Current Reading: October 2022

Currently working my way through Flashpoints: Air Warfare in the Cold War. In some ways a problematic title, linking the potted histories of the minor conflicts covered in the book to the Cold War is perhaps drawing a long bow, though I guess the aircraft types and tactics are contemporaneous. From airstrikes in a Westland Wyvern (Suez), to stooging around equatorial Africa in a SAAB Tunnan (Congo) or shooting down Sabres in a Folland Gnat (Indo-Pak Wars), amongst other tales, with the accompanying photos and maps, there's enough here to hold interest.

Finished up The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, an examination of whether the Japanese imperial vision had any political depth beyond formal empire building. The answer is not really, but that didn't prevent collaborators in Burma and the Philippines from trying to lever the political space for real autonomy.

>2 Shrike58:

Is the focus on Burma and the Philippines just the author cutting down coverage to something manageable, or did they stand out somehow from other areas under Japanese occupation?

If you want to be blunt about it, and Yellen is, Rangoon and Manila were less valuable to Tokyo from the perspective of raw materials so they were allowed a longer leash!

>4 Shrike58: And I guess as the war went on and Japanese supply lines were both increasingly overextended and strangled by US navy submarines the last thing you needed was the 'liberated' locals not playing ball.

Rambling through the countryside yesterday I stopped at the Woodend Secondhand bookshop and stumbled across Stewart Wilson's Meteor, Sabre and Mirage in Australian Service and Dakota, Hercules and Caribou in Australian Service so snuffled them up for only eight dollars apiece. Which sent me down the nostalgic path of thinking back over the various adventures I experienced riding in the back of a Herc or a Caribou long ago...

First In, Last Out by John Howard. Howard was in Vietnam in '65, then spent time on the DMZ in Korea. Then back to Vietnam in '72, for the fun and excitement of the Easter Offensive in An Loc.

>7 LamSon: Your post intrigued me... John Howard, apart from being an American paratrooper, was also the name of an Australian Prime Minister (as well as a lesser known Australian actor). The reference to American Airborne Vietnam 1965 also made me think 173rd Airborne, to which 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment was administratively attached. (All these facts of course being mere coincidence!)

It did, however, then cause me to review the 101st service in Vietnam. I note in 1971 that "elements of the division supported Operation Lam Son 719" (Wikipedia).

Another coincidence, or a personal connection? ...

Sorry... I analyse and connect dots for a living!

Finished The First Republican Army, an examination of the ill-fated Union Army of Virginia, particularly from the angle of political motivation.

Currently re-watching episodes of Foyles War, historical fiction rather than military history, but worth revisiting. There's a bundle of episodes free on YouTube if you have an interest or have never watched the series.

Knocked off Commanding the Pacific, an incisive examination of command politics in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, and the evolution of the stable of flag-grade officers in the service.

I’ve gotten started on Trial by Fire, the second volume of Sumption’s history of the Hundred Years’ War. Progress is likely to be slow as I’m reading a few too many books in parallel.

I finished The Background of Our War by The U.S. War Department Bureau of Public Relations. The U.S. War Department (now known rather euphemistically as the Department of Defense) put this book together immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor that finally brought the U.S. into World War 2. The War Department evidently assumed that cadets at the U.S. Military Academy (a.k.a. West Point) needed to be brought up to speed about what had been going on in the world over the past 10 years or so. The book contains a chapter apiece about the war up until that time. The Japanese invasion of China and other pre-Pearl Harbor activities in the Pacific get a couple of chapters, and there's a chapter each for the Nazi invasions of Norway, Poland and France, the Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Atlantic, among others. There will be very little that's new here for folks who are up to speed on their WW2 military history, although the book might serve as a good primer for those who haven't read much on the topic. The writing and explanations are generally clear and straightforward. There's more than a bit of a propaganda element going on here, you won't be surprised to learn. The snafus that were part of the English Army's attempts to help the Norwegians fight off the German invasion and the inept defense of France are both pretty much whitewashed, for example. At any rate, copies of this book were evidently handed out to West Point cadets. It's unclear to me whether there was any further distribution of the book, although if not, the volume does represent a pretty impressive effort all told for such a small (in numbers, anyway) an audience.

Book note: This volume has been on my Military History shelf since 2010. So, a while. I have no memory of purchasing it, but most likely in some thrift shop or antique store somewhere. According to the penciled in price on the inside cover, I paid a dollar for it. According to the inscription written in ink, the book originally belonged to

Cpt. A.W. Brooks
Co. F-1, U.S.M.A

>13 rocketjk: I like a challenge... so decided if I could find out more about Cpt. A.W. Brooks. Co. F-1, U.S.M.A.

From the limited information provided my first thought was that he was an instructor on staff, assuming of course the inscription is contemporary to the publication of the book. Or perhaps a cadet captain(?)

After a broad Google search with no obvious results I did a search of USMA graduates... no success, then tried VMI... no success either. I gather US Army WW2 Service Records were largely destroyed in the 1973 fire... but checked anyway... no cigar, but doesn't appear to have been a WW2 casualty.

Next, the US Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration Gravesite Locator... More interesting!!! 611 "A Brooks" entries, 31 "AW Brooks" entries (ranging across all services from the Civil War to Afghanistan) many of the records including Service and Rank details... I couldn't see anything I felt fitted with the limited information available and the assumptions made above...

Hand-balling this mystery to the next man... for now.

... according to USMA Corps structure, Company F-1 belongs to the Second Battalion of the First Regiment of the Corps.

>14 Bushwhacked: & >15 Bushwhacked: Sincere thanks for all that research. I generally run an online search for whatever names I find transcribed in the books I read, but in this case, given only the initials, it seemed too much of a needle in a haystack. Good on ya for not being daunted in that manner.

"Or perhaps a cadet captain(?)"

That's what I'd assumed. But, yes, maybe an instructor. That would make sense, too.

>16 rocketjk: I'd go with Instructor / Directing Staff, as the Cadet Companies each had assigned an active duty O-3 (Captain) as mentor, plus a senior NCO as assistant.

If he wasn't from USMA or VMI that suggests ROTC or OCS commissioning and neither have publicly searchable alumni databases that I could find.

>17 Bushwhacked: I've enjoyed this discussion about Captain Brooks! Thanks again for all that research.

I was wondering whether you'd like to have my copy of this book. I'm not going to keep it. The cover of the spine was a bit ripped as I began to read it and I was lax about repairing it with tape. Somewhere along the line, the whole spine covering got torn off and lost. My military history shelves are overcrowded, anyway, so this one's on its way out one way or another. If you're interested, just shoot me a private message with your address. I don't mind about the postage. Just let me know.