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

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

Manray9 wrote: "I have reduced drastically my book purchases, but today I found a used copy in excellent condition of --

[book:Churc..."

Nice find MR9!

Darya Silman wrote: "Centuries Will Not Suffice: A History of the Lithuanian Holocaust by Prit Buttar

On the Amazon page, the release is scheduled for July 2023, but the author on his..."

Thanks for the notification, Darya, sounds like an interesting account.

I've upgraded the security system since last time :)

I might look at the books I'm taking overseas with me and see if I can squeeze this book in and try and keep up with the theme read while I'm away:

Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939-1945 by Halik Kochanski

Hi folks, the April theme page is up and ready for comment and discussion:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Due to the fact that I will be overseas during this period I may not be able to participate in the theme directly, but I will be keeping tabs on the conversation.

The April theme read is any book or books of your choice (which can include a novel) that covers the Warsaw Uprising and/or partisan/resistance Operations during WW2.

I have a copy that I purchased when it was first published but have not gotten around to reading it yet.

fourtriplezed wrote: "I have just finished War By Sebastian Junger. I rate it very highly and if any of you who have a military background have an opinion on it, I would be very interested. My review.

https://www.good..."

Excellent review 4ZZZ!

More good books!

Two very interesting books Komet and MR9!

Marc wrote: "Started this one today:

Snow and Steel: The Battle of the Bulge, 1944-45

I really liked the author's book on ..."

I really enjoyed this book so I hope you do as well, keep us all posted!

Manray9 wrote: "This evening I've picked up --

Orwell: The War Commentaries.

These are essays written by George Orwell for the BBC and delivered be..."

I hope you enjoy the book MR9 and find it an interesting read.

An excellent range of books, thanks for the notification, Mike, I am sure quite a few group members will appreciate it!

Darya Silman wrote: "
To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945 by [author:John C. McM..."

On my to-buy list :)

Boudewijn wrote: "A new book on an interesting subject: Kolberg, Goebbels's most ambitious propaganda piece to bolster the mood of the German people during the latter stages of WW2

[bookcover:Hitler's Last Chance: ..."

Sounds like something a bit different Boudewijn!

Manray9 wrote: "From John McCrea's Captain McCrea's War: The World War II Memoir of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Naval Aide and USS Iowa's First Commanding Officer.

McCrea told an amusing tale concerni..."

Great story MR9!

I enjoyed the book and the TV series; "Winds of War".

This new book offers something a bit different in regard to WW2 history; "Between God and Hitler: Military Chaplains in Nazi Germany" by Doris L Bergen.

Between God and Hitler: Military Chaplains in Nazi Germany by Doris L Bergen
Description:
During the Second World War, approximately 1000 Christian chaplains accompanied Wehrmacht forces wherever they went, from Poland to France, Greece, North Africa, and the Soviet Union. Chaplains were witnesses to atrocity and by their presence helped normalize extreme violence and legitimate its perpetrators. Military chaplains played a key role in propagating a narrative of righteousness that erased Germany's victims and transformed the aggressors into noble figures who suffered but triumphed over their foes. Between God and Hitler is the first book to examine Protestant and Catholic military chaplains in Germany from Hitler's rise to power, to defeat, collapse, and Allied occupation. Drawing on a wide array of sources – chaplains' letters and memoirs, military reports, Jewish testimonies, photographs, and popular culture – this book offers insight into how Christian clergy served the cause of genocide, sometimes eagerly, sometimes reluctantly, even unknowingly, but always loyally.

Looks like June 2023 has a few good new books being released, including this new book by Peter Hart; "Footsloggers: An Infantry Battalion at War, 1939-45".

Footsloggers: An Infantry Battalion at War, 1939-45 by Peter Hart
Description:
The only way to truly understand what it was like to fight in the Second World War is to listen to the experiences of those men who were there. And often, there was nowhere more dangerous than on the ground.

In Footsloggers, Peter Hart reconstructs one infantry battalion's war in staggering detail. Based on his interviews with members of the 16th Durham Light Infantry, Hart bears witness not only to their comradeship, suffering, dreadful losses and individual tragedies, but also their courage and self-sacrifice as they fought their way across North Africa, Italy and Greece. This is a human look at the inhuman nature of war from the author of At Close Range and Burning Steel.

Another June 2023 (UK) release that may also interest a few group members; "Cinderella Boys: The Forgotten RAF Force That Won the Battle of the Atlantic" by Leo McKinstry.

Cinderella Boys: The Forgotten RAF Force that Won the Battle of the Atlantic by Leo McKinstry
Description:
The remarkable story of the unsung RAF wing who rescued Britain from Hitler's U-boats and made Allied victory possible.

In early 1943 Britain was engaged in an epic struggle for survival. As the deadly wolf packs of German U-boats roamed the Atlantic, supply lines and shipping losses fell victim to the carnage.

In desperation, Churchill turned to the RAF's maritime wing - an overlooked, underfunded force known as "The Cinderella Service". But the ascendancy of the U-boat forced a change in attitude. Provided with the long-range planes, depth charges, rocket projectiles and radar equipment with which to challenge the enemy. The Cinderella boys provided vital air defence the whole way across the Atlantic. The German hunters were now the hunted, and - in a stunning defeat - had fully retreated by the summer of 1943.

The transformation of Coastal Command from a ramshackle outfit into a vast, formidable organisation provided one of the turning points of the war, keeping Britain in the war and opening the way to D-Day in 1944. But they never received the credit they deserved.

Based on a wealth of new sources, including from diaries, log books, official records, archives and interviews, Leo McKinstry shines a new light the courageous pilots, ingenious scientists and political risktakers - many of them outsiders - who defended the freezing Atlantic from Nazi rule.