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In Search Of The Real Dads Army
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Book Synopsis In Search of the Real Dad's Army by : Stephen M. Cullen
Download or read book In Search of the Real Dad's Army written by Stephen M. Cullen and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2012-02-29 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A fascinating examination of one of the best-known British forces of the Second World War . . . An efficient and increasingly professional military unit.” —History of War What was the Home Guard? Who were the men and women who served in it? And what can be said of their real role and significance once the popular myths have been stripped away? Despite the fame of the Home Guard—of Dad’s Army—the true story of this wartime organization tends to be neglected. The myths obscure the reality. Stephen Cullen’s aim in this thoroughgoing new study is to cut through the misunderstandings in order to reassess the Home Guard and its contribution to Britain’s war effort—and to deepen our understanding of the men and women who were members of it. He sets the Home Guard in the long historical context of domestic defense planning, then focuses on the preparations made before the outbreak of the Second World War. In detail he traces the changing role of the Home Guard during its wartime existence as it adapted to meet the multitude of challenges it faced—from civil defense and intelligence gathering to training for guerrilla warfare. “This enjoyable and well-illustrated book covers the ‘rags to riches’ story of the Home Guard from the 1940 volunteer in civilian clothing, armed with a keepsake from an earlier war, to the fully trained and equipped part-time soldier.” —The Armourer “An interesting and accurate account of a force that was in fact a well drilled, well organised and by wars end, a very professional fighting unit by the time of its stand down in 1944.” —WW2 Connection
Book Synopsis In Search of the Real Dads Army by : Stephen Cullen
Download or read book In Search of the Real Dads Army written by Stephen Cullen and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2012-02-29 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What was the Home Guard? Who were the men and women who served in it? And what can be said of their real role and significance once the popular myths have been stripped away? Despite the fame of the Home Guard of Dads Army the true story of this wartime organization tends to be neglected. The myths obscure the reality. Stephen Cullens aim in this thoroughgoing new study is to cut through the misunderstandings in order to reassess the Home Guard and its contribution to Britains war effort and to deepen our understanding of the men and women who were members of it. He sets the Home Guard in the long historical context of domestic defense planning, then focuses on the preparations made before the outbreak of the Second World War. In detail he traces the changing role of the Home Guard during its wartime existence as it adapted to meet the multitude of challenges it faced from civil defense and intelligence gathering to training for guerrilla warfare. Using vivid eyewitness testimony and oral history, he takes a grassroots look at the men - and women from all ages and social backgrounds who made up this national defense force. The equipment, uniforms, weapons and vehicles they used and the field defenses they manned are described as their role developed over the course of the war. He also examines the evolution of popular views of the Home Guard from wartime days to the present the notion of the Peoples Army, the thinking of early Home Guard commentators like George Orwell, and the writings of more recent historians who have sought to explain an organization that retains such an extraordinary hold on the popular imagination.
Book Synopsis Finding Your Father's War by : Jonathan Gawne
Download or read book Finding Your Father's War written by Jonathan Gawne and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2020-12-28 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to learning more about your relatives’ experience serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. In this fully revised edition of Finding Your Father’s War, military historian Jonathan Gawne has written an easily accessible handbook for anyone seeking greater knowledge of their relatives’ experience in World War II, or indeed anyone seeking a better understanding of the U.S. Army during World War II. With over 470 photographs, charts, and an engaging narrative with many rare insights into wartime service, this book is an invaluable tool for understanding our “citizen soldiers,” who once rose as a generation to fight the greatest war in American history. “Jonathan's Gawne’s book is a 5-star blueprint, well-written and beautifully illustrated, to deciphering a loved one’s WW2 U.S. Army service.” —The Commander’s Voice “A great read not only for genealogists wishing to research an ancestor, but also for those who simply have an interest in the United States Army during World War II . . . written so that anyone, even those with no military background, can understand, yet also includes more advanced information . . . detail is phenomenal . . . a must read reference book for any professional genealogist or military historian.” —APG Quarterly
Book Synopsis The Real 'Dad's Army' by : Rodney Foster
Download or read book The Real 'Dad's Army' written by Rodney Foster and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2011 with total page 511 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Colonel Rodney Foster, who retired to Hythe in the south of England after a military career in British India, joined the Home Guard in 1940 and kept a diary every day - a highly illegal act at the time - and in it meticulously chronicled his service in the real Dad's Army.
