Book review: A G.I. In The Ardennes, Denis Hambucken

I love this book!

It accomplishes what I think a lot of Dorling Kindersley style 'survey' type books attempt but, for me, usually fail to achieve, i.e. a colourful yet comprehensive synthesis of a vast amount of information, conveyed in an interesting, exciting yet easy to digest form.

Not only does this book tell the story of the Ardennes campaign, albeit in an admittedly very light and basic manner - from a primarily American perspective as the title makes clear - with numerous firsthand accounts, but it also covers a huge array of more general stuff. There are brief articles on everything from uniforms and equipment to more general American wartime institutions such as the USO (United Service Organizations) and PX (Post Exchange), and the ways in which the homeland and the 'sharp end' interacted.

Aside from the incredible richness and variety of the subject itself, perhaps the greatest strength of the book is the absolutely superb collection of photographic illustrations. These run the gamut from contemporary black and white photos to colour imagery, depicting everything from surviving veterans to a huge array of GI kit/weapons, from such small and humble items as socks, via back-packs and small arms, right up to various tanks, or such monster materiel as the mighty Long Tom 155mm gun.

Amongst this embarrassment of riches I think it's the ragtag yet colourful pictorial smorgasbord of ephemera that I find so evocative and exciting; the many beautifully designed things, from matchbooks (often also quite humorous) and food packaging, to the plethora of items of clothing and weaponry, all of which mix utility with a minimalist military aesthetic - in a range of colours, greys and browns and greens, that I happen to love - it's all just fantastic.

If you're interested in this theatre of the war, I'd highly recommended this thoroughly fascinating and incredibly beautifully put together book.

Book Review: Tank Attack at Monte Cassino - Jeffrey Plowman

Although my reading has ground almost to a halt recently, I did read this excellent book a few months back. And finally I'm getting round to posting a review!

A fascinating account of a little known action in the long arduous campaign to take Monte Cassino. The somewhat crazy idea of outflanking the dominating heights of Cassino with a tank force - an undertaking which required the building of a road - in terrain highly unsuited to armoured warfare, ended up being something of a shambolic failure.

The attacking force is a mixture of Indians, New Zealanders, Americans and British - French and Poles also figure in the bigger picture! - fighting Germans (Italy having capitulated by this point). The book draws a vivid compelling picture of events, enlivened by firsthand accounts and illustrated with contemporary photos. 

A segment at the end covers the battlefield as it is now, for those interested in visiting. I'd have preferred more/better maps, as following the action during the narrative isn't always easy. Several appendices add further supporting info. 

All in all, an impressive and fascinating work. I'm left wanting to read more about the whole Cassino campaign. Thoroughly enjoyable!

Book Review: The Sniper Anthology, Various.

Subtitled Snipers of the Second World War, ten different authors contribute ten short biographies of snipers of WWII. This appears to be a paperback reissue of a hardback that first published by Pelican in 2012.

Many of us will be aware of Vassili Zeitsev and Lyudmilla Pavlichenko, from movies like Enemy at The Gates and Battle for Sevastopol, which portray the two aforementioned Soviet sharpshooters. The intro and back cover blurb of this book admit that snipers haven't traditionally been exactly celebrated, except at the time and by the countries, and even then chiefly the armies, of the countries that they served. This appears to be changing somewhat, perhaps especially thanks to movies such as those mentioned above, and others more contemporary movies like Clint Eastwood's American Sniper.

I have to confess that I don't like the whole idea of snipers. Older fashioned modes of fighting wars, even if in actual practice they might be as or more barbaric as any other form or era of combat, in theory at least often subscribed to a kind of warrior code; enemies would meet and fight face to face. I recall being troubled by many scenes in the films mentioned above, in particular one where German troops are picked off as they celebrate Christmas around a campfire.

In fact I have to lay my cards on the table, and state that, whils I understand that in war one it I shall wise to always seek surprise and the advantage, etc, the kind of killing typical in sniping is just much too close to serial murder for me. This I shall especially so because the 'prey' is human, as opposed to the hunting of game, with which it is often compared or equated, and from which - especially in the past - experiences many snipers derived their expertise. 

