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Jungly Lynx action at the start of GW2. VG personal account going right back to E&E training as a fledgling and culminating in dashing around popping TOWs (which rather too often, malfunctioned) at Saddam's T55s and also his communications - a DFC well earned, but the author was also, clearly, very, very lucky. Space found for some vg jokes as the farce underlying all naval activity bubbles to the top, and an often amusing portrait of the RM.

VERY ARRSEworthy and I see available on Amazon for a penny plus P&P (mine from a charity shop £1.50).

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I'm about a quarter of the way through Stephen Bungay's The Most Dangerous Enemy and I already think it's the best history of the Battle of Britain I've read.

Book Review: Kent Beck: Extreme Programming Explained - Embrace Change

Mmm............interesting but it also repeats several canards. From the attachment:

The Spitfire was successful for many reasons, but one was that it always did what the pilot commanded with the stick, requiring only light finger pressure. In a tight turn or roll, the inner wing started to stall before the outer wing, causing a noticeable vibration, thus reliably warning the pilot. This in turn enabled every pilot to fly the plane to its limits – a life-saving feature. This wonderfully intuitive behaviour, ‘washout’, was created by a slight twist in the wing. Dependability, reliability, manoeuvrability, lethality, speed, controllability: no wonder the pilots were happy to have ‘beer, women, and Spitfires’.

The Luftwaffe never recovered from its losses in the Battle. In September, Goering went to the Pas-de-Calais to try to sort out the trouble, turning on all his undoubted charm.

Goering: What can I do for you?

Moelders: Upgraded engines for my Bf 109s.

Galland: A squadron of Spitfires.

It is said that Goering then lost his temper.

Earlier the author had cited that the Spitfire could outmanoeuvre the Messerschmidt. Not so, their respective performances, especially in the turn were almost identical. Where there was a difference is cited in the above mentioned quote. The Spitfire gave earlier warning of an impending stall so it could be flown "closer to the edge" than the Messerschmidt.

The other canard is the "...squadron of Spitfires" comment by Galland. In his autobiography he puts the comment into context. He wanted the advantages that the Spitfire was fighting under, not the aircraft. The Messerschmidt was seriously short on fuel, especially once over London, if shot down imprisonment was a certainty unless they could get well over the Channel, and if damaged help was a long way away.

For a truely epic volume on the Battle of Britain may I recommend

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It is the result of 40 years of research and is one of the few books to have been written following access to both British and German records and captured German records in Russia. A number of myths are dispelled and it provides what is probably the most accurate account of aircraft and crew losses on both sides. He is also emphatic that the victory was primarily due to the tenacity and "superb fighting spirit of the RAF fighter pilots" rather than such things as radar and German mistakes. Highly recommended.
 
Jungly Lynx action at the start of GW2. VG personal account going right back to E&E training as a fledgling and culminating in dashing around popping TOWs (which rather too often, malfunctioned) at Saddam's T55s and also his communications - a DFC well earned, but the author was also, clearly, very, very lucky. Space found for some vg jokes as the farce underlying all naval activity bubbles to the top, and an often amusing portrait of the RM.

VERY ARRSEworthy and I see available on Amazon for a penny plus P&P (mine from a charity shop £1.50).

View attachment 354565
thanks for the tip, have just ordered from local library
 
Mmm............interesting but it also repeats several canards. From the attachment:



Earlier the author had cited that the Spitfire could outmanoeuvre the Messerschmidt. Not so, their respective performances, especially in the turn were almost identical. Where there was a difference is cited in the above mentioned quote. The Spitfire gave earlier warning of an impending stall so it could be flown "closer to the edge" than the Messerschmidt.

The other canard is the "...squadron of Spitfires" comment by Galland. In his autobiography he puts the comment into context. He wanted the advantages that the Spitfire was fighting under, not the aircraft. The Messerschmidt was seriously short on fuel, especially once over London, if shot down imprisonment was a certainty unless they could get well over the Channel, and if damaged help was a long way away.

For a truely epic volume on the Battle of Britain may I recommend

9781612003474.jpg


It is the result of 40 years of research and is one of the few books to have been written following access to both British and German records and captured German records in Russia. A number of myths are dispelled and it provides what is probably the most accurate account of aircraft and crew losses on both sides. He is also emphatic that the victory was primarily due to the tenacity and "superb fighting spirit of the RAF fighter pilots" rather than such things as radar and German mistakes. Highly recommended.

