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

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

Damn, that's not good news!

Good to hear you are enjoying the book, James. I have a unready copy ready to go. I was thinking of waiting until the second volume was published so I know that I won't be left stranded in case something happened.

Nice review 4ZZZ, sorry to hear that the book did not live up to expectations!

Nice review 4ZZZ, thanks for sharing your thoughts with the group.

I purchased a copy of this new Australian release by David Cameron; "Sanananda a Bastard of a Place: The Battle for the Beachhead New Guinea 1942-43".

Sanananda a Bastard of a Place: The Battle for the Beachhead New Guinea 1942-43 by David W. Cameron

Two nice finds Dimitri and thanks for proving that link to the military fair, looks great!

Mike wrote: "I just finished reading Destroyer Captain. It is about the life and death of Cdr. Ernest Evans who skippered the USS Johnston at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It has the best modern naval battle descri..."

Sounds like an interesting book, glad you enjoyed the account Mike!

The third and final volume of Ian Castle's trilogy; "The Forgotten Blitz" has been released in the UK and I have a copy on order:

Gotha Terror: The Forgotten Blitz, 1917-1918 by Ian Castle
Description:
By the autumn of 1916, advances in Britain’s air defense capability had all but ended the Zeppelin menace, which had haunted the nation for almost two years. However, an emerging complacency regarding the aerial threat was immediately shattered by the introduction in 1917 of the Grosskampfflugzeug, better known as the Gotha bomber. Whereas Zeppelin airships had attacked individually and stealthily under the cover of darkness, the German Army now had a squadron of bomber aeroplanes capable of brazenly attacking London and south-east England in broad daylight, thereby unleashing a new wave of terror on the British population.

Britain, having downgraded its aerial defenses after the apparent defeat of the Zeppelins, was forced to rethink. The improvements instigated compelled the German raiders to change their tactics too, as each side strived to gain the upper hand. And all the time the German Navy Zeppelins, whose campaign had not been abandoned entirely, continued to strike when opportunity allowed.

The story of these dramatic air raids is told by incorporating numerous, never-before published, eye-witness accounts, revealing a personal view of the experiences shared by those who lived through the conflict, both on the ground and in the air.

The German air campaign against the United Kingdom in the First World War was the first sustained, strategic aerial bombing campaign in history. Yet it has become dwarfed by the enormity of the Blitz of the Second World War, but for those caught up in the tragedy of these raids the impact was every bit as devastating. In Gotha Terror Ian Castle tells the full story of the 1917 - 1918 raids in unprecedented detail in what is the final book in a trilogy, completing the story of Britain’s Forgotten Blitz.

Sad news indeed André!

The fifth volume in the series Mussolini's War has just been published; "Apocalypse On The Steppe: The Struggle And The Bitter End Of The Italian Army In Russia, 1942-1943" by Marek Sobski.


Apocalypse On The Steppe: The Struggle And The Bitter End Of The Italian Army In Russia, 1942-1943 by Marek Sobski
Description:
In the previous study ‘Mussolini's Eastern Crusade: The Italian Expeditionary Corps In Operation Barbarossa’ we recounted the story of the Italian Corps (CSIR) on the Eastern Front until the end of winter 1942. This work continues the story of Mussolini's soldiers taking part in the campaign that fascist propaganda presented as an anti-Bolshevik crusade. Since the summer of 1942, an entire army sent from Italy (Armata Italiana in Russia, ARMIR), numbering well over two hundred thousand men, had been fighting in the USSR alongside the Wehrmacht.

The next summer offensive of the Wehrmacht in the USSR targeted the oil-rich areas of the Caucasus and, with its success, the industrial city on the Volga River - Stalingrad. The role of the Third Reich's allies on the Eastern Front was to secure the flanks of this manoeuvre. The ARMIR took part in the initial phases of Operation Blau, and then, acting as a buffer between the incompatible Hungarians and Romanians, took up positions on the River Don. Already by the summer of 1942, the Italians became the target of a Soviet operation aimed at cutting German supply lines and drawing reserves away from the Stalingrad area. The ARMIR passed this first test successfully, taking control of the situation without the help of other Axis forces.

