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Post by hodsopa on May 19, 2024 17:33:55 GMT
Beevor argues that a) a Commonwealth counterattack on the first night or second morning could have prevented the Germans gaining control of Maleme airfield; b) without an airfield for the air landed troops the Germans were sure to lose; c) Gen. Freyberg would only release one of 6 reserve battalions for this counterattack because he wrongly thought the main attack would come by sea. Does Churchill think, do you think, that elements of this argument are wrong?
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Post by menacussecundus on May 19, 2024 19:26:58 GMT
Beevor argues that a) a Commonwealth counterattack on the first night or second morning could have prevented the Germans gaining control of Maleme airfield; b) without an airfield for the air landed troops the Germans were sure to lose; c) Gen. Freyberg would only release one of 6 reserve battalions for this counterattack because he wrongly thought the main attack would come by sea. Does Churchill think, do you think, that elements of this argument are wrong? Paul, There is a slightly more recent (i.e one published this century) book on the battle called "Operation Mercury", but I haven't read it and so have no idea what view he takes of Gen Freyberg's handling of the situation. Menacus S
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Post by Brian Ború on May 19, 2024 20:05:31 GMT
Beevor argues that a) a Commonwealth counterattack on the first night or second morning could have prevented the Germans gaining control of Maleme airfield; b) without an airfield for the air landed troops the Germans were sure to lose; c) Gen. Freyberg would only release one of 6 reserve battalions for this counterattack because he wrongly thought the main attack would come by sea. Does Churchill think, do you think, that elements of this argument are wrong? Churchill doesn't blame Freyberg for anything, in fact he telegraphed on May 27th to him: "Your glorious defence commands admiration in every land." Freyberg indeed can't be used as as a scapegoat. The whole command (including General Wavell) thought the main attack would come by sea. In his preparations Freyberg even wanted to destroy the Maleme airfeld, but he was overruled by Wavell. All in all the defenders were strongly impeded by one thing: the Germans had complete command of the air. As a result the defender's material (ammunition, weapons etc.) was inadequate. Out of 24.000 t of supply only 3.000 could be landed before. And as further result all actions of the R. N. became hazardous, both in the defence and the evacuation. 2.000 sailors were killed, many cruisers and destroyers bombed, lost or damaged. And yet, there is another very interesting aspect. It seems that the British command had obtained precious information about this attack by their decyphering of the Enigma code. So, if their preparations and defence had been too grand scale, in the end the Germans might have wondered why this was the case. Under no circumstance the British wanted to give away this precious advantage. But all in all I think, in the end they were simply overwhelmed by this unprecedented airborne attack and how reckless it was performed. Freyberg's anti air artillery managed to hit and knock out more than half of all JU planes, many german transport gliders crashed off the airfield and on the beaches.
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Post by snowcat on May 31, 2024 3:25:04 GMT
'The Normans' by R. Allen Brown.
Comprehensive. Enjoying it.
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Post by macbeth on Jun 5, 2024 4:17:26 GMT
With 'Isabella: She Wolf of France' done I am now 2/3 of the way through 'Gallipoli: The Final Battles and Evacuation of ANZAC' by David W Cameron
My grandfather gets a passing mention in the book for his assistance with the Scurry (Water Drip) Rifle that was used to cover the evacuation.
Cheers
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malory
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Post by malory on Jun 6, 2024 20:38:01 GMT
Finished this book about the Magyar Invasions culminating with the battle of Lechfeld.
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Post by Brian Ború on Jun 6, 2024 22:03:05 GMT
Finished this book about the Magyar Invasions culminating with the battle of Lechfeld.
My family owns a horse shoe from this battlefield. (In fact we don't know if that is right...)
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malory
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Post by malory on Jun 7, 2024 6:00:59 GMT
Finished this book about the Magyar Invasions culminating with the battle of Lechfeld.
My family owns a horse shoe from this battlefield. (In fact we don't know if that is right...) Well the book mentiones that there are a lot of those found around the place till this day and many households are decorated with them, so that may be so.
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Post by carll on Jun 7, 2024 9:32:10 GMT
What a great book cover malory! Sounds like the book was good too. Is it a Polish text or available in English?
CarlL
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malory
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Post by malory on Jun 7, 2024 11:15:47 GMT
What a great book cover malory! Sounds like the book was good too. Is it a Polish text or available in English? CarlL No, I don't think Bellona makes translation. The artwork is by Marek Szyszko- a polish illustrator probably most known abroad from his illustrations in Karwansaray Publishers. Books was quite alright. As I plan to paint a lot of stuff for the X'th and XI century (Early Polish, East Frankish, Early Slav, Magyar, Viking, maybe Italian Lombard and Sicilian Muslim) I am buying a lot of publications by Barkowski, as he writes a lot about the Wendic Slavs, the Early Piast Dynasty and East Franks/ Early Germans, to keep me inspired. Next on the list and shipped:
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Post by ammianus on Jun 8, 2024 18:16:49 GMT
Rerading Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376 - 568 by Guy Halsall.
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Post by macbeth on Jun 9, 2024 12:05:19 GMT
I finished off 'Gallipoli' - not too bad a read and am now a few pages into Alfred Duggan's "God and My Right" the story of Thomas Beckett.
Cheers
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Post by Brian Ború on Jun 15, 2024 9:34:48 GMT
Dean King: Patrick O'Brian. A life revealed.
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Post by macbeth on Jun 21, 2024 11:29:23 GMT
Trip to New Zealand to watch the younger of the (not so) little warbands at an artistic roller skating competition (Gold for Australia) gave me time to fly through a few books while on planes and trains.
* "God and My Right" - Alfred Duggan, dragged a bit * "Scrublands" by Chirs Hammer - a good modern Australian crime novel * "Fatal Legacy" by Lindsay Davis - a great Flavia Albia mystery although I did have trouble keeping track of the cast of characters * "Realm of Darkness" by Paul Doherty - a Hugh Corbett mystery with something of a contrived end
I am now reading "World Heritage Sites in China" which is a weighty tome, so when I leave the house my back up book is "The Last Dying Light" by William Havelock the first in a series about Belisarius.
Cheers
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Post by snowcat on Jul 19, 2024 4:25:28 GMT
'The Battle of Hastings - Sources and Interpretations' by Stephen Morillo.
Time to find these earlier sources re the dismounted Norman knights at Hastings...
Cheers
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