Thanks I'll check it out. I've seen Bergstrom interviewed in documentaries before I think. Having read more of Bungay's book now, I think that reviewer was perhaps pushing his own views more than actually reviewing the book- Bungay also makes it very clear that it was the RAF's tenacity and tactics were the critical factor. Though he does completely slate Goering.
 
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“Fear: Trump in the White House” by Woodward. Excellent read and knocks “The West Wing” into a cocked hat. Mattis comes out as the hero so far - 28% through (so yes it is available on Kindle).
 
“Fear: Trump in the White House” by Woodward. Excellent read and knocks “The West Wing” into a cocked hat. Mattis comes out as the hero so far - 28% through (so yes it is available on Kindle).

Started Rick Wilson's Everything Trump Touches Dies last week . I'll finish it when I'm done with The Most Dangerous Enemy. So far its both hilarious and horrifying.
 
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The story of Victor Capesius and the unwillingness of post war West Germany to prosecute war criminals,very interesting account of I.G. Farbens role in Nazi Germany and the Final Solution.
 
£1, pristine paperback of William Dampier's circumnavigation and various adventures 1679-1681, edited from his journals. Navigator, naturalist, author, explorer, privateer (or maybe pirate), Damper emerges as complex, highly intelligent, a loner and a scrupulous recorder of all manner of fascinating detail on the places, animals, birds, marine life and people (on board as well as ashore) that he encountered. Alas his original maps and charts have eluded the editors and too often he says 'as I have recounted elsewhere' and the tantalising 'elsewhere' has not found space in the 283 pp. See his Wiki. The names of places have changed so I was often not quite sure where WD was, his English constructions are of course old-fashioned but I usually got the hang of it, and some of the vocabulary has long passed out of use, but that all added to the quaintness.

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Angel Seven by Mike Lunnon-Wood, a writer most people in this parish seem to approve of. It's quite a good read, more wordy and technical than the previous four books known as the "British Military Quartet" (which I had previously purchased and read about almost as soon as I heard from this site that it had found a new publisher and would be available on Kindle), but still engaging.
 
just purchased Vietnam by Max Hastings, heard about this in an interview on friday 28/09/18 on BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine's show about 1300hrs if you want to pod cast it, I'm a fan of his books, Max Hastings, not Vine, Vines an anti police leftie clinging to the illusion of his punk days. Max on the other hand was a young war correspondent who saw it for himself. This book only touches on his personal experience in the intro, then goes deeper. Only just started, it's a big book with lots of good stuff, I'll report back when I've read it next month. It was only published may 2018, So Max has done well getting it out on Radio 2 so quickly.
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I’ve just started Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver, it is the James Bond story he wrote. It’s a few years old 2011 to be precise and I have been meaning to read it for a while but there’s always another book that gets there first.
Well I’m on page 60odd and it’s a big book and it’s typical Deaver in that it’s a bloody good fast moving read, I did question how an ex Naval Commander could afford a new Bentley but after a few pages of introducing his car that was explained, Bond spending quite a bit of his inheritance on it. And why not?
Deaver manages to get an operation under way in Serbia have several deaths, and Bond brought home in the opening pages. So far so good, he explains how Bond was drafted into his role, who M is and a lot of the staff.
I really like Deaver and as a fictional writer he is most definitely in my top three as his books are sor damn readable and entertaining, so after just the first 60 pages or so I would say keep an eye out for it. There’s bound to be a few in a charity shop if you don’t fancy splashing out.
 
just purchased Vietnam by Max Hastings, heard about this in an interview on friday 28/09/18 on BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine's show about 1300hrs if you want to pod cast it, I'm a fan of his books, Max Hastings, not Vine, Vines an anti police leftie clinging to the illusion of his punk days. Max on the other hand was a young war correspondent who saw it for himself. This book only touches on his personal experience in the intro, then goes deeper. Only just started, it's a big book with lots of good stuff, I'll report back when I've read it next month. It was only published may 2018, So Max has done well getting it out on Radio 2 so quickly.
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I brought it yesterday. Will be getting stuck in Tuesday.
 
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