Canadian Military History

Volume 5 Issue 2 Article 18

1996

Book Review Supplement Autumn 1996

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Recommended Citation "Book Review Supplement Autumn 1996." Canadian Military History 5, 2 (1996)

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CANADIAN MILITARY HISTORY BOOK REVIEW SUPPLEMENT

Autumn 1996 Issue 4

Robert L. Fraser, ed., Black & Sutherland Highlanders of (including 8 colour plates) from the Yesterdays: The Argylls’ War Canada, goes farther still, and work of the unit’s resident artist, (Privately published [available from provides us with a new and Private F.T.V. Savard. Everything is Lieut.-Col. J.A. Ramesbottom, 184 powerful variety of unit history. brought together in a most Brookview Dr., Ancaster, Ont., L9G The story of the Argylls’ war is impressive fashion, making Black 1J6) $50.00, 632 pages, ISBN 0- told entirely in their own words, Yesterdays a wonderful read for 9361380-0-4. through letters, diaries, interviews, anyone interested in the experience the war diary, and personal of men at war. n 1927, a reviewer in the accounts. There are no dissections ICanadian Defence Quarterly of battles by dispassionate * * * * * lamented that “Canadian historians, only the impressions regimental histories are threatened and thoughts of the men who lived Adrian Weale, Renegades: Hitler’s by a formula. They are beginning through those black yesterdays. It Englishmen (London: Weidenfeld to display a regrettable conformity might be suspected that such an & Nicolson, 1994) £18.99, 230 in style and presentation.” The approach would leave the reader pages, ISBN 0-297-81488-5. same might be said of the first wave puzzled by a barrage of reflections of Second World War unit histories. with nothing to put them into t would be difficult to find a more They were solid and meticulous context, but this is not the case. In Iunsavoury collection of pieces of research, but they did tend fact, quite the opposite occurs: one undesirables - imbeciles, anti- to be a little dry and rather lacking gets to know the regiment much Semites, opportunists, fascists, in imagination and creativity. The more intimately than with a petty crooks, anti-communists, and second wave of histories, by Geoff conventional history, and the life madmen, these renegades went Hayes, Terry Copp and others, story of the unit emerges in a way over to the Nazi side to spy on the revealed a marked shift in that is compelling and Allies, infiltrate resistance emphasis. The same solid research comprehensible. movements, make pro-German was there, but these authors went Every aspect of the Argylls’ war radio broadcasts, and serve in beyond the traditional formula to is covered, from its “sojourn in the combat. They range from the very humanize the historical record, sun” on garrison duty in Jamaica well known, like Lord Haw-Haw placing as much emphasis on the to its baptism of fire in July 1944 and John Amery (both hanged for human face of war as the movement to the experiences of loved ones left treason) to the obscure, like the of companies and platoons. Black behind the Canada. There are many motley collection of POWs Yesterdays, a chronicle of the Argyll photos and even a selection (including a few Canadians) who

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joined the British Free Corps to bodies to aid posts. These passages when those in their midst fight against the Soviets, and Tom stand as a tribute as much to the responded positively to the call to Cooper, the only Englishman to drivers as to the author. arms. In all cases, the Great War receive a German combat had a far greater impact on decoration. * * * * * American Mennonites than has The story, which occasionally previously been assumed. Homan’s takes on overtones of high comedy, Gerlof D. Homan, American study is well researched, clearly is well told by Weale. He carefully Mennonites and the Great War, written, and includes a number of traces the misadventures of the 1914-1918 (Waterloo, ON: Herald rare photographs. renegades, whose only impact on Press, 1994) $28.50 paper, 240 the war was to consume effort that pages, ISBN 0-8361-3114-2. * * * * * the Nazis could ill afford to waste, and is careful to avoid the he Great War was a defining Ken Lamb, Milton Remembers demonizing which characterized Tmoment for American World War II, 1939-1945 (Milton, postwar accounts of British Mennonites. As a pacifist religious ON: Milton Historical Society, 1995) traitors. The people who emerge are sect that had lived in the United 140 pages, ISBN 0-9695629-2-6. generally not evil personified, but States for more than a century, they rather misguided, pathetic souls were suddenly compelled to ilton was like a thousand whose psychological failings made respond to the fervent patriotism Mother towns in 1939, so its them ill-equipped to resist Nazi of the larger society with a religious memories of the war are probably blandishments. tradition that forbade military fairly representative. Indeed, Lamb involvement. At first glance, the has been careful to recount as * * * * * issues appear to be clear, especially broad a range of experiences as given the commonly held possible. We read of fighter pilots, Arlen Hansen, Gentlemen assumption that Mennonites have merchant seamen, infantrymen, Volunteers: The Story of always been impervious to societal nurses, prisoners of war, and even American Ambulance Drivers in trends. Yet that was not the case, the RAF’s only female the Great War, August 1914- as Homan demonstrates in this meteorologist. There are also September 1918 (New York: concisely written study. Homan details of life in wartime Milton, and Arcade Publishing, 1996) $24.95 believes that although Mennonite tidbits from local newspapers. A list US paper, 288 pages, ISBN 1- church leaders in 1914 were of Miltoners who served and short 55970-313-X. unanimous in their opposition to biographies of the 32 local men who the war, members were far less were killed on active service round mong the American ambulance unified on how to respond to out the volume. A joint project of Adrivers in the Great War were conscription. An estimated 60 per the Milton Historical Society and some of the most eminent names cent of Mennonites drafted were the Private Joe Waters Branch of the in American literature, including thought to have refused military Canadian Legion, Milton Ernest Hemingway, John Dos service of any kind and were Remembers World War II is an Passos and e.e. cummings. Because sentenced to “conscientious admirable volume that can serve as of their notoriety, the work of the objector” camps. Almost a third an example to other Legion various ambulance detachments accepted some form of non- branches contemplating similar has been distorted. Gentlemen combatant service. This leaves 7- collections. Volunteers corrects these 10 per cent that likely entered the misconceptions admirably. Hansen, armed forces. An exact reckoning * * * * * in a book published posthumously, on this issue is especially difficult has written an engaging and finely to obtain as many who joined the John Ellis, Social History of the crafted account of the work of these war effort simply ceased to exist Machine Gun (London: Pimlico, wealthy and well educated within the Mennonite church. 1993 [1976]) £8.00 paper, 186 Americans who volunteered their Homan concludes that most pages, ISBN 0-7126-5669-3. services out of a love of adventure Mennonites reaffirmed their peace or a desire to help France. He stance as a result of the Great War, his is a most welcome reprint recounts the rivalries between and became even more removed Tof one of the first books of the various units, and the turmoil into from mainstream society. This also “new” military history. Ellis argues which many volunteers were tossed resulted in more cohesiveness that the invention of the modern when the US entry into the war among the various Mennonite machine gun in the United States seemed to demand their church conferences after 1918. at the time of the Civil War, its militarization. Hansen is at his However, he makes it clear that widespread use in imperial finest, though, when describing the other families and church conflicts, and Britain’s failure to day-to-day work of the drivers as communities experienced painful recognize its potential before the they struggled to convey shattered disagreements and separations First World War can all be explained

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by the unique nature of the societies as “colossally stupid”?) and ill- Steve Neary, The Enemy on our involved. In the US, techniques of considered criticism of the Doorstep: The German Attacks at mass production and the Commonwealth War Graves Bell Island, Newfoundland, 1942 experience of modern mass warfare Commission that reveals a lack of (St. John’s: Jesperson Press, 1994) were two of the preconditions to the insight into the principles involved $12.95 paper, 140 pages, ISBN 0- invention of an efficient machine in modern military burials. 921692-58-7. gun. In Britain, the reluctance of the Nevertheless, for those who missed military mind to accept the primacy the original drama as it unfolded, n one level, this book might be of machine over man was balanced this is a most interesting summary. Oof purely local interest, for it by a realization that only the is an immensely detailed account machine gun could subdue waves * * * * * of the sinking of four merchant of native warriors and retain ships off Bell Island in the fall of Britain’s hold over the Empire. The Reginald H. Roy, Sherwood Lett: 1942. Neary has reproduced a notion that warfare takes place His Life and Times (Vancouver: series of documents, including U- within a specific social context is UBC Alumni Association Boat logs, to chart the series of not surprising, but it is something [distributed in Canada by the events that led up to the sinkings that military historians sometimes University of British Columbia (two of which occurred in broad lose sight of. Ellis reminds us that Press], 1991) $29.95, 180 pages, daylight), and he also discusses the it is impossible to discuss any army ISBN 0-9695316-0-5. subsequent enquiries intended to or weapon without considering the ensure (unsuccessfully, as it society which created it. herwood Lett (1895-1964) was happened) that the same thing did Stypical of the citizen-soldiers not happen again. * * * * * who have fought Canada’s wars of On another level, the book this century. A student and militia nicely captures the shape of Paul Litt, Ronald F. Williamson and member in BC in 1914, he joined wartime paranoia and panic. We Joseph W.A. Whitehorne, Death at up and eventually found his way to read how suspicion fell on the Snake Hill: Secrets from a War of the front in 1917 as a signals officer captain of one of the freighters, a 1812 Cemetery (Toronto: with the 46th Battalion, a Frenchman whose poor command Dundurn Press, 1993) $12.99 Saskatchewan unit. He came of English made him an easy target paper, 158 pages, ISBN 1-55002- through his year of war unscathed, for nervous islanders bent on 186-9. and returned to civilian life to take finding a scapegoat, and how a up a legal career. Lett remained in lengthy police investigation was n 1987, work on a number of the militia through the interwar required to prove the falsity of Ibuilding lots near Fort Erie, years and in May 1940 was asked rumours that he had tipped off the Ontario uncovered evidence of an to serve as Brigade Major to the 6th enemy about his own ship. old cemetery. Subsequent Infantry Brigade. From there, his Obviously, while naval and coastal archaeological work determined rise was steady: a staff appointment defence officials were looking at that the bodies were American at 2nd Division HQ, command of ways to strengthen the defences, soldiers killed during the Niagara the South Saskatchewan Regiment, islanders were engaged in a search campaign of 1814. A joint command of 4th Infantry Brigade, for the enemy within. Canadian-American research team a shrapnel wound at Dieppe, conducted a battery of tests on the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, * * * * * skeletons before they were returned a return to commanding the 4th to the US to be buried with full Brigade, and finally the shrapnel Geoff B. Bailey, Falkirk or military honours. The entire wound in Normandy that ended his Paradise! The Battle of Falkirk operation brought together second war. Muir, 17 January 1746 scientists, archaeologists and Like all of Roy’s work, this (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1996) historians to understand the lives biography is engagingly written, and £9.95 paper, 250 pages, ISBN 0- and violent deaths of these is enlivened by passages from Lett’s 85976-431-1. nameless casualties. voluminous correspondence and It is a fascinating tale that diaries. It is not particularly eople who have confined their reveals how many secrets can be probing, and there may well be Preading to 20th century military coaxed out of centuries-old questions about Lett’s handling of history might, upon finishing this skeletons, and shows how his units that other historians may book, imagine that battles were effectively science and history can wish to ask. Nevertheless, this is a more often lost than won. This work together to elucidate the past. nice tribute to one of Canada’s engagement during the rebellion of There are a few wrong notes, such distinguished citizen-soldiers. Bonnie Prince Charlie certainly as the occasional presentism (was bears this out. The rebellious Scots it really necessary to refer to the * * * * * were beset by clan bickering, medical procedure of bloodletting indiscipline and their leaders’

