As the blurb on the book cover has it, “Operation Mincemeat” by Ben Macintyre is ” the true spy story that changed the course of World War II .” I am not quite sure whether it did that. However, it cannot be denied that this amazing true story details how the Germans were deceived into believing that the Allies would attack Greece, when they actually stormed Sicily in July 1943. This was immensely significant at that time as it was the first assault by Allied troops on what was known as Hitler’s Fortress Europe. Continue reading ““Operation Mincemeat” by Ben Macintyre”
Tag: World War II
“Shadow Over The Atlantic” (The Luftwaffe and the U-Boats: 1943-45) is pretty much the story of Fernaufklarungsgruppe 5 of the Luftwaffe tasked to provide surveillance of the Allied convoys in the Atlantic and inform the German Navy’s U-boats packs about their movements. Admiral Karl Doenitz, the creator of the U-boat fleets, realized the value of air reconnaissance and surveillance far more than his counterparts in the Luftwaffe did. He knew they could be a potent weapon which could give timely information to his U-boat commanders of enemy shipping, their numbers, composition and direction. This would enable him to assign the nearest U-boat pack to attack the convoy. Continue reading ““Shadow Over The Atlantic” by Robert Forsyth”
The outcome of World War II changed on June 6, 1944 with the start of the much awaited Allied Invasion of Europe. That day went down in history as ” D-Day”. Many books have been written about the tumultuous events of that period. They have described the strategies adopted by the military planners and experts, the contributions made by Allies of many nationalities and naturally of the battles that followed the invasion of Normandy. What sets Jonathan Mayo’s “D-Day” apart is that it describes incidents relating to the battles on that day on a virtual minute-by-minute basis. The blurb describes it so well: “One historic day, hundreds of unforgettable stories.” Continue reading ““D- Day”: by Jonathan Mayo”
A couple of weeks ago, when I read the date on my newspaper I remembered that on June 6, 1944, the first of the Allied troops had landed on the beachhead at Normandy. This was a date no Second World War buff, like me, could ever forget.
Only today, I came across these awesome hitherto unpublished pictures taken by “Life” photographer, Frank Scherschel in an article in The Daily Mail. Memories are funny things. One thing leads to another and my mind was soon flooded by memories of that classic movie, “The Longest Day”. Continue reading “Authors I Admired: Cornelius Ryan”
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 