Panzer Leader

By Heinz Guderian

It isn't that I haven't been reading a lot of books lately, its just that I haven't had much inclination to write about them, and also, a lot of what I'm reading at the moment are the Poirot books so there would be quite a lot of repetion I think.

But anyways, here is a topical book for this blog, and quite a good read it was too. Guderian comes across as quitea  sympathetic man, which might be surprising given his place in history, along side the rest of the German High Command of the Second World War, but perhaps less so if one is aware of the reputation of the Prussian aristocracy. In describing his actions during the war, one becomes aware of Guderian's humanity and his empathy, mostly to his soldiers, and to his fellow Germans is quite apparent. He keeps his disaproval of Germany's leadership in check, but it seems apparent that Guderian wants to be remembered as a soldier who did his duty to his nation, and to its people. This could be seen as an admirable character trait, and I make no doubt that it was probably what saved Guderian at the Nuremburg trials, but the sad fact is that this same devotion to duty by the German high command is what allowed Adolf Hitler to commit his nation to do unspeakable crimes, and to enter into a conflict they could not possibly hope to win.

Guderian does not shy from his share in the responsibility of Germany's fate, nor does he offer any feeble minded excuses. He explains the situation in a precise and clear fashion, starting in the late 1930's and continuing right through to the aftermath of the war. The middle of the book suffers slightly from this as the war on the Eastern Front is a long and tedious read full of place names one has never heard of, being fought over by units one is largely unfamiliar with (especially the Soviets).

Having said that, if your not interested in the history of the Second World War then this isn't a book for you. I slogged through the many pages of conflict against the soviets and was thankful I am merely a spectator to that horrific and ultimately pointless conflict.

To the end of the book, Guderian offers some interesting observations regarding Hitler and some of the other leading figures of Nazi Germany, and he puts the German High Command into a useful perspective, explaining how it came to be the way it was, historically speaking, and why it developed the way it did under Hitler. I for one, have a much better understanding of the way the Germany leadership functioned, and how and why it failed. Guderian doesn't hold back his punches. On the whole an interesting book though a little dry in the middle.
3/5

Draken Harald Hårfagre

Havhingsten didn't get to keep its title of world's biggest Viking ship for very long. I just learned that the Norwegians have built an even bigger vessel; Draken Harald Hårfagre which is a good five meters longer indeed. Havhingsten was launched in 2004 and the new ship, whose name translates to Dragon Harald Fairhair (dragon refering to the ship type) was launched in 2012. Last year she undertook her first major voyage sailing to Liverpool and back, and this appears to have been a success.

Oddly the ship hasn't been given much attention in Denmark, that is to say I have not noticed it at all. Perhaps because it is bigger than our biggest Viking ship and thus steals the title of world's largest Viking ship? I don't know, but when looking at the online material from Norway, I can't but help noticing there is little mention at all of Havhingsten even though Carsten Hvid who captained the Danish ship also captained Draken Harald Hårfagre and he observed several crucual differences between the two vessels. Where as Havhingsten is a replica of an actual Viking war ship, Draken Harald Hårfagre is not. The Norwegian vessel is actually a modern design, based on Viking designs but also incorporating later Norwegian design elements. In other words, Draken Harald Hårfagre is an anachronism apparently built for the simple purpose of being big. 

Harry's War

By Harry Drinkwater

This is the real deal; a day to day diary of a British soldier who fought in World War One, and who took part in some of the biggest and bloodiest battles of the war, including the Somme and Passchendaele and who survived, more or less intact. Books like this are said to be rare, and I've certainly never come across one before, as it was against regulations for the soldiers to keep diaries lest their writings fall into enemy hands. Other soldiers wrote memoirs (and I'm reading one such now) but this is different in that it documents things as they happened. Drinkwater's account doesn't gloss over the boring bits, but records them, in all their seemingly dull detail. To get a clear idea of what the war must have been like, this is invaluable. There is no drama or glorification, either of the violence or of the horror. Drinkwater simply records events, and some of his own thoughts accordingly.

In many ways, this book reminded me of another; Trafalgar: an eye witness history, though there are some major differences, the most obvious being the difference in time. This book is also a single man's perspective, so you can only really see the war thorugh Harry Drinkwater's eyes. There isn't a lot of historical context offered as Drinkwater himself barely knew what was going on in the world beyond the battlefield.

