SONS OF THE CENOTAPH: 2/8: 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
🗓️ 25 May 2024
⏱️ 10 minutes
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Summary
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.
1944 NORMANDY
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBSi on the world. I'm John Batcher with James Holland, the historian. |
| 0:06.0 | Writing most recently of Normandy again, but from the point of view of one regiment, |
| 0:12.0 | the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, organized as a National |
| 0:17.1 | Guard-like unit, but now because it is a veteran of the North African campaign and is equipped with Sherman |
| 0:25.8 | tanks, American built Sherman tanks. It is part of the front line landing on the British Gold Beach, June 6, 1944, and also part of the genius |
| 0:40.1 | that we're going to get to shore not by having the landing craft run up on the beach |
| 0:46.0 | and lower the ramp and flow out. No, we're going to swim to shore with our tanks prepared to float 7,000 yards to the beach and then |
| 0:57.7 | start firing immediately. |
| 1:00.1 | James, it always struck me as an unusual idea, and what you evidence in this is that B&C Squadron |
| 1:08.0 | recognize right away that the swell makes it impossible. |
| 1:11.8 | Did everybody recognize that all the other tanks who were |
| 1:14.8 | supposed to swim to shore? Did they also run as close as they could? Yeah yeah and |
| 1:21.0 | that's not really the choice of the tank so much. |
| 1:24.4 | That's more the decision of the of the naval personnel. |
| 1:28.0 | I mean, I should just say for your, for American listeners that a squadron, a tank squadron in the British Army is the same as a tank company in a, you know, in an armored battalion, armored regiment in the U.S. Army. |
| 1:41.0 | So obviously, you know, when they're thinking about this this invasion |
| 1:44.9 | you know what everyone's imagining is it's summer the seas are calm there's no wind |
| 1:49.1 | it's like a mill pond and it's all going to be fine so at that point 7,000 yards in a swimming tank, a duplex drive tank. So what you do is you have a Sherman |
| 1:57.1 | tank which weighs 30 tons. Everything about that suggests that it shouldn't be able to swim, but you have this |
| 2:01.2 | canvas, this waterproof canvas surround, and it |
| 2:07.7 | floats and it's got a propeller on the drive rather than, which is directly to the propeller rather than the, rather than the, which is directly to the propeller rather than the, |
| 2:14.0 | rather than the wheels, that drive the tracks. |
... |
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