THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion
Introduction to the WW2 Site - Please Say Hi
Mike wrote: "Hi everyone - I'm Mike and am an Englishman living in New York. I am especially interested in the air war in Europe and in memoirs and diaries from the period - from both sides."An Englishman in New York? That's one of my favorite songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d27gT...
Welcome, Mike!
FYI to the old crew, I have been taking a lot of hits on my books dealing with my interviews with German fighter pilots. I am now being labeled as a Nazi sympathizer, or an apologist. Simply because I relate the humanity displayed by the "other side' is not revisionist history, it is ignored history in my humble opinion. Feel free to chime in. Wait until my book of SS interviews comes out!
Colin wrote: "FYI to the old crew, I have been taking a lot of hits on my books dealing with my interviews with German fighter pilots. I am now being labeled as a Nazi sympathizer, or an apologist. Simply becaus..."Are you taking hits on GR? Some people can't accept history as history and must try to shape it in view of present day sensibilities. I see it often with Civil War books.
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Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces
(last edited Mar 11, 2014 02:06PM)
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Colin wrote: "FYI to the old crew, I have been taking a lot of hits on my books dealing with my interviews with German fighter pilots. I am now being labeled as a Nazi sympathizer, or an apologist. Simply becaus..."A sad state of affairs Colin, but perhaps your being aware that many read your books wanting to simply learn about the men who took up arms for the Third Reich - perhaps for political or ideological belief, through the accident of their birth year being a young man in wartime Germany, or simply a love of flying and probably many other reasons and is the same as those who fought them in the skies - is enough to compensate for those criticising.
Also through your interviews there is a now a strong and valuable archive of these men is also enough to ignore those who label or fail to understand your wish to record this aspect of history.
Colin wrote: "FYI to the old crew, I have been taking a lot of hits on my books dealing with my interviews with German fighter pilots. I am now being labeled as a Nazi sympathizer, or an apologist. Simply becaus..."Hi, Colin,
Maybe it would help if you explained how you managed to get interviews with these Nazis. This should be especially helpful re your book containing interviews with SS-men.
Well I haven't read any of your books, so can't speak to them. But in the group you talk about individuals as individuals. Haven't seen you address anything in regards to their politics or making excuses for what they have done, either in regards to the Germans you interviewed or the Americans so don't see it.Colin wrote: "FYI to the old crew, I have been taking a lot of hits on my books dealing with my interviews with German fighter pilots. I am now being labeled as a Nazi sympathizer, or an apologist. Simply becaus..."
In wars there are winners and losers......that does not mean that there is something biased about an author who interviews and writes about those on the losing side. There were some great soldiers/flyers who fought for the Germans (Galland and Rommel spring to mind) and what author wouldn't have given his right arm to interview Hitler if he had lived. The history of WWII, or any war for that matter, would be no history at all if authors ignored the losers.
Hello all, look foward to having good discussions about military history with you good people. I'm into pretty much all aspects of WW2 particually the Western Desert and the South West Pacific Area, I'm slowely getting more educated on the Eastern Front :)Cheers,
Jimmy
James wrote: "Hello all, look foward to having good discussions about military history with you good people. I'm into pretty much all aspects of WW2 particually the Western Desert and the South West Pacific Area..."Welcome. Don't be shy.
Let me add my welcome to JamesWelcome - there are some very knowledgable people roaming this pages - be careful you just might learn something :)
Let me add my welcome to JamesWelcome - there are some very knowledgable people roaming this pages - be careful you just might learn something :)
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Jimmy....welcome to the group. Happy is right....there are some real experts here and it is most enlightening.
Hi all,I am sarvesh. I love to read. Especially WW II related books. But I have no one to guide me about Which books r great on this topic. Could you guys help me with this?
Welcome SarveshI'm sure you can find some direction - poke around and you'll find some excellent recommendations in the various threads :)
Sarvesh wrote: "Hi all,I am sarvesh. I love to read. Especially WW II related books. But I have no one to guide me about Which books r great on this topic. Could you guys help me with this?"
