We Died With Our Boots Clean: A Royal Marine Commando in World War II

by Kenneth McAlpine

At the age of seventeen, Kenneth McAlpine ran away from school to join the Royal Marine Commandos. As the youngest member of the youngest commando force, after three months he found himself fighting on the beaches of Normandy. In We Died With Our Boots Clean , McAlpine tells his own unique story of World War II. From an unusual encounter with Montgomery and Patton, a concerted attempt to kill a sergeant major and his best friend’s arrest for swearing at the Queen of Holland, McAlpine paints a fascinating picture of commando life. Full of absorbing anecdotes such as his time in a military prison and a rescue operation at a concentration camp, this book is an essential part of a World War II enthusiast’s library.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Colin Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have served. I have worked with Bootnecks. I have worked with the Hooligans. If any of these three statements makes you need to ask questions, then I suggest you do not know enough to review this book with the full facts at your disposal.

This is the biography of a lad in war-torn Britain who joins up to fight Nazis. Once he joins up, he then volunteers to join an elite cadre of Royal Marine Comandos and details the trials that he undergoes to be awarded the coveted designation.

What follows is black humour at its darkest as Kenneth travels from being a highly trained member of the Royal Marine Comandos to being a veteran who has experienced the worst that war can throw at him from combustible cigaretters to concentration camp rescuer.

I have laughed, cried and nodded in mute sympathy with Kenneth for this ground zero explanation of WWII. Don't just believe me, go and read the book.