Simo Häyhä.

Still, as 'war is all hell', really (and to quote an ACW general whose name momentarily escapes me), I can't pretend that I'm not still interested in this rather more cold-blooded m.o. And admitting as much, let's move on to the book under review!

At the time of posting this review I've only read forty percent of the book, i.e.four of the ten chapters. The first in the book, and the first I read, tells of Simo Häyhä, the Finnish sniper said to have killed at least 500 Russians, perhaps as many as 800, in just 100 days. His career of killing was cut short by a gunshot wound to the face, that saw him invalided out of the war. Unlike the many young men he stealthily slaughtered, he lived to the ripe old age of 92, apparently losing no sleep over the impressively sanguine butcher's bill he dealt his Soviet adversaries. 

Next I read chapter eight, on German sniper, or Scharfschützen, Sepp Allerberger. This was interesting enough, although it left me wishing there was also a chapter on Matthäus Hetzenauer,  Alleberger's fellow German sniper, with the highest tally of the German armed forces. But I see that there's a whole book devoted to the latter, so I might read that at some point. I also read chapter two, on Lyudmilla Pavlichenko, aka 'The Most Dangerous Woman on Earth' as the chapter's subtitle has it.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko

Thus far the most recent chapter I've read was the final one - and this is definitely the sort of anthology one can dip into or cherry-pick as one pleases - on British sniper Harry Furness.  I found this both the most interesting and also the best written of all the chapter story I've read so far. It was also the one on a subject I knew the least about, making it more interesting and exciting.

My overall verdict on this book at this point - admittedly still in the process of reading it - is that it's certainly a useful addition to one's WWII library, perhaps of particular interest to gun-nuts like my pal Paul? It's not exactly exhaustive, or even that in-depth, despite some of the claims made to that effect in the promo blurb on the cover and elsewhere. The writing is of a variable quality, but all (so far) perfectly serviceable, if not always exciting or inspiring. All told, a solid introductory level primer on an interesting if perhaps rather specialist subject.

The only picture of Harry Furness I could find!*

* Pavlichenko, on the other hand? There are tons of pics of her.

Film Review: Midway, 2019

Teresa and I went to see this new epic WWII movie whilst attending Scale Model World in Telford. The Odeon where we saw it has fantastically luxurious reclining chairs. Very nice! The small screening theatre we were in was practically empty. Perhaps 20 odd viewers in a room that might take 80-100. A pity, really, as a full house generates its own excitement.

Never mind that, however... I absolutely loved this film. Every time a modern movie on WWII comes out I have high hopes for it. Hopes that I fully expect will be dashed on viewing. Such was the case with Dunkirk, which I loathed with a passion. So much modern cinema is nowt more than dumb spectacle. I was worried this might fall into that trap.

The attack on Pearl Harbour...

... is briefly, brutally and excitingly depicted.

Well, in a way it does. It's a massive dose of schlockbusting CGI action, with an overly reverential approach to its square-jawed hypermasculine heroes. In many ways, whilst it professes earnestly to be a true story, however closely it may sail to the facts of events, it is a Hollywood fantasy of sorts. But, and here's the key thing for me, this is both enormous fun, and highly exciting drama. Emmerich also gets quite a lot in: we start before the war, jump to Pearl Harbour, and get to Midway itself via The Coral Sea, the Doolittle Raids and so on.

Dick Best (Ed Skrein) at left.

Doolittle (Aaron Eckhardt), in peril in Jap occupied China.

Murray (Keean Johnson), Best and fellow personnel.

An ensemble film, with a host of characters, events unfold at numerous levels, including both the domestic and the military (with the accent heavily on the latter!), depicting all involved, from top brass to lowly rankers. The group of characters we follow through these events are sufficiently engaging to keep us interested in the bigger picture as it develops.