Hi, Sarvesh! Welcome to the group.
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Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces
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Welcome Sarvesh. You will find lots of good suggestions in the various threads. Feel free to jump in.
Sarvesh wrote: "Hi all,I am sarvesh. I love to read. Especially WW II related books. But I have no one to guide me about Which books r great on this topic. Could you guys help me with this?"
Welcome, Sarvesh. You have come to the right place. Please do not be shy about pitching in.
I'm still feeling my way around Goodreads and wary of making a misstep. My "The Great Liars" is just out. If you like a comic romp on a serious subject -- did FDR know the Pacific Fleet was going to be bombed? -- you've come to the right place. The plot:It seems like easy duty. Lieutenant Lowell Brady is ordered to London as a secret liaison to Winston Churchill, who is working his way back to power as the threat from Germany grows. All this dashing officer has to do is pass on messages, a made-to-order job for a handsome rake with no greater ambition than finding a rich woman to marry. The Navy would have kicked out the scoundrel long before if it weren't for the influence of his stepfather, the powerful Senator from Georgia, who got Brady a billet as a minor White House aide. “You’d be nothing without me,” he says. Brady, no fool whatever else his faults, is the first to agree. It's a good thing his mother adores him and the senator is firmly under her thumb. Roosevelt and Churchill see war coming, and struggle to get their countries ready, no easy job when America wants nothing to do with Europe and its troubles. When the balloon goes up, Brady expects to be behind a desk far from danger. But the ailing Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt’s friend and closest adviser, takes a shine to him. When war breaks out, Brady goes with him to London for a top-secret pow-wow with Churchill during the Blitz, and then on to Moscow and the Kremlin for talks with the sinister Stalin. It is dangerous that close to power, as Brady further finds out when he becomes part of the small circle that knows Roosevelt intends to get America into the war before it is too late, even if it means sacrificing the Pacific Fleet. Against his selfish nature -- swinish wouldn't be too strong -- Brady goes out of channel to warn of the coming attack. Caught red-handed, his punishment is being ordered to join MacArthur in the Philippines. When he survives Corregidor, he is dispatched to Guadalcanal. They want shut him up for good, but Brady is as slippery as an eel. Years after the war, Smithsonian researcher Harriet Gallatin comes across his story while interviewing veterans at an old soldiers' home. Skeptical at first, she becomes a believer when the FBI and then the CIA take a menacing interest in her research. If the truth gets out, reputations will be destroyed and political careers ended. One thing is clear. The two of them have to disappear fast.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Liars...
Welcome, Sarvesh. I am new to the group as well and am finding many good recommendations that will keep me reading for 100 years!!!
Good morning/day or evening all.I'm Dave, and my favorite hobby other than walking is military history, WWI and WWII, more so on the eastern front, have been reading about WWII since the the mid sixties. Hope to pickup some good recommendations, new insights, and make friends.
Welcome Dave, Another walker - good :)
We have a pretty good group here. Please feel free to add your insights when you feel the need
happy wrote: "Welcome Dave, Another walker - good :)
We have a pretty good group here. Please feel free to add your insights when you feel the need"
Thank you, love to walk and hike, when I was in Germany went on a few Volksmarches pretty near every weekend, and Korea has a great hiking culture as well.
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Dave you'll find many members here share your interest on the Eastern front. Please feel free to join in and welcome to the group.
Doubledf99.99 wrote: "happy wrote: "Welcome Dave, Another walker - good :)
We have a pretty good group here. Please feel free to add your insights when you feel the need"
Thank you, love to walk and hike, when I wa..."
I went on a few Volksmarches when living in Germany in the early '70s
happy wrote: "Doubledf99.99 wrote: "happy wrote: "Welcome Dave, Another walker - good :)
We have a pretty good group here. Please feel free to add your insights when you feel the need"
Thank you, love to wa..."
I was at Ray Barracks in Friedburg, close to the Taunas mountains.
