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The Long Road Home by Cederberg is a simple memoir about an infantryman's time in Italy. Goes into some details about ground combat, life behind the frontlines, etc. Mission Accomplished by Frank Mares is the story of a Czech pilot, growing up in his native country and evacuating after the Germans take over, going to France and training there, until having to evacuate after the Germans take over, and training in Britain. Edit: Combat over Spain: Memoirs of a Nationalist fighter pilot by José Larios Fernandez de Villavicencio Lerma was an alright read, though biased against the Communists (of course), takes time to detail war crimes committed by the Republicans (and iirc never talks about Nationalist war crimes). Has a decent amount of early air war stuff, like how they go about intercepting the faster bombers, or the battles between mono- and bi-plane fighters. Double edit: Theres always Aces, Warriors, and Wingmen, a book that interviews Canadian pilots and air force members. Goes into details here and there, I remember really enjoying what was written about actions taken in the Pacific. For the reverse, there's The German Aces Speak, but its been a hell of a long time since I read it and I remember it being more about how dumb German High Command was, and wondering if its a hindsight thing from the pilots themselves or if they actually felt that way at the time. Jobbo_Fett fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Mar 8, 2022 |
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Mar 8, 2022 04:26
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Luftwaffe did not seem to approve of the way the war was conducted during the war. It’s not just a postwar invention.
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Mar 8, 2022 05:03
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Mr. Grapes! posted:Yeah I second this. It's been a few years since I read it but it was certainly not the Ubermensch Kruppstalh Tigerchamps.    The Log will outlive us all.
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Mar 8, 2022 05:18
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Mr. Grapes! posted:Yeah I second this. It's been a few years since I read it but it was certainly not the Ubermensch Kruppstalh Tigerchamps. If that happened, I really hope someone gave that log a medal. Comrade Log, Socialist Hero.
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Mar 8, 2022 07:34
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If you think about it, a log is ultimately an inanimate carbon rod.
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Mar 8, 2022 08:28
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Edgar Allen Ho posted:"Soldaten" by by Sönke Neitzel, Harald Welzer, Jefferson Chase, has commentary, but the memoire bit is purely candid, bugged conversations between german PoWs from 1939 navy crews to the hordes at the end, and from enlisted men to middle-tier officers. If you want a different look from a normal memoir, it sure is one. Seconded the recommendation, I have the Finnish translation (my German is rather rudimentary), and it's a good read. FMguru posted:George MacDonald Fraser (author of, among other things, the Flashman novels) wrote his memoirs (titled Quartered Safe Out Here). They're funny and well-written and cover a theater that is usually overlooked (Burma) and are recommended. I've read that as well, and while MacDonald Fraser was a great writer, and the meat of the book is excellent, on the whole the book really would have benefited from an editor who told him to just remove the occasional old man rants about how the youth today suck.
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Mar 8, 2022 09:39
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Mission Accomplished by Frank Mares is the story of a Czech pilot, growing up in his native country and evacuating after the Germans take over, going to France and training there, until having to evacuate after the Germans take over, and training in Britain. Seconded. A very good story
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Mar 8, 2022 12:56
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Warden posted:I've read that as well, and while MacDonald Fraser was a great writer, and the meat of the book is excellent, on the whole the book really would have benefited from an editor who told him to just remove the occasional old man rants about how the youth today suck. Still worth reading, though.
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Mar 8, 2022 16:27
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FPyat posted:There are a lot of World War 2 memoirs floating around, to the point where all the books from a certain nation and combat branch look outwardly the same. Are there any that are particularly insightful or revealing, asides from With the Old Breed? Check out The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich. It's a totally different take on the war memoir genre.
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Mar 8, 2022 16:52
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FMguru posted:Yeah, there is a fair bit of Empire Nostalgia, and you do get occasional paragraph-long rants on things like how the conversion to decimal currency (away from all those thruppence and ha'pennies) was a betrayal of everything he and his mates had fought and died for. Also the bits about gunning down people as they run away, and the anti-Japanese racism. For something written in the frigging 1990s it's fairly hair raising.