All the actors acquit themselves well. Characters like Layton (Patrick Wilson), the intelligence guy, pilots lieutenants McClusky and Best (Ed Skrein and Luke Evans), and man at the top Chester Nimitz (Woody Harrelson) are solid in the chief roles. But, offhand, I might pick out Dennis Quaid as Admiral Halsey and Nick Jonas as Machinist's Mate Bruno as two particularly engaging characters. In that respect this resembles old fashioned WWII epics like The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far. And it actually trumps these old movies thanks to ever improving CGI.

Japanese attack...

U.S. ships at Pearl Harbour...

Bombs straddle a Carrier.

Epic scenes such as this are the meat and potatoes of this movie.

CGI was once a pet hate of mine, and occasionally still is: when a film looks like a PlayStation promo, or the CGI is simply unconvincing, I detest it. But in this film it makes for some truly epic and yet credible shots/scenes. Whilst we're on the technical side; the sound design of Dunkirk irritated and even appalled me. This, which when seen on the big screen is a veritable assault on the ears as much as the eyes, succeeds. The battle scenes - especially the aerial assaults on the ships - are incredibly intense.

I enjoyed this so much I'm sorely tempted to get back to the cinema in short order, and watch it again.  I don't think it's a truly great film. The characterisations are pretty thin, and it's all a bit chest-thumpingly manly. But I loved it, and enjoyed it enormously. If you think you might enjoy seeing Midway and the events leading up to it depicted in a fun action packed and yet epic but believable manner, I'd recommend Midway wholeheartedly.

This image is a fair representation of the excitement the film achieves.

Emmerich, beside TA-127, a North American Aviation T-6 Texan.

It was also interesting, as a kind of footnote, to find out (after watching the movie) that Emmerich had to finance this very Hollywood style production - the big studios were chary of another lavish WWII epic, many of which over the years have cost a lot and then flopped - outside the normal fiscal channels, including taking a cut in his own fee. I really hope this makes Emmerich and everyone involved a healthy profit!

Book Review: Montgomery's Rhine River Crossing, Operation Plunder, Jon Diamond (Images of War)

Over five chapters - Strategic Prelude; Terrain, Fortification and Weapons; Commanders and Combatants; Clearing the Rhineland; Rhine River Crossings and Airborne Assault - supported by a number of maps and lots of excellent photographs, author Jon Diamond gives a solid and comprehensive account of Montgomery's Rhine river crossings.

Monty.

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: Painting Wargame Figures, WWII In The Desert, Andy Singleton.

The way the title of this book is presented - Painting Wargame Figures, WWII In The Desert - is suggestive of a series. But I found no mention of this being the case. So I'm not sure if this is part of a series that will cover more of WWII, or is simply a stand-alone title.

The Desert War in North Africa isn't a part of WWII that I'm attracted to. But nevertheless, when offered the chance to review this, I jumped at it. And within a few paragraphs author Andy Singleton was already addressing issues that I was pleased to see mentioned, as they affect me very heavily, such as motivation when painting large quantities of figures.

In his introduction, and then in Part One: Basics, which comprises chapters called Tools of the Trade and Boot Camp, Singleton tackles getting set up and started, and also makes it clear that he's addressing his book, in the main, to entry-level folk. But of course he hopes us more grizzled types might also benefit.

A spread showing an American figure being painted.

Part Two: Painting Guides comprises six chapters, four on the various national forces (British & Commonwealth, Italian, US and German), one on camouflage (specifically the splinter camo' of the German fallschirmjäger), and one on basing. Each of the four national painting guides is further split into three levels: Conscript, Regular and Elite, which as you'd imagine moves from basic to advanced in aptly named stages.

Even though he's covering a theatre I'm less keen on, it's interesting to see how someone who works as a professional figure painter does things. I already use some of the techniques he uses, from priming figures with car spray paint to blocking in base coats, dry-brushing, washes, and so on. So for me there wasn't really anything significantly new here. 