Download or read book To the Last Man written by Malcolm Atkin and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historical study of the UK’s WWII homeland defense service dispels the propaganda and pop culture myths to reveal its true wartime role. In 1940, Britain formed an armed citizen militia to act as the first line of defense in case of Nazi invasion—an essential, if suicidal, mission intended to buy time for the organization of regular forces. Officially, they were the Home Guard. Later, a British sitcom that ran for nearly a decade in the 60s and 70s dubbed them Dad’s Army. That show contributed to a distorted perception of the Home Guard that persists today. But as Malcolm Atkin reveals in this thought-provoking book, the Home Guard’s image was manipulated from its earliest days. Sifting through official documents and contemporary histories, as well as stories, artwork and poetry of the era, and comparing these with postwar films and histories, Atkin explores how the myths of the Home Guard arose and were exploited. He also shows how the strong sense of gallows-humor amongst its volunteers—which fits in with a long tradition of self-deprecating humor in the British army—was taken out of context and became the basis of the TV series. To the Last Man strips back the myths, analyzing how the modern perception has evolved. The result is a new, gritty, and sometimes shocking appreciation of the role that the Home Guard was expected to play in the Second World War.
Book Synopsis World War II Vichy French Security Troops by : Stephen M. Cullen
Download or read book World War II Vichy French Security Troops written by Stephen M. Cullen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-02-22 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the Fall of France in 1940, a new puppet state was set up in the south. Officially known as the French State, it is better known as Vichy France. This collaborationist Vichy regime's armed forces were more active and usually more numerous than German troops in the task of hunting down and crushing the maquis - the French Resistance guerrilla forces This book will cover the organization and operations of Vichy French Security Forces, including: the new Vichy Police Nationale, particularly their Groupes Mobiles de Reserve, the Service d'Ordre Légionnaire , and the Milice Francaise, a ruthless anti-Resistance militia armed partly with British weapons captured from SOE airdrops. Fully illustrated throughout with contemporary photographs and commissioned artwork, it tells the story of Occupied France from the perspective of those who sought to keep it in German hands.
Book Synopsis British TV Comedies by : Juergen Kamm
Download or read book British TV Comedies written by Juergen Kamm and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-01-26 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection offers an overview of British TV comedies, ranging from the beginnings of sitcoms in the 1950s to the current boom of 'Britcoms'. It provides in-depth analyses of major comedies, systematically addressing their generic properties, filmic history, humour politics and cultural impact.
Book Synopsis Pillboxes and Tank Traps by : Bernard Lowry
Download or read book Pillboxes and Tank Traps written by Bernard Lowry and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-09-10 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise, illustrated guide to these Second World War defences scattered across the British landscape. With invasion a very real threat, in 1940 Great Britain began a huge military construction programme designed to stop an invading army in its tracks. Around vulnerable coastlines, and inland, thousands of pillboxes, anti-tank barriers and other obstacles were erected to defend against attacks from sea and sky. Though many of these structures were dismantled in the wake of the Second World War, the coast and even some inland areas still boast a wealth of fascinating remains. In this fully illustrated introduction, fortifications authority Bernard Lowry guides the inquiring reader in identifying these remaining defensive structures and explains their seemingly 'random' placement across the British landscape.
Book Synopsis Tracing Your Twentieth-Century Ancestors by : Karen Bali
Download or read book Tracing Your Twentieth-Century Ancestors written by Karen Bali and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2016-10-30 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The recent past is so often neglected when people research their family history, yet it can be one of the most rewarding periods to explore, and so much fascinating evidence is available. The rush of events over the last century and the rapid changes that have taken place in every aspect of life have been dramatic, and the lives of family members of only a generation or two ago may already appear remote. That is why Karen Balis informative and accessible guide to investigating your immediate ancestors is essential reading, and a handy reference for anyone who is trying to trace them or discover the background to their lives. In a sequence of concise, fact-filled chapters she looks back over the key events of the twentieth century and identifies the sources that can give researchers an insight into the personal stories of individuals who lived through it. She explains census and civil records, particularly those of the early twentieth century, and advises readers on the best way to get relevant information from directories and registers as well as wills and other personal documents. Chapters also cover newspapers which often provide personal details and offer a vivid impression of the world of the time professional and property records and records of migration and naturalization. This practical handbook is rounded off with sections on tracing living relatives and likely future developments in the field.
