Tag archives for Royal Artillery
Slouching in the Undergrowth by Jack Swaab [Book Review]
Slouching in the Undergrowth: The Long Life of a Gunner Officer by Jack Swaab My rating: 4 of 5 stars I bought Slouching in the Undergrowth because I'd previously read and enjoyed Field of Fire, the author's wartime experiences. Slouching in the Undergrowth covers pretty much all of Jack Swaab's extraordinary life. Slouching in the Undergrowth There's a fair amount on his childhood, first in Sydenham and later at boarding school in the South West. Jack also tells us of his time as an undergraduate that doesn't flatter himself much. I guess when you get into your nineties you don't need to worry so much what people think of what you did as a callow teenager. There is some good social history on pre-WW2 Britain from the perspective of reasonably well to do children. You can see how experience in…
Book Review – Field of Fire: Diary of a Gunner Officer by Jack Swaab
Field of Fire: Diary of a Gunner Officer by Jack Swaab My rating: 5 of 5 stars I read the hardback version very shortly after it came out. I collect first hand accounts of the WW2 and unit histories of the 51st Highland Division in particular, so this one was a must buy. That said it is one of the best first hand accounts that I have read, and certainly the best from a gunner (it comparies favourably to George Blackburn's Guns of War series - he was also a Forward Observation Officer). You can have no doubt about the hardships of war, what the conditions were like for both the gunners on the gun line and the infantry on the front line. The book is very descriptive without becoming flowery and it avoids glossing over some of the less…