That said, whilst many of his colour choices - and like the author I use Vallejo acrylics as my mainstay - are similar to or even the same as my own (inasmuch as the they overlap with my preferred European areas of interest in WWII) there were some that were of interest to me, such as the use of Vallejo 803 Brown Rose as a base colour for flesh.

A German figure, over black primer (no!).

The figures Andy paints in the book are all 28mm, with a lone 20mm exception. And in his list of manufacturers at the back of the book he only deals with 28mm, 20mm and 15mm scales. My own WWII forces are almost entirely 1/72, or 20mm, with a small smattering of 1/76. But years ago I had a German army of sorts in 1/300, a scale not mentioned at all in this book. And of course these days there's also 10mm, or larger scales like 40mm and 54mm, etc.

But, as Singleton says, the tools, methods and techniques used here could be applied to most if not all other scales, albeit in potentially differing degrees. A5 in format, approximately 150 pages long, the text is quite large, and the book is, as you'd hope and expect, heavily illustrated, largely with photos illustrating the step by step painting processes, this is a quick and easy read. I read the whole thing in a couple of hours.

There's a definite emphasis on simple practical advice, with a view to getting your miniatures painted and ready for action. That's all to the good. I don't know if somehow I missed it, but I was looking forward to the part where he was going to address motivation: 'I'll come back to talking about batch painting when we come to the 'keeping motivated' part of this book'. As that's a very live issue for me, my 6mm and 10mm Napoleonic armies languishing on the lead pile as they are. However, having made this mention of motivation, I don't recall seeing it addressed at any later point.

A Brit/Commonwealth soldier, showing basing methods.

Most of the figures are primed in white or grey, a method I now use myself. However, he does his German Africa Korps figure (not the later fallschirmjäger) over a black primer base. I used to prime in black at one time. I think it was a Games Workshop thing, or maybe Peter Gilder did it? I believe the idea was that it helped pre-shade, and potentially delineate stuff. But studying Anthony Barton's beautifully sculpted and painted figures cured me of that! A black base dulls the following paint layers, whereas white or pale grey allows the colours to sing more openly/brightly.

I'd like to see similar titles on European theatres of WWII, and it'd be great if they addressed other scales, and perhaps even included the assembly and painting of resin figures. If like me you're building forces around 1/72 and 1/76 model tanks and other vehicles, resin figures from Milicast, Dan Taylor and the many Eastern European brands in these scales are a great improvement on the more 'quaintly old-fashioned' soft plastic 20mm figures that used to be a mainstay in this scale.

As Andy Singleton himself and the book jacket blurb says, there's an emphasis on 'achievable results', which should make this a very useful book for its target audience. For that goal, I'd score this four out of five. But for me, as a fussy and longer of tooth modeller and painter, and what with a few editorial gaffes (the usual spelling/grammar stuff, plus a few places where steps appear to be missing in certain guides), I'm going within three and a half balkenkreuz.

Left, Commonwealth painted to Elite level; Italian Bersaglieri at right.

Book Review: M36/M36B1 Tank Destroyer, Dennis Oliver (Images of War)

NB: Sometines I illustrate these reviews with pics from the book under review, and sometimes from imagery found elsewhere. In this instance all the images used here can also be found in the book.

This came rather serendipitously right after I'd finished reading/reviewing the Tank Craft title on the M10. Basically an up-gunning from the M10 which, due to the larger armament (up from 75mm to 90mm) also entailed a new turret design, albeit designed along very similar lines to the M10.

Dennis Oliver's above mentioned book looks at the M10 in British service, which has come to be known as the Achilles, as it served in the latter stages of the war in Western Europe. This Images of War title differs in several ways: a smaller format (closer to A5 than A4), more pages, and slightly broader coverage (inc. post-WWII usage, in Korea and elsewhere).

Cpl. Herbert winter whitewashing his M36, Luxembourg, Jan '45.

In a manner somewhat similar to another recent Images of War title I've just read and reviewed, on the M29 Weasel, this makes much heavier use of images of contemporary surviving examples of these vehicles than I'm used to. But whereas the Weasel book was overly weighted to the latter, on this occasion the balance is much better.

