Colin’s Comments (group member since Dec 16, 2012)

Colin’s comments from the THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP group.

Dimitri wrote: "Colin wrote: "'Sorry, but in my opinion, being a former military combat man, and a military historian,, author and professor, Kitchener was a f!**g idiot.

Ok, Colin, we've all read Haid being don..."

Kitchener did not place great faith in air power, he did not believe that intel gathered from aerial reconnaissance was of any value, due to the fact that "things move on the ground" and that unless you were on the ground you could not have good intel on enemy movements or emplacements. The Germans on the other hand were of a very different opinion. Even other senior British commanders values air recon and photographs. Failure to modernize his thought processes on the new age of warfare were not totally Kitchener's fault, he was still locked into the Victorian era mindset of face the enemy, fight, and then see what happens. Kitchener's mindset had been clearly established during the 2nd Anglo-Boer War as well. He still could not grasp the concept of fluid, highly mobile small units wreaking havoc against larger, well-established conventional forces. As I said, perhaps not his fault due to his training and his era, but he really failed to appreciate or even ask advice from younger subordinates who were more open minded as to the application of modern warfare.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Churchill's concluding paragraph in his book; "The World Crisis" for his chapter on the Somme:

"The battlefields of the Somme were the graveyards of Kitchener's Army. The flower of that generous m..."

Sorry, but in my opinion, being a former military combat man, and a military historian,, author and professor, Kitchener was a f!**g idiot.

The main problem is that too many people think they know history, live with the post war propaganda, and are intellectually lazy and refuse to entertain "facts" that disturb their preconceived notions.

Good to see one of my books is on the list.

Travelin wrote: "I just met a man from Budapest, on a tourist boat in the Balkans, who was 21 and on the front lines in WWII. He also spent time in a camp.

I was having some trouble getting him to blame Germans, a..."

Over 100,000 men of Jewish backgrounds fought for the Germans, even within the Waffen SS. Some hid their Jewish backgrounds, others were given Blood Certificates, classifyiing them as German/Non Jewish, such as Field Marshall Erhard Milch, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, etc. Read my good friend Dr. Bryan Mark Rigg's books on this subject. He interviewed over 400 Jews who served, including our mutual friend, U-Boat commander Thilo Bode.

After I left the Marine Corps, entered UNCW as an undergrad, I had a personal library that was massive, and once I entered the honors program, I used many of my German interviews within my thesis, along with great primary sources. One of my guests was WW II fighter ace Lt. Col. Kneaz (Prince of Cossacks) Leonidas Damianov Maximciuc of Bessarabia, great nephew of Czar Nicholas II. I was labeled a "Closet Nazi" due to the heavy German content. I then informed them that my great-great-great grandfather on my mother's side was a Rabbi, and that quieted some of the attacks. I had two professors at my school attack me in the local newspaper also.

Wade wrote: "Wow--that Italian campaign was a brutal meat- grinder for the Allies and a brilliant defensive stratagy by FieldMarschall Kesselring& the Wehrmact--eh? What a slug in the mud that turned out to be...."

All of the Germans I interviewed had the same opinion of "Smiling Albert" Kesselring
1-Great sense of humor and outstanding intellect
2-Very chivalrous towards enemy, visted many in hospitals to ensure they were cared for
3-Hated Hitler, and was not a fan of the Nazi Party
4-Covered the escape of many Jews in combat areas early in the war once he was aware of the Final Solution

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "happy wrote: "I finished Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe

great read! I stayed up all last night finishing it. I haven't decided if it is a 4.25 or 4.5 star read, so..."

Jimmy Stewart was one of my favorite interviews, the "off the record" stuff was even better.

Phrodrick wrote: "For Years John Keegan has been one of my Go To Military Historians. This is a re-read and not exclusively WWII. Because he is not best known for Naval History I like his analysis. It strikes me as ..."

I had the great honor of spending a week with Sir John Keegan, as I was researching in grad school. When I arrived at Oxford, he opened the door and said, "Well, at least you are on time, a very good start for a historian."

In later years after WW II, Winston made a statement at a dinner party in the presence of Pamela Harriman (whom I interviewed) that had they had the air cover at Gallipoli that was later available to the RN in WW II, his decision would have been different. Running the tight gauntlet with Turkish guns, mines and boats and limited space to maneuver placed the ships in greater peril than he liked.

After some losses of ships, Churchill (to whom I am related in fact), as Lord of the Admiralty halted Royal Navy support to the troops there, in fear of having a greater political and military debacle on his hands. I guess troops are easier to replace than capitol ships.

Good film, one of the few that is 90% accurate

Jerome wrote: "Another:

by Roman Toeppel
Description:
The Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943 was one of the great..."
Did he interview any participants? I have a few tankers, pilots and grunts from both sides.

Jerome wrote: "A May 2018 release:

by Samuel Kleiner
Des..."
I knew and interviewed a few of the AVG guys, like Rossi, Boyington, Hill and others. Great guys and even better stories.

Dimitri wrote: "Culturally ? Leni Riefenstahl biography !"

I knew Leni, her comments on Hans Marseille are in my book The Star of Africa.

happy wrote: "Glad you liked it P. - I read it a few yrs ago and rated it a solid 4 stars.

While not directly about WW II, I am currently reading Candice Millard's new book on the young Winston C..."
My book, Four War Boer is the story of Pieter Krueler, Boer War, WW I, and Spanish Civil War veteran. Later he met Churchill. Interesting man.

Adam is a good friend, so are his family.

Interesting choice, I was pen pals with Wilhelm Bittrich when I was in high school.

For a partisan theme, the group may like my book Occupation and Insurgency: A Selective Examination of The Hague and Geneva Conventions on the Eastern Front, 1939-1945, which is a favorite of many senior Marine and Army leaders, as well as Gen (Ret) Secretary of Defense Mattis.

I recently assisted Sir Max with a Vietnam project, placed him in contact with many senior USMC and other officers, some generals, former commandants, et al. Nice fellow.