In the winter of 1942/1943, the Red Army carried out a powerful counter-offensive, which in the first stage trapped Paulus's 6th Army in the Stalingrad cauldron. However, the Soviet reserves seemed inexhaustible, while the German-Romanian attempt to unblock the cauldron was still ongoing the Soviets were already undertaking further operations. Operation ‘Little Saturn’ was to break through the positions of the Italian 8th Army (ARMIR) and threaten the airfields from which Stalingrad was supplied. After its end, the elite Italian Alpine Corps found itself in the middle of another Soviet offensive – the Ostrogozhsk-Rossoshan Operation.

This study presents the story of the desperate battles of the Italian troops during the aforementioned events, including the operations of the air contingent. A detailed description of the battles and many accounts on the heroism of ordinary troops will allow the reader to properly assess the exploits of the Italian soldier on the Eastern Front, which has often been presented in an extremely unfair way. It also touches on such topics as the political and economic goals of the Italian presence in the East and the problem of securing the frontline zone, and the relations of the Italians with the local population.

The work is illustrated with 110 photos and 8 maps.

Table of contents:

Maps
Introduction
I. Italian 8th Army During Operation Blau
II. First Blow: ARMIR and Operation ‘Little Saturn’
III. The Tragic Retreat of the Alpine Corps
IV. In the Rear Area of the ARMIR
V. Regia Aeronautica on the Eastern Front
Conclusion
Appendix 1
Italian Ranks and Appointments Used Throughout The Book And Their British Equivalents
Appendix 2
Biographies Of The High-Ranking Italian Commanders of Armata Italiana in Russia
Appendix 3
Armata Italiana in Russia Order of Battle
Bibliography

Very interesting link, thanks for posting the details Liz.

James wrote: "Now heading into the last forty pages or so of THE LAST HILL by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin (2022).

Basically this is a recap of the exploits of the 2nd Ranger Battalion from its founding at Camp For..."

I hope you enjoy the book to the very last page James!

Liz V. wrote: "Private Wojtek
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4..."

Great story, thanks for the link, Liz.

Jerome wrote: "A June 2025 release:

by Richard Hargreaves
Description:
Opening the Gates of Hell is..."

I'm a sucker for any book covering Operation Barbarossa so this new title will be going on my wish-list!

That might be a book to keep an eye-out for, thanks for providing those details, Jerome!

Great post 4ZZZ, Weary Dunlop did well in his in interrogation!

Ray Parkin's drawings are very good and quite evocative at times.

"Chiang Kai-Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost" - Chiang's empire is starting to fall:

"Changchun, the most northerly Manchurian city held by the Nationalists, fell after a siege that deprived it of electricity, gas and water. 'Crowds of people were always rummaging in refuse dumps for anything that might serve as fuel,' the wife of the British consul recalled. Lack of food led to cannibalism - human flesh was on sale for the equivalent of US$1.20 per pound. In a civilian zone set up behind a barbed wire fence between the opposing armies, bodies lay so thickly in the street that there was no space to walk between them. After a Yunnanese unit in the garrison defected, the Communists captured the city. The death toll was estimated at anywhere from 120,000 to 300,000."

Siege of Changchun:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_o...

Great post MR9 and I'm with Mike, that's a hard way to get a kill!

"Chiang Kai-Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost" - The author mentioned General Zhang Zizhong, one of Chiang's better generals who died fighting the Japanese in Northern Hubei:

"There were occasional displays of resistance, such as the performance of General Zhang Zizhong, a former warlord officer and veteran of the Taierzhuang battle, who became a national hero after refusing to retreat or surrender when his unit was surrounded and fighting on until he died from seven separate wounds."

General Zhang Zizhong:
https://www.warheritage.info/tomb-of-...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Z...

"Chiang Kai-Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost" - On 3rd May 1939 Japanese navy planes bombed Chungking which led to extensive loss of life:

"Below the German embassy, several hundred Chinese were trapped against the city wall. Some of their bodies were charred black by flames; others died of the heat so gradually that their clothes were not even scorched. The flesh was missing from the top joints of their fingers, ripped away as they tried to climb to safety. Children and babies lay under them. Asked why they had not helped the Chinese to escape, a German diplomat replied: 'There were too many of them. Besides they were only coolies'."

Bombing of Chungking (Chongqing):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing...

https://www.pacificatrocities.org/blo...