Ray Mears, Heroes of the Telemark passaround

[cccc]

has cccc got this yet?

Nothing arrived yet :-(

c

 

[Matt Weir]

Really sorry chaps I will try to finish the book this week

 

[cccc]

Really chaps I will try to finish the book this week

No worries, enjoy it !!!

I can wait a while

 

[spamel]

This may not mean much on a bushcraft issue but as a point to note the 'Commandos' that were in the two gliders that crashed on Op Freshman - the first failed attempt to get troops in to sabotage the Heavy Water Plant - were not commandos at all. They were in fact Royal Engineers from 9 Field Company (Airborne), at that time part of the newly forming 1st Airborne Division later to be almost destroyed at Arnhem. I discussed this with Ray Mears last year when I was on the Fundamental Bushcraft but he was adamant that they were commandos since that was how they were described in the contemporary documents, of course for security at the time this was the case but the facts are as I stated - if anybody is interested I can supply the names of the men concerned. The 9th Coy were reformed after Arnhem and formed part of the allied relieving forces in Norway in 1945 where they exhumed those bodies that were found and reinterred them in a war grave with full military honours.
If you would like to see one of the heavy water generating cells taken from the hydro plant a Vermork as well as some of the artifacts recovered from the op Freshman mission then visit the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham Kent. If you want to, let me know you are coming and if I'm free I'll show you round as I do voluntary work for the Museum.

Good to see the Corps Museum getting a plug there! And I didn't know about the Sappers being involved. Very interesting. I'm surprised that members from 9 Company would have been refferred to as Commandos though, I don't reckon members of 9 Sqn would be too happy with that! Worth telling my brother who is at 59!!

 

[Matt Weir]

I've finished it. For some reason I found it to be quite hard to get into and it was kind of slow to start up until, well, the last couple of chapters really. I suppose it was Rays writing style but in conclusion - by god those blokes were tough buggers and my respect and admiration to all involved.

I got the sense that the blokes in the field were the only ones with any nouse about them and the top brass just seemed to bluff along with whatever plan they could pluck from a hat. All credit to the boys for pulling it off as they did.

Thanks Jamie, I hope your enjoying Sahara

cccc I will post it tomorrow mate

 

[nickg]

I got the sense that the blokes in the field were the only ones with any nouse about them and the top brass just seemed to bluff along with whatever plan they could pluck from a hat. All credit to the boys for pulling it off as they did.

Thats pretty much the way of it as it was in the early 40's. But you must remember that they were pretty much writing the book as they went. These types of covert LRRP type ops had never really been done before as a military venture. WW1 was a fairly static slow moving event right up till the last few months with no use for real fluidity and no need to think 'outside the box' the way we take for granted - even at the level of Colonel it was pretty much 'control' with little real 'command'. So Churchill's inititive for forming commando and airborne forces not to mention LRDG and SAS operations was actually very radical and 'out there' stuff and to be honest few of the staff officers, who were pretty senior and still firmly in the WW1 mode of thinking, were capable of the kind of vision required to effectively employ these men. gradually they were replaced by the rising stars and things began to focus untill Normandy proved the usefulness of all of these units.

BTW there is a fascinatring book called Fire from the Forest: The SAS Brigade in France, 1944 (Cassell Military Paperbacks) by Roger Ford (Paperback - 6 May 2004) £5.99 from amazon which is a seriously good read on the subject

Cheers
Nick

 

[cccc]

I have the book now, Thanks Matt for sending it over.

Cheers

s

 

[gorilla]

book received from cccc - who is next after me?

 

[Bushcraft4life]

book received from cccc - who is next after me?

I don't think anyone has put their name down for the book, so if anyone wants a read after gorilla put your name down. If not send it back to me . I wouldn't mind another read of it

 

[Matt Weir]

Jamie,

When you finish Sahara can you offer it up for passaround?

 

[Bushcraft4life]

I was going to PM you about doing that Matt, i am about half way through, i kind of got bogged under with books

I'll give it its own thread when i finish it mate

Cheers