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inability to agree on strategy. a tail gunner in a B-17 nicknamed Brian Brivati and Harriet Jones, Regiments loyal to the government Hell’s Belle (sister ship to the now eds., What Difference Did the War faced armament problems, poor famed Memphis Belle) until he was Make? (London: Leicester morale, and commanders with shot down and captured in University Press [distributed in notoriously cold feet. On both sides, December 1943. It is a somewhat Canada by Canadian Scholars’ desertion was a serious problem, confused memoir that would have Press], 1993) $26.95 paper, 189 and both armies collapsed during benefited from more careful editing, pages, ISBN 0-7185-2263-X. the course of the battle. At the end but it does have a welcome candour. of the day, the Highlanders were left He admits for example, that he was he question posed by the title in control of the battlefield but quite happy to be a tail gunner Tis more complicated than it failed to press their advantage, because spending the war in a ball seems. On one level, the answer becoming weaker by the day as they turret would have been too much seems self-evident - how could the argued about strategy. The for him. On a darker note, war not have made a tremendous government army, in contrast, grew McDowell still betrays a deep difference to Britain? In fact, many progressively stronger after the bitterness towards Germany for his of the essays in this collection battle and soon gained the upper treatment in captivity. suggest there were strong hand. In the end, the Highlanders Unlike Westheimer and continuities between prewar and “victory” at Falkirk was a major McDowell, Kaufman was an postwar Britain. Its three sections factor in their eventual defeat at infantryman, captured at Anzio in examine politics and economics, Culloden. February 1944. While in captivity, society, and foreign policy, and Bailey tells the story in he served as the man of confidence, bring together such distinguished comprehensive detail, reprinting the POW elected by his comrades names as Eric Hobsbawm, Keith many original documents to flesh to act as the liaison with the camp Middlemas and Enoch Powell. And, out the narrative. It is sometimes staff, and fought a running battle while the authors admit the great difficult to tell the players without to prevent the Germans from changes set in motion by the events a programme, but he adroitly learning he was a Jew, an of 1939-45, they are careful not to captures the essence of a battle that eventuality which might have been overstate the case. E.G.H. Pedaliu, was even more confusing for the fatal. Vertrauensmann, too, suffers for example, stresses the man fighting it than for the from a lack of firm editorial continuities in British foreign policy historian writing about it. guidance, for it tends to wander at towards Italy between 1939 and times. Kaufman has much of 1948, while Bill Osgerby argues * * * * * interest to say, but it often does not that the British youth culture which come through particularly clearly. developed in the 1950s had been Henry Kaufman, Vertrauensmann: In contrast, Sitting It Out is the foreshadowed by prewar and even Man of Confidence. The Story of finest captivity memoir to appear Victorian trends. In addition to an American Ex-Prisoner of World in recent years. Westheimer was these specialized enquiries, there War II (New York: Rivercross one of the first American airmen are also excellent general Publishing, 1994) $17.50 US, 189 captured in Italy, when his summaries of British foreign policy pages, ISBN 0-944957-47-1. Liberator was downed in December and economic performance in the 1942, and spent 869 days in Italian wake of the war. All in all, this is a Gerald E. McDowell, A Tail and German prison camps. There very handy collection of reflections Gunner’s Tale (New York: Vantage was nothing particularly unusual on the impact of war on the modern Press, 1991) $17.95 US, 152 pages, about his experiences. What is nation-state. ISBN 0-533-09100-4. exceptional is the skill with which he relates them. His * * * * * David Westheimer, Sitting It Out: characterizations are finely drawn A World War II POW Memoir and eminently human, and he has Jack Dunn, The Alberta Field (Houston: Rice University Press a gift for rendering the most Force of 1885 (Privately published [distributed in Canada by the mundane incidents in fascinating [available from the author at 6404 University of British Columbia detail. From the comic-opera Norfolk Drive SW, Calgary, AB, T2K Press], 1992) $35.95, 358 pages, encounters with his Italian captors 5K2], 1994) $25.95 paper, 293 ISBN 0-89263-315-8. to relations with his German pages, ISBN 0-9698596-0-0. guards in the closing days of the n some ways, it is unfair to war, Westheimer’s memoir is a homas Bland Strange, known Icompare these books. delight. The POW specialist will find Tvariously as the Buckskin Westheimer, the best-selling author countless penetrating insights, and Brigadier or Gunner Jingo, is one of Von Ryan’s Express, has made everyone else will find an of the more colourful characters of his living with the pen, while immensely entertaining read. Canada’s past. Sadly, he has now Kaufman and McDowell are been relegated to the footnotes of amateur memoirists. McDowell was * * * * *

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history. In 1888, a reference book Commanding Officer of the HMCS Andre Corvisier, ed., A Dictionary devoted eight full pages to Strange’s Crusader, and Lieutenant-Colonel of Military History and the Art of life; a recent dictionary of Canadian E.C.A. Amy of the Royal Canadian War (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, history does not even mention his Armoured Corps, for his staff work 1994) $49.95 US, 916 pages, ISBN name. It is partly to rescue Strange in the 1st Commonwealth Division. 0-631-16848-6. from obscurity that Dunn wrote this The book reprints all of the book, an account of the Alberta available award citations, and is John Keegan and Andrew Field Force and its involvement in well illustrated with photographs Wheatcroft, Who’s Who in Military the North-West Rebellion of 1885. and reproductions of documents. History from 1453 to the Present It is a breezy and highly readable It is an excellent reference guide for Day (New York: Routledge, 1996) narrative drawn from a wide variety individuals interested in this all- $20.95 paper, 340 pages, ISBN 0- of sources, and we see very clearly too-often neglected conflict. 415-11884-0. how a grand adventure for the men of the Force quickly degenerated * * * * * ne of these two fine reference into a hard slog through Ovolumes should find its way inhospitable wilderness. Claude Beauregard, Censorship into every military enthusiast’s Nevertheless, their very Reports on the Jewish library, depending on one’s budget perseverance did them credit and, Community during the Second and level of expertise. Corvisier’s if their skirmishes were confused World War (Toronto: Canadian volume (translated from the 1988 and inconclusive, the troops at least Institute of Strategic Studies, 1994) French dictionary) is the more put up a show of force which played $12.00 paper, 88 pages, ISBN 0- ambitious and ranges from the very no small part in pacifying the 919769-84-5. broad (like training) to the very region. specific (like Scipio Africanus, the The last veteran of the North- his collection of documents dominant general of the Second West Rebellion died in 1972 and, Tconsists of three reports on the Punic War). The general entries like its commander, the Alberta conditions of Jews in Europe have the merit of condensing Field Force has become almost a gleaned from postal and telegraph centuries of detail into a number footnote to Canadian history. With censorship, and a summary of an of paragraphs, without sacrificing this book, Dunn has done a nice interview with Albert Kaufman, a utility. The entry on loss of life, for job of giving them their due. Jewish employee of the Argentine example, is an excellent Embassy in Prague who escaped to comparative look at the human cost * * * * * Buenos Aires in 1943. All are of war. Entries are followed by reprinted from the records of suggestions for further reading, and Frederic L. Borch III and William External Affairs at the National an excellent index makes it easy to R. Westlake, For Heroic or Archives. While they are obviously find cross-references. Meritorious Achievement: The limited in their coverage, they do Keegan and Wheatcroft’s book, American Bronze Star Medal offer intriguing glimpses into such though more limited in scope, is no Awarded to United Kingdom and things as anti-semitism in America, less useful. It takes as its starting Commonwealth Forces for the the dominions, and neutral nations. point the beginning of the Middle Korean War (Privately published The reports also cover the activities Ages (not to mention the first major [available from the authors at 1444 of Jewish political and success of gunpowder, the West La Jolla Drive, Tempe, AZ, philanthropic organizations, and breaching of the walls of U.S.A. 85282-4457], 1995) 116 the conditions of Jewish refugees. Constantinople), and provides pages, ISBN 0-9641533-1-9. The Kaufman interview is thumbnail sketches of the major especially interesting for its very figures through 500 years of ith the recent resurgence of specific details about life in wartime warfare. The entries are short and Winterest in the Korean War, Prague. Not only does he describe to-the-point, with a minimum of this handy reference volume is sure the conditions of Jews, but also the analysis and comment, and are to find an audience. During the price of food and other excellent for looking up those conflict, 130 Commonwealth commodities, the morale of the elusive details without having to servicemen were awarded the Czech population, and the wade through lengthy biographies. Bronze Star, including eight organization of the Nazi regime in A short glossary defines common members of the Canadian army, Prague. Like the censorship military terms, and a map section navy and air force. Among the reports, it is no more than a situates the battles of the main Canadian winners were Major E.J. snapshot, but it is a fascinating one conflicts described. Williams of the PPCLI, for gallantry at that. in attacking enemy emplacements * * * * * in October 1951, Lieutenant- * * * * * Commander J.H.G. Bovey,

