Trip down Memory Lane: Avalon Hill's Tobruk war game

I recently stumbled upon the old Avalon Hill wargame Tobruk, published in 1975.  It was the very early pre-cursor to Squad Leader, introducing tank vs tank combat.  This game brought back great memories for me as this was the first wargame I had ever played as a kid.  My best friend at the time came from a wealthy family who could afford expensive and exotic board games like Tobruk.  I recalled playing it in class during the last day of school for 2-3 school terms with my best friend and other classmates.  We had a great time trying to see which tanks would blow up which tanks.  The thinly armoured Italian tanks would always be easy meat whereas the Matilda tank was as impenetrable as a Tiger tank back then.

So, I decided to buy the game for old time's sake and am now the proud owner of a pretty good copy of the game and look forward to many hours replaying the scenarios which my buddies and I have played so many decades ago!  In a sense, this is also an ode to the much venerated and not forgotten great wargame company, Avalon Hill.  I still have several of their games and each one has great memories of terrific after-school and weekend battles with pals from days gone by.

Colin
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A Woman in Berlin

During the end of WW2, over 100,000 Berlin women were raped by the Russian soldiers.  In this book written by a German journalist of the time, she records her personal experiences of 8 weeks during April-May of 1945 including her own personal rapes by various Russian soldiers.  She writes about life in the bomb shelters in the days leading up to the Russian attack on Berlin and about what life was like in the immediate weeks after the Russians had conquered the city.  She also writes about how the city was basically populated only by women and children and how the stature of men had considerably been diminished in the eyes of them.  She seem to scorn the German men, the ones who were the real "weaker sex"  who were not there to protect the women and children from the invaders and see the women as the strong ones who had to fend for themselves and their children.  Because of the absence of men, the women were much more vulnerable to rape by the Russian soldiers.

Colin
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Battle Stripes - British Army Sergeant Training TV Show

In 1999, Sky TV created a series called "Battle Stripes", a program showing how the modern British Army selects some of the best NCO's in the world, its sergeants.  I highly recommend the show to anyone who may have a chance to see them.

UK / Sky One / Granada 13x30 minute episodes 1999 (21 September - 14 December /  Tuesday 9:00 pm )
Executive Producer John Farren. Director Paul Boniff. Music Rob Lane
Series following a group of would be British Army Sargeants. Completing a Platoon Sergeants Battle Course in South Wales.
Narrator Luis Mellis.

 
Colin

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Cool restored Jadgpanther firing its gun

Colin
Combat Films and Books
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Great Me109 gun camera footage -- with surprising ending!

Colin
Combat Films and Books
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Alternate Opinions in Books

When reading about any historical topic, it is prudent to read without prejudice ie. without first having decided what your opinion is about that particular topic.

This point was driven home to me recently when I started reading "Albert Speer: The End of a Myth" by Matthias Schmidt.

For years, I have had a very positive opinion of Albert Speer, the former Nazi Minister of Armaments who at the end of the war was the only Nazi who regretted his Nazi role and seemed penitent about his involvement.

However, this book by Schmidt exposes that Speer may have carefully constructed an image of himself as being a technocrat who had very little political ambitions, who was more interested in serving the interests of Germany rather than his own or Nazi interests.

As reviewed by noted historian William Shirer:

"A most valuable antidote to Speer's memoirs ("Inside the Third Reich"). I was somewhat taken aback at how many reviewers of Speer's books took the man at his word, unable to see how self-serving he had been. This book should correct many false impressions. At the same time, it is fair to Speer, recognizing his achievements but exploding the myth."

I highly recommend the Schmidt book to anyone who has either read any of Speer's books or seen his interviews in various war documentaries.

Colin
Combat Films and Books
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Using Goggle Maps as a Military Atlas

One of the most enjoyable discoveries I've made is to use Google Maps in conjunction with my military book reading.

This week, I was reading "The Western Front 1944: Memoirs of a Panzer Lehr Officer". When I came across a line drawn military map, I looked up the modern equivalent on Google Maps (using the "satellite" button to get a visual) to get an idea of what the terrain looked like, the relative position and distance of various landmarks and the geographical profile of the land (using the "terrain" button to see different elevations).

It was a tremendous help to enable me to visualize the battle situation for the German and US forces during Operation Cobra.

