Book Review: Japan Triumphant, 1941-42, Philip Jowett

I was a little surprised and somewhat disappointed that this was such a broad account, as the title lead me to expect a more Japanese focus.

But having now gone through the entire book that looks as much a virtue as a failing; stuff is included here that's often passed over more or less completely, such as the Dutch involvement in this theatre. Still, the eye-catching title and cover image are rather misleading, in my view. And the subtitle, The Far East Campaign 1941-1942 actually better conveys the content.

The whole Pacific theatre, whether it be the US island-hopping to Japan, or the more mixed Allied fighting in the Asian archipelago, is one I'm less au fait with than the NW European or Ostfront theatres. This is a very solid account by Jowett, amply illustrated, as befits the Images of War series. I felt I learned a lot. A very useful resource.

Book Review: The Second World War Explained, Michael O'Kelly

Over 180 or so pages and 20 chapters* (plus a 24 page section of black and white photos) ex-RN man Michael Kelly aims, as he says in his preface, to give younger readers with little knowledge of this information a succinct but comprehensive synopsis of WWII, which he describes as 'probably the most terrible event in the history of the world'.

For those of us - not his chief target audience - already obsessed with the history of WWII, and I'm one, this might not be an ideal read, for numerous reasons. Over at Amazon UK I note several other reviewers lambasting both book and author over mistakes and inaccuracies. The only one that really struck me - and it's as likely an editorial gaffe (it should've been spotted and corrected) as an authorial one - was when the long deceased French admiral Darlan's name appears where it should say Dönitz. 

I think those Amazon reviews are overly harsh, to be honest, and miss the main raison d'etre the author himself gives for the book. I reckon that, in its intended role, as a brief overview of as much of WWII as possible, it succeeds remarkably well. It'd make a great resource in primary and secondary education. Granted it's not in the league of the scholarly professionals. But those books aren't necessarily going to be a 'way in' to this massive and complex subject for poorly educated youngsters.

With the Brexit debacle threatening to take us and Europe back to a more inter-war state of affairs books like this are probably needed more than ever. Perhaps not so much by us military history nuts, so much as to remind people who may otherwise forget or just be plain ignorant, of the broad brush-stroke history of the fascinating but appalling events of WWII.

I have to confess that I was rather disappointed by this book, as I'd hoped it'd look more at the 'whys' of WWII. I think the title's a bit misleading. A better one would've been A Brief History of WWII. But as an entrée to a vast and endlessly fascinating subject, and despite its author's own biases and occasional mistakes, I think this is a potentially valuable addition to WWII literature.

O'Kelly succeeds in covering all the major theatres and campaigns, albeit in very broad simplistic terms. And it's a pretty well balanced account, that could be read in a single day. For my 'general readership' Amazon UK review I scored this four out of five. Here on my more special interest blog I'm scoring it three and a half 'kreuz, which accords more with my own personal take on it.

PS - Having said all of the above, I also think it's a quite good/handy thing for even grizzled old dogs like me to have a concise single volume précis of the massive cataclysm that was WWII. Reading this helped me zoom back out momentarily from the maelstrom of minutiae that most of my WWII reading usually subjects me to. It also helped remind me of things I want to read more on, such as the Dieppe raid, Kursk and the battles for Kharkov, or Operation Dragoon.

* There are also two appendices: one on 'Meetings of the Great Power Leaders', the other a timeline.

Book Reviews: Panther Tanks, Normandy '44, & Defence of the West '45, Dennis Oliver

Taken together these two titles, numbers 3 and 18 in the Tank Craft series, give a very decent account of the Panther tank, as deployed on the Western Front circa '44-45. One might immediately think 'what then of the Panther's history and development before this, and it's service on the Southern and Eastern Fronts?' I'll return to these thoughts in due course.

As ever with Dennis Oliver, he deploys his own particular approach, utilising maps, timelines, organisational schematics, unit histories, and so on. Where he follows the standard Tank Craft template is in the central three segments: Camouflage and Markings, Model Showcase, and Modelling Products.

A Panther pauses on a French road, Normandy, '44. [1]

U.S. troops gathered around a disabled Panther.

The Normandy title features five models, all in1/35, and all very impressive. The Defence of the West  book, on the other hand, has just two 1/35 models and a single 1/48 example, the latter getting more pages than are normally given over to any one model in the Showcase section. Between the two books that's eight models, all bar one in 1/35. I'd have liked to have seen at least one bigger kit, in 1/16, perhaps, and one or two smaller models, in 1/72 or 1/76.

The colour profiles in the Camouflage and Markings chapter are nicely done, and are both fascinating and exciting. The range of styles and approaches the Germans employed, despite a palette of just three basic colours (which admittedly varied in themselves) was very diverse and, I find, endlessly intriguing. My only gripe on this front is that either the work of the illustrator, or perhaps the printing process, has rendered the core trio of colours less than 100% satisfactorily.

