools of WILL interactive, have been used by the military for realistic simulations of warfighting and decision-making.



Civilian practitioners, however, have not embraced gaming as readily as the military: while think tankers or civilian politicians outside the Pentagon may play games in an unofficial capacity, official efforts like the Woodrow Wilson Center's Serious Games Initiative have petered out. In stark contrast, DOD policy practitioners embrace video games even in non-kinetic planning: Michael Peck's article on a DOD budgeting game shows how policymakers can prepare for things as prosaic as the budget with games. Hopefully civilian policymakers in the future will use games, both serious, educational games and fun strategy games, to prepare for the decision-making necessary during times of crisis.



first seen at Foreign Policy.

Irish Treatment of Jewish Refugees & Polish Promotion of WWII Past

Just two small news snippets for today.



State 'did nothing for Jews in WWII'IRELAND can no longer escape the "inconvenient truth" that it turned its back on the suffering of the Jews during World War Two.



In a hard-hitting speech delivered at the opening of a new Holocaust exhibition in Dublin last night, Justice Minister Alan Shatter said the Irish State lost its "moral compass" during and after the war.



"An inconvenient truth is that those who chose to do and say nothing during this unprecedented period in European history included this State.



"In the period following Hitler coming to power and preceding the Second World War, the doors of this state were kept firmly closed to German Jewish families trying to escape from persecution and death," he said.



Records unearthed by the Minister from the Department of Foreign Affairs while he was researching the period many years ago show that the then Irish Ambassador to Germany, Charles Bewley, recommended the Government refuse visa requests from Jews to protect Ireland from "contamination".



"In understanding the Holocaust and maintaining its memory...we should not forget or ignore the failures of this State and this State's responsibilities for such failures," he warned (continue reading here).





Poland Tourism To Promote WWII Headquarters of Adolf Hitler

Poland is looking to boost tourism with the help of headquarters used by Adolf Hitler during WWII. Wolfsschanze or Wolf's Lair is the Adolf Hitler's command headquarters that Poland tourism is looking to promote in order to lure tourists.



The Polish authorities have planned $2 million upgrade of the Wolfsschanze to attract more tourists. Poland officials plans to attract more children at the headquarters of Adolf Hitler during the Second World War.



At present around 180,000 to 200,000 tourists visit the site annually. Following the upgrades, Poland tourism expects 20 per cent increase in tourist arrivals. Wolfsschanze is spread in a area of 250 hectare, surrounded by abundance of forest in Rastenburg. Wolf's Lair was the largest of 10 headquarters used by Nazis and Adolf Hitler during the Second World War (continue reading here).

Review - Captain America (2011)

[image error] Since I've got no idea when or even if Red Tails will hit German movie theatres I thought I could just as well give you my impressions of the Captain America movie I saw just recently with a good buddy of mine, and my review mirrors his own. Since it's WW II & alternate history, this one was right down my alley.

Steve Rogers is a pansie, an eighty pound paper towel that could be beaten up by a girl. But it's the 1940s, and the USA is at war. And while Rogers doesn't have the physique to volunteer for service with his friend, he has his heart at the right place - so much, in fact, that he tries every trick in the book to be admitted into the forces. But to no avail, neither the army nor the female half of society takes notice of little Steve. But one man does take notice. An emigree scientist, a Jew having escaped from Germany and now working for the US government on a secret supersoldier program, takes Rogers in. Because who would be the better choice than the man who - on first sight - seems to be the worst choice?



I won't spoil much more of the story, even though it does tend to fit in with the general comic book level of complexity, meaning it could fit on a post-it note. But let's be honest: that's not much of a problem with an action-oriented movie if you get the right tone. And Captain America actually gets most of it right.


For example, we get a really great villain in the form of an uncompromising Red Skull played by an as always perfect Hugo Weaving (Lord of the Rings, Matrix) who had obvious fun in his role. However, "Hydra", his Nazi-esque and even more evil-than-the-Nazis organisation, receives too little exposition and explanation; if you're not a fan of the comics you're bound to end up asking who the hell all those guys in those funny uniforms are?!



The story is told in a rather serious tone that nonetheless leaves some space for quips and moments of (self) irony. The production design is reminiscent of recent WW II movies - that is, until "Hydra" gets its screen time with rather futuristic designs. Which, incidentially, is a good touch as it prevents Captain America from becoming a melodramatic WW II movie.



Nice bridges to Thor (the Odin Cube is the source of "Hydra's" energy) and Iron Man (Howard Stark works for the US government) are built, and the single movies are pulled a bit closer together by that, ultimately helping to establish a connected set of origin stories for the upcoming Avengers movie.



