COUNTER-OFFENSIVE 1944: 7/8: 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
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🗓️ 28 August 2023
⏱️ 14 minutes
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POWs 1944
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COUNTER-OFFENSIVE 1944: 7/8: 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
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBS Eye on the World. I'm John Baffster. James Holland, the historian, his new |
| 0:09.4 | book is Brothers in Arms, following one legendary tank regiment from D-Day to V-E-Day. |
| 0:16.6 | We're approaching the Seekford Line and then the Rhine River, which is its own barrier |
| 0:22.0 | to the Allied advance towards Germany. James, what was Operation Veritable? |
| 0:28.8 | Yes, so this is the big Canadian army pushed to cross through the Reichsfeld and take the |
| 0:37.1 | towns of Cleve and Gogh, who is instantly with General Bill Simpson's US Knight Army on |
| 0:44.4 | their right-hand flank and Operation Grenade and then close up to the river Rhine. So this is |
| 0:51.8 | clearing the Rhine land to the west of the river Rhine, of the German territory west of the river |
| 0:58.8 | Rhine. And it's a major, major operational, though a lot of British Second Army units are |
| 1:04.6 | transported to the Canadian Army. It is a Canadian Army-led operation of which the |
| 1:08.7 | show would range it apart. And it's just, you know, it's just, what do you get, John, |
| 1:13.4 | is just this sort of mounting sense of the relentlessness of it. I mean, we've touched |
| 1:18.0 | on a point 103 in crossing the Nguarro and Gale, but that's only half of it. I mean, there's a |
| 1:23.6 | whole load of other operations that the show had range is involved in, that we haven't mentioned |
| 1:27.9 | because of time and all the rest of it. It's just relentless. And I think that's the thing that |
| 1:32.8 | really struck me when I was doing this work. And Operation Veritable was a major, major operation. |
| 1:39.2 | And it's very destructive and lots of people get hurt and killed. And yet somehow they just |
| 1:48.8 | keep going. And the other thing that's remarkable about the show would range is they never seem |
| 1:53.2 | to lose sight of their humanity, you know, and that's why just after capturing Cleve and, |
| 1:59.0 | you know, the ruins of this ancient medieval city, they're going out the other side. And |
| 2:03.2 | Stanley Christophus notes in his diary that he's seen his first snow drop. And I just think it's, |
| 2:08.1 | you know, how can you not applaud a man like that who, despite all the huge weights of responsibility |
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