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David Brownstone and Irene militiaman of the Spanish Civil War, of Christopher Columbus. The Franck, Timelines of War: A was followed by dozens of others: Agassiz, built in Vancouver and Chronology of Warfare from shots of the Normandy landings commissioned in 1941, is in good 100,000 BC to the Present (New (not blurred by Capa but spoiled company. York: Little, Brown and Company by the technician who developed [distributed in Canada by Fitzhenry them); a French woman, her head * * * * * & Whiteside], 1994) $38.95, 562 shaved as punishment for pages, ISBN 0-316-11403-0. consorting with the occupiers, Michael L. Hadley, Count Not the being harangued by crowds in Dead: The Popular Image of the his is another solid reference Chartres; Picasso in his studio after German Submarine (Montreal: Tbook which will be well used the liberation of Paris; and, in his McGill-Queen’s University Press, in any military library. It begins with last photo, soldiers advancing 1995) $34.95, 253 pages, ISBN 0- an English spear tip dating from cautiously along a road in Vietnam. 7735-1282-9. 300,000 BC and continues to the As well as these renowned photos, death of Jimmy Doolittle in 1993, the book also includes some of his is a fascinating discussion covering ever conceivable event and Capa’s lesser known works, from Tof the evolution of the U-Boat individual along the way. It is the war in China and the Allied from a technical invention to a divided into four eras, the first campaign in Italy. cultural icon. Surveying U-Boat running to 501 BC, the second to Capa has been called a poet of literature from the earliest days to 999 AD, the third to 1699, and the the camera, and there is a lifetime the present, Hadley describes how fourth covering the modern era, of artistry in these pages. His great the image of the submarine was so and geographical divisions within skill was in capturing the human often coopted for political ends. In each era make it easy to find and face of conflict, and Capa’s wars are the post-1918 period, for example, compare key events. Within these ultimately wars of victims. He was it came to symbolize the true spirit divisions, the authors are able to by no means just a combat of the German Navy, in contrast to find room for the most obscure photographer, but it was war that the mutinous surface fleet. Later, detail while still providing adequate spawned what are arguably his the submarine arm became a coverage of the major events of the most enduring images. battleground for veterans debating world wars and other significant the meaning and legacy of the Nazi and lengthy conflicts. Furthermore, * * * * * years. they interpret “war” very generally, One of the most interesting including peasant revolts, slavery, John McKay and John Harland, sections in the book relates to the and the campaigns against The Flower Class Corvette Agassiz work of Lothar-Gunther Buchheim, Colombian drug lords in the 1980s (St. Catharines: Vanwell, 1993) a prolific U-Boat writer whose book and 1990s. There is also an index $44.95, 160 pages, ISBN 1-55068- Das Boot eventually became a which allows one to trace, for 084-6. widely acclaimed film. Buchheim’s example, the history of war in work was a lightning rod for debate Morocco. nother offering in the “Anatomy between veterans who regarded the The most appealing thing about Aof a Ship” series, this book will submariner as “nur soldat” who did the book, though, is its cost. It appeal to the historian and veteran his duty honourably and would be difficult to find a alike. It is divided into three courageously, and those who comparable reference volume, and sections, the first being a fairly argued that Karl Dönitz and the U- one that would be used as concise account of the corvette’s Boat arm callously sent tens of frequently, for the same price. history, design and equipment. The thousands of young Germans to second section consists of photos, meaningless deaths like so many * * * * * both general views of corvettes and lambs to the slaughter. Interestingly, close-ups of equipment. The third readers will find in this section Robert Capa: Photographs (New and largest section contains more than a few echoes of The York/Don Mills: Aperture/General accurate and very detailed technical Valour and the Horror controversy, Publishing, 1996) $72.00, 192 drawings of every part of the which also pitted veterans against pages, ISBN 0-89381-6752. Agassiz, from profile plans to each other over the meaning and drawings of the minesweeping gear. ownership of history. The hen Robert Capa was killed by Ex-corvette men will be able to Buchheim controversy was Wa land mine in 1954 while “walk through” the ship and relive considerably more explosive, and photographing the war in French tours of duty, while modelmakers Hadley handles it judiciously and Indochina, he left behind some of will be able to build a first-class sensitively. the most memorable war model of the Agassiz from the book. photographs ever taken. His first There are now fourteen titles * * * * * famous photo, snapped the instant in this series, covering everything a bullet struck and killed a Loyalist from the cruiser Belfast to the ships

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Nosheen Khan, Women’s Poetry of simple spy story, albeit a very well the freight yards looking for a train the First World War (Lexington: crafted one. On the other hand, to stow aboard. He then walked University Press of Kentucky, 1988) Katherine Mansfield’s “The Fly” is from Mississauga to Hamilton, 226 pages, ISBN 0-8131-1677-5. a remarkable and disturbing story where he secreted himself on of a businessman trying to come to another train for the journey to Trudi Tate, ed., Women, Men and terms with the death of his son, Niagara Falls. Ironically, he actually the Great War: An Anthology of while Percy Wyndham Lewis’ “The made it to the American side but Stories (Manchester: Manchester French Poodle,” about a doomed was unable to clamber down before University Press [distributed in officer’s friendship with a dog, is the train shunted back to Canada, Canada by the University of British equally arresting and just as good. and back to captivity. On a Columbia Press], 1995) $22.95 Regardless of their literary quality, subsequent escape, Steinhilper was paper, 298 pages, 0-7910-4598-3. however, all of the stories offer equally unlucky, being excellent insights into the era, and apprehended in Watertown, New ince the publication of Paul Tate is to be commended for York and returned to Canada by the SFussell’s The Great War and assembling a first-class anthology. American police. He ended the war Modern Memory in 1975, one of the Still, one is left wondering if it in an insane asylum; after five most persistent criticisms of the useful to discuss a male or female unsuccessful escape attempts, he book has been its gender bias: his response to the war, or whether we decided to feign madness in the thesis about the impact of the war should just speak of varieties of hopes of securing repatriation on modern culture is built almost human response. home to Germany. The end of the entirely around the writings of war in Europe put a stop to his males. Much has been done over * * * * * “insanity,” but it was another year the past two decades to correct this before he left Canada. misconception, and these books are Ulrich Steinhilper and Peter These books will delight the just two products of that new work. Osborne, Ten Minutes to Buffalo: reader who is interested in viewing Khan began her study with a The Story of Germany’s Great wartime Canada through the eyes simple aim: to rescue women’s war Escaper and Full Circle: The Long of a fugitive enemy airman, and will poetry from obscurity. Drawn from Way Home from Canada (Keston, be especially interesting to readers well known as well as unheralded UK: Independent Books, 1991 and who know the areas Steinhilper poets, the book is arranged 1992) £14.95 each, 431 and 377 traversed. It is also fascinating to thematically, covering such subjects pages, ISBN 1-872836-01-1 and 1- note the similarities between these as war and religion, war and 872836-02-X. books, and the more famous tales nature, and the war at home. or Allied escapers in Germany; Through it all, Khan draws the very here have been many accounts personalities, motives and reasonable conclusion that the Tof everyday life in Canada techniques seem really very similar. progression of war poetry from during the Second World War, and Indeed, Steinhilper would not have enthusiasm to disillusionment to a few of that life as seen through been out of place in Colditz Castle resignation that has been enshrined the barbed wire of a prison camp or the Great Escape. by decades of literary critics is holding German POWs. But there misleading and entirely too have been very few accounts of what * * * * * simplistic. Ironically, this very wartime Canada was like for the interesting book leaves one with the POW on the run. These two books Jerry Billing, A Knave Among feeling that male and female poets fill that gap admirably. Knights in their Spitfires interpreted the war in strikingly Ulrich Steinhilper was shot (Winnipeg: Bunker to Bunker similar terms; the voice may be down over southern England in Books, 1995) 240 pages, ISBN 0- male or female, but the sentiments October 1940 and came to Canada 9699039-1-X. are universal. This, of course, begs as a POW in January 1941. a question which scholars have so Incarcerated first at Angler in erry Billing is better known to far shied away from: was there a northern Ontario, he was later Jthe aviation world as the pilot gendered response to the war? moved to the camp at Bowmanville. of actor Cliff Robertson’s Spitfire, We get no clearer answer from A persistent escaper, Steinhilper but his flying career was Tate’s book, a fine collection of spent much of his captivity either considerably more varied than this. short stories that is fascinating for planning or executing breakouts. Enlisting in the RCAF in November its eclecticism. The selections vary He was also a very keen observer, 1940, he flew ops over France for a in literary quality. Arthur Machen’s and describes his escapes in detail short time before getting a posting “The Bowmen,” about ghostly and with great verve. On his first to Malta. Returning to the UK in medieval archers coming to the aid escape from Bowmanville, he 1943, he was eventually posted to of the BEF in 1914, is pure hitched a lift with a truck driver and 401 Squadron and flew many propaganda, and Sapper’s “Spud finally reached Union Station in operations in support of the Trevor of the Red Hussars” is a Toronto, where he skulked around Normandy landings. After being

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shot down and evading capture in Melanie Wiggins, Torpedoes in the studied brutality, and indeed seems July 1944, Billing was demobilized, Gulf: Galveston and the U-Boats, to have fostered reasonably cordial only to re-enlist in the RCAF in 1942-43 (College Station: Texas relations with some of his captors. 1948. He served in various roles A&M University Press [distributed One might wonder if Blain has (including as member of the Avro in Canada by the University of repressed the worst of his Arrow test team - he has some British Columbia Press], 1995) memories, but the historical record unkind words about the Holy Grail $21.95 paper, 265 pages, ISBN 0- does suggest that, for a variety of of Canadian aviation) before leaving 89096-648-6. reasons, naval personnel did adjust the RCAF in 1964 to work as a test better to life in captivity than army pilot with De Havilland. Then he or Americans living along the personnel. became the envy of many of his Fsouth coast, the realization that Included in the book are Blain’s fellow pilots, being able to fly a U-Boats were active in the Gulf of diary entries from August 1945, Spitfire decades after most of them Mexico must have been almost as when he and his fellow prisoners had left the beautiful aircraft alarming as it was for Canadians learned of the war’s end, to his behind. to realize that they were operating arrival in Canada (on the way home in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Well to Britain) in October 1945, and * * * * * over 100 vessels were attacked in excerpts from another diary, kept or near the Gulf of Mexico in 1942 by one of Blain’s crewmates from Captain Stratford St. Leger, and 1943, including dozens in the HMS Exeter, giving an eyewitness Mounted Infantry at War (Falls approaches to New Orleans; 56 account of the atomic bombing of Church, VA: NOVA Publications, merchant ships were sunk and 15 Nagasaki. 1996) $26.95 US, 274 pages, ISBN damaged. 0-9470-29022-5. Wiggins brings a journalistic * * * * * style to the book, describing with ittle is known about Stratford equal facility the experiences of the Stephen Constantine, Maurice W. LSt. Leger, beyond that he U-Boat crews and the reaction of Kirby and Mary B. Rose, eds., The published this volume originally in American civilians and defence First World War in British History 1903 and was eventually killed on officials. She also discusses the (London: Edward Arnold the Somme in 1916. As a memoir, construction of coastal [distributed in Canada by Oxford Mounted Infantry at War is much fortifications in the Galveston area University Press], 1995) $40.50 like dozens of other Boer War and of massive oil pipelines from paper, 295 pages, ISBN 0-340- reminiscences published at the Texas to the east coast, partly in 57053-9. same time. He has some interesting response to the submarines which comments about tactics and about menaced oil tankers in the Gulf. t is often difficult to locate solid the colonial mounted rifle units There are a few wrong notes in the Iand succinct summaries of key which served in his column (“The book, including some themes in war history. Someone Canadians, perhaps, were the most unsubstantiated spy stories which looking for background reading can showy troops. They were men of don’t quite ring true and a map that certainly wade into any of a huge immense physique, splendidly is confusing and less than useful, number of massive tomes in search mounted and perfectly drilled.”) but but all in all it’s an entertaining of a general overview. Alternately, nothing in the text sets out St. Leger read. one can turn to a volume such as as a particularly cogent observer. this for excellent thematic surveys. The illustrations, however, * * * * * The 11 essays assembled cover elevate the book above the everything from British domestic commonplace. St. Leger’s sketch Geoffrey Blain, Huryo: The politics to the social impact of the pad accompanied him wherever he Emperor’s Captives (New York: war to Britain and the international went, and the book is filled with Vantage Press, 1995) $10.95 US economy. Particularly useful are charming and evocative line paper, 136 pages, ISBN 0-533- Keith Vernon’s essay on science and drawings of life on campaign in 11239-7. technology, which finds in the war South Africa. Most are in black and the origins of a new scientific white, but there is also a section of lain was a young naval officer ordering of British society, and wonderful colour plates which Btaken prisoner by the Japanese Malcolm Smith’s survey of the war provide an even better glimpse into when HMS Exeter was sunk in and British culture, which the life of a mounted infantryman March 1942 off Java. He spent the examines the curious ways in which at war. The illustrations alone make next three and a half years in the modern and the traditional this book a worthwhile addition to captivity in Makassar, Nagasaki and jostled for primacy in postwar any military library. Manchuria, and seems to have been Britain. treated passably well, at least The editors chose as a cover * * * * * compared to other POWs in the Far illustration a detail from Paul East. He recalls little in the way of Nash’s evocative and ironic painting

