What Are You Reading?

Some books on the Channel battles

Andy Saunders: Convoy Peewit, August 8. 1940

E-Boat Alert: Defending the Normandy Invasion Fleet: Amazon.co.uk: James Foster Tent: Books

Peter C Smith: Naval Warfare in the English Channel 1939-1945

 

I am reading '1942' right now. I have heard good and bad reviews of the book... I guess I will see for myself!

 

I just started reading Munda Trail by Eric Hammel yesterday. I don't know yet if it is any good but the battle for New Georgia is an interesting campaign for me as I dont know that much about it, although I have heard it was a bit of a dogs breakfast.
I find it amazing that the Americans were able to land on Rendova and hold a position that is only about five miles across a channel from the Japanese garrison positions at Munda and then assert themselves with artillery and airstrikes preparatory to the New Georgia landings.
Lucky that the Japanese commanders seemed unable to decide if they would focus their offense / defense on New Guinea or on the Solomons and so reacted piecemeal.
The three US divisions and their commanders at Munda were without combat experience.

 

Currently reading "Ship of Ghosts" by Hornfischer, excellent (so far!) account of the sailors of the USS Houston and HMAS Perth in their final voyage, attempting to return to Australia, only to run into an entire Japanese landing fleet in the dead of night. I think its pretty much a moot point to say that the two destroyers gave an heroic accounting of themselves before being sunk. Love the fact that the Japanese were lobbing torpedoes at the two Allied ships, which were evaded....after which several went on to sink at least three (maybe four) transports and damage several other vessels. The Japanese admiral, to avoid the stigma of shooting his own ships, told one of his guys to "give the credit for the hits to the Houston". Which is great...since the Houston had had its torpedo racks removed.

Right now, both crews are in prison camps on Java, and have just been joined by some US National Guard troops from Texas. While I find it fascinating what these men came up with to survive in Japanese prison camps, it also sickens me to read what they had to go through. I usually read during my lunch break at work, and often feel guilty sitting in an airconditioned room, eating microwaved leftovers or cold-cut sammiches, reading about these guys starving and having to make do on a worm-ridden cup of rice and dirty water.

 

Absolutely keep reading. A very good companion to that book is "Band of Angels," about the Army and Navy nurses captured by the Japanese in the Philippines

 

currently reading on war by carl von clausewitz at the moment

 

Not WWII, but hows this for a find.
Amazon.com: History Classics: 11 books by Alfred Thayer Mahan in a single file, improved 9/1/2010 eBook: Alfred Thayer Mahan: Kindle Store

Looks like I'll be busy for a while

 

Memoires....Montgomery....His own words. Others have derided...even insulted...His own words are though illuminating on the character of the man.

 

The Good War by Studs Terkel... Found it for really cheap at Borders since the company is going under. I've been reading it non stop, what a remarkable book.

 

My next book: Andrew Arthy and Morten Jessen: FW 190 in North Africa Classic publications 2004....

 

Recently finished Hornfisher's "Ship of Ghosts"....excellent book, but I kept finding myself wondering if the whole USS Houston thing was just a lead-in to the Death Railway Burma-Thailand railroad hacked out of the jungle by POW's. Once they got out of Java, he pretty much ignored most everybody except those who worked on the railroad. Not to take away from what those guys had to endure, but what about those who went to work in shipyards and mines and steel factories elsewhere? The book was great, well-written, and very informative, but I was left wondering. So, probably only a 6 (maybe a weak 7) on my 1-10 scale.

 

Just picked up "An Army at Dawn"! Can't wait to start!

 

While waiting for my turn at Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich from the library, I've pulled Ambrose's Citizen Soldier off the shelf. I'm going to actually read it this time.

akf86surf, you reminded me I wanted to read Terkel's book! Thanks.

 

Coming to the end of...

Operation Barbarossa and German's Defeat in the East
By David Stahel

I'm not sure if the author has gone out his way to show up every flaw from operations to logistics and the Russian dust clogging up tanks filters to rubber shortage for truck tyres. Just not sure what to make of this one, if anyone else has read it what did you think of it?

 

Well, four books at the same time. Please, someone help me, lol.

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

 

I just finnished Cutthroats by Robert C. Dick and I am half way done Islands of the Damned by R.V. Burgin. I have loved both of them to this point.

 

Pretty close to the end of "A Question of Honor", ostensibly about the Polish pilots who made it to England, convinced the British that they actually knew which end of an airplane went in front, and then proceeded to use said airplanes to surgically implant bullets into anything that didn't come pre-painted with Allied markings (the seagull population is just beginning to make a comeback! ....sorry, bad joke). I've read mentions in other books about various Polish brigades, the most well-known probably being Sosabowski's paratroopers in "Bridge Too Far". There were some buttkickers in Italy, as well, and a couple of batallions that got stuck on the Eastern Front. And, of course, the Home Army in Poland itself gets a good deal of mention in this book. I must admit, there's a whole lot of politics involved, which I tend to shy away from unless I simply can't get to sleep any other way, but about half-way in to the book, I realized....we, the Allies, ROYALLY screwed Poland over. I'm sitting here, reading the stuff that Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin did to (or simply stood by and allowed to be done, in many cases) Poland, and am feeling rather ashamed. Excellent book, though, I'm coming out with a newfound respect for the Poles, especially those screwed over in the Warsaw Uprising while the Russians sat roughly mortar-range away and just....watched.

That would make for a good what-if scenario...what if the US and GB had actually backed Poland against Stalin? FDR stood up to Stalin a few weeks before he died, and Stalin backed off the Poland issue a bit. After FDR passed, Stalin went back to being Stalin. But...earlier in the war...what would post-war Europe (and the Cold War) have been like? Any change at all? Better? Worse? Would WW2 have continued after Germany's fall, with the US, GB, Poland, and (possibly) Germany marching into Russia? Hmmm....