Book Synopsis The Home Front: 1939–1945 in 100 Objects by : Austin J. Ruddy
Download or read book The Home Front: 1939–1945 in 100 Objects written by Austin J. Ruddy and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2020-02-19 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A colorful catalogue of objects that illustrate what everyday life was like in wartime Britain. A lifesaving gas mask. A ration book, essential for the supply of food. A shelter stove that kept a family warm while they huddled in their Anderson shelter. A leaflet dropped by the Luftwaffe that was designed to intimidate Britain’s populace during the threat of invasion. A civilian identity card over-stamped with the swastika eagle from the occupied Channel Islands. A rare, previously unpublished, snapshot of legendary bandleader Glenn Miller playing at a UK air base. A twisted remnant of German V2 rocket that went to space and back before exploding over London, the result of equally twisted military science. Colorful flag bunting that saw the VE celebrations in 1945. These disparate objects and many more together tell the moving and important story of Britain’s home front during the Second World War. The ordinary objects featured in this book, supplemented with facts, figures, dates, stories, and statistics, portray the highs and lows the British people experienced during six years of war—from the deprivations of rationing and the bombing of the Blitz, to the cheery songs, elegant fashions, and “Dig For Victory” spirit.
Book Synopsis The American Marshall Plan Film Campaign and the Europeans by : Maria Fritsche
Download or read book The American Marshall Plan Film Campaign and the Europeans written by Maria Fritsche and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-02-08 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The US government launched the European Recovery Programme, otherwise known as the 'Marshall Plan', in order to save war-torn Europe from collapse in 1948. Yet while much is known about the economic side of the Marshall Plan, the extensive film campaign that accompanied it has been largely overlooked until now. The American Marshall Plan Film Campaign and the Europeans is the first book to explore the use of the Marshall Plan films and, importantly, their distribution and reception across Europe. The study examines every available film – the 170 that remain from the 200 estimated to have been made – and looks at how they were designed to instil hope, argue the case for economic restructuring and persuade the Europeans of the superiority of the liberal-capitalist system. The book goes on to reason that the films served as a powerful weapon in the cultural Cold War, but that the European audiences were by no means passive victims of the US propaganda effort. Maria Fritsche discusses the Marshall Plan films in the context of countries across Western, Northern and Southern Europe, covering the majority of the 17 European countries that participated in the Plan in the process. The book incorporates 70 images and utilises a vast number of archival sources to explore the strategies the US adopted to sway the minds of the Europeans, the problems they encountered in the process and, not least, the varied responses of the European audiences. It is a vital study for any scholar or student keen to know more about postwar recovery in Europe, the legacy of the Second World War or America's relationship with Europe in the 20th century.
Book Synopsis British Humour and the Second World War by : Juliette Pattinson
Download or read book British Humour and the Second World War written by Juliette Pattinson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-06-01 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book skilfully combines cutting-edge historical research by leading and emerging researchers in the field to investigate the utilization of British humour during the Second World War as well as its legacy in British popular culture. Juliette Pattinson and Linsey Robb bring together case studies that address a variety of situations in which humour was generated, including wartime jokes, films, radio, cartoons and private drawings, as well as post-war recollections, museum exhibitions and television comedy. By adopting an original interpretative framework of various wartime and post-war sites, this books opens up the possibility for a more variegated, richer analysis of Britain's wartime experience and its place thereafter in the cultural imagination. Through the lens of humour, this book promises to add critical nuance to our understanding of the functioning of British wartime society. Covering sources such as The British Cartoon Archive, BBC World War II People's War Archive and The Ministry of Information, and including analysis of the lasting role of comedy in Britain's memories and depictions of the war, the result is a rich addition to existing literature of use to students and scholars studying the cultural history of war.