I would highly recommend this tool to any military book reader.

Caveat: some of the landmarks would have been changed since WW2 so you have to take that into consideration. For example, in some parts of Normandy, the bocage countryside has been removed.

Google Maps

Colin
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The Irony of the Nazi Master Race

Hitler had boasted about his vision of a German master race, led by strong shouldered young men with blond hair.

The irony of that was that so many members of the Nazi inner circle were not strong blond men but were dark-haired men like Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, Bormann, Speer, Hess...

I don't know if any of these men would have qualified racially to become members of the Nazi's own Waffen SS.

Irony, indeed.

Colin
Combat Films and Books
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Books Published by German Soldiers

I highly recommend that military enthusiasts read as many primary source books about WW2 as possible ie. books by the soldiers who actually fought in the war.

Here is a list of books written by German soldiers and leaders from WW2:

1. Field Marshal Erich von Manstein: "Lost Victories"
2. Field Marshal Kesselring: "Memoirs"
3. Field Marshal Keitel: "Memoirs"
4. Grand Admiral and President Karl Donitz: "Twenty Years and Ten Days"
5. Grand Admiral Erich Raedar: "My Life" (also titled "Grand Admiral")
6. Der Fuhrer Adolf Hitler: "Mein Kampf"
7. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel: "Rommel Papers"
8. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel: "Infantry Attacks"
9. Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels: "The Goebbels Diaries"
10. Minister of Armament Albert Speer: "Inside the Third Reich"
11. Albert Speer: "Spandau: The Secret Diaries"
12. SS Major General Kurt "Panzermeyer" Meyer: "Grenadiers"
13. SS Panzer man Willy Fey: "Armor Battles of the Waffen SS: 1943-45"
14. SS Panzer man Otto Carius: "Tigers in the Mud"
15. Wehrmacht Chief of Staff of the Army and Inspector-general of Armored Troops Heinz Guderian: "Achtung Panzer!"
16. Heinz Guderian: "Panzer Leader"
17. General Hasso von Manteuffel: "The 7th Armoured Division"
18. General of the Luftwaffe Fighter Arm Adolf Galland: "The First and the Last"
19. Air Commodore Johannes Steinhoff: "Messerschmitts over Sicily"
20. Johannes Steinhoff: "The Final Hours"
21. SS Standartenfuhrer Otto Skorzeny: "Skorzeny's Special Missions"
22. Adolf Hitler: "Hitler's Second Book"
23. General of the Luftwaffe Fighters Adolf Galland: "The First and the Last"
24. General Bayerlein: "The Private Afrikakorps Photograph Collection of Rommel's Chief-of-Staff"
25. General F.W. von Mellenthin: "Panzer Battles"
26. von Mellenthin: "German Generals of World War II"
27. General Siegfried Westphal: "The German Army in the West"
28. Heinz Schmidt: "With Rommel in the Desert"
29. General Siefried Westphal: "Answers to Questions asked General Westphal"
30. General Westphal: "The Fatal Decisions"
31. SS Radio Operator Karl Metzger: "Honor Denied"
32. General Walter Warlimont: article The Decision in the Mediterranean 1942 in "The Decisive Battles of WWII: The German View", edited by H.A. Jacobsen, 1965
33. General Warlimont: "Inside Hitler's Headquarters 1939-1945" (in German?)
34. General Bayerlein: "From Afrikakorps to Panzer Lehr"

Colin
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Honor Denied book - interesting info about Rommel

As you know, I've been reading Honor Denied, written by an SS radio operator (please contact me if you are interested in buying this book). It has been most interesting reading a book by a radio operator because he has shared about the communications he has sent on behalf of the officers he has served, in particular, Field Marshal Edwin Rommel, the Desert Fox.

In the earlier chapters of the book, he served as Rommel's radio operator during the Battle of France. It has been interesting to read about the tactics Rommel employed to defeat the Allies. In Belgium, he got his 7th Panzer Division and Das Reich Regiment to weave in and out across the Belgian-French border in a seemingly lost and unfocused fashion. But the author reveals that Rommel did this to confuse the Allies as to his intentions and caused them to unconcentrate their forces and disperse them across Belgium as they tried to cover various locations which could be Rommel's target. As a result, Rommel was able to then turn back around and push his forces through gaps opened up in the Allied lines due to this "unconcentration" and to refocus his forces on the now weaker Allied concentrations and defeat them.