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“We are making a New World,” then published them in their through the eyes of a close-knit and which shows the sun breaking over entirety as a means of informing interrelated group of villagers. We a shattered and desolate landscape. readers of the war’s progress and follow them from enlistment to It was a wise choice, for these of the activities of the local units, postings around the world, and essays all consider the degree to an exclusive “front-line report,” in experience the war through their which a new world was made for contemporary CNN jargon. Because letters and diaries. We even get the Britain out of the experience of the of their intended popular audience, enemy’s perspective, from a Great War. Fisk included information about German who left Dorchester before the daily life of a Union soldier, in the war and eventually served in the * * * * * battle and in camp, and one finds Wehrmacht. in the collection a meticulous How’s book exists partly to John Michael Priest, ed., Stephen recounting of everything from teach the people of Dorchester their Elliott Welch of the Hampton infantry assault procedures to own history. It is an example that Legion (Shippensburg, PA: Burd picket duty to the construction of other communities could well heed Street Press, 1994) $12.00 US bivouacs. Such valuable detail, if Canada’s military heritage is to paper, ISBN 0-942597-66-4 rendered in readable, even elegant survive. prose, is exceedingly rare in Emil and Ruth Rosenblatt, eds., accounts of this type; rarer still are * * * * * Hard Marching Every Day: The the author’s terse, revealing Civil War Letters of Private Wilbur comments on Union generalship, Adrian Gregory, The Silence of Fisk, 1861-65 (Lawrence: politics, civil-military relations, Memory: Armistice Day, 1919-46 University Press of Kansas, 1992) morale, and other questions. Add (Providence, RI: Berg, 1994) $19.95 $15.95 US paper, 383 pages, ISBN to this a revealing portrait of the US paper, 245 pages, ISBN 1- 0-7006-0681-5. effects of the long struggle on the 85973-001-9. author himself, an odyssey laid hese two volumes of Civil War bare in his running commentary on t is now nearly 80 years since Tmemoirs could not be more life, morality and divine providence, IArmistice (now Remembrance) different. In this sub-field of war and we are left with one of the very Day was first observed and in that literature where a work’s value or best Civil War memoirs to appear time, Gregory argues, the day has interest to the broader scholarly in recent years. been the focus of contests over the community or to the reading public way in which the war should exist tends to matter less than its * * * * * in the public memory. Contests parochial appeal to the local between veterans and the bereaved military historical society, Priest’s Douglas How, One Village, One over whose sacrifice was really collection is thoroughly War, 1914-1945: A Thinking being commemorated on 11 unremarkable. Including a mere About the Literature of Stone November, between individuals handful of letters from three (Hantsport, NS: Lancelot Press, with conflicting ideas on the members of the Welch family, 1995) $16.95 paper, 374 pages, solemnity which should brothers Elliott, William and ISBN 0-88999-563-X. characterize the day, between Samuel, its spotty coverage skips pacifists who believed Armistice entire months at a time. Priest nspired by the 41 names on the Day should be less militaristic and supplies brief narrative passages to Iwar memorial in Dorchester, New others who denied it was fill these yawning gaps, but the thin Brunswick, this book traces the militaristic at all - these and other nature of the collection almost begs impact of war on a small village and disputes have shaped the nature of the question: why bother? This is the people who lived there. How Armistice Day since its inception. not to say that all passages are grew up in Dorchester, served in the Gregory argues his case without interest. Battle historians Cape Breton Highlanders, and forcefully and well, drawing on the might mine some usable nuggets knew a number of the men best of recent European from the accounts of Antietam and commemorated on the memorial. historiography for interpretive Richmond, for example, but the Many others, however, were just tools. He raises some fascinating letters in general add little to our names to him, so he set about the issues which will make everyone understanding of the war or its task of rescuing them from the view their own local Remembrance effects. obscurity to which they had Day ceremony in a different light. Wilbur Fisk’s voluminous (perhaps consciously) been The reader’s only regret is that writings are another matter entirely. consigned. Gregory did not carry the book The well-crafted, witty, often The result is a detailed account forward to the present. irreverent letters were designed by of two world wars (or, to use an Remembrance Day has become Fisk as reports from the front to a interpretation that How borrows even more controversial since Vermont newspaper, The Green from European historians, one long 1945, especially in Britain. The IRA Mountain Freeman. The paper war with a 21-year pause) as seen bombing at Enniskillen during a

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Remembrance Day service and the furnace. Alas, on the whole the transformation of a young research minor storm aroused by the casual book is indeed a success and will scientist into a man who was, by dress of a Labour politician at the undoubtedly be of value to the Bodson’s own admission, a cold- service in Whitehall reveal that a interested non-specialist and, of blooded killer. Had the author not day which commemorates the end course, historical geographers wilfully papered over the of battle remains something of a everywhere. considerable sympathy and even battleground. support which the Germans found * * * * * in the Flemish community, and the * * * * * impact which this collaboration Herman Bodson, Agent for the had upon resistance strategy, this Michael Freeman, Atlas of Nazi Resistance: A Belgian Saboteur in memoir would have been that much Germany: A Political, Economic World War II, ed. Richard Schmidt better. What is more, Bodson’s & Social Anatomy of The Third (College Station: Texas A&M tendency to go on at length about Reich (London: Longman University Press [distributed in the course of the war on the grand [distributed in Canada by Addison- Canada by the University of British scale is as infuriating as it is Wesley], 1995 [1987]) $38.95 Columbia Press], 1994) $35.95, pointless - in particular, when gaffes paper, 217 pages, ISBN 0-582- 243 pages, ISBN 0-89096-607-9. as ludicrous as the assertion that 23924-9. Dublin was bombed are allowed to odson, erstwhile resistance slip through. For all this, though, irst published in 1987, this Bfighter and professor of Agent for the Resistance Fsecond and revised edition chemistry, has written an enjoyable constitutes a good read for serious strives, like the first, to supplement and often fascinating wartime students of the resistance to the short textual analyses of recent memoir. Educated before the war, German occupation as well as research into every facet of the the author was an NCO in the armchair-bound adventure Third Reich with scores of graphs, Belgian medical corps in 1940 and enthusiasts. flow charts and other visual aids. the reader is early on treated to an Freeman, Lecturer in Geography at interesting day-by-day account of * * * * * Worcester College, Oxford, notes at the confusion which gripped the the outset that he finds Belgian army upon the arrival of the Thomas Goodrich, Black Flag: “disconcerting” the lack of “graphic German invaders. Soon enough, Guerrilla Warfare on the Western representation” in the considerable though, the discussion turns to Border, 1861-1865 (Bloomington: literature on the Nazi era. Bodson’s career as a member of the Indiana University Press, 1995) The first edition having been Belgian resistance. Typically, the $24.95 US, 172 pages, ISBN 0-253- helped along by the late Tim Mason, early undertakings of Bodson, his 32599-4. the qualitative analysis is father and a growing collection of surprisingly good for a book of this comrades were haphazard: the tudents of the evolution of the kind, especially when it is borne in illegal exchange of Dutch money to Slaw of war have long regarded mind that the target audience assist a Jewish family living the U.S. Civil War as an example of consists of undergraduates and underground; the placing of loyal how wide-ranging conflicts “serious general readers.” What is Belgians in the employ of the involving enormous losses on both more, Freeman has done a fine job Germans; and even the preparation sides might nonetheless be on the graphics, combining visual of an abrasive powder which conducted in accordance with those representations from eventually found its way into the humanitarian principles which contemporary as well as secondary crankcase of an aircraft being later came to underpin more sources, with still others sui readied to carry a group of German formalised concepts of jus in bello. generis, based undoubtedly on the staff officers. The appalling conditions which author’s thorough grasp of the most By 1942, Bodson had gone Union prisoners of war endured in relevant literature. Not surprisingly, underground and soon flourished Andersonville aside, it remains this approach is most effective as the commander of his own well- generally assumed that where the text examines, say, voter trained and increasingly properly- notwithstanding the inflamed behaviour or organisational equipped formation in south- passions of the respective structures. On occasion, though, it eastern Belgium. The overview of constituencies, combatants on both becomes apparent that certain operations conducted during the sides were held in check by what phenomena do not lend themselves period 1942-44 is at once exciting has been described as a to graphic representation - witness, and, for the author, clearly fundamental humanitarian for example, an utterly confusing cathartic. To wit, the tales of daring impulse. The most recent flow-chart, ostensibly illustrating attacks on enemy troops and contribution of Thomas Goodrich the Führerprinzip, which might as installations are not without latter- to the vast literature on the Civil War well have been drawn in toto from day reflections upon the tragedy of strongly implies that the the technical manual of a gas fallen comrades as well as the