This is an excellent book for any one interested in the First World War.
4/5

The Mongoliad

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By Neal Stephenson, Erik Bear, Greg Bear, Joseph Brassey, Nicole Galland, Cooper Moo and Mark Teppo.

As is obvious from the list of authors, this is a collaborator undertaken by several writers together, and as explained on Wikipedia, it is a part of a bigger project, though it can be read as a stond alone work (which is what I have done). I'd been hearing hints and been reading people rave about this trilogy for quite a while, and since I have enjoyed several of Neal Stephenson's books, I ordered them (used) from Amazon and looked forward with some eager anticipation.

The rumour mill would have it that given an interest in reenacting mdieval European fighting techniques, Stephenson, Bear etc were creating a work which would shed light on the forgotten aspects of European fighting history. This alone was a warning light so brght that for a long while I hesitated to buy the books. I don't mind North Americans enjoying their fantasies, but I am very sceptical when it comes to Americans percpetions of history - they always seem to view the past as a variation of their own present, cherry picking odd facts from here and there to create an illusion of the past which fits their preconceptions. For some reason I thought perhaps Neal Stephenson had risen above this. Either I was wrong, or he was swamped by his co-collaborators. Either way, this trilogy (and the length of it should have been warning enough) is yet another American confusion.

Don't get me wrong, the story isn't terrible, its just very long winded, rather pointless as a consequence, and it cherry picks shamelessly. For my own part, I was partially entertained by the inclusion of several of my own subjects of interest; historical groups, facts and dates that I have explored in books and on Wikipedia - for the creation of role playing games and skirmish battles. Since I already knew who the Livonian Sword Brothers were, I didn't need to be introduced to them, nor did I much care for the way they were portrayed. I didn't mind it, but I wasn't impressed either. There were other details liek this, dotted through out the book, which whilst I understood why they were there and why the authors had chosen them, the execution of the story was not good enough to justify all the historical hacking and short cuts.

In short, this trilogy is a good enough read unless you are expecting it to deliver what it promises.

Vickers, Browning M1919 & MG-34; comparisons

Part 2. Part 3.

I have yet to see a You Tube video where an American admits his own nations fire arm is inferior to that of any other nation.
As far as I can see, the first comparison does not hold up very well at all, since the Browning was developed a good seven years after the Vickers and John Browning had the accumulated experience and knowledge gained from World War One at his disposal. In essence this is like comparing a Hawker Hurricane to an F-86 Sabre jet and when you take that into account then I think the Vickers equals the Browning, for all its perceived flaws.

As for the second comparion, I can't see that there is much to talk about. The M1919A4 did its job, but this is another unfair comparison  and when compared to the MG-34 (designed a full decade after the M1919) it is entirely out classed in just about every aspect. 



Part 2.

NK-33 documentary

Batavia 3D tour

Ad Astra?

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Even though I knew the distances were so great, by the time I was in my teens, I used to hope I'd live long enough to see the first interstellar star ships being built. I assumed at the time that Mars was merely a stepping stone too, that by the time I was forty, a human being would have stood on Mars. I assumed that we'd have a moon base as well, and a permanent space station big enough to begin construction of the first interstellar vessel. In my naiveté I dreamed up design after design, each more sophisticated than the last. I watched the shuttles going up, the first when I was still in primary school. I read about the shuttle program and Space Station Alpha and I believd it all.

Then I read about Project Daedalus and I realised I was never going to see interstellar travel happen. The Apollo program was the most succesful attempt to move human beings out of Low Earth Orbit and it was reported to Congress in 1973 as having cost $25.4 billion. A single Apollo launch in 1969 cost up to $375 million. The Daedalus ship was twenty five times more powerful than a Saturn V rocket. Its energy out put would equal one quarter of the entire energy output of Planet Earth. It would require an orbital construction facility and a lunar mining project to provide the quantities of helium-3 needed to provide its full capacity of deuterium/helium-3 fuel.

Apollo was discontinued I believe, to pay for the Vietnam War.

Camp Century

Interesting, not least as I've never heard of Camp Century, and I love the way the music shifts character when the narrative changes from Denmark to the US military. Camp Century was essentially a smoke screen for proposed nuclear missile launch sites. Watching this, makes me wonder what else might be buried up under the northern ice fields...

Project Iceworm

The Lady for Ransom

By Alfred Duggan

Every time I see Duggan's name I am reminded of 'The Day of the Jackal'.