Book Synopsis Fay Taylour, 'The World's Wonder Girl' by : Stephen M Cullen
Download or read book Fay Taylour, 'The World's Wonder Girl' written by Stephen M Cullen and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2024-02-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fay Taylour (1904-1983) remains the most successful female motorsports champion. She defeated the foremost male motorcycle speedway stars of the 1920s and 1930s. A household name in Britain and her native Ireland, she won further fame on the track in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Her successes against men led to a ban on women competing against them in the UK, but Fay Taylour carried on, racing around the world. She also built a new career in long distance car racing and carved a name for herself in the new sport of midget car racing. All of this came to a halt with the outbreak of the Second World War, which, controversially, saw Fay Taylour join Oswald Mosley’s fascist movement and become part of an underground pro-Hitler campaign in London. She was imprisoned for three years by the British authorities. After the war, she was one of the very few pre-war women motorsports champions to return to the track. She re-established her career with highly successful tours in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, before moving to the USA. There she first sold sports cars in Hollywood before returning to midget-car racing across America. Later banned from the USA for her earlier politics, she again took to racetracks around the world, competing against the world’s best well into her fifties. This first full biography of Fay Taylour is based on her extensive personal papers, media reports of her racing career around the world, and decades of UK government security files. It covers Taylour’s life on and off the track, her struggles with sports and security authorities, her battles against anti-female prejudices, and her many passionate love affairs.
Book Synopsis Operation Sea Lion by : Leo McKinstry
Download or read book Operation Sea Lion written by Leo McKinstry and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2014-11-13 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This “immaculately researched and compellingly written” WWII history sheds new light on Britain’s critical victory against Nazi invasion (The New Criterion). In the summer of 1940, the Nazi war machine was at its zenith. France, Denmark, Norway, and the Low Countries were all under occupation. Only Britain stood in the way of the complete triumph, and Hitler planned a two-pronged offensive?a blistering aerial bombardment followed by a land invasion?to subdue his final enemy. But for the first time in the war, Hitler did not prevail. As Leo McKinstry details in this fascinating new history, the British were far more ruthless and proficient than is usually recognized. The brilliance of the RAF in the Battle of Britain was not an exception but part of a pattern of magnificent organization that thwarted Hitler’s armies at every turn. Using a wealth of archival and primary source materials, Leo McKinstry provides a groundbreaking new assessment of the six fateful months in mid-1940 when Operation Sea Lion was all that stood between the Nazis and total victory.
Book Synopsis Wales in World War 2 by : Quintin Deakin
Download or read book Wales in World War 2 written by Quintin Deakin and published by Y Lolfa. This book was released on 2024-02-09 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive account of the part played by Wales in WWII and the conflict's impact on every area of the country and all involved: civilians, factory workers, children (those evacuated to and those from Wales), national and regional politicians, soldiers, pacifists, writers, filmmakers and artists.
Book Synopsis Vanished Ideology, A by : Matthew B. Hoffman
Download or read book Vanished Ideology, A written by Matthew B. Hoffman and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2016-06-16 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First comprehensive examination of the rise and decline of the Jewish communist movement in the English-speaking world. While a number of books and articles have been written about Jewish Communist organizations and their supporters in particular countries, an academic treatment of the overall movement per se has yet to be published. A Vanished Ideology examines the politics of the Jewish Communist movement in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, and the United States. Though officially part of the larger world Communist movement, it developed its own specific ideology, which was infused as much by Jewish sources as it was inspired by the Bolshevik revolution. The Yiddish language groups, especially, were interconnected through international movements such as the World Jewish Cultural Union. Jewish Communists were able to communicate, disseminate information, and debate issues such as Jewish nationality and statehood independently of other Communists, and Jewish Communism remained a significant force in Jewish life until the mid-1950s.
Book Synopsis Men in reserve by : Juliette Pattinson
Download or read book Men in reserve written by Juliette Pattinson and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-01 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Men in reserve focuses on working class civilian men who, as a result of working in reserved occupations, were exempt from enlistment in the armed forces. It uses fifty six newly conducted oral history interviews as well as autobiographies, visual sources and existing archived interviews to explore how this group articulated their wartime experiences and how they positioned themselves in relation to the hegemonic discourse of military masculinity. It considers the range of masculine identities circulating amongst civilian male workers during the war and investigates the extent to which reserved workers draw upon these identities when recalling their wartime selves. It argues that the Second World War was capable of challenging civilian masculinities, positioning the civilian man below that of the 'soldier hero' while, simultaneously, reinforcing them by bolstering the capacity to provide and to earn high wages, frequently in risky and dangerous work, all which were key markers of masculinity.