I was also positively surprised by the movie's sense of patriotism, and in two ways in that: for one, unlike the watered down Superman reboot, Captain America is an American fighting for America (and in a wider sense, against evil). This is exactly the core of what that character is supposed to be. And secondly, despite that, the American patriotism is presented so tastefully that international audiences won't be alienated. I believe that a good balance was struck there.



There's a nice cast of interesting supporting characters that is sadly underutilized by rushing the second third of the movie unnecessarily forward. Steve Rogers practically changes on the spot from an icon selling war bonds to fully trained supersoldier. He really does; he's gone through basic training, then goes on a long bond sales tour, and from one moment to the other he switches his posturing on a stage to parachuting behind enemy lines. Sure, he's strong and he's fast, but he lacks the training and experience for this kind of action. This is were the movie falls terribly short. Even a training montage - maybe even just one of he training himself - would have gone a long way to change this for the better.



As I mentioned above, there's a cool cast of supporting characters, but they have terribly little screen time and development. As Markus Antares noted, a great chance to make this into a comic book based Dirty Dozen was wasted here.



In the end, Captain America is less than it could have been in the sense that it is "just" another origin movie leading up to the Avengers. My buddy and I feel that the character wasn't done with WW II yet, and that a great chance has been missed here to fully develop Steve Rogers/Captain America, especially with the movie's end kept in mind.



Final Verdict: B. A must see for afficionados of the genre and those waiting for the Avengers movie. It's above average, but does not rise to the heights of Iron Man.

Extraordinary New Book Rewrites Adolf Hitler's Childhood

from Digital Journal.



Edit: Mitro, the founder of the Alternate History Weekly Update, contacted the author of the below mentioned novel and secured a review copy for yours truly! Thanks, Frank and Mitro!



Frank Daversa, author and writer, recently published his new book "Young Adolf: An Alternate History" with AuthorHouse. It revisits Hitler's childhood as an exercise in developmental psychology: can an early romance overcome the domestic challenges of young Adolf's life? The story, written by Frank and Joseph Franciosa Jr., starts with Hitler's birth, and proceeds through his adolescence. It depicts his childhood in striking detail. You will observe his ordeals, from the rigors of his schooling to beatings by his father Alois. Factual accounts are interspersed with fictional inventions, such as his relationship with a hypothetical girl named Helga. Can young Adolf conquer the personal barriers his difficult childhood presented and become close with her emotionally? How will that change him?





Learn more about Adolf the boy. Experience the molding of his dreams, his prejudices, and his desires in visceral detail. Come to understand the inner-workings of history's most infamous megalomaniac through the perspective of a child's eyes. Follow Adolf during his younger years. Know the boy before he was the world's most feared man. Witness his courtship with good-natured Helga. Decide whether her influence might have altered the course of history.



Frank is based in Houston, TX. It all began there back in early 2008, when he was thinking of how Adolf Hitler must have had a difficult childhood for him to turn out the way he did. He had no girlfriends during that time to speak of. Then it occurred to Frank, what would happen if someone intervened, someone to show young Hitler true love? Would this be enough to change him for the better as an adult? That is how "Young Adolf" was born.

This does seem like an interesting premise, though I'm rather doubtful as to its overall plausibility. By that I don't mean the possibility of Hitler getting a girlfriend, but of it having an overall impact on his personality and politics. But then I'm rather sceptical of the whole psycho-analysis as an approach anyway since in the end it always seems to boil down to some issue about one's mother and/or sex. Contrary to that I think that even people who one would identify as "good" and even "kind", who had a good childhood and experienced stable relationships, can through deliberations and the setting of priorities come up with ideas and concepts we would rightfully abhorr. Having said that, I may well be doing the whole project premature injustice (...can injustice be mature?^^). It certainly addresses an aspect few if any other writers have tackled in that way. That alone makes me anticipate reading it.

Red Tails Update 2

As of today, Red Tails has a 34% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, putting it squarely in the "rotten" category. The general consensus seems to be that the characters are flat, much of the dialogue is cheezy, and it doesn't really tackle "big issues".

And you know what? Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn! Red Tails first and foremost appears to be a war movie, and thank God for that. The last thing the genre needed was another overly dramatic and pseudo-philosophical snorefest pleasing the artsy crowd (nothing against you guys, but stay out of my entertainment). Audiences seem to have come to the same conclusion. User reviews on Rotten Tomatoes therefore give the movie a favorable 72% rating.

Having said that, there's still no international release date in sight. However, Korsgaard already has promised to review the movie asap. I'll keep you guys posted.