Geevee wrote: "Dave you'll find many members here share your interest on the Eastern front. Please feel free to join in and welcome to the group."Thank you, and it sounds fun and very interesting..
Doubledf99.99 wrote: "Good morning/day or evening all.I'm Dave, and my favorite hobby other than walking is military history, WWI and WWII, more so on the eastern front, have been reading about WWII since the the mid ..."
Welcome Dave. You should be able to fatten up your TBR shelf nicely here. BTW, 2 tours in Germany. One as a ground FAC with the 7th and 11th ACR on the IGB. The other at RAF Rheindahlen as a NATO staff puke.
Doubledf99.99 wrote: "Good morning/day or evening all.I'm Dave, and my favorite hobby other than walking is military history, WWI and WWII, more so on the eastern front, have been reading about WWII since the the mid ..."
Welcome, Dave. You have found the proper place.
Hi Dave and welcome to the group, I'm also a big fan on books covering the Eastern Front. I hope you find a few things of interest here in the group.
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Hi Dave and welcome to the group, I'm also a big fan on books covering the Eastern Front. I hope you find a few things of interest here in the group."Hi and TY, I'm sure I will, this past winter I've read a couple of David Stahel's books, aNd one by David Glantz, both pretty good reads but they got to be your cup of tea though.
Mike wrote: "Doubledf99.99 wrote: "Good morning/day or evening all.I'm Dave, and my favorite hobby other than walking is military history, WWI and WWII, more so on the eastern front, have been reading about W..."
TY and thise looks like a nice and cozy place. Those years in Germany were something else, but off duty was pretty damn fun.
Hi Dave, one of my favourite first-hand accounts of the fighting on the Eastern Front is this book:
by Gottlob Herbert BidermannIt may be worth your while to check a few reviews out and see if it interests you.
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Hi Dave, one of my favourite first-hand accounts of the fighting on the Eastern Front is this book:[bookcover:In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front (Modern War Studies..."
Thanks will look it up, hopefully its in an ereader format.
Was in Australia for an exercise in the the 70's, the 1st RAR were our hosts, put us up in the Sergeants Mess, we trained hard and partied hard. We just happened to get there when the US lost the America's Cup, and Men At Work had the hit Down Under, seemed like every bar or pub or watering hole we went to that song played for us before we finished our first beer, then we'd get hammered about losing the cup, we were the good ambassadors and took it all in good form, did make some side trips to Canberra, and
Melbourne. Did have a few XXXX's.
Hi Dave, 1 RAR is a sister battalion to my unit which was 5/7 RAR based in Sydney - don't know how you drunk that XXXX beer, it's only called that because they couldn't put SHIT on the can!
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Hi Dave, 1 RAR is a sister battalion to my unit which was 5/7 RAR based in Sydney - don't know how you drunk that XXXX beer, it's only called that because they couldn't put SHIT on the can!"Had a cast iron gut i guess.
Going in the compound they had Kapyong Lines on the wall or over the gate, does that ring a bell.
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Very much so, anyone in the Australian Infantry should know their battle honours :)"You got that right, love them '"Light Fighters".
Hello, I'm Karl. As an avid reader of millitary fiction, with a special interest for WW2, I'm delighted to have come across this group. My special topics of interest are The Batle of Britain, Normandy 1944 and Tirpitz, as well as everything connected with the occupation of Norway and the Resistance. My excuse for the latter is being Norwegian, my excuse for anything else is just plain curiousness...
Books mentioned in this topic
The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History, May-October 1940 (other topics)Afterbursts: Reliving World War II (other topics)
MacArthur's WWII Seaborne Communications: CP Fleet reports, brochures, memos from the scrapbooks of a Signal Corps Commanding Officer (other topics)
Last Citadel: A Novel of the Battle of Kursk (other topics)
The Ghost Tattoo (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Stephen Harding (other topics)Alex Kershaw (other topics)
James M. Fenelon (other topics)
Günter K. Koschorrek (other topics)
Rick Atkinson (other topics)
More...




So have I. -- It is best not to eat either of them.