"Lafayette Escadrille" by Herbert Molloy Mason, Jr. Excellent read!!! Nice to know that Hollywood got the lion mascot right in "Flyboys".
I have read, "With the Old Breed." Twice. And I have Sledge's follow-up book, "China Marine" sitting here. I haven't gotten to it because other books keep getting in the way. I have a bad habit (maybe not so bad) of reading almost any book suggested to me. So you can bet, "Once An Eagle" is now on the list. Thanks!
The only thing I really know about the Lafayette Escadrille is that Hobart Amory Hare Baker was a member. Does it mention him? Were they only in existence during WWI? (Most people I mention Hobey Baker to don't have a clue, so I always describe him this way, "The Hobey Baker Award was named after him, which is to college hockey what the Heisman Trophy is to college football." That doesn't do Baker, or college hockey, for that matter, much justice, but it clicks. I don't live in an area where there is a geat deal of talk about hockey, so there isn't the same recognition.)
Hmmm...the name doesn't ring a bell, unfortunately. But there were hundreds of pilots who came through the Escadrille, and the book (as do most books on a unit) only focus on a few key members of that group. I've just gotten to the point where the US enters the war, and is scrambling to get their military machine in gear. Right now, they're scraping around to find pilots, and are trying to raid the Escadrille for experienced combat pilots to train prospective pilots in the US...of course, in all the shuffle, the book mentions three of the top Escadrille pilots who are tapped to become instructors....one makes it back to the US just before the war ends, one gets shuffled off somewhere else, and one never actually gets orders to leave Europe. My understanding, though, is that the Lafayette Escadrille was formed for the express purpose of providing a "landing spot" for Americans who wanted to fight for France. Once the US joined, it was eventually disbanded, or folded into the US Air Corps (I haven't actually gotten that far yet). My thinking, though, would be that, at the very latest, it would no longer be needed after the Armistice was signed, and would be dissolved. When that actually takes place....tune in next week to find out! (or read the book...LOL) The book I just finished prior to picking this one up was "A Question of Honor", about Polish pilots during WW2....the beginning of the book deals with the German/Russian invasion of Poland, and how the world laughed (figuratively) at Poland for being overrun so quickly; specifically, in this case, the fact that the Polish Air Force only lasted three days. German propaganda had a field-day with that. Looking back, though, one realizes that instead of being overrun in three days, they HELD OUT for three days against 9:1 odds, while flying obsolete WW1-era biplanes against the vaunted ME-109. And, in the process, shot down quite a few of those 109's. So while reading about the Escadrille, and about how the pilots there were so excited when a new plane came out that would let them fly at the giddy speed of 120mph (vs the old 110mph)...well...it gives me a whole new level of respect for the guys who willingly jumped into one of these rickety stringbags and took it up against the best the German war machine was putting out at the time, and managed to give them a bloody nose and two black eyes. With no outside help from their "allies". :S! Kinda makes me regret all those "Polock" jokes I told in middleschool...
i just finished "Soldat" by Siegfried Knappe with Ted Brusaw. its about a german staff officer who was just about every where and his wartime exploits and his 5 years in a russian prison camp. i would def. recommend it.
Siegfried Knappe was a hell of a man. After reading his book, me and my pops traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio to visit him. He broke down into tears several times talking about his experiences. Sadly, we lost him in December of 2008. I highly recommend the book to everyone.
Fictiones by Jorge Luis Borges. It got more unique & it got class in it. Before reading this I was reading a comic book ,But this book changed by mine set.I just lost in it. Really amazing
Just a note to you all. This little fella tried to slide some ads in on his his signature, while he made an earnest effort to appear as though he was a valued member of the forum. All he really was here to do was promote some line of goofy Indian comic magazines. Please note the odd name, the poor spelling and the banal attempt to sound convincing. Thanks to all of you who report such nonesense, thanks and keep it up.
The Battle of the Kormandorski Islands by John Lorelli Night Action by Peter Dickens Struggle for the Middle Sea by Vincent O'Hara The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind One to go. Too many distractions on vacation.
Just picked up: D-Days In The Pacific by Donald L. Miller, A Soldier's Story by Omar N. Bradley, I Always Wanted to Fly "America's Cold War Airmen by Wolfgang W.E. Samuel, Custer, Black Kettle, and the fight on the Washita by Charles J. Brill I met Wolfgang at the Air & Space Museum where he was signing books. I'm wishing for an Early Winter and lots of snow! Need the excuse to stay inside and peruse! Not having much time lately to devote to reading anything other than the forum and I'm still working on the Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt on the Kindle.
The Vietnam war years. I am reading "Letters from Prison" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (edited by Eberhard Bethge).
The latest issue of SKI Magazine. The annual "Top 30 Resorts" are highlighted! I recently finished reading the 2nd installment of Rick Atkinson's liberation trilogy, The Day of Battle. The fight for Italy was much more intense than I had read prior to this. I have lost a lot of respect for Mark Clark.
Claire Rose KnottĀ“s book on Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein ja Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weissenfeld has just been translated to Finnish. My next book to read. Or the same in English here: Princes of Darkness: Luftwaffe Night Fighter Aces Heinrich Prinz Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, Egmont Prinz Zur Lippe-Weissenfeld: Amazon.co.uk: Claire Rose Knott: Books
Just finished Sumida's Decoding Clausewitz: A New Approach to On War. Superb explanation and analysis. I recommend it highly. Now reading The Dawn of Modern Warfare from the West Point Military History Series. This book is a knowlegeably written overview of the origins and genisis of modern warfare through the Napoleonic Era with individual chapters written by respected military scholars like LTG Dave R. Palmer. For me it is a nice way to refresh my memory, and to pick up new points of view which I have not seen elsewhere. BoA
I'm reading The Storm Of War. An New History of the Second World War by Andrew Roberts. I'l regret it when it's finished. What a great book, what a fine story teller this autor is.
Kind of a random topic for a syndicated column but I was pleased to see that 7 of the volumes the author mentioned - Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich and Churchill's 6-volumes were books I've picked up lately. Haven't read them yet, however.
reading Tito,Mihailovic and the Allies,1941/1945 by Walter R. Roberts. i finally got to chapter 5, i still am more confused about yugoslavia than when i started the flipping book.
just finished my contribution to Erik Mombeeck's latest Luftwaffe photo-album published on 15 November a 96-page A-4 landscape format book, with approx 30 Thierry Dekker artworks, many previously unseen photographs, new first person accounts from the Battle of Britain, Jabo sorties over southern England, Fw 190s against the bomber streams etc etc. More info at Luftwaffe Fighter Pilots