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aforementioned view ought to be irst published as Slag in de display the dexterity of, say, Alistair reconsidered. FSchaduw in 1984, this volume Horne in their use of oral-historical Focusing on the fighting waged undertakes an ambitious task source material. The tendency, for along the Kansas-Missouri frontier, indeed: providing the reader with example, toward quoting at length in large part by Confederate a detailed overview of the fighting conversations recalled long after irregulars and Federal troops, along the Maas River between the fact - or even, on several Goodrich paints a picture of an Nijmegen and Echt between occasions, unspoken thoughts - is exceedingly ruthless struggle, the September 1944 and March 1945. exasperating. These shortcomings fury of which was rooted in pre-war This popular history, based upon aside, though, anyone desirous of conflicts over the slavery issue. In a reasonable collection of learning more about this facet of the the event, upon the eruption of a secondary works, memoirs, war could do worse than start with full-scale conflagration in 1861, interviews and archival material, The Forgotten Battle. raids by both sides spared neither seeks to fill a perceived gap in the non-combatants nor their property; interested public’s understanding * * * * * moreover, each incursion was of this facet of the Second World bloodier than the last and Federal War. Bearing in mind that the Diana M. Henderson, Highland troops displayed a disquieting fighting in question did not Soldier, 1820-1920 (Edinburgh: tendency toward the summary constitute a campaign in the true John Donald, 1989) £22.00, 336 execution of captured irregulars. sense, it can be said that the pages, ISBN 0-85976-217-3. Ultimately, the low-point of this authors have succeeded in this dreary spiral of reprisal and regard. For instance, the Allied embers of Highland regiments counter-reprisal was reached on 21 effort to take Overloon in October Mhave always considered August 1863 when Lawrence, 1944, as well as the German themselves to be a breed apart, a Kansas was besieged by William counterattack, constitute the focus uniqueness fostered by a variety of Quantrill’s raiders. In a sacking of of a fair chunk of the book and, on factors, not the least of which has almost medieval proportions, the the whole, these passages make for been the German Army’s famous then-tiny centre was razed and over good reading - in no small measure, characterization of them as “the 150 men, most of them non- it must be noted, because it is here ladies from hell.” In this important combatants, were ruthlessly cut that the accounts of Allied and study, Henderson seeks out the down. Predictably enough, while German strategy are brought internal factors which have created Federal troops were hunting down together most effectively with the that uniqueness, and finds that Quantrill, Kansan guerrillas recollections of a number of men much of the strength of their responded by crossing into on both sides who, in 1944, found distinctiveness lies in such things Missouri whereupon they engaged themselves at the front. as recruiting practices, the pipe in similarly criminal behaviour, What is more, the authors are band, the kilt, and the cohesiveness albeit on a more modest scale. not without their views on the of the regimental family. The subject matter selected by strategy employed by the belligerent Henderson goes as deeply into Goodrich is exciting indeed, forces. To wit, the volume on the the lives of the Highland regiments although this book constitutes a whole tends to revolve around a as it is possible to go, examining laborious read. Even the most number of sub-regional hotspots - officers’ finances, living conditions general reader is left unsatiated by such as Overloon - that emerged in barracks, peacetime drill and a text virtually bereft of analysis. during that long winter. The result, display, and the role of music in the More specifically, Black Flag is then, is often biting criticisms of life of the regiment. A touch of built around sometimes huge Anglo-American strategy that are on idealization occasionally creeps quotations (subjected by Goodrich occasion quite detailed in their into the narrative, but in general to “regulariz[ed] spellings and focus on subordinate commanders Henderson has used her impressive punctuation”), often joined together at the divisional level and below. array of sources judiciously and by only snippets of the author’s own A word of warning, though: one objectively. Historians of Canadian words. The package is a bit uneven, must persevere to get through the units might well adopt her although the reader’s patience is, early chapters of The Forgotten approach, for she makes it clear on the whole, rewarded. Battle. The initial passages are how much can be learned when a often choppy and this problem is regiment is considered first and * * * * * compounded by a sometimes foremost as a social institution. A. Korthals Alter and N.K.C.A. in’t wooden translation as well as the Veld, The Forgotten Battle: fact that the reader must wade * * * * * Overloon and the Maas Salient, through yet another overview of 1944-45, trans. G.G. van Dam “Market Garden.” What is more, the (New York: Sarpedon, 1995) $24.95 source material used in the text is US, 226 pg, ISBN 1-885119-03-8. not attributed nor do the authors

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Graeme Mount, Canada’s northwest Europe. In September Through it all, Botwinick raises Enemies: Spies and Spying in the 1944 the 3rd Armored Division fascinating issues, one of the most Peaceable Kingdom (Toronto: entered the Forest, and not until compelling being the remarkable Dundurn Press, 1993) $24.99, 158 February 1945 did American units case of Denmark. In 1943, when pages, ISBN 1-55002-190-7. gain control of the dams which German authorities decided to should have been their objective all arrest all Danish Jews, an immense istorians of espionage and along. The reason for this sustained network swung into operation with Hintelligence in Canada have failure, according to Miller, is the sole intent of saving the Jews. largely been interested in the post- simple: the Americans gave away In this they were almost entirely 1945 period, the beginning of the their tactical advantages of successful, rescuing 99% of the Cold War providing an obvious firepower and mobility by targeting country’s Jews from annihilation. starting point. As this book shows, the wrong objectives, insisting on Ironically, the stunning success of there is a long tradition of spying fighting for villages and hills rather the Danish resistance to the in and around Canada that has so than heading for the dams which Holocaust only emphasizes the far received scant attention. Mount held the key to the region. It is a relative impotence of resistance begins his story with the Spanish- tale of missed opportunities, an elsewhere. American War, when Spanish spy absence of imagination and vision, rings operated across Canada but uncertainty of command, and an * * * * * primarily in Montreal, and the Boer inability to analyze adequately the War, when Irish-American agents mission at hand. As usual, the price James S. Leamon, Revolution and saboteurs operated in Canada. for these deficiencies was paid by Downeast: The War for American What follows is not a the men on the sharp end, who died Independence in Maine (Amherst: comprehensive survey, but a series in countless minor operations that University of Massachusetts Press, of case studies highlighting specific have a definite Great War-like 1993) $16.95 US paper, 302 pages, incidents. Readers will search in pointlessness about them. And, ISBN 0-87023-959-7. vain for substantive references to despite the focus on command Igor Gouzenko, but will find failures, these small-unit actions lie ince it was first settled, Maine interesting stories of American at the heart of this book. Miller, an Shad been a colony of surveillance of Canadian active-duty officer, describes them Massachusetts, relying upon its communists, the activities of sympathetically in an excellent metropolis for its very existence. As German consular posts before account of a sad campaign. Leamon points out, this 1939, and the machinations of dependence has been carried into Vichy French diplomats. Because of * * * * * historiography as well, with few this structure, the book has a historians paying much attention to curiously incomplete feel about it; Rita Steinhardt Botwinick, A Maine’s fortunes during the War of it reads as though Mount has History of the Holocaust: From Independence. Revolution Down- strung together a series of journal Ideology to Annihilation (Toronto: east was written as a corrective to articles with little effort to assemble Prentice-Hall, 1996) $31.95 paper, this trend. them into a coherent narrative. 234 pages, ISBN 0-13-099292-5. If only for reasons of geography, There are some fascinating Leamon’s book has strong anecdotes here, but the history of ntended primarily as a text, this Canadian dimensions. It was the espionage in Canada remains to be Ibook will also be useful to the threat from British forces based in written. general reader looking for an Nova Scotia which spurred Maine overview of the Holocaust. to support the revolution, attacks * * * * * Botwinick begins with a discussion by British privateers convincing of the roots of anti-Semitism in people in the colony that their Edward G. Miller, A Dark and European history and then attempt at fostering a “protective Bloody Ground: The Hürtgen examines the nature of the Jewish insignificance” had failed. On three Forest and the Roer River Dams, community in Europe generally and occasions, Maine served as a base 1944-45 (College Station: Texas in Germany specifically. She traces for American campaigns into A&M University Press [distributed the Nazis’ rise to power and focuses British territory: in 1775, Benedict in Canada by the University of on the role of personality, Arnold embarked on an ultimately British Columbia Press], 1995) particularly the banality of evil that disastrous attack on Quebec; in $42.95, 250 pages, 0-89096-626- is so evident in the Nazi leadership. 1776 some 70 men left Maine on 5. A discussion of the war years and an unsuccessful attempt to light the the escalation of genocide fire of revolution in Nova Scotia; he campaign described by (including resistance to it) occupies and in 1777 there was another TMiller can perhaps lay claim to the last chapters of the book. failed attempt to carry the the dubious distinction of being the revolution to Canada, this time to Americans’ longest battle in Saint John.

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Leamon has brought together * * * * * at ranges which the men of the best of the secondary sources Tsushima could not have imagined. and impressive archival material Peter T. Haydon and Katherine D. It might be wondered if we need (all listed in an excellent Orr, eds., Canada’s Maritime another account of Jutland, but bibliography) into a solid and Tradition: Past, Present and Grove does marshal readable prose readable account that fills a Future (Halifax: Navy League of and excellent maps to produce significant gap in our Canada [distributed by the succinct and useful summaries. understanding of the Revolutionary Dalhousie Centre for Foreign Policy And, in focusing on developments period. Studies], 1996) $12.00 paper, 81 in fire control, he gives a prosaic pages, ISBN 1-896440-02-9. and often overlooked subject its * * * * * due. One wishes, though, that he product of a 1995 Grove had rewritten his epilogue Basil Liddell Hart, Great Captains T conference marking the before the book was republished; Unveiled (New York: Da Capo centennial of the Navy League of his discussion of Soviet-US naval Press, 1996 [1927]) $18.50 paper, Canada, this slim volume contains competition in the Cold War gives 290 pages, ISBN 0-306-80686-X. essays on Canada’s navy in the the book a dated conclusion when contemporary era, the RCN in the it might have ended with much iddell Hart was 32 when he first Second World War (a typically good more intriguing speculation. Lpublished Great Captains account by Marc Milner) the Unveiled in 1927. His reputation Canadian shipbuilding industry, * * * * * as a military theorist was growing, shipping and ports in Canada (with but he had not yet evolved into the some very handy statistics), and James Barros and Richard Gregor. bitter critic of British generalship, Canada’s maritime resources. All of Double Deception: Stalin, Hitler as exemplified by Douglas Haig, that the essays are useful summaries and the Invasion of Russia he would become in the 1930s. (even if the last named is so (Dekalb: Northern Illinois And, in contrast to his study of obviously written by a member of University Press, 1995) 307 pages, Great War generalship, the current federal government) ISBN 0-87580-191-9. Reputations Ten Years After that provide excellent background (1928), Great Captains Unveiled information for anyone seeking to his book is an important read dealt with subjects not likely to understand the current state of Tfor anyone interested in the incite emotional debate. The book, Canada’s maritime tradition. diplomatic and intelligence therefore, makes it easier to discern maneuvers leading up to Operation Liddell Hart’s style as a military * * * * * “Barbarossa” or the nature of the writer. Stalinist regime in the pre-war The book examines six men: Eric Grove, Big Fleet Actions: Soviet Union. Its thesis is Ghengis Khan and Sabutai, who Tsushima, Jutland, Philippine straightforward: Stalin bore sole carried the Mongol cavalry across Sea (London: Arms and Armour responsibility for the refusal to Europe in the 13th century; Press [distributed in North America believe that Nazi Germany would Marechal de Saxe, a “military by Sterling], 1995 [1991]) $20.95 attack in 1941, and this prophet” whose writings would paper, 192 pages, ISBN 1-85409- dramatically enhanced the have been salutary to Great War 281-2. impressive successes scored by the generals; Gustavus Adolphus, Wehrmacht in the summer of that Sweden’s king during the Thirty hough only 40 years separate year. The authors explore the Years’ War and, according to Liddell Tthese three actions, they astounding Soviet intelligence Hart, the founder of modern war; witnessed tremendous advances in network that was able to ascertain Wallenstein, rated a master of the naval arts and sciences. even the exact date of the invasion, psychological warfare; and General Tsushima, where the Japanese fleet information confirmed by the Wolfe, the conqueror of Quebec in humbled the Russians in 1904, was intelligence-gathering apparatus of 1759. The sketches are lively and, fought with weapons controlled by other nations, Britain foremost as Russell Weigley points out in his crude and unsophisticated means among them. Information like this, introduction, ultimately about and at ranges limited to some 5000 of course, is only as good as the Liddell Hart himself. We sense that yards. Twelve years later, at analysis that shapes it into he chose his great captains not so Jutland, fire control methods and intelligence and Stalin retained that much objectively, but because they devices had been improved as his prerogative as head of state. exemplified military concepts dear dramatically and ships could shell He, the book leaves no doubt, to his own heart. This is not to each other from five miles away and would have none of it, convinced lessen the value of this reprint; it is more. By the time of the Battle of as he was of his own infallibility merely to remind readers that the Philippine Sea in 1944, naval and, to be fair, assuming that no Liddell Hart’s own philosophies are aircraft and submarines allowed rational German statesman would never far beneath the surface. the big fleets to engage each other embark on a two-front war.

