COUNTER-OFFENSIVE 1944: 4/8: Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment’s Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day, by James Holland
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 28 August 2023
⏱️ 9 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
1944 POW
No known restrictions on publication.
@Batchelorshow
COUNTER-OFFENSIVE 1944: 4/8: Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment’s Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day, by James Holland
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08YS123SZ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
In the annals of World War II, certain groups of soldiers stand out, and among the most notable were the Sherwood Rangers. Originally a cavalry unit in the last days of horses in combat, whose officers were landed gentry leading men who largely worked for them, they were switched to the “mechanized cavalry” of tanks in 1942. Winning acclaim in the North African campaign, the Sherwood Rangers then spearheaded one of the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944; led the way across France; were the first British troops to cross into Germany, and contributed mightily to Germany’s surrender in May 1945.
Inspired by Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers, the acclaimed WWII historian James Holland memorably profiles an extraordinary group of citizen soldiers constantly in harm’s way. Their casualties were horrific, but their ranks immediately refilled. Informed by never-before-seen documents, letters, photographs, and other artifacts from Sherwood Rangers’ families—an ongoing fraternity—and by his own deep knowledge of the war, Holland offers a uniquely intimate portrait of the war at ground level, introducing heretofore unknowns such as the Commanding Officer Stanley Christopherson, the squadron commander John Semken, Sergeant George Dring, and other memorable characters who helped the regiment become the single unit with the most battle honors of any ever in the British army. He weaves the Sherwood Rangers’ exploits into the larger narrative and strategy of the war, and also brings fresh analysis to the tactics used.
Following the Sherwood Rangers’ brutal journey over the dramatic eleven months between D-Day and V-E Day, Holland presents a vivid and original perspective on the endgame of WWII in Europe.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | At TFL, we're making journeys safer for everyone, and that includes improving safety on London's roads. |
| 0:07.4 | That's why we and London boroughs are lowering more speed limits to 20 miles per hour, |
| 0:12.4 | because 20 miles per hour roads have already reduced collisions resulting in deaths or |
| 0:16.8 | serious injuries by 24%. That is how we're making journeys in London safer and brighter for everyone. |
| 0:24.8 | Such TFL improvement plan to the Mayor of London and TFL every journey matters. |
| 0:32.2 | I'm John Batsuit, James Holland, Brothers and Arms. James has just described how a Sherman tank |
| 0:38.2 | can defeat a tiger tank. Now we're about to see how a Sherman tank can push and push. We go to |
| 0:46.2 | the Noirau Valley. James will do it better than I do. And also a commander of, I believe, |
| 0:53.7 | 70 core at this point, a man by the name of, they call him a fantama because he drives them. |
| 1:01.2 | What is Operation Track? Well, this isn't the sort of closing stages of the Normandy campaign. |
| 1:07.7 | It's actually a, it's a Canadian-led operation, pushing down from, from Corn, the Burgos |
| 1:13.0 | ridge down into, to Falaise. And the crossing of the Noirau is a, you know, again, it's on a |
| 1:18.8 | flank action of Operation Trackable. Yeah, so it's a general Thomas's party. He's the commander |
| 1:25.4 | of the 43rd, the 43rd Wessex division. And he's known as Vontoma because Vontoma was a German |
| 1:31.5 | Africa court commander. It was captured at, at Alamaine and shows the show would range as |
| 1:37.6 | Chris and him, nicknamed him Vontoma after that because he's sort of Germanic and he is driving |
| 1:43.8 | in his, his rooflessness, he's always sacking brigade commanders and whatever. They call them |
| 1:49.9 | a butcher at one point, but for a butcher Thomas, you know, he's a very hard man, an utterly |
| 1:54.2 | devoid of any sense of humour whatsoever. But, you know, a good driving general all the same, |
| 1:59.9 | just not a very pleasant man. And they got across the, the Noirau, which is not a particularly wide |
| 2:04.5 | river, but it's, but it's in a deep kind of, a deep river valley, and they got to get across it, |
| 2:09.5 | and they're operating with infantry that they haven't worked with before. And this is always one of |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.