Archives for History - Page 19
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/html/themself/wp-content/themes/mesocolumn/lib/functions/theme-functions.php on line 502
NaNoWriMo – the end
So November is finished, although my draft novel isn't. I managed to write 44,463 words during November for it, which isn't quite the magic 50k needed to claim a win. see for how my writing progress panned out. I really enjoyed this process and it wasn't as difficult as it first appeared. Some of it is helped by the regular pep talk broadcast mails it sends out, and also the stats counter tells you how many words you need to average every day that you have left to hit the magic 50k. However the pep talk mails give you a more human view of it, and I found them to be good encouragement to keep going. So why, with all that encouragement and sign posting, did I not manage to hit fifty thousand words? Well I nearly did, and this was…
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/html/themself/wp-content/themes/mesocolumn/lib/functions/theme-functions.php on line 502
Book Review – To Reason Why, by Denis Forman
This is more than just an infantry officer's memoir. Denis Forman was closely involved in the Battle School movement that transformed the British Army's infantry training during the second world war. He then went on to serve alongside Lionel Wigram (the primary proponent and intellectual leader of the Battle School movement) in Italy. The story is as much about Lionel Wigram as it is about Denis Forman himself. However one of the stand out pieces for me is the honest treatment of how men deal with battle. The psychological impact and how unreliable things become is often not mentioned in most memoirs, there is an unspoken need not to embarrass anyone, or bring up things better left to lie. This book manages to discuss it without shaming anyone. Also, the appendices have copies of the reports into the lessons from…
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/html/themself/wp-content/themes/mesocolumn/lib/functions/theme-functions.php on line 502
Black Watch by Tom Renouf – Book Review
This is a campaign history written by a veteran of 5th Bn Black Watch who later became the secretary of the Highland Division Association. Direct personal accounts, both from the author and other veterans, are used to tell the story of the 51st Highland Division in a very personal way. This book offers some new perspectives on the battles of the 51st, especially those in the final months of the war in which the author was personally involved. (more…)
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/html/themself/wp-content/themes/mesocolumn/lib/functions/theme-functions.php on line 502
A Daughter!
Earlier today, we went on a family trip to the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard with one of Alexander's friends. We managed an early start, and were there for the place opening at 10am. The morning was spent in Action Stations, an interactive play area with lots of simulators and things to do. The kids loved it, and so did I (although I don't think I'll qualify to fly Merlin helicopters). Tracy even managed to have a go on some of it. After lunch (about 1230) we decided to go and see HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar. On the way round Tracy mentioned that she'd felt something strange inside her, but wasn't sure what it was. I waited with the kids at the bottom of the gangway onto HMS Victory while Tracy went to the toilet. After a…
Defeat Into Victory
Image via Wikipedia A friend sent me a copy of Field Marshal Bill Slim's Defeat Into Victory. It has always been on my list of books I'd like to read, but somehow I'd never quite got round to acquiring a copy. The version I have is a reading copy of the original edition, with fold out maps all through it. The reading style is very engaging and easy to read, especially if you have the space to fold out the map at the end of the chapter so that you can follow all the places when they appear in the narrative. It was the first time I'd read about the ebb and flow of the war in Burma (even though my grandfather drove a DUKW out there). So I found it very interesting, the nature of warfare was hugely different that both Europe and North Africa (and I suspect even…