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

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

One of my favourite first-hand accounts from a bomber pilot is; "Serenade to the Big Bird" by Bert Stiles.

Serenade to the Big Bird by Bert Stiles

Great posts Mike, I really liked this statement;

"For those cities the verdict would depend on the variable winds. If the clouds blew one way Bremen would burn. If they went the other way Bremen would have its lunch hour as usual and Wilhelmshaven would go up in smoke. We—the bombers—were as indifferent as the rain. That is perhaps as close as men may come to gods—totally irresponsible."

Good recommendation Marc and one that I have already read :)

Excellent posts Mike! I read that book on Ploesti quite a few years back. I think I will have to dig around my library to find another book on the subject.

I'm with Jonny! Both are excellent books Mike and I sure you will really enjoy reading them.

Great stories Mike! I really liked the one about the whiskey - very resourceful those navy divers!

Phil wrote: "Hi everyone, Phil here - from the UK. I read military history, mainly 1850 - 1950, but not exclusively. I've just discovered goodreads and am busy uploading some recent reviews. I write a military ..."

Nice to see you here Phil, I hope you find a few good recommendations withing this group.

Once again, a great range of books being read by group members! I will be keen to hear your thoughts on "RAAF Black Cats" and "The Western Front" Jonny, no pressure :)

Two very interesting books BA and MR9! Enjoy :)

Welcome to the group, Yves, Kat and Derek! Glad to have you join us :)

Some more great books ay excellent prices - thanks Mike!

Nice review Marc, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for those details and sharing your review Bev, much appreciated.

Here are two more recent books on MacArthur:


Old Soldiers Never Die: The Life of Douglas MacArthur by Geoffrey Perrett

Douglas MacArthur: American Warrior by Arthur Herman

Two great stories MR9 - I quite liked this; "The ground in Aragón is hard, and a tin dinner plate a poor shovel, but machine-gun fire is a good persuader."

Should be an interesting book as long as Helion doesn't price it out of the market.

Totally agree about "Road of Bones", its an excellent book!

Jim wrote: "My first post on this group!

These days I read a lot of books via Audible. That's because I'm outdoors a lot, so I can pop in the earplugs and listen away. If I listen to a book that is really gre..."

I'm a bit like you Jim - Amazon for online orders but nothing beats browsing a real bookshop :)

I quite enjoyed William Manchester's book on MacArthur:

American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964 by William Manchester

Manray9 wrote: "Last night I started Ronald Liversedge’s personal account of service with Canada’s Mackenzie-Papineau battalion of the International Brigade in Spain. Liversedge grew up in meager working class cir..."

Ronald Liversedge certainly sounds like he had an interesting life!