There are some fabulous series of archival images here, such as the Massey Harris production-line photos, and a series showing the aftermath of a towed M36 tank that's overturned on an icy road. The first 100 or so pages cover the M36, with just a short section at the end looking at the M36B1.

Lt. Boutillier inspects recently arrived M36, France, 1944.

I won't go into great detail about the vehicle, that's what these books do so well. Personally I love these books, and find them both very inspiring and very useful in relation to my modelmaking and wargaming hobbies. Definitely recommended.

Crew rest beside their disabled M36B1, Germany, '45.

Film Review: Hacksaw Ridge, 2017

Mel Gibson returns - or comes in from the cold, you might say [1] - with a film that revisits his twin obsessions, Christian faith and bloody gore. Remember his Passion Of The Christ? Well, this is obviously rather different, but Christian faith and ultra-violence are just two of the themes these films share.

The movie as 'true story' is a long favoured formula, and perhaps never more so than in the war genre, with WWII having spawned huge amounts of films 'based on real events'. How close such films steer to the truth, insofar as we can know it, is a moot point. Step forward Gibson's own depiction of William Wallace in Braveheart, as exhibit A.

The real life Desmond Doss.

Hacksaw Ridge tells the tale of conscientious objector Desmond Doss, pictured above, who wanted to serve his country in time of war, but without compromising his religious beliefs, specifically 'thou shalt not kill'.

Doss' story certainly makes for a gripping film in Gibson's capable hands. By turns both homely and epic, it is also certainly hugely cathartic, in its depiction of the triumph of one man's convictions in the face of both the psychological and institutional opposition of his own army on the one hand, and the physical weapons and soldiery of the 'banzai' era Japanese Imperial enemy on the other.

Ironically, perhaps, in the light of director Gibson's statements, re this film being about real heroes, as opposed to spandex-clad superheroes, Andrew Garfield, who plays Doss, achieved super-stardom as just such a superhero, Spider-Man! But in this role Garfield overcomes his pretty boy Hollywood star status to deliver a very involving and moving performance.

Garfield is very convincing in the role of Doss.

Hugo Weaving* depresses everyone with his grim WWI reminiscences.

Hugo Weaving is great as Doss' damaged WWI-vet father, and Teresa Palmer [3] is fine (in every sense) as his sweetheart and war-bride. Indeed, there are strong performances from all concerned. Until seeing this film I always found Vince Vaughan too one-dimensionally macho. He's cast here according to type, as Doss' Captain. But he plays his part well, and at last achieves some more rounded humanity (at least in my eyes). 

For us war film buffs this is yet another instalment of 'Americans in the Pacific' - the Yanks [4] seem to favour this more all-American theatre of the war [5] - but it's done superlatively well, and focuses on an action I don't believe I've seen depicted (unless it features in HBOs Pacific?) before. The terrain fought over is pretty extreme, fully deserving of the brutal sounding epithet that gives this film its name.

The paradox of the bravest soldier being the one without a gun.

Gibson and Garfield on set during filming.

At the heart of the story is the idea that the apparently paradoxical soldier-without-a-weapon might be the bravest man on the battlefield. And the catharsis of seeing a man successfully stand by his convictions, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds is very powerful. I don't think you need share either Gibson's or Doss' religious views to understand and admire that. 

Is Mel Gibson a racist, misogynist, religious crackpot? Certainly he's been portrayed that way, allegedly in his own words, by the media. I don't know the truth of those allegations, and have never looked deeply into it. Is Hacksaw Ridge a terrific film that tells an amazing story? That I can attest to. Yes!

* Better known, perhaps, as Elrond in LOTR, or Agent Smith, in The Matrix.

---

NOTES: 

[1] It's ten years between this and Apocalypto, his previous film as director. And in the meanwhile there's been much controversy over his personal life and views. 

[2] At first his hillbilly accent annoyed me a little. The Americans seem to treat a Southern accent almost as shorthand for an honest-to-God, salt-of-the-earth nature; a little dumb perhaps, but genuine. But it does also happen that Doss was a southern boy. 

