'Aussie Rick'’s Comments (group member since Jun 12, 2009)

'Aussie Rick'’s comments from the THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP group.

Manray9 wrote: "An arrival today from a private seller in Colorado --

[book:Allies of a Kind: The United Stat..."

Sounds like a pretty interesting book, MR9!

Dipanjan wrote: "I have started to read...

Latin America During World War II
"

I hope you enjoy the book Dipanjan!

Manray9 wrote: "Thinking it about time for a little naval action, tonight I started John Winton's --

[book:Sink the Haguro!: La..."

I hope it's a great account MR9!

Jerome wrote: "A February 2026 release:

by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
Description:
This book details the operations o..."

Should be worth a read!

Liz V. wrote: "“Violin of Hope”
https://apnews.com/article/hungary-da..."

Great story, thanks for the link!

Liz V. wrote: "Poppy girls’ tribute
https://arr.news/2025/04/25/poppy-gir..."

Thanks for that link, Liz. Pretty amazing work!

Great post Jonny! Those stretcher-bearers were indeed "the bravest of the brave".

"A Suspicion of Spies: Risk, Secrets and Shadows – the Biography of Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale" - Here are some details on Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale and the book itself:

https://www.thecipherbrief.com/book-r...

https://aspectsofhistory.com/wilfred-...

And another book on the subject by Damien Lewis:

https://www.forcesnews.com/feature/re...

It's a good one, that's for sure!

"A Suspicion of Spies: Risk, Secrets and Shadows – the Biography of Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale" - The author also mentioned the amazing story of how Poland's gold reserves were smuggled to the UK at the start of WW2. I was surprised to learn that the gold was only finally returned in 2019.

The Polish Gold Run:
https://maddy06.blogspot.com/2020/05/...

"A Suspicion of Spies: Risk, Secrets and Shadows – the Biography of Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale" - The author mentioned that there was some friction between the Free French under General de Gaulle and the British intelligence services:

"De Gaulle was a grudging guest. He would rail against his British hosts, complaining that he had been slighted by being given offices at 4 Carlton Gardens which could only be accessed by Waterloo Place and where, from his office, he could see Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. Difficulties with de Gaulle prompted Churchill's remark: 'I've had to bear many crosses in my life, but the heaviest has been the Cross of Lorraine'.

A Suspicion of Spies: Risk, Secrets and Shadows – the Biography of Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale by Tim Spicer

"Krithia: The Forgotten Anzac Battle of Gallipoli" - A concluding story involving one of the men missing, presumed killed, during the Battle of Krithia in May 1915 - Private Bill Buckingham:

"Bill was finally reclassified as killed in action in April 1916 and, soon after, his oldest son Jack enlisted in the AIF. Jack Buckingham was killed in action in the Ypres Salient in October 1917, aged nineteen. Neither father nor son's body was ever recovered. Today, Bill is remembered on the Helles Memorial and Jack is remembered on the Menin Gate in Ypres."

Krithia: The Forgotten Anzac Battle of Gallipoli by Mat McLachlan

"Krithia: The Forgotten Anzac Battle of Gallipoli" - The author mentioned the drastic action taken by Second Lieutenant George Moor during the Third Battle of Krithia which led to this officer shooting four of his own men. He was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross:

https://vcgca.org/our-people/profile/...

"Krithia: The Forgotten Anzac Battle of Gallipoli" - Sometimes it's hard to fathom the decision making of the high command at Gallipoli:

"A field of battle strewn with corpses and a failed advance that could be measured in metres rather than kilometres should have been all the evidence required to demonstrate the Turks were a formidable foe who wasn't close to breaking. Which makes the next decision from Hamilton almost impossible to fathom. After two identical days of failure, after thousands of men had been killed or wounded in pointless advances, after an unseen enemy had demonstrated he was growing stronger by the day, after the artillery had completely exhausted its already pitiful supply of ammunition, after the hell on earth that the Helles battlefield had become - the advance on Krithia would resume the next day, on 8 May."

https://www.awmlondon.gov.au/battles/...

"Krithia: The Forgotten Anzac Battle of Gallipoli" - On the First Battle of Krithia:

"Sadly, even the most inspiring words from the commanding general were going to provide scant protection from machine-gun bullets. The task of sticking up for Hunter-Weston proves too much even for Aspinall-Oglander, who gives up the fight in short order. 'The story of 7th May,' he announces with palpable sigh, 'can be told in a few words.' His 'few words' proceed to describe one of the most pointless and bloody advances of the entire Gallipoli campaign."

Krithia: The Forgotten Anzac Battle of Gallipoli by Mat McLachlan

Darya Silman wrote: "I bought Churchill and the Norway Campaign, 1940 by Graham Rhys-Jones for just 2 pounds when Pen & Sword Publishing House had discounts. I don't know, however, when..."

Nice find Darya!

Jonny wrote: "Fantastic stuff Rick. Trench handover can't have been ready at the best of times.

Loved this little bit of sangfreud on the runin to ANZAC in the first wave...In one boat an Australian officer be..."

Another great story!

Liz V. wrote: "Greece honoring ANZACs
https://greekreporter.com/2025/04/25/..."

Great story, thanks for posting the link, Liz!

"Krithia: The Forgotten Anzac Battle of Gallipoli" - The introduction of the Royal Naval Division (RND) troops into the Australian lines at Anzac proved quite problematic:

"But the RND troops were jumpy and dangerously inexperienced. A day after they arrived, Lieutenant Colonel Walter McNicoll, commander of the Australian 6th Battalion, was handing over a section of trench to his counterpart in the Deal Battalion of the RND, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Bendyshe. Like most Australians, McNicoll was unkempt and unshaven. A nervy RND sentry mistook him for a Turk and fired his rifle - the bullet missed him McNicoll but killed Bendyshe, the man's own commanding officer. At the sound of the shot, pandemonium broke out and the RND men started firing in all directions, killing one of their sergeants and wounding two other men. McNicoll was wounded fending off bayonet thrusts. Eventually, he was overcome, the marines bound and blindfolded him as a spy and then began marching their prisoner to the beach. 'The first man this party met,' a witness recalled, 'was the 6th Battalion's Adjutant, whose language when he recognised his commanding officer maintained the highest traditions of the A.I.F.' McNicoll spent a couple of days in the field hospital, where Birdwood visited him to congratulate him on his escape from the British. *"

* It wasn't all misadventure for the RND men. On the night of 30 April, Lance Corporal Walter Parker of the Royal Marine Light Infantry won the first Victoria Cross at Anzac for crossing 350 metres of bullet-swept ground to reinforce a trench and tend to wounded comrades. The next day, he helped evacuate the wounded, even though he had been shot himself.

Lance Corporal Walter Parker:
https://vcgca.org/our-people/profile/...

"Krithia: The Forgotten Anzac Battle of Gallipoli" - Meanwhile at Anzac Cove:

"Apart from the occasional sniper's bullet, the day was quiet and casualties would have been light, if not for disastrous misunderstanding on 400 Plateau late in the day. This was a deadly piece of ground. An Australian sergeant who crossed it had to leap from pit to pit under a hail of fire. He arrived safely but discovered that a Turkish machine gun had put three bullets through his cap, one through his boot and one through his coat, and had ripped the bottom out of the bucket in his hand."

ANZAC landing on 25th April 1915:
https://www.britishbattles.com/first-...