Panther in 'ambush' camo' scheme with infra-red sight.

Fabulous Panther Ausf G, by Lim Kian Guan, aka ChefLim. [2]

This is particularly noticeable with the green. The Dunkelgelb and Rotbrün, whilst only approximate, are near enough. But the green is way too light and bright. This is exaggerated even more in the bottom of the two cover images, shown at the top of this post (the Defence of the West one, sourced from Pen & Sword's own website listing for the book), where the green is almost fluorescent marker-pen bright! The actual books are closer colour-wise to the very top Normandy Campaign cover image.

Panzer graveyard with Panthers in the foreground.

A grimmer graveyard scene. Is this 'Ursula' again? [3]

It's this colour issue that leads me to dock half a balkenkreuz. Whether Oliver's obsessively detailed coverage is a blessing or a curse - what of Panthers in Italy and Russia, and prior to '44? - depends on how much hardcore info you can take, and whether you can stretch to buying so many titles on the one vehicle.

At an RRP of £15 a time (£14.99 to be exact), they aren't exactly cheap! NB: at the time of posting this review both titles are available at reduced prices, at Pen & Sword's website. I'm lucky in that the publishers have been generous enough to send me copies gratis, for review. Otherwise I'd be lusting after these whilst lamenting the lack of brass in my pockets! Anyway, as regards useful info and inspiration, etc, these books are fab. And I'd highly recommend them.

----------
NOTES:

Note on photos/pictures: in this post I've tried to use images that do appear in the books under review.  The two exceptions are the final black and white image above, and the colour picture of ChefLim's model, which is from his website.

[1] This picture appears in a smaller/cropped format.

[2] This superb model appears in the Showcase section of the Defence of the West title.

[3] The more eagle-eyed might notice that a charred corpse lies atop the rear deck of this knocked out tank. In fact more than one German soldier died on the back of this particular Panther - which may be 'Ursula', a Panther featured in Oliver's book on several different occasions - as other pictures I found online show clearly. A grisly reminder of the true nature and costs of war.

Book Review: JagdPanther Tank Destroyer, Dennis Oliver

Another highly detailed and very specific Tank Craft title from the prolific Dennis Oliver, utilising his signature approach, with maps, timelines, unit histories, organisational schematics and so on. This particular publication covers one of my favourite German tanks, the Jagdpanther tank destroyer.

I remember buying some of these in 1/300, from Heroics & Ros, as a kid, and painting the tiny little blighters in the tri-colour ambush camouflage scheme. The 6mm scale is not one I've ever seen featured in these Tank Craft titles. There are three 1/35, one 1/48 and one 1/72 example in the Model Showcase section here. 

A fabulous 1/72 winter whitewashed Dragon Jagdpanther, by Jaroslaw Witkowksi, aka Gulumik.

This tank is featured in the Model Showcase chapter.

Another of Gulumik's 1/72 meisterwerks, above, appears in the Modelling Products chapter.

This is the old Esci kit, plus scratch-built detailing.

In keeping with both the stated aims of this series and the standards set so far, this book is a treasure trove of info and imagery. I have one relatively minor gripe on the latter front, however (and this is why I dock half a balkenkreuz); regarding the archival pictures, the vast majority show captured or destroyed Jagdpanthers. They're all very interesting photos. But it would have been great to see more either being built - there are a couple of great pictures of the MNH factory production line - or in active German service.

As usual with Oliver's contributions to this ever-expanding and very useful series, he's very time/theatre specific. On this occasion addressing the late-war Western Front, of 1944-45. Perhaps another volume will appear on the Eestern and Southern fronts? And perhaps that'll have more 'in action' photos and less wrecks?

Unfinished Jagdpanthers at the MNH factory, Hanover,  1945.*

I love this pic of Panthers in the rain. Note the brollys deployed by the crew!*

This abondoned Jagdpanther, Reichswald, March '45, appears a couple of times

The colour profiles, or Camouflage And Markings illustrations are, as usual, excellent. My only gripe regarding this last feature being that the green used in the three-colour schemes appears rather too bright. Anyway, all told, another great instalment in this excellent series.

* Neither of these specific photos are in this book.

Book Review: In Action With Destroyers, 1939-45, Dennis, ed. Cummings

Unpublished during his lifetime, Alec Dennis' naval memoir is an interesting and easy read. From the ill-prepared early days, to eventual dominance and victory, he was everywhere, from the Med to Murmansk, the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.