[3] And I never knew that my wife had a career in Hollywood! 

[4] Gibson is often thought of as Australian. But he was born in New York, and is American. And even if he weren't, despite his troubled episodes, he's as good as Hollywood royalty these days. And besides, this is obviously an American story and film! 

[5] Of course Commonwealth forces also fought in the Pacific. But compared with the European theatre, the Pacific was much more an American 'show'.

Film Review: Battle Of The Bulge, 1965

NB - Another in my continuing series of archival posts. Drafted ages ago, but only finished now.

Hmm? I want this to be a good film, and I want to enjoy it. But it isn't, and I don't.

In terms of accuracy of any sort, it's pretty woeful. Only in the broadest of terms - the Germans luanched an offensive that ultimately failed - is it anywhere near the mark. Some of the detail chimes with certain events, such as the SS Malmedy prisoner massacre, and the German attempts to cause confusion behind the Allied lines (by using German troops disguised as Americans) [1]. It's obviously intended - as the original publicity materials, such as the poster below, make clear - to be a blockbuster in the mould of A Bridge Too Far, or The Longest Day. But those films worked much harder to achieve authenticity. And, particularly in comparison to this movie, they succeeded.

'Only Cinerama could give it to you the way it was.' If only! [2]

Col. Hessler (Robert Shaw) is introduced to wunderwaffen, the new Tiger. Eh? That's not a Tiger?

Hessler and his orderly, Conrad (Hans Christian Blech), singing the Panzerleied, with...

... the young tankers. [3]

It's also hard to watch a film in which not only is the history well off the mark, but the looks of the locations are wrong, and the materiél, in particular the tanks and vehicles of both sides, are wrong. Even the uniforms look too generic. They didn't have CGI back when this film was made, but then neither did the Russian makers of 'Osvobohzdenie' (Liberation), a truly epic five-part film about the counteroffensives on the Eastern Front that puts this lacklustre and innacurate drivel properly to shame. And the Russian's at least had the wherewithal to try to make some of their armour actually look like the Tiger tanks, or whatever else, they are standing in for.

An M3 masquerading as a German half-track.

M47 Patton tanks were used to stand in for Tigers. Poor image dubbing doesn't help.

There are a few films, Battleground, and parts of Band Of Brothers, for example, that cover aspects of the Battle of The Bulge, and do so far better than this movie does, but it remains a campaign ill served by western cinema. Sadly this film doesn't measure up to its own sense of self importance, which ends up making the rather portentous triple interludes - there are three bombastic musical segments, an overture, an intermission, and an exit - seem rather ridiculous. The stark red and black title graphics, as nice as they are, are scant consolation.

Telly Savalas as Guffy, an American tanker with a sideline in black market contraband.

Filmed in Spain, the landscape settings don't quite evoke the Ardennes.

In my view you'd have to be shamefully ignorant of the history of these important events to be taken in by this Hollywood gloss, which comes off more as a melodramatic Western, relocated to WWII, in terms of acting and drama. What a missed opportunity. And what a waste of plenty of decent acting talent.

This nice old poster makes the film look much better than it is. 

It's quite clear from the older posters that this was cast in the mould of star-studded epics such as The Longest Day, and A Bridge Too Far. It just goes to show that throwing big names into the pot with a turkey doesn't alter the fact it's a turkey.

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

[1] This latter aspect, however, like so much of the history with which this film should've concerned itself, is grossly misrepresented, in this instance by being hugely overplayed.

[2] Introduced in the 1950s, Cinerama was an attempt by the cinemas to find new means of competing with TV, by offering a more spectacular immersive panoramic viewing experience. But by the time Battle of the Bulge was made it was already on the decline. And this film was shot in a single camera budget version of the format, where the original called for three cameras shooting simultaneously!

[3] This was one of the few scenes I actually enjoyed, as I felt it conveyed well the positive camaraderie aspect of the German war machine, something usually glossed over in big budget war films.