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Incredibly, these conclusions other years to warrant volumes. DeGaulle called the Resistance a became so important to his own The title change seems to have been ‘bluff’ that came off. Overall, if you image that he refused even to place a marketing gimmick for the want to gain a bit of insight into how his forces on alert; days after the original one captures the author’s the Karls or the Winstons and the Germans had attacked, Stalin’s interpretive point, such as it is, Adolfs saw the war unfolding actions were still determined by his much better than the new one. around them then this book is earlier policy of non-provocation. Indeed, Collier has fashioned not a worthwhile, even if you will now This book is not an easy read. narrative, not an analysis but a recognize many of the pieces from A blend of narrative and thematic succession of personal experiences, other sources. text, there is some repetition and anecdotes, interchanges and the overlap is irritating at times. snapshots designed to illustrate the * * * * * Similarly, to characterize it as dense major events of the last two years does not do it justice. There is a of the war. It is fairly Arthur Bishop, The Splendid tendency to run with an comprehensive, covering politics, Hundred: The True Story of explanation, exhaustively detailing diplomacy, strategy, intelligence, Canadians Who Flew in the asides and contextual material. operations and the soldier’s Greatest Air Battle of World War However, buried amidst this dense perspective while ranging over the II (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, prose, the authors provide insights globe; no major event is left 1994) $19.95 paper, 170 pages, into a number of issues of unmentioned. Its major strength is ISBN 0-07-551683-7. importance to historians of both the that it takes the war to the level of Second World War and the Soviet the individual. When informed that rthur Bishop continues his Union. They attack or at least her son has been the first soldier Aseries on Canada’s military qualify, for example, the prevailing to cross the Rhine during a conflict exploits with this book detailing the notion that Stalin was completely since Napoleon, Karl exploits of “the Splendid Hundred” incapacitated from 22 June. This Timmermann’s mother’s response - the 101 Canadian fighter pilots book should also provide a is suggestive of the book’s who helped to save England during corrective to the interpretation that perspective: ‘“Napoleon I don’t care the Battle of Britain. Stalin provoked a German about. How is my Karl?”’ In this The Splendid Hundred is a invasion; indeed, the evidence context, the book succeeds. well-written tale of derring-do. The herein suggests reasons why Hitler That said, the book is dated exploits, accomplishments, was convinced to the end that the and no attempt has been made to successes and tragedies of coalition between the Allies and the update it. The Pacific and Eastern Canadian fighter pilots are USSR would fall apart. This book front are covered but the main recounted in considerable detail by should also raise questions about focus is on the Anglo-American Bishop, a former fighter pilot Stalin’s role in the Cold War for in effort; more specifically, it largely himself who flew Spitfires with 401 it he does not appear to have been parrots a British perspective which Squadron later in the war. The a particularly shrewd analyst of believed the Italian Campaign was book is written primarily from international affairs. All in all, an wasted because of American secondary sources, though it is important book if one can get timidity and Operation Dragoon, occasionally supplemented by through it. and which perceived Berlin, the combat reports and other primary Balkans et al as being given away sources. Of particular interest are * * * * * to the Soviets due to the the personal comments inserted by combination of Roosevelt’s naivete Bishop based on his own Richard Collier. The Years of and declining health. Collier also experiences. For example, at one Victory, 1944-45 (London/Don seems genuinely angry that the point when discussing the fighter Mills: Allison and Busby/General Labour tricked the British voters pilot’s penchant for informal dress Publishing, 1995 [1983]) $21.95 with visions of a socialist utopia. he postulates that the famous photo paper, 342 pages, ISBN 0-74900- Perspective is less important of his father, William “Billy” Bishop, 2514. than the way the book is marred VC, with the top button of his tunic by some old, indeed some open, started the fad among pilots et another reprint edition incorrect, interpretations, that are who thought it “sporty.” Y produced to catch the 50th useful devices for heightening the Firmly entrenched in the anniversary wave. When it was first dramatic tension but have been tradition of Churchill’s “few,” this published it was entitled The War superseded, and probably were book is a good read that highlights that Stalin Won, the third in a when the book was written. For the contributions of the first trilogy that included books on 1940 example, the characterization of the Canadians to get into the fight and 1941, there obviously not being French Resistance as a popular against Hitler. enough anecdotes generated by the uprising that had been waiting for Anglo-American war effort in the years for the Allied return; even * * * * *

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Larry Milberry and Hugh Halliday, Canadian Forces. Stephen Will, a ver the last decade the debate The Royal Canadian Air Force At veteran CF-18 pilot, has done a Oover leadership and morale War 1939-1945 (Toronto: CANAV good job of filling this gap. within the Canadian Armed Forces Books, 1990) $75.00, 480 pages, Wings of Change: Canadian has been the predominant subject ISBN 0-921022-04-2. Airmen in Europe tells the story of among senior officers. The debate, Canadian air power in Europe though, has been kept largely out arry Milberry and Hugh following the end of the Second of the public’s eye. However, this all L Halliday have combined to World War. It begins with a brief changed with the actions of a few create a monumental work that look at the Sabre and Starfighter members of the Canadian Airborne belongs in the library of everyone periods, but concentrates on the Regiment in distant Somalia. interested in the RCAF in the Hornet period. Various segments of Although it is easy to see that there Second World War. This book looks the book look at the squadrons that are problems, the origins and at all aspects of the RCAF in a way flew in Europe (409, 421, & 439 solutions are not so easily that no other single volume has ever Squadrons), ground crew, Tiger definable. One of the first to enter done. In its nearly 500 pages it meet, exchange pilots, Fang (mascot the fray so to speak, and examine covers the Commonwealth Air of 439 Squadron - a stuffed bengal these problems is David Bercuson Training Plan; day and night tiger) and the CF-18 deployment to with his work, Significant Incident. fighters; Bomber and Coastal the Gulf during the 1991 war. Bercuson attempts to put the Command operations in Northwest The real strength of this book events in Somalia into the larger Europe, the Mediterranean and Far is its photos. Full colour and large context of command problems East; Air Transport; as well as format, the photos provide an within the military and this theme evaders, escapers and POWs. Each excellent look at both the machines dominated most of the book’s 242 chapter contains a detailed history and the pilots and personnel who pages. He explores the changing of the topic at hand. This is kept them flying. In addition to face of the Canadian Armed Forces supplemented by personal numerous photos of Canadian and the impact of those changes on accounts and excerpts from aircraft (including some beautiful leadership within the ground interviews, diaries, letters, log shots of 439 Squadron Hornets in element of the Armed Forces. books, combat reports, etc. As well, low-viz “Tiger” paint schemes), Among the major issues he each chapter contains a number of there are a number of pictures of analyses are unification, the “Albums” and “Galleries.” The the aircraft of Allied air forces, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, albums are based on the snapshots including a neat shot of a CF-18 and personal economic difficulties and memories of pilots and aircrew flying in formation with a German for the average service member. while the galleries focus on Air Force MiG-29. All the photos Pivotal to his argument is particular aircraft, squadrons, were taken by non-professional Bercuson’s discussion of these bases, etc. The most outstanding squadron members and aviation factors in a military increasingly feature of this book is its buffs. None of the photos have been asked to be committed in photographs - over 1,500 in total. previously published. As well, the numerous difficult tasks as United These photos have been culled from photos are ably supported by a text Nations peacekeepers. official sources (Canadian Forces that recalls the brief histories of the Although the first half of the Photo Unit, National Archives of Canadian squadrons that served in book suffers from some minor Canada) but there are also many Europe along with interesting analytical and factual errors, it is a from private collections that are vignettes of life in the squadrons - very insightful book overall. For being published for the first time. both operational and “behind-the- those without a background in the Though the cost of the book is dear, scenes.” military it gives a precise picture of it is well worth the price. Overall, this book is a the problems of an inherently worthwhile addition to the library undemocratic system existing with * * * * * of anyone interested in the now- a democratic society it attempts to ended Canadian military aviation serve. Stephen Will, Wings of Change: presence in Europe. Canadian Airmen in Europe (Cold * * * * * Lake, AB: Hornet House Publishing, * * * * * 1993) $25.00, 128 pages, ISBN 0- Geoffrey Swain, The Origins of the 9697582-0-0. David Bercuson, Significant Russian Civil War (London: Incident: Canada’s Army, the Longman [distributed in Canada by ookstores are full of beautifully Airborne, and the Murder in Addison-Wesley], 1996) $33.95 Billustrated coffee table books Somalia (Toronto: McClelland and paper, 296 pages, ISBN 0-582- detailing every aspect of the United Stewart, 1996) $29.99, 242 pages, 05968-2. States Air Force. Until now, there ISBN 0-7710-1113-X. has been a real dearth of books in eoffrey Swain points that many the same genre dealing with the Ghave incorrectly viewed the 15