The author also wrote about Rommel calculating where the Allies would concentrate their forces and how Rommel deliberately maneuvered to avoid these concentrations to instead, find the Allied logistical rear areas and attacked those locations instead. The author contrasted this strategy with those of von Manstein who chose to attack Allied concentrations at Leige and who got tied down in heavy fighting there while Rommel dashed through Belgium by avoiding Allied troop concentrations.

More on this book as I continue reading! Panzers Forward!

Colin
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Why so many German war biographies?

It's interesting to me as to why there are so many war autobiographies published by former German Wehrmacht and SS soldiers but almost nothing by Allied troops. Most Allied autobiographies seem to be by ex-RAF pilots. As a result, we know a great deal about the German experiences of WW2 and comparatively very little of Allied personal war experiences. (I stand to be corrected if a reader can direct to a great number of Allied autobiographies).

I think this imbalance is a great shame since our Allied forces must have fought just as courageously as the Germans and their war accounts will just be as interesting to us. In recent years, the success of TV shows like Band of Brothers have resulted in a few US airborne autobiographies which have been most welcomed.

Still, I would love to read more autobiographies by British airborne, British commandos, Allied tank crews etc.

Perhaps the reason there have been so many more German autobiographies is because of the great interest we have in the German war experiences; this may lead to publishers encouraging more ex-German troops to publish their accounts. As well, perhaps the Germans feel the need to defend their war records (especially former SS troops who wish to distance themselves from SS atrocities) or apologize in some way for their roles in WW2.

It is most encouraging to read recent books like Panzer Gunner, an autobiography from a former German panzer gunner in his senior years, finally sharing his war experiences. It is great to be reading fresh material even so many decades after the end of WW2.

I only hope that our senior war veterans, whether British, Canadian, American, Polish, French, Russian etc., will be encouraged to publish their war experiences before God calls them away from this earth. Their war experiences are a legacy that would be greatly treasured by us who are fortunate enough to be spared the horrors of that tragic history.

As well, I think they would be doing their deceased fellow soldiers a great service to ensure that the Allied sacrifices are also remembered and appreciated.

Colin
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Ever wondered about "Sieg Heil!"?

Like me, have you ever wondered about what the Germans were saying when they raised their arms to Hitler and shouted "Sieg Heil!"?

Well, wonder no more: "Sieg Heil!" literally means "Hail to Victory!" Presumably, they were saluting to the growth of German military might and the restoration of her military and European prestige.

Colin
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Books I'm Reading: Honor Denied & Panzer Gunner

Since I have a military bookstore, I'm constantly reading and evaluating new books, looking for great books to recommend my customers who are military history enthusiasts like myself. It's wonderful work and I enjoy it quite a bit! I usually have 6 books which I'm reading at any one time.

Among the various wonderful books which I'm reading right now are Honor Denied and Panzer Gunner.

Honor Denied was written by an ex-Waffen SS radio operator of the 2nd SS Das Reich Division. For a while, he was posted as Field Marshal Rommel's personal radio operator, relaying his battle instructions to his unit commanders. The book is entitled Honor Denied because the writer believes that the ex-Waffen SS soldiers have all been painted with the broad brush of discrimination, that they have all been treated like the concentration camp SS and that their battle achievements have not been given their due (I'm not sure if this is true since Waffen SS books and militaria are among the most sought after by military history enthusiasts). He also wrote of how he became disillusioned with Nazism and how he started to fight the war to survive, not to defend Nazi Socialism anymore. I've only just started reading the book and what is really interesting in the early chapters are his interaction with Rommel, writing about how Rommel interacted with him and others on a day-to-day basis, describing how Rommel conducted battle from his command tank (unlike many other German generals of the day) and what sort of radio messages he would relay for Rommel. More on this book in the days to follow as I continue reading further.

