Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment's Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day

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Extremely readable and a good companion to Holland's Normandy '44: D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France. Holland lives in Wiltshire with his wife and two children. [36] Books [ edit ] Non-fiction for adults [ edit ] when winter ended the Sherwood Rangers easily pushed into Germany albeit still at the expense of many lives. I had previouly no idea just how much trouble Panzerfausts caused the allied tanks right up into the end of war, they were essentially just an anti-tank gun fired by one soldier but they inflicted huge casualties to tank crews. despite this they pushed on even though the war was all but over the German command Continued to defend fanatically blowing up bridges and laying minefields all across their country. even in April, people in the Regiment were still being killed, I found it especially sad when one of the most popular soldiers, Denis Elmore was killed with just a few weeks to go in the war. after the war, the Sherwood Rangers were dispanded and Holland dedicates a chapter at the end to all the major participants post-war lives. David, Saul (16 July 2010). "Three books on the Battle of Britain: review". Telegraph . Retrieved 21 May 2019. Inspired by Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers, acclaimed WWII historian James Holland memorably profiles an extraordinary group of citizen soldiers constantly in harm's way. Their casualties were horrific, but their ranks immediately refilled. Informed by never-before-seen documents, letters, photographs, and other artifacts from Sherwood Rangers' families--an ongoing fraternity--and by his own deep knowledge of the war, Holland offers a uniquely intimate portrait of the war at ground level, introducing heretofore unknowns such as Commanding Officer Stanley Christopherson, squadron commander John Semken, and Sergeant George Dring, and other memorable characters who helped the regiment become the single unit with the most battle honors of any ever in the British army. He weaves the Sherwood Rangers' exploits into the larger narrative and strategy of the war, and also brings fresh analysis to the tactics used.

Perkins, Roger (13 July 2008). "The Odin Mission: taking the King's shilling". Telegraph . Retrieved 22 May 2019. Prewar, the Sherwood Rangers had been a Territorial Army unit of part-time “Saturday Night Soldiers,” the British equivalent of the National Guard. But as Holland makes clear in this engrossing book, the Rangers evolved into a highly effective instrument of combat. Originally horse-mounted cavalry, the regiment converted to tanks and learned the hard way how to fight in the desert; it suffered badly at the Battle of El Alamein in 1942 but emerged as a tough and tested unit. Its 1944-45 campaign, which began on Normandy’s beaches and ended deep inside Germany, was bloody, but successful.

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With the invasion of France the following year taking shape, and hot on the heels of victory in Sicily, the Allies crossed into Southern Italy in September 1943. They expected to drive the Axis forces north and be in Rome by Christmas. And although Italy surrendered, the German forces resisted fiercely and the swift hoped-for victory descended into one of the most brutal battles of the war.

Aviation History magazine called his 2013 history, Dam Busters: The True Story of the Inventors and Airmen Who Led the Devastating Raid to Smash the German Dams in 1943 "painstakingly researched and splendidly told" and said that it was "the definitive book on the subject, deserving a place in the library of any student of the famous raid". [9] I found this to be an interesting book and full of exciting stories as well as some really heartfelt and tragic ones as well. Reading a lot of WWII books most if not all have been about the U.S. role or about the men and women from the U.S. This is my first book really all about the British and more importantly a tank regiment called the Sherwood Rangers, who was at one time a calvary unit and then became a tank regiment. Their time in battle at least here for this book is from D-Day to the end of the European war. Using diaries and memoirs from dozens of men from across a broad range of ranks and roles within the 686-strong regiment, Holland gives the reader a chance to see the impact of war on individuals. In the case of George Dring – who is, with the exception of Stanley Christopherson, probably the only member of the SRY to be widely known – it is a fascinating read.James Holland: Big Week, The Biggest Air Battle of World War Two". Pritzker Military Museum & Library. 2018 . Retrieved 23 May 2019. There is JUST TOO MUCH INTERSTITAL DETAIL in this book. I've no doubt it took the author painstaking years to pull all that stuff together? But that shite does not matter in the bigger picture of the story ! I EXPECTED ! this book was going to tell me? From the bestselling author of Normandy '44 and Sicily '43, a brilliant new history of the last days of the war. Mr. Holland sympathetically captures the chaos swirling inside the 30-ton beasts . . . [He] ably sets up his main characters: men he had the good fortune to interview, or those who left detailed diaries, letters and reminiscences behind . . . Brothers in Arms tells a superb story of World War II’s destruction with a breadth that small-unit narratives cannot match.”—J onathan W. Jordan, Wall Street Journal Pritzker Military Presents – Episode: 'The War in the West: The Rise of Germany, 1939 – 1941 (PBS, 2015)