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Mar 8, 2022 23:13
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Jagdtiger suspension Big articles queue: BT-7M/A-8 trials, Light Tank T37, Light Tank T41, T-26-6 (SU-26), Voroshilovets tractor trials, Israeli armour 1948–1982, T-64's composite armour, Evolution of German tank observation devices, Oerlikon and Solothurn anti-tank rifles, Gun Motor Carriage T12/M3, King Tigers in Hungary, German King Tiger losses in December of 1944 in Hungary, Tiger (P) Typ 102, T-55 underwater driving equipment, T-34 tanks with M-17 engines, Wartime and post-war anti-tank hand grenades, Soviet "Tigers" in movies, 44M Tas Available for request (others' articles):  Shashmurin's career  GMC T48 GMC M3  7.62 cm F.K.(r) auf gp. Selbstfahrlafette (Sd.Kfz. 6/3) Sd.Kfz.254  Abbot Small articles queue: why the Panther couldn't replace the Pz.Kpfw.IV, Jerry cans in Soviet service Small articles available: linked because the list is too long New small articles: BA-64 Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D Light Tank M3A3 production described by a Soviet delegation T-70 Pz.Sfl.I für 7,62 cm Pak 36 Ensign Expendable fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Mar 10, 2022 |
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Mar 10, 2022 03:00
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Ensign Expendable posted:Jagdtiger suspension 44M tas would own.
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Mar 10, 2022 03:07
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how do the historians know what happened after the death of stalin? did someone in the inner circle put it in their memoirs?
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Mar 10, 2022 22:18
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FMguru posted:Yeah, there is a fair bit of Empire Nostalgia, and you do get occasional paragraph-long rants on things like how the conversion to decimal currency (away from all those thruppence and ha'pennies) was a betrayal of everything he and his mates had fought and died for. There's also the rant about how automatic weapons have allowed the standards of REAL marksmanship to slip, it's all sloppy spray and pray and they should go back to the REAL soldier's weapon, a good old Lee-Enfield. In general the book is interesting because it's well-written by someone who's quite good at tugging at emotions, but you can also see where he uncritically accepted a lot of assumptions in his youth that he proceeded to universalize as being true everywhere at all times. For instance, his continued insistence that the Burma campaign was one of the most important and necessary of the war against the deadliest fighting machine ever produced (not to say that it was unimportant but it felt like he was taking the morale boosting speeches as literal truth), or his insistence that Indians surely didn't REALLY want independence because almost every sepoy he met was in favor of Empire, so put that in your pipe and smoke it, eh?
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Mar 10, 2022 22:52
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Edgar Allen Ho posted:. I doubt there is a published german memoir from someone who totes didn't want to be there, but loved Germany, and uh, maybe wanted to defend against Bolshevism and its hordes. It's not that, but Fritz Molden's memoir Exploding Star has him get conscripted into a penal battalion for being an Austrian anti-nazi, to getting out of it before they get all killed thanks to a sympathetic doctor, to joining the resistance, linking up with U.S. intelligence, and spying on the Wehrmacht from inside under a false identity. It's no longer in print, but you can get it second hand. https://www.amazon.com/Exploding-st...46999591&sr=8-1
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Mar 11, 2022 12:54
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ChubbyChecker posted:how do the historians know what happened after the death of stalin? did someone in the inner circle put it in their memoirs? Khrushchev put his spin on it in his memoirs.
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Mar 11, 2022 15:59
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echopapa posted:Khrushchev put his spin on it in his memoirs. 