Panzer Gunner is a wonderfully unique book in that it's a story of how a German-Canadian boy found himself shipped to Germany by his parents just before war broke out in Europe and how he was drafted into the German army and found himself fighting as a Panzer gunner with the 7th Panzer Division (same as Rommel's famed division from 1940's Invasion of France). After surviving the war, his Canadian citizenship was recognized and he was able to return to Canada and finally spent 19 years as a teacher before retiring. Around the time of his retirement, he finally decided to reveal his WW2 activities to the public. His story reminded me of a history teacher I had in high school who reportedly fought in the Wehrmacht and survived the war with the help of a Ukrainian family who hid him. He then made his way through the Black Sea and into Canada. I wish I was able to ask him for his war stories. Panzer Gunner promises to be a wonderful read and a quick review of the chapters show how he goes into detail about his training as a Panzer gunner, including reproduction of some of his panzer gunnery training materials and techniques. In the early chapters, he talks about his early life in Germany as a young boy and what pre-war Germany was like.

Both of these are marvellous books and I would encourage everyone to include these books in their collections. If you are interested in getting a copy of Honor Denied, please contact me.

More on these 2 books in the days ahead as I continue reading them...

Colin
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Men at Arnhem

When I think about Operation Market-Garden, I've always thought of the view presented by the classic 70's movie, A Bridge Too Far.

It wasn't until recently that I thought that it would be interesting to read more books about the battle and learn more about it.

One of the first books I read was Men at Arnhem by Geoffrey Powell, an officer of the British airborne forces at Arnhem. He was among the main body of British airborne troops who landed far away from Arnhem (according to the original plan!) He recounts their attempts to reinforce Frost's forces holding the Arnhem bridge. As we know now, the British airborne troops were in trouble right from the beginning, due to their poor mobility and being landed so far away from the bridge. In a very engrossing read, Powell writes about the desperate attempts of his troops to push through to the bridge and how they were quickly stymied by strong German forces. He writes about how men would suddenly be killed around him and about the declining morale of the British troops as the airborne troops starting running out of ammo, rations and other essential supplies.

This book provided really interesting information about the state of the British airborne troops trying to reinforce the bridge and their thoughts about the British XXX Corps who were supposed to relief them by land. As well, there are interesting sections about how the British and Polish airborne troops interacted (the Polish troops did not speak much English).

It's a book I highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about Arnhem. This book is considered one of the best squad level combat books. Interesting footnote: originally, this book was published under the pen name of "Tom Angus" in the 70's and the names of his soldiers and officers were all changed. In this newer version, all the correct names have been reinstated, creating a greater sense of realism.

Another book about Arnhem which I'm currently reading is 'It Never Snows in September' by Robert Kershaw. This book is most interesting because it presents Operation Market-Garden from the German viewpoint, based on German interviews and battle reports. You very quickly learn why British XXX Corps took so long to reach Arnhem -- the width of the traffic corridor was extremely narrow and was cut off by German troops numerous times as the Germans fought determinedly against the airborne forces trying to keep the passageway open. It really shows how ambitious Monty's plan was!

Colin
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The Courage of Our Veterans

As I watch movies like Saving Private Ryan or read my military history autobiographies from war veterans, I realize more and more what courageous lives these men led when they went to war in World War 2.

War sounds positively frightening. It really is amazing that anyone survived such a meat-grinding experience! Everyone must surely have suffered from some kind of post-traumatic stress syndrome -- how can you not if you see a soldier's head getting blown off and your buddy getting shredded to pieces by shrapnel.

I read Messerschmitts over Sicily last year and German ace, Johannes Steinhoff (who later joined General of Luftwaffe Fighter Command Adolf Galland's famous Me262 Squadron of Aces), wrote of how he blew a pilot's head off with his Me109 cannon. Gruesome stuff. In air combat, it can be very personal if you get to see the enemy's face before you shoot him down. It must be frightening to have someone chasing your tail, especially if you realize that he's a much better pilot than you and that you WILL be shot down by the other pilot.

I visited the Normandy beaches in the mid-1990's with my brother when we did a battlefield tour of Europe. We went to Gold Beach: beautiful wide sandy beach where the tide goes out really far, exposing a beautiful huge stretch of sand landing up to the seaside town. Standing at the edge of the water, I realize just how exposed I was on that beach and how far away I was from the seaside town. I can't imagine running across that beach early in the morning, fully laden with a heavy combat pack and under fire all the way! How did our war veterans do it?? They deserve our utmost respect and admiration. I guess it was probably fear. I guess it was probably because they had nowhere else to go. I can only imagine how tempting it would have been to cower behind any wreck or beach obstacle because the thought of crossing that bullet ridden beach must just have been terrifying.

