Currently Reading

[Colonel Kilgore]

Wasn't this Major Robert Henry Cain, who won a VC at Arnhem for his tank hunting?

I'm not sure whether he was the same chap who used his PIAT as a mortar to land on the top of tanks (firing over the top of Dutch houses).

Simon

[Leman (Andy)]

When I've had my second jab (on D Day of all days) I must take a trip down to Arnhem and have a good nosey around. Lots of WWII stuff to look at in this neck of the woods. Some interesting German bunkers about 4K from here.

[Big Mike]

The line is referred to in the podcast with great affection and film is Al Murray's favourite!

That is music to my ears. James Holland once told me he didn't rate A Bridge Too Far as they used German Leopard tanks instead of Panzers on the Arnhem bridge. He puts The Cruel Sea top of his list of best war films because they used a real WW2 ship. Fair comment.
Mike

[Sean Clark]

Yes, that was the only downside of what is a marvelous film. I'm not sure why film makers find it so hard to represent real tanks. They can build space ships and death stars and blow things up, but real tanks, even building the shell of one and putting it onto something else seems beyond them.

[John Watson]

That is really strange because most of the allied tanks in A Bridge Too Far were mock ups. So why didn't they do that for the German tanks on the bridge at Arnhem? Answers on a postcard.
John

[Noggin]

When I've had my second jab (on D Day of all days) I must take a trip down to Arnhem and have a good nosey around. Lots of WWII stuff to look at in this neck of the woods. Some interesting German bunkers about 4K from here.

Recommend the museum in the Hartenstein as well as a good walk on the LZ areas

[Sean Clark]

 I've done the Hartenstien musuem but would love to return to the area to explore more.

[Leslie BT]

Sean go and find the Flashmans books and the Alexander Kent books.  Keep you going for weeks.

[sukhe_bator (Neil)]

That is really strange because most of the allied tanks in A Bridge Too Far were mock ups. So why didn't they do that for the German tanks on the bridge at Arnhem? Answers on a postcard.
John

It is strange what gets mocked up and what doesn't. It probably all depends on relative cost to produce and availability, really... The bridge sequence was shot at Deventer in the Netherlands, with lots of army surplus vehicles etc. from the Allied side. However, actual German equipment proved far harder to source. Post War Europe was largely re-equipped with US designs until new designs like the Leopard became available. The glut of US equipment was a result of all that much vaunted US war-production...
Strange what there actually was available during the big film era. Just a few years earlier for The Battle of Britain, German a/c or those derived from German designs like the Buchon were purchased from Franco's air force which peversely used RR Merlins in all their airframes.
If the ancients could mock up a dummy elephant on a camel to fool enemy scouts, you'd think it would be possible for a 70's film production company to put plywood on a lorry to mimic a tank...!
After all most of those 'vintage delivery vehicles' seen on London's streets are mock shells on Mini or Ford chassis... 

[Leman (Andy)]

Currently reading Belgium in the Great War by Jean-Michel Veranneman, published by Pen and Sword. Very well written account of the experience of Belgium before during and after the Great War. Recent studies have revealed that some of the atrocities committed by the German army, and considered as Allied propaganda, actually did happen. This makes for pretty harrowing reading. Given the respective sizes of the two armies, the Belgians put up a tremendous fight. I also learnt a couple of new things re. the Allies involvement in the initial invasion, including the presence of Winston Churchill in Antwerp with the Naval Brigade, and that most of the naval and marine infantry sent to Antwerp were insufficiently trained recruits. I also didn't realise that the French Fusiliers Marins were still marching to Antwerp when they met the Belgian army retreating to Oostend. As well as Belgium itself, the book also deals with Belgium's colonial activity in Africa during the war. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the activities of Belgium in WWI.

[Spartacus]

Nicholas Carter-Shadow of the Crown series.

ECW romp. Have read first 3 books and really enjoyed them.

Bit of a nostalga trip for me as I am from the west country.

[Sean Clark]

Bosworth by Chris Skidmore. I'm fancying his Richard III biography next.

[pbeccas (Paul)]

Derrick VC in his own words, the wartime writings of Australia's most famous fighting soldier of WWII.

[Leman (Andy)]

I am now re-reading Regiment of Foote 2nd Edition.

[pbeccas (Paul)]

Reading "Fromelles and Pozieres" by Peter Fitzsimons.  Just hit an interesting paragraph.  When the Australians arrived on the Western Front groups of men were trained in night trench raiding by Native American Canadians, who were the best in the business.  I found that really interesting.