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Russian Civil War of 1917-1921 as Edmund Hall, We Can’t Even amilton-Williams is a a contest between Monarchists (the March Straight: Homosexuality in H controversial figure among Whites) and Bolsheviks (the Reds). the British Armed Forces Napoleonic scholars who have In fact, political control was (London: Vintage, 1995) £7.99 called both his personal honesty contested in this brief period by a paper, 180 pages, ISBN 0-09- and the reliability of his research bewildering array of republicans, 949561-9. into question. This is not irrelevant moderate Marxists, independent to any evaluation of these books worker and peasant movements, a n Britain, as in most countries, because Hamilton-Williams is wide range of non-Russian Ithe Ministry of Defence considers always his own best booster, nationalists, not to mention the homosexuality incompatible with a repeatedly suggesting that his foreign intervention of Czech, military career and regularly discoveries force a significant re- Polish, British and German forces. discharges (or forces the evaluation of previous scholarship. Any attempt to address the resignation) of all homosexuals In fact, he is a careless scholar who Civil War must also confront the found in the ranks. Edmund Hall often muddles references (he traditional views of October 1917 himself fell victim to this policy in repeatedly cites a non-existent AF7 as a Bolshevik Revolution. Might it 1988. His book, based on series at the French National be seen instead as part of a larger interviews, tells the story of several Archives), misquotes or Civil War? men and women who were sacked misrepresents secondary sources, It is not surprising, then, that from the military for homosexuality and demonstrates an ignorance of many historians have avoided what in recent years or who continue to the finer details of Napoleonic Swain identifies as a “forgotten” work responsibly within it by hiding history. war. Faced with these challenges, their sexual orientation. The book The study of Waterloo is by far Swain successfully clarifies the challenges the Ministry’s policy the better of the two books reviewed main themes of this period. He head on: “The [Ministry’s] argument here. The author claims to have demonstrates, first, that the Civil seems to be, in essence, that the rewritten the history of the battle War broke out primarily because military is homophobic and by freeing it of the distortions that Lenin refused to share political therefore homosexuals shouldn’t Captain William Siborne allegedly power with non-Bolshevik serve - for their own good. There is imposed on the story through his socialists (known as the “Greens”). no suggestion that the homophobia famous scale model of the battle Secondly, Swain challenges the view is wrong.” (constructed in 1838) and his two- that western powers were Hall rejects President Clinton’s volume History of the War in automatically hostile to the “Don’t ask - Don’t tell” compromise France and Flanders in 1815 Bolsheviks, and supportive of in the United States. He urges (1844). Such boastful exaggerations Monarchist forces. In fact, the British gay men and lesbians to aside, Hamilton-Williams has given British government was eager to organize in order to force social us a competent and colourful support the Bolsheviks after 1917 change through Parliament and the narrative of one of history’s most as long as they stayed in the war Courts, so that they may “serve decisive battles, written with verve against Germany. International openly in the British armed forces and well illustrated with maps and opposition to Bolshevik rule only - alongside the many thousands of many photographs of the field as it occurred when the Bolsheviks homosexuals who already do, in is today. The author pays more sought a separate peace with secret.” This slight book is a attention to the Allied forces Germany in the winter of 1917- passionate, logical and persuasive (Belgian, Dutch and German) than 1918. Finally, Swain shows how the call to action, but is unlikely to is usual in English-language civil war between the “Whites” and change anybody’s mind in a histories. While he admires “Reds” only unfolded after the hidebound military establishment. Wellington’s military abilities, Bolsheviks had defeated moderate Hamilton-Williams clearly adores socialists, democrats, and their * * * * * Napoleon and consequently sneers supporters. Ironically, this most David Hamilton-Williams, at British foreign policy towards familiar aspect to the Civil War was Waterloo: New Perspectives, The France. also the least significant, given the Great Battle Reappraised (New Hamilton-Williams ends the widespread disdain for York: John Wiley and Sons, 1993) story of Waterloo by declaring that monarchists forces in Russia. $39.50, 416 pages, ISBN 0-471- Napoleon did not lose the war on Swain helps to clarify an 05225-6. the battlefield; rather, his final important episode in modern defeat resulted from betrayal by Russian history, even as many will David Hamilton-Williams, The Fall men whom he himself had put in challenge his conclusions. Given of Napoleon: The Final Betrayal power. The Fall of Napoleon, which the present uncertainty in Russia, (New York: John Wiley and Sons, focuses on the years 1813-1815, questions about an earlier civil war 1994) $39.50, 352 pages, ISBN 0- tells the story of that so-called may soon become even more vital. 471-11862-1. treachery. Anyone who is not already an unquestioning admirer * * * * * 16 https://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol5/iss2/18 16 et al.: Book Review Supplement Autumn 1996

of the Emperor will find this an cooperation and breakdown, Robert B. Edgerton, The Fall of the irritating book. It impugns the Beatrice Heuser’s analysis of Asante Empire: The Hundred- motives of anyone (French or British and American concepts of Year War For Africa’s Gold Coast foreign) who dared oppose containment, Scott Lucas and C.J. (New York: The Free Press Napoleon; for instance, the author Morris’s joint work on the British [distributed in Canada by Distican], dismisses Britain’s rulers as a Information Research Department, 1995) “contemptible clique” of “ruthless and Sheila Kerr’s discussion of nonentities.” On the other hand, defectors, “the versatile, durable or most of us, the idea of a ignoring the darker side of the toys of propagandists.” These FEuropean military campaign to regime and grossly exaggerating the essays confirm the intimate linkage conquer an African tribe conjures Emperor’s popularity with his between intelligence and strategy, up images of a disorganized rabble subjects, he paints Napoleon as a and they tell us something about the of spear-armed tribesmen easily true representative of liberty and nature of Cold War - a form of being dispersed after a single volley equality. The book fails to recognize warfare undertaken by the British of bullets. With the exception of the that Napoleon’s own limitless so that the Services would not have Zulu campaigns against the British ambitions eventually forced the to conduct a Hot War, as Tedder, and the Ethiopian success against exasperated European powers to Chief of the Air Staff, put it. the Italians, a great myth has league together to bring him down. The second cluster of essays is emerged in western culture that Combining hagiography with entitled “Strategy.” Herein Anthony until the coming of the whites, conspiracy theory, The Fall of Gorst reviews the making of British Africa was a land of primitive stone- Napoleon does not even come close defence policy, John Kent and John age societies. Robert Edgerton to being good critical history. Young analyze the Western Union in helps to quell that myth in his study relation to British defence of resistance to European * * * * * requirements, Saki Dockrill colonization. examines German rearmament in For nearly 100 years, the Richard J. Aldrich, ed., British British policy, and Alex Danchev Asante nation successfully held Intelligence, Strategy and the explores Anglo-American defence back the British Army in its bid to Cold War, 1945-51 (New York: co-operation. Three case studies (of expand British influence into Routledge, 1992) $95.00 US, 347 which we can never have enough) Africa’s Gold Coast region. Located pages, ISBN 0-415-07851-2. complete the volume. These are: in modern-day Ghana, Asante Aldrich and John Zametica’s look society was highly organized and his distinguished volume, the at the rise and decline of the Middle controlled by a centralized political Tfirst attempt at a recreation of East as a strategic concept, system. Its population of British secret intelligence during Aldrich’s examination of south Asia 3,000,000 inhabited a number of the Cold War, is the work of many in British strategy as empire there sizeable cities and fielded a large deft hands. Edited by Richard J. tottered and then ended, and Karl regular army, complete with Aldrich, an expert in intelligence Hack’s look at southeast Asia and European firearms. More and national security issues, the British strategy. importantly, a sense of what book consists of 15 contributions, Taken together, these westerners would call “nationalism” which, when taken together, give us explorations into British had developed in the decades prior a valuable insight into the workings clandestine activities, policy to the British arrival. Edgerton of British intelligence. More than formations, internal arguments argues that this nationalism was the this, the volume will point the way over nuclear strategy, and military crucial element in sustaining the for future scholarship. The sources dimensions of Britain’s plans make Asante military effort. It provided upon which the essays are based compelling reading. In future years, Asante warriors with a “cause” that have been used, in many cases, for many new works will come forward transcended local and familial the first time. In consequence new on aspects of this subject and we loyalties which often divided other interpretations present themselves. await them with eagerness. In the African peoples. A brief review such as this does meantime, Aldrich and his cohorts Due to the virtual extinction of not allow in-depth analysis of each have presented studies that Asante culture after a century of of the essays. However, it is possible provide, in profile, a portrait of a bitter warfare, Edgerton was forced to note that the contributions fall great power determined by every to rely heavily on British accounts into two categories, as grouped by means to continue its influence in of the period. Primary documents the editor. The first is entitled the post-Second World War era. are also conspicuously absent from “Intelligence.” Herein are essays by This project, well worth doing, is a the references. The author claims Aldrich on the reshaping of the credit to editor, authors and that in his research he “discovered British intelligence community at publisher alike. As such it deserves nothing of major significance that the close of the Second World War, wide attention by those interested previous scholars had missed.” Bradley Smith’s discussion of in such matters. Edgerton’s contribution lies in his Anglo-Soviet intelligence * * * * * 17

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re-interpretation of events from an Ron Robin, The Barbed-Wire his is a revised and enlarged Asante perspective. In addition, the College: Reeducating German Tversion of a list originally book is aimed at a popular, rather POWs in the United States during assembled by the Admiralty in than academic audience. World War II (Princeton: Princeton 1954, a list which was never Nevertheless, The Fall of the University Press, 1995) $29.95 US, published. The information Asante Empire helps to fill a major 224 pages, 0-6910-370-0-0. contained in this book, then, is gap in our knowledge of African made easily accessible to the warfare and will hopefully inspire he failed attempt to reeducate general public for the first time. The more research into this area. TGerman POWs and turn them editors have drawn from a wide into American-style democrats is range of sources in an effort to * * * * * the subject of this fascinating make the entries as complete as account. Despite the provisions of possible, and have also made a Harold S. Orenstein, trans., Soviet the Geneva Convention, which number of alterations to simplify Documents on the Use of the War prohibited indoctrination in camps, the list and make it easier to use. Experience, vol. 3, Military German prisoners were treated to A typical entry lists when the Operations 1941-42 (London: lectures, films, books and study officer was commissioned and Frank Cass [distributed in North groups, all of which were intended promoted (as well as references for America by International to rid them of National Socialist promotions), when he retired and Specialized Book Services], 1993) ideology. Part of the reason for the died (occasionally the cause of $45.00 US, 224 pages, ISBN 0- program’s failure, according to death is given as well), and notes 7146-3402-6. Robin, was that it used academics other positions held, such as those who had not yet been employed officers who served as Members of n 1942, the Red Army General elsewhere in the war effort; he is Parliament, and honours received. IStaff began publishing volumes too polite to call them second-rate, Where relevant, it is also noted that entitled Collection of Materials on but admits they were not at the the officer was present at the Battle the Study of War Experience, cutting edge of their profession. of Trafalgar. intended as a means of learning They sought to turn prison camp It is a work of considerable from the past and improving its into college, and targeted their achievement, and will be a boon to conduct of the war. This volume, material towards the intellectual historian and genealogist alike. the third to be published by Cass, elites among the prisoners. For this appeared in March 1943 and covers reason, it missed the vast majority * * * * * two significant themes: the joint use of captives. of airborne and cavalry forces in Robin is careful to aver, Mark Grossman, Encyclopedia of January-February 1942 in an however, that reeducation was a the Persian Gulf War (Santa operation that took Soviet units losing proposition from the start, Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1995) deep behind German lines; and the thanks in large part to the strong $75.00 US, 522 pages, ISBN 0- use of armour to conduct deep- group solidarity among German 87436-684-4. penetration operations in July- POWs. This solidarity was little August 1942 during the German different from the legendary istorians, journalists, Stalingrad offensive. Shorter resistance that Allied prisoners in H students, and general readers studies deal with the use of Germany adopted, a suggestion will find much of value in this operational deception, logistics, which contradicts the conventional excellent reference work. The first operations of river flotillas, combat wisdom of German POWs as section, the encyclopedia proper, experience on the Karelian front, malleable and compliant. Not the lists everything from the A-4 and the use of anti-tank artillery least of the important conclusions Skyhawk to the ZSU-57/2 SPAAG units. of this book, then, is that there was self-propelled antiaircraft gun, At the end of the volume, we “a universal code of military life in complete with photographs and see the directives and instructions captivity that transcended the maps. References are provided for which grew out of earlier volumes. idiosyncrasies of the different each entry, and an index allows the Even for readers with little interest civilian political systems.” reader to find cross-listings. A large in the Eastern Front, this series is appendix reprints dozens of a fascinating practical glimpse at * * * * * documents central to the history of how an army can learn and improve the Gulf War, including American over the course of campaigns. David Syrett and R.L. DiNardo, Executive Orders, statements by eds., The Commissioned Sea leaders on all sides, messages from Officers of the Royal Navy, 1660- the Iraqi Revolutionary Command * * * * * 1815 (Brookfield, VT: Ashgate Council and the North Atlantic Publishing, 1994) $127.95 US, 485 Council, and transcripts of press pages, ISBN 1-85928-122-2. conferences and interviews.