What would I have done in their place?

Where would one find the courage to be courageous? It would have taken so much fortitude just to be brave and run the lead gauntlet to the seaside seawall much less find the fortitude to be courageous and risk one's life further by attacking the German bunkers. What a generation of men that was!

As that generation of war veterans die away, we should always remember to thank them whenever we see any of them. I always appreciate hearing their stories in the media during Rememberance Day (in Canada) or Veterans' Day (in the US) memorials.

This is where I find it so engrossing to read these war autobiographies, to read the testimonies of these war veterans as to how they experienced the war, what terrors they felt, what fears they had, what hopes and dreams they harboured then, where they found their individual courage, how they survived... Truth if stranger than fiction, some say. I find truth (war autobiographies) to be more interesting than war fiction or any other fiction.



View of Gold Beach from the surrounding cliffs where the Germans would have been! This is where the British landed.















View of Omaha Beach from the English Channel



On Omaha Beach. This is where the US 1st Division (Big Red One) landed.



View of Omaha Beach from a surviving German bunker today



Juno Beach. This is where the Canadians landed.

Colin
Combat Films and Books

How Can Terrorists be Defeated?

Canada has been fighting in Afghanistan along with the US and other NATO countries. To date, it has been unable to secure a decisive victory against the Taliban, based out of Pakistan.

Non-conventional forces have certainly found that it is inadvisable to confront conventional forces, especially powerful conventional forces like the US, head-on. So they resort to effective hit-and-run guerilla (now called "terrorist") tactics. The terrorists adopt the motto of the popular TV show: "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast". Outlast also means Out Last -- they'll hang in there till the bitter end.

What NATO is experiencing in Afghanistan and Iraq appears to be no different than what the Americans experienced during the Vietnam War in the 60's and 70's. The difference is that the Viet Cong was supported by the conventional army (the famous NVA or North Vietnamese Army) and the established government of North Vietnam.

NVA's General Giap probably put it best when in his book, Victory At Any Cost, (a very telling book title indeed!), he wrote that the Vietnamese were prepared to pay whatever cost they had to pay to defeat the French and Americans. They realized that against a powerful conventional force like the US, they would incur substantial losses but they were wholly committed to the Cause and prepared to pay the Cost.

The suicide bombers of Iraq certainly show the level of commitment of the Iraqi terrorists to their cause.

In many of these cases, the conventional forces are foreign troops, not indigenous to the region; therefore, their familiarity with the environment and love of that country is quite low. The terrorists exploit this disadvantage by strategizing to outlast the competition. They don't necessarily have to be the best or even good -- they just have to be the last one on the battlefield.

However, all military and paramilitary forces must be supported by adequate logistics. In this case, someone is feeding the Taliban and the Iraqi terrorists with food, weapons, money, hiding places etc. To win, the conventional forces have to cut off this logistical supply. And they may have to cheat to do so. They may have to undertake 'guerrilla' style tactics to hit the terrorists at home. Just as the terrorist bombs put fear into the hearts of conventional forces because they explode unexpectedly and seemingly almost anywhere, the conventional forces must make the terrorists fear their own home environment as well. Infiltrate their camps and explode bombs, poison troops etc.

This logistical battle would probably have to be long-term. The only force realistically capable of outlasting the terrorists are military forces of the indigenous populations. Unless there is that support and motivation from the local populations to defeat the terrorists, there really is very little chance of the conventional forces ever defeating the terrorists.

Colin

Combat Films and Books

Building a Military Book Collection

Building a military book collection is a lot of fun!

A good collection should contain at least the following categories:

1. Reference books
2. Primary sources - ie. autobiographies
3. Secondary sources - ie. well-written analysis of primary source documents

1. REFERENCE BOOKS

Every collection should start with a solid set of reference books eg. a military atlas, reference book on tanks or weapons. These books will help you understand the primary and secondary source books when they make references to battlefield locations or weapons.