A junior senior officer (i.e. young but holding a higher echelon role!) on the Griffin, a Destroyer, he tells how this class of ship was very active, in roles from convoy escort to U-Boat hunting, and might be called upon do anything from attending to dignitaries or picking up drowning seamen. Dennis was fortunate, as most his contemporaries boats were sunk, whereas in all his postings - the longest being four years on the Griffin - he was on 'lucky' boats, and whilst hit and damaged, was never sunk. The Griffin, like Dennis, survived the war, and eventually went, again like the author himself, to Canada.

Most of his naval wartime experiences, vividly documented here, were of a quite routine sort. Although no less intense for all that, what with the constant anxieties produced by regular aerial attacks and the omnipresent threats of mines, torpedoes, etc. And even on the occasions when he took part in notable actions - from the sinking of the Scharnhorst to D-Day - he was often in a relatively peripheral position. 

He's good on the naval pecking order, and not shy of voicing his opinions on his colleagues, who range from those he clearly liked or admired to those he was less enamoured of. The times he lived through were exciting, and saw the passing of an older somewhat Victorian Imperial order. His observations of the roving life of a naval officer at large in the world at that time are fascinating.

Most of his time was spent as a second tier officer, perhaps unsurprisingly, as he was very young. Promotion came late in the war, and he was only very briefly the actual commander of a destroyer. In remarking on how the battleship HMS Belfast, a casualty of war, not only survived but was preserved for posterity, Dennis notes rather mournfully, 'It is a pity that no wartime Destroyer was thus preserved.' It's a lament he voices several times.

It might seem overly pedantic, and is perhaps more an editorial issue, but I was annoyed by the repeated spelling of fjord as 'fiord', which I've never seen before (and hope never to see again). Strangely this reverts to fjord towards the end of the book! However, this is a very minor gripe, and overall this is a terrific book. Dennis writes with an easy familiar style, in impressive detail, and with great clarity, and even a welcome touch of wit/humour. 

Definitely recommended, especially to those interested in the naval history of WWII.

Sounds to set the scene - Napoleonic martial music

Airs Militaires Ancien, by Musique De L'Air: I bought this album as a digital download via Amazon UK.

At one of the wargaming shows we occasionally attend, my wife Teresa suggested that one thing the beautiful display games lacked was music or sound effects to set the scene, and she also suggested that I ought to try and get this sort of thing, as part of my own endeavours. A great idea... thanks love!

The album pictured above was something I found after a bit of searching on the web. There are other albums, and I'll investigate further on this theme some time soon, I hope (time allowing). For the time being tho', a few brief word on this album. I can find very little info at all about the ensemble itself. There's a brief biog in English on the Naxos classical website (here), and some French sites with a little more info (such as this IMMS [international military music society] one, in French).

As a drummer myself, I'm rather fond of vintage military drums: I took this pic at NAM (the NAtional Army Museum, Chelsea), in Dec., 2013. I believe this may be French Napoleonic drum, although I'm not certain.

According to deezr.com the album I'm writing about, Airs Militaires Ancien, was released on the Corelia label in 1975. There are 30 tracks, which split roughly into two halves. The first half of which have a lot of drumming, and a fair bit of brass-heavy orchestration. The latter half is even more brass-heavy, and mostly rather fanfare like. Being a drummer myself, I like some of the drummier stuff. And it has to be said some of the brassier stuff features a few duff high notes. But in a way this latter makes for a more 'authentic' vibe. You can't expect 100% perfect execution on the bloody 'field of glory'!

If anyone knows of any other suitable recordings, please let me know. And I'd be particularly interested in hearing about any sound-effect/sound-library type recordings with suitable sounds: cannon fire, thundering cavalry charges, the sound of horse and musket era mêlée-ing, etc.

Keeping with the musical theme, but returning to my own endeavours: I bought some Heroics & Ros Imperial Guard bandsmen at Salute '14, and back in April I painted them. The following pics are from a stage or two before they were finished (and they're still not based!).

Aargh... a battlefield decapitation! I re-attached his head: he's on the left of the pic below, post superglue-surgery.

Two pipers (one wounded - see above!), the 'jingling-johnny' guy, and a cymbalist.

The band-leader, with his fancy lace pantaloons and his mace (more like a Scots caber at this tiny scale!), and a grenadier drummer in his bearskin.

Close to my heart: the rhythm section.

The two guys at centre and left are playing the buccin (read all about it here), a serpent-headed trombone type instrument. I love that H&R went to the trouble of making the serpent-heads very clear... nice!

I like these guys so much, I wanted another angle on them: this is them from in front. Also visible here, on the right, is the 'serpent'!

As well as referring to my L & F Funcken volumes, and Rousselet, etc., I also scoured the web for info on painting and basing them, and found a fair bit. One of the most helpful pages can be linked to here. Still not decided quite how to base them tho'.