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Mar 11, 2022 16:34
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Can I get some judgment on this post on the OODA loop? The account of the history of military strategy appears quite sketchy. https://taylorpearson.me/ooda-loop/ I've also been pointed in the direction of Frans Osinga's book on Boyd, which would no doubt give me a much better appreciation. FPyat fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Mar 12, 2022 |
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Mar 12, 2022 04:40
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FPyat posted:Can I get some judgment on this post on the OODA loop? The account of the history of military strategy appears quite sketchy. https://taylorpearson.me/ooda-loop/ This post is hyperbolic and has a very partisan reading of military history, and I say that as someone who likes the OODA loop. Boyd's key insight was that individuals and organizations are only effective to the extent that they have a mental model of the world that corresponds with external reality (or are very lucky, which isn't something you can count on), and that this mental model, orientation in his jargon, is a valid military objective. Similarly, your own orientation is something which has to be maintained and updated if you want to win. And in uncertain and changing circumstances, adaptability is a major component of a successful orientation, which works at cross purposes to how large bureaucratic organizations perpetuate themselves by enforcing stable worldviews and stable external worlds. This makes more sense if you consider Boyd as a pilot first, where "disorientation" is frequently followed by "controlled flight into terrain." But while attacking an enemy's orientation sounds great, actually doing that systematically is much harder. Along with Osinga, as the best scholarly book on Boyd, I'd also recommend Hankin's Flying Camelot, which centers on Boyd's role in designing the F-16, among other things. Boyd was part of an effort to convince the USAF to design and buy and ultimate dogfighter, and part of that effort was burnishing the Boyd legend in exactly the way that that website lays out. Boyd the brilliant strategist, synthesizing Sun Tzu and Foucault to superseed Clausewitz and prove that America could have won Vietnam if the Pentagon did what he and his buddies said, etc. Boyd, along with his colleagues Pierre Sprey and William Lind, spent a lot of energy pushing the idea that the US should invest in cheap, low-tech weapons that emphasized individual initiative and aggressiveness, and said a lot of very outrageous things in the process. In particular, they spent much of the 80s arguing that electronic laden weapons systems like GPS, JSTARS, the M1 Abrams, and AH-64 Apache would never actually work in combat, and then when those very same weapon systems routed the Iraqi Army in Desert Storm, had a lot less to say. Along with Hankin's book, the other phrases to google are the military reform movement, which will pull up articles of various seriousness on both sides, and the Project on Government Oversight, which is the continuing public face of Boyd's faction. Biffmotron fucked around with this message at 06:19 on Mar 12, 2022 |
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Mar 12, 2022 05:17
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Yeah it's pretty funny to me that the fighter mafia turned out to be so wrong about the F-16 and the future of air combat. But I guess they get redeemed by the F-16 still being a pretty great aircraft, even though "ultimate daylight dogfighter" never turned out to be a thing that mattered. (Not knocking OODA theory, to the vague extent I understand it it seems fine, and E-M theory seems to be the dominant way air combat is understood today?) E: am I right in remembering that Pierre Sprey went kinda nuts in his old age? Might just be an irrational hatred for the F-35 as an airframe? PittTheElder fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Mar 12, 2022 |
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Mar 12, 2022 06:00
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Yes, it's like a lava lamp.
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FPyat posted:Can I get some judgment on this post on the OODA loop? The account of the history of military strategy appears quite sketchy. https://taylorpearson.me/ooda-loop/ The milhist intro is almost unhingedly bad, but its just a hook for an unrelated body. There is some "blitzkrieg" inspired jargon later that's typically silly, but ultimately just set-dressing
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Mar 12, 2022 07:40
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Biffmotron posted:This makes more sense if you consider Boyd as a pilot first, where "disorientation" is frequently followed by "controlled flight into terrain."