2. PRIMARY SOURCES

Primary sources are original documents created by the combatants, either during the historical period or after. Examples of this are German Tiger tank manuals, pilot's manuals and autobiographies. These are extremely interesting and wonderful to have because they give you the best taste of what it must have been like during the battles from eyewitnesses or key players eg. Field Marshal von Manstein's "Lost Victories" or RAF pilot Guy Gibson's "Enemy Coast Ahead". However, most such authors will be biased towards putting their actions in the most favourable light and will not provide you with a balanced perspective. One way to counter this is to read primary source texts from both sides of the same battle and to read different eyewitness accounts from one side to see where they all seem to agree. This agreement will likely be "the truth" of what actually happened.

3. SECONDARY SOURCES

Secondary sources are usually written by military historians who provide a post-war analysis of the battles or personalities in question eg. Mark Zuehlke's "Gothic Line" or a biography of Field Marshal Montgomery. These books are usually written by military experts and give very good broad and detailed perspective of a battle or personality and tend to be much less biased than authors of primary source texts. However, everyone is vulnerable to bias and books written by US military historians would likely generate a favourable opinion of US conduct of the war.

As you start to look for books to add to your collection, bear the following in mind:

Area of Interest

What is your area of interest? German Panzer units? SS troops? Special forces? US forces? Modern armies? Think of what books have interested you the most over the years and you will quickly realize what is your area of interest. This can be the initial focus of your collection. This does not mean that you should limit your collection only to this area; it just means that most of your books would likely be for that particular area. I think most book collections will have a core focus with other supplemental books for areas in which the collectors have a minor interest eg. an avid Panzer collector may also have a few books about the RAF or U-boat campaigns.

Quality, not Quantity

You can build a high quality military book collection with a few well-chosen books; it is the quality of the collection that matters more than the quantity. It is easy enough to rapidly build a large collection as there are countless military history books, new and used. It is a little more difficult to hunt down and buy only the books that offer a unique or accurate perspective of a battle or military personality.

Softcover or Hardcover or other Media Formats

If you can afford it, buy the hardcover editions as they a) are usually first editions, b) are more elaborate editions with lots more photos or illustrations and c) will last a lot longer. However, if you have a limited budget, buy the cheaper soft cover editions. With the money you save, you can buy more books for your collection. Still, I would recommend that you buy at least a handful of large format, oversized hardcover editions of books in your area of interest eg. JJF's "Jochen Peiper" or RZM's "Platz Der Liebstandarte" are marvellous examples of incredibly collectible books, filled with hundreds of large photos. These books will really give your collection character and you will have a few books you treasure more than the others.

You should also consider buying CD MP3 versions of some books either to supplement your hard copy or as a stand-alone. These editions are wonderful to listen to during your long work commute if you can't find much time for leisure reading. The voice narrators are usually very, very good and you can listen to an entire book a lot quicker than reading it yourself. An excellent example of this is "The Hitler Book" in MP3 format.

You should also consider filling out your collection with documentary and movie DVD's which cover your areas of interest. DVD's add a fun element to your military history collection and present information difficult to convey in books eg. gun camera footage. Popular DVD's are the classic Battle of Arnhem movie "A Bridge Too Far" and the fabulous documentary "World At War".

Happy to Help!

This is a brief overview of some essential things to consider when building your military book collection and is by no means exhaustive of all possible ideas. These ideas were drawn from my own experience of building my own military book collection. I would be thrilled to help you build your collection by answering any questions you may have, making book recommendations to you or helping you find the books you want.

Combat Films and Books is run by me, someone who enjoys reading military history and can give you some informed assistance with finding the books you want or giving you an opinion about other books, unlike larger booksellers whose staff haven't the foggiest idea about the military books they sell.

Feel free to browse my Ebay Store for books, check back regularly to see our new additions and sign up for our email list!

Colin
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At the Start Line

Hi everyone!

I'm a huge military history enthusiast with an Ebay store selling awesome military books and DVD's:

Combat Films and Books

I love reading and discussing about military history and thought that I would set up a blog to give me a forum for my pastime.

Over the coming weeks, I shall be sharing my thoughts about all things military.

If you're a military enthusiast, too, I hope that you'll drop in and have a chat with me and comment on my posts!

Ok, I'm at the Start Line now and must mount up my tank to ride into the battle field. See you out there, boys!

Colin