This was my first book by James Holland and I must say it will not be my last. The author does a great job by taking the reader along, inside and outside of the tanks, to show what it was all about. He captures the horrors of war and the claustrophobic nature of tank warfare. But also the camaraderie between the men of the unit and the individual crews. It also shows the problems that they encountered when they had to support infantry on the chaotic battlefield. But it is also the other way around, the infantry supporting the tanks. Lessons had to be learned and relearned, Normandy being a very different type of battlefield compared to their earlier one in North Africa. December 2019). The Pacific War 1941-1943. illus. Keith Burns. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-7181-8652-4. Gary Sheffield is a military historian at England’s University of Wolverhampton. He is currently writing Civilian Armies , a comparative history of the experience of soldiers from Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa in World War I and World War II. James Holland’s greatest strength as a military historian is that he brings humanity to his work—a rare trait in a field of research that can sometimes feel dominated by those obsessed with numbers . . . He paints a remarkably vivid picture of what his subjects endured and achieved in the closing stages of the conflict. Like a fly on the white-painted interior wall of the Sherman tank, we observe the hot, fume-filled air that makes the crew choke as the extractor fan struggles to clear the smoke . . . A powerful and moving reminder that there is tragedy in statistics.”— Katja Hoyer, Spectator The Sherwood Rangers were one of the great tank regiments. They had learned their trade the hard way, under the burning sun of North Africa, on the battlefields of El Alamein and Alam el Halfa. By the time they landed on Gold Beach on D-Day, they were toughened by experience and ready for combat.

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

Brothers in arms revolves around the journey of the Sherwood Rangers tank regiment from their landing in Normandy to their final advance towards the heart of Germany. the book is divided into four parts Normandy (the largest part), Autumn, winter and Germany with each focusing on the very particular set of challenges that were faced. James Holland is a well-known WW II historian and has written many books (and I've read most of them). His writing style is crisp and he does as much as he can with interview material and other first hand accounts to put you into the tanks as they advance towards the day's objectives. Although I can't be sure, I suspect Holland manages to get in every casualty along the way, thus commemorating the tremendous courage exhibited by these young (and they were young) men who knew they had a job to do but also knew that death or maiming could come at any moment and whether you survived the day could be a matter of simple chance. The Sherwood Rangers were one of the great tank regiments. They had learned their trade on the battlefields of El Alamein and Alam el Halfa. By the time they landed on Gold Beach on D-Day, they were toughened by experience and ready for combat. Following victory in Sicily, the Allies crossed into southern Italy in September 1943 with the aim of driving Axis forces north and taking Rome by Christmas.

This is narrative history as intimate, intricate tapestry . . . Mr. Holland’s success is built in part on an engaging writing style and in part on a genuinely fresh approach to events that have been so often—and apparently definitively—recounted . . . Exceptional . . . Epic.” — Wall Street Journal on The Rise of Germany Dring has become the pin-up for those authors wishing to argue that German tanks were not invulnerable to fire from British tanks. In the fighting in Normandy, Dring accounted for Tiger, Panther, and Mark IV tanks using the 75mm gun fitted to his Sherman. That the 75mm gun was underpowered, particularly in ballistic velocity (how fast the shell travels through the air), does not seem to have affected Dring. His 2008 book Italy's Sorrow: A Year of War, 1944–1945 was reviewed by Publishers Weekly, which said: "This is popular history at its very best: exhaustively researched, compellingly written and authoritative". [7] The heroic exploits of the British Army’s Sherwood Rangers tank unit over the last 11 months of WWII are richly documented in this sweeping chronicle from historian Holland . . . Vivid eyewitness accounts, colorful character sketches, and lucid tactical discussions make this a must-read for military history buffs.”— Publishers Weekly

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Holland, James (1 June 2017). The Battle of Britain. illus. Keith Burns. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-7181-8629-6.