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Mar 12, 2022 09:32
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Biffmotron posted:Boyd, along with his colleagues Pierre Sprey and William Lind, spent a lot of energy pushing the idea that the US should invest in cheap, low-tech weapons that emphasized individual initiative and aggressiveness, and said a lot of very outrageous things in the process. In particular, they spent much of the 80s arguing that electronic laden weapons systems like GPS, JSTARS, the M1 Abrams, and AH-64 Apache would never actually work in combat, and then when those very same weapon systems routed the Iraqi Army in Desert Storm, had a lot less to say. You can see that mindset manifest in some of the wargames of the 1970s. SPI's Invasion America is entirely based on the premise that the USA has invested too heavily in those expensive and overly complex systems, only to be overwhelmed by the cheap but effective People's Armies of communist alliances which eventually invade the USA. :strip_icc()/pic178463.jpg) As for the M-1, it's a bit late for this; when Boyd's disciples were at their most vocal the US was still suffering from the hangover left by the MBT-70, which makes their viewpoint a bit more sympathetic. Biffmotron posted:Along with Hankin's book, the other phrases to google are the military reform movement M113 Gavins for everyone? PittTheElder posted:Yeah it's pretty funny to me that the fighter mafia turned out to be so wrong about the F-16 and the future of air combat. But I guess they get redeemed by the F-16 still being a pretty great aircraft, even though "ultimate daylight dogfighter" never turned out to be a thing that mattered. Ironically the F-16 went from this agile, nimble fighter:  To this bomb truck:  Siivola posted:The OODA loop comes up a lot in nerdier fencing circles and I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually explain what "orientation" means. Thank you! I have never heard this fencing sabre, and I think if I did I would find another club to fence at.
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Mar 12, 2022 17:48
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Siivola posted:The OODA loop comes up a lot in nerdier fencing circles and I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually explain what "orientation" means. Thank you! I’d love to read more on this, specifically, if you’ve got resources just chilling. I’d be curious how they try to apply it, even if I’m initially pretty skeptical.
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Mar 12, 2022 17:50
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It's just HEMA nerds trying to figure out fencing tactics through intensive posting, I'm afraid.
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Mar 12, 2022 17:56
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Siivola posted:It's just HEMA nerds trying to figure out fencing tactics through intensive posting, I'm afraid. I’d still read the hell out of that, even as just a negative example.
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Mar 12, 2022 21:08
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Can't remember any offhand but here's one off google. https://hroarr.com/article/the-ooda-loop-hema/ (Site loads slow, so if your time is valuable just imagine a better article.)
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Mar 13, 2022 07:37
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Well I'm hosed then, my 'genetic heritage' mostly makes my bones creak and me seek out fatty acids.
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Mar 13, 2022 08:07
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Tias posted:Well I'm hosed then, my 'genetic heritage' mostly makes my bones creak and me seek out fatty acids. Thanks for the psoriasis, ancestors. 
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Mar 13, 2022 15:23
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Siivola posted:Can't remember any offhand but here's one off google. https://hroarr.com/article/the-ooda-loop-hema/ (Site loads slow, so if your time is valuable just imagine a better article.) Some HEMA Dumabss posted:Boyd is one of, if not the most important figure in modern military theory, Just lol at this poo poo.
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Mar 13, 2022 23:06
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Hannibal Rex posted:It's not that, but Fritz Molden's memoir Exploding Star has him get conscripted into a penal battalion for being an Austrian anti-nazi, to getting out of it before they get all killed thanks to a sympathetic doctor, to joining the resistance, linking up with U.S. intelligence, and spying on the Wehrmacht from inside under a false identity. It's no longer in print, but you can get it second hand. Wasn't there some actor who just died recently who had a similar military career arc
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Mar 14, 2022 00:30
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quote:Those unfamiliar with him and his works should not be surprised , his name is virtually unknown [8]. Boyd was a tactical and strategic thinker and Warrior for nearly Thirty years [9]of honorable and decorated military service. [10] He was a true patriot to his country in the vein of a rebel Spartan [11], a maverick, an ace fighter jet pilot, as well as being a proper genius. To me this sounds like a lot of synonyms for "colossal rear end in a top hat".
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Mar 14, 2022 00:35
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None of those things are incompatible with being a total rear end in a top hat.
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Mar 14, 2022 00:52
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A "rebel Spartan" practically feels like a contradiction in terms given how militarized and hierarchical Spartan society was.