18 https://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol5/iss2/18 18 et al.: Book Review Supplement Autumn 1996

Included in the volume is a small of imminent oblivion left indelible The motivation of Allied appendix with statistical tables, a imprints on these survivors, and governments was probably no list of American fatal casualties this is the real legacy of their better. during Desert Shield and Desert experience. Storm, and an excellent * * * * * bibliography. * * * * * Some of the items in the book Byron R. Winborn, Wen Bon: A will surely provoke debate (such as Sheldon H. Harris, Factories of Naval Air Intelligence Officer the statistics on Scud hits and the Death: Japanese Biological Behind Japanese Lines in China choice of documents appended) Warfare, 1932-45, and the (Denton: University of North Texas and it has a clear American bias American Cover-Up (New York: Press, 1994) $29.95 US, 253 pages, (there is an entry for “Prisoners of Routledge, 1994) $16.95 US paper, ISBN 0-929398-77-7. war - United States,” but POWs 297 pages, ISBN 0-415-13206-1. from other Coalition members are fter spending some time in the not listed). Nevertheless, the here is a certain nightmarish ABureau of Aeronautics in encyclopedia is useful fact-checker Tquality about the book that Washington (in part working with for anyone interested in the Gulf makes it both compelling and the development of the Chance War. disturbing. At its heart are a Vought Corsair), Winborn was number of very able, perhaps even reassigned to the Technical Air * * * * * brilliant, medical minds who Intelligence branch. The task of this decided that their primary service little-known unit was simple: its Elinor J. Brecher, Schindler’s was not to humanity, but rather to members would search for downed Legacy: True Stories of the List the state. Instead of healing Japanese aircraft, descend on the Survivors (Toronto: Plume/ patients, these Japanese doctors wrecks, and glean as much Penguin, 1994) $15.99 paper, 442 and scientists looked for better technical information as they could pages, 0-452-27353-6. ways to kill, turning their talents to from them to be forwarded back to research in biological warfare. In the US. One of the things they he phenomenal success of Manchuria, they developed and looked for were the identification TSteven Spielberg’s film tested a frightening array of plates attached to aircraft parts. By Schindler’s List inspired this weapons and pathogens, from recording the information collection of personal accounts by anthrax bombs to typhoid-laced contained thereon, intelligence the benefactors of Oskar cakes, all of which were unleashed experts could trace parts through Schindler’s efforts. Dozens of on the Chinese population in the the Japanese aircraft industry, individuals and families have name of science. determine where bottlenecks in contributed their reminiscences. Equally disturbing, however, is production occurred, and target Some were children when they were the American reluctance to pursue those facilities for bombing. swept up into the Holocaust, others war crimes proceedings against Winborn and his fellow officers were adults; some are the sole these men. In contrast to the would also apply special measured survivors of their families, others attention given to doctors who tape to all parts of a downed aircraft came through with their families worked in Nazi death camps, these and take dozens of photographs to largely intact. The most interesting doctors escaped prosecution, in be dispatched to Washington. dimension of this book, however, part because of Cold War There, experts could take very is that it traces the postwar lives of imperatives but also because accurate measurements from the these survivors; as Brecher says, we American scientists (who had been photos, further expanding their get to see what these people did with doing their own biological warfare knowledge of Japanese aircraft. the second chance that Schindler experiments) were interested in the Winborn writes of this obscure gave them. But there was more than results of the Japanese tests. Harris aspect of the war in a breezy and just the legacy of their survival; characterizes them as hungering conversational style, with as many there was also the more powerful after forbidden fruit because they fascinating anecdotes about life in legacy of experiencing the were unable to conduct their own rural China as about his work. It’s Holocaust. Brecher quotes ones human tests. a real eye-opener on both counts. survivor whose comments are It is a powerful book and, lest instructive in this regard: “You we feel smug, we must remember never in the entire world could that all sides engaged in understand, unless you were there. experiments with biological There was no day or night. There weapons. The Japanese did so on was no happiness, just fear. There the assumption that, since they was nothing but the next thirty were prohibited by international seconds.” Living with the prospect law, they must be useful weapons.

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General Stephen Elliott Welch of the Hampton Renegades: Hitler’s Englishmen by Adrian Legion by John Michael Priest, ed. .... 9 Weale ...... 2 Big Fleet Actions: Tsushima, Jutland, Waterloo: New Perspectives, The Great The Royal Canadian Air Force At War Philippine Sea by Eric Grove ...... 13 Battle Reappraised by David Hamilton- 1939-1945 by Larry Milberry and Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in Williams ...... 16 Hugh Halliday ...... 15 the Peaceable Kingdom by Graeme Schindler’s Legacy: True Stories of the Mount ...... 12 1914-1939 List Survivors by Elinor J. Brecher 19 Canada’s Maritime Tradition: Past, Sitting It Out: A World War II POW Present and Future by Peter T. Haydon American Mennonites and the Great War, Memoir by David Westheimer ...... 4 and Katherine D. Orr., eds...... 13 1914-1918 by Gerlof D. Homan ...... 2 Soviet Documents on the Use of the War Count Not the Dead: The Popular Image The First World War in British History by Experience, vol. 3, Military of the German Submarine by Michael Stephen Constantine, Maurice W. Kirby Operations 1941-42 by Harold S. L. Hadley ...... 6 and Mary B. Rose, eds...... 8 Orenstein, trans...... 18 A Dictionary of Military History and the Gentlemen Volunteers: The Story of The Splendid Hundred: The True Story of Art of War by Andre Corvisier, ed...... 5 American Ambulance Drivers in the Canadians Who Flew in the Greatest Great Captains Unveiled by Basil Liddell Great War, August 1914-September Air Battle of World War II by Arthur Hart ...... 13 1918 by Arlen Hansen ...... 2 Bishop ...... 14 Highland Soldier, 1820-1920 by Diana M. The Origins of the Russian Civil War by A Tail Gunner’s Tale by Gerald E. Henderson ...... 11 Geoffrey Swain ...... 15 McDowell ...... 4 One Village, One War, 1914-1945: A Women, Men and the Great War: An Ten Minutes to Buffalo: The Story of Thinking About the Literature of Anthology of Stories by Trudi Tate, Germany’s Great Escaper by Ulrich Stone by Douglas How ...... 9 ed...... 7 Steinhilper and Peter Osborne ...... 7 Robert Capa: Photographs ...... 6 Women’s Poetry of the First World War by Torpedoes in the Gulf: Galveston and the Sherwood Lett: His Life and Times by Nosheen Khan ...... 7 U-Boats, 1942-1943 by Melanie Reginald H. Roy ...... 3 Wiggins ...... 8 The Silence of Memory: Armistice Day, 1939-1945 Vertrauensmann: Man of Confidence. The 1919-46 by Adrian Gregory ...... 9 Story of an American Ex-Prisoner of World War II by Henry Kaufman ...... 4 Social History of the Machine Gun by Agent for the Resistance: A Belgian John Ellis ...... 2 Saboteur in World War II by Herman Wen Bon: A Naval Air Intelligence Officer Behind Japanese Lines in China by Timelines of War: A Chronology of Bodson ...... 10 Byron R. Winborn ...... 19 Warfare from 100,000 BC to the Atlas of Nazi Germany: A Political, Present by David Brownstone and Economic & Social Anatomy of The What Difference Did the War Make? Irene Franck ...... 6 Third Reich by Michael Freeman .... 10 by Brian Brivati and Harriet Jones, eds...... 4 We Can’t Even March Straight: The Barbed-Wire College: Re-educating Homosexuality in the British Armed German POWs in the US during The Years of Victory, 1944-45 by Richard Forces by Edmund Hall ...... 16 World War II by Ron Robin ...... 18 Collier ...... 14 Who’s Who in Military History from 1453 Black Yesterdays: The Argylls’ War by to the Present Day by John Keegan Robert L. Fraser, ed...... 1 Post-1945 and Andrew Wheatcroft ...... 5 Censorship Reports on the Jewish Community during the Second World British Intelligence, Strategy and the Pre-1914 War by Claude Beauregard ...... 5 Cold War, 1945-51 by Richard J. A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hürtgen Aldrich, ed...... 17 The Alberta Field Force of 1885 by Jack Forest and the Roer River Dams, Encyclopedia of the Persian Gulf War by Dunn ...... 4 1944-45 by Edward G. Miller ...... 12 Mark Grossman ...... 18 Black Flag: Guerrilla Warfare on the Double Deception: Stalin, Hitler and the For Heroic or Meritorious Achievement: Western Border, 1861-1865 by Invasion of Russia by James Barros The American Bronze Star Medal Thomas Goodrich ...... 10 and Richard Gregor ...... 13 Awarded to United Kingdom and Commonwealth Forces for the Korean The Commissioned Sea Officers of the The Enemy on our Doorstep: The German War by Frederic L. Borch III and Royal Navy, 1660-1815 by David Attacks at Bell Island, NFLD, 1942 by William R. Westlake ...... 5 Syrett and R.L. DiNardo, eds...... 18 Steve Neary ...... 3 Significant Incident: Canada’s Army, the Death At Snake Hill: Secrets From a War Factories of Death: Japanese Biological Airborne, and the Murder in Somalia of 1812 Cemetery by Paul Litt, Ronald Warfare, 1932-45, and the American by David Bercuson ...... 15 F. Williamson and Joseph A. Cover-Up by Sheldon H. Harris ...... 19 Whitehorne ...... 3 The Flower Class Corvette Agassiz by Wings of Change: Canadian Airmen in Europe by Stephen Will ...... 15 The Fall of Napoleon: The Final Betrayal John McKay and John Harland ...... 6 by David Hamilton-Williams ...... 16 The Forgotten Battle: Overloon and the The Fall of the Asante Empire: The Maas Salient, 1944-45 by A. Korthals Hundred Year War for Africa’s Gold Alter and N.K.C.A. in’t Veld ...... 11 Coast by Robert B. Egerton ...... 17 Full Circle: The Long Way Home from Book Supplement Review Editor Falkirk or Paradise! The Battle of Falkirk Canada by Ulrich Steinhilper and Peter Jonathan F. Vance by Geoff B. Osborne ...... 7 Muir, 17 January 1746 Contributing Reviewers: Bailey ...... 3 A History of the Holocaust: From Ideology Hard Marching Every Day: The Civil War to Annihilation by Rita Steinhardt Michael Bechthold, Paul D. Dickson, Letters of Private Wilbur Fisk, 1861- Botwinick ...... 12 Leonard Friesen, Barry Gough, Dean 1865 by Emil and Ruth Rosenblatt, Huryo: The Emperor’s Captives by F. Oliver, Brian Rawding, Michael eds...... 9 Geoffrey Blain ...... 8 Sibalis, Jonathan F. Vance, William Mounted Infantry at War by Captain A Knave Among Knights in their Spitfires H. Wiley, Lee Windsor. Stratford St. Leger ...... 8 by Jerry Billing ...... 7 Revolution Downeast: The War for Milton Remembers World War II, 1939- American Independence in Maine by 1945 by Ken Lamb ...... 1 James S. Leamon ...... 12

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