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

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

"Bomber" is a good book and glad to hear it's been re-released. I also liked his book "Fighter", "Blitzkrieg" and "Goodbye Mickey Mouse".

For the New Guinea campaign I recommend Paul Ham's book on Kokoda and then David Cameron has a series of books covering the campaign as well.

Kokoda by Paul Ham

& & & by David W. Cameron

I hope you enjoy the book, Mike. The subject is certainly a page-turner!

Great review Jonny, thanks for sharing.

Bastards! :)

Some excellent books there Mike, I am sure quite a few group members will appreciate you posting the details!

Good deals! Thanks Mike.

"Bloodlands" and "Red Famine" are two excellent recommendations!

I am sure you will quite enjoy "Castles of Steel" just as much as "Dreadnought".

Great post about yachting! :)

"Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943" - Final story from the book:

"When the film The Dam Busters was being shot at Scampton in 1954, the RAF explosives-sniffer dog that played the part of Nigger resolutely declined to approach the spot outside the CO's office where Aircraftman Munro had buried Gibson's beloved black friend on that May night eleven years earlier."

Some articles on Guy Gibson's faithful dog:
https://aircrewremembered.com/gibson-...

https://www.forces.net/heritage/histo...

"Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943" - In 1950 Barnes Wallis applied to the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors in regard to the design of the weapon used to breach the dams:

"On 3 March 1951 the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors dispatched a cheque to Wallis for £10,000 'in full and final settlement of your claim in respect of "Upkeep" and "Highball" ... after giving careful consideration to the highly exceptional circumstances of this case'. The engineer promptly donated the money to Christ's Hospital, to create a fund to assist the education of children of RAF personnel killed in action."

Barnes Wallis:
https://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webproject...

"Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943" - The German perspective of the Dambuster Raid:

"Speer wrote: 'That night [of 16/17 May], employing just a few bombers, the British came close to a success which would have been greater than anything they had achieved hitherto with a commitment of thousands of bombers.' He was bemused by the RAF's diversion of effort to the irrelevant Eder, and even more so by the failure to interrupt repairs on the Möhne with conventional air attack: 'A few bombs would have produced cave-ins at the exposed building sites, and a handful of incendiaries could have set the wooden scaffolding ablaze.' On 2 September, a mere eighteen weeks after the Möhne was breached, the dam was once more sealed, in time for the reservoir to catch the autumn rains - though at a cost that has been estimated as equivalent to several billions in modern money. Closing the Eder took slightly longer."

Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943 by Max Hastings

Mike, he also mentioned that in his book. I liked this description of his flight; "The roar of its four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, like a battery of giant lawn-mowers, was orchestral theme music for a generation."

Jonny wrote: "I wrapped up Inferno: The Devastation of Hamburg, 1943 on Thursday last... its a brilliant read - to answer my own obvious question, the narrative is on a par with Middlebrook. What..."

Glad to hear you enjoyed the book as much as I did. I will be keen to read your review once you get a chance to write it up.

In regard to Max Hastings book on the Dambusters I must confess that I preferred James Holland book as being the better account.

"Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943" - Some of the results from the breaching of the Möhne Dam by the Dambusters in 1943:

"On 9 June 1943, police chiefs in the areas affected by the Möhne collapse compiled a preliminary report on its consequences. Almost six thousand cattle and 625 pigs had perished; over four thousand hectares of agricultural land had been flooded, sludge-caked and rendered uncultivable; almost a hundred factories had been more or less seriously damaged, thirty-three slightly so; forty-six road and rail bridges had been wrecked or damaged; bathetically, the report included the destruction of thirty-three clusters of beehives. The final death toll was estimated at 1,294, or possibly as high as 1,579 - several hundred people were still missing. Over a thousand houses had been destroyed or badly damaged, in addition to vastly more that were swamped, their inhabitant' possessions ruined. When, a week after Chastise on the night of 23 May, Force raided Dortmund, 650 people died, and the work of the firefighters was grievously impeded by lack of water, caused by the draining of the Möhne."

Operation Chastise:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operati...

"Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943" - I found this September 2019 article by Max Hastings on the Dambuster Raid that may interest some members:

https://www.maxhastings.com/2019/09/0...

Jonny wrote: "But is it based solely on the size of the hatches? Over numerous books it's become obvious that there's a massive disconnect between the way RAF and USAAF casualties occurred. It's a recurring them..."

It's not something that he makes entirely clear, but I got the impression it was a size and location issue.

"Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943" - The return of the surviving Lancasters to their base at Scampton:

"Ken Brown landed safely at 0533, followed by Bill Townsend last, at 0615, after a troubled passage home in which he had to shut down an engine. As he approached Scampton he found that hot oil from the front guns had smeared the windscreen so badly that he was obliged to peer out of his side window to judge the approach. O-Orange bumped repeatedly before finally settling clumsily to earth. As its weary pilot climbed down from the cockpit, a gruff, unfamiliar voice demanded to be told how the trip had gone. Townsend irritably told the questioner to wait until debriefing, Sir Arthur Harris was unamused."

Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943 by Max Hastings

"Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943" - Max Hastings provided this bit of information in regard to the survival rate of RAF Bomber Command Lancaster crews:

"It was a significant scandal of the bomber offensive, for which Avro shared responsibility with the RAF, that parachute escape from a stricken Lancaster was exceptionally difficult because of its inadequate emergency hatches. Bomber Command's Operational Section repeatedly highlighted this issue: whereas half the fliers aboard doomed USAAF bombers survived, only one in five of the RAF's did so, and just 15 per cent of Lancaster crews. Yet nothing was done."

Lancaster Safety Equipment:
https://masterbombercraig.wordpress.c...

Great posts Jonny and Boudewijn! That Lanc read gunner was a very brave chap!