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Mar 14, 2022 00:57
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Tomn posted:A "rebel Spartan" practically feels like a contradiction in terms given how militarized and hierarchical Spartan society was. "hypomeione" is the term and it was a permanently heritable status of disgrace
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Mar 14, 2022 01:36
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Two questions for the better-informed than me: 1. What exactly was the root of the severe animosity between the Japanese army and navy leading up to World War II? I know they had different goals for Japanese imperialism, but I also have this half-remembered notion that they inherited old Meiji Restoration era grudges or something and I have no idea if that's correct. 2. What would be some good reading to learn more about the Mississippi River campaigns / siege of Vicksburg during the American Civil War? I know the broad strokes, but it's a little difficult to visualize who was actually doing what, where, and what the capabilities of the armies actually were.
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Mar 14, 2022 03:16
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StandardVC10 posted:
Shelby Foote's massive trilogy "the civil war: a narrative" has a much more digestible excerpt published as "the beleaguered city" ; I've seen it for sale in the Vicksburg gift shop, maybe you can find it for sale online?
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Mar 14, 2022 03:58
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Zorak of Michigan posted:None of those things are incompatible with being a total rear end in a top hat. Case study here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFJx8Z1eyzM StandardVC10 posted:2. What would be some good reading to learn more about the Mississippi River campaigns / siege of Vicksburg during the American Civil War? I know the broad strokes, but it's a little difficult to visualize who was actually doing what, where, and what the capabilities of the armies actually were. I like Catton's series on Grant: two volumes, well-written, lots of good detail, probably Catton's best scholarship. Grant Moves South covers from his taking command of the 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry through Vicksburg. Grant Takes Command deals with his time with the Army of the Potomac all the way to the finish. https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Grant-Civil-Command-ebook/dp/B01GUO7CI2
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Mar 14, 2022 04:46
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Ensign Expendable posted:To me this sounds like a lot of synonyms for "colossal rear end in a top hat". I'd go with "shamelessly self promoting." As it is, he completely misread the lessons of the Vietnam War in an extremely Oriantalist way. "Asian rice farmers beat the USA. Therefore, the Asian rice farmer is the ultimate weapon. Everyone read Sun Tzu!" Followed by, "Re-build the US military to fight like Asian rice farmers!" There's no doubt that there were plenty of lessons to be learned from Vietnam, but Boyd took these lessons and over-applied them. For example, Boyd looked at the fact that the US lost a surprising number of planes to cheap old Soviet built Migs; Mig-17s infamously preyed upon US F-105s over North Vietnam. This true for a number of factors, chief among them being the fact that the US prosecuted the air war over North Vietnam in a shockingly inept manner. Bombing wasn't used to destroy strategic objectives, instead it was used as a manner of political communication. ("If they do X, we'll bomb Y. If they don't go to the peace talks, we'll bomb Z, etc.") When sent on these bombing raids the US flew planes on obvious, predictable routes at set times and followed extremely restrictive rules of engagement (i.e., they couldn't attack North Vietnamese planes on the ground - or taking off or landing). Unsurprisingly the North Vietnamese used this ineptitude against the US, setting up ambushes that made it possible for them to attack US planes (which were often completely unsuited for the missions they had) in bad situations and shoot them down. The lesson for this is "don't use your Air in an inept manner." It isn't "therefore, build cheap Migs." Mig-17s were able to shoot down F-105s in Vietnam because that F-105 was completely misused (it's a strike aircraft, not a dogfighter), not because the Mig-17 is the best thing in the air. And, ultimately, the "cheap Mig" system of warfare has extreme drawbacks, chief among them being the fact that if you set up your military to fight on the cheap you'll get a LOT of your own soldiers killed. Cessna fucked around with this message at 19:50 on Mar 14, 2022 |
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Mar 14, 2022 15:24
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Cessna posted:Bombing wasn't used to destroy strategic objectives, instead it was used as a manner of political communication. ("If they do X, we'll bomb Y. If they don't go to the peace talks, we'll bomb Z, etc.") Thanks, RAND 
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Mar 14, 2022 15:47
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