This is the third book I've read by Duggan, and like the first, it concentrates it's story in the period of the First Crusade, in and around Byzantium, dealing with the various historical events and the political intrigue which led to the eventual fall of the Eastern Roman empire. QUite whether or not Duggan hits the nail on the head with regards the latter I can't say but there is no doubt that he knows his history well enough to carve a story from it. Of the three books, this one is marginally better than the other two, largely I think because it doesn't rely on established historical events. The story functions well enough on its own merits. That is to say, for about as far as it is an entertainig story, which it barely is.

The book is centred on the testimony of the aging monk Roger looking back over his life in the employ of the Norman noble Roussel de Balliol and his wife Matilda. As a translator, Roger is witness to various events which his station in life would ordinarily keep from him, and as Roussel and Matilda make their way through a tricky campaign as mercenaries, Roger is able to look back with a clear memory and relate their fortune.

This is an small, but moderately entertaining read, but it should be noted that the title is misleading.

Waterloo

Dir: Sergey Bondarchuk.

I'd heard of this movie many times, but I'd never seen it. No television channel ever showed it where I've been living, despite the fact that I've seen 'Zulu' on terrestrial televsion at least four times (and twice on my computer). Since I'm not really into Napoleonic land battles, I haven't missed the film, but I have read once or twice, this was something worth watching, and after I'd watched 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World', the evening previously, I felt inclined to see 'Waterloo' when I chanced across the full film (and in reasonable quality) on You Tube.

Luckily I wasn't expecting miracles from a film made in 1970, so I merely chuckled at the actors doing their best to appear in character whilst on rocking horses with propane explosions going off behind them. Unfortunately the introspective tone of the film was not so funny, and I found myself rapidly losing interest every time the camera man fell asleep whilst watching Steiger struggle with a megalomaniac's inferiority complex. The film really sank when Plummer, playing Wellington, lapsed into the same timid voice overs.

The big battle, which dominates the second half of the movie, was rather disappointing too. The sheer number of extras (or cardboard cut outs) was impressive, but despite the odd innovative camera angle every now again, the action sequences had very little dynamic and appeared to rely almost totally on obscuring the picture with smoke rather than create a sense of ambience. When I consider this film with 'The Duellists', which was made seven years later with a much smaller cast, and probably a fraction of the budget, I can't but help thinking that here is a film in desperate need of a remake!

U-20

There is a difference between looking at an old object and looking at an historical object. Especially if the object in question is associated with infamy. The first time I realised this, was in 1989 when I was standing inside the gas chamber at Auschwitz staring at a fake shower head. To say that I was touched with sadness would be an understatement. Auschwitz was indescribably dire and I shall never forget the sense of isolation it created within me.

Last week I caught an echo of that feeeing when I was at the St George Musuem and found myself standing in front of the conning tower of U-20, for U-20 was nothing less than the u-boat which sank the RMS Lusitania. See my previous post with regards to the museum.

The conning tower of U-20. The cycle beihnd it gives an indication of just how small the conning tower is.

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Standing next to the conning tower of U-20 was the 105mm deck gun from U-59. According to the infomation plaque, this gun had spent eighty eight years in the sea. It was in a remarkable condition considering.
A copper plate on the side of the gun reads Nr 823. Fried. Krupp. 
The last of these four images is from inside the U-20 conning tower and shows where the periscopes were.

Lusitania was an ocean liner belonging to the Cunard line, and she was launched in 1906. At the outbreak of the First World War she was commandeered by the British Admiralty to be used as an armed merchant ship. She was no good for this however so the Admiralty released her back to Cunard and she resumed her previous rolé as a trans-atlantic passenger ship. On 7 May 1914, as she returned from New York, she was torpedoed just 11 miles off the southern coast of Ireland. 1,198 innocent people were killed. It is said that this incident went a long way to convincing the citizenry of the USA to accept participation in the war, and as the poster image at the top of this post illustrates clearly, the authorities were not shy about using the tragedy to encourage men to sign up and fight.

Standing in front of the rusty old conning tower, on a sunny summers day in Denmark I caught an echo of that same feeling I'd had in Auschwitz so many years before. Here was an historical object, and an object of infamy to boot. I'd had no idea that the U-20 had beached itself at Vrist (where we'd been sleeping in a summer house) for there are no monuments out there and no wrecks to be seen, just the endless flat beach of west Jutland. Even if I'd known about the wreck, I didn't know the number of the u-boat which had sunk Lusitania. Reading the little descriptive plaque which stood in front of the conning tower then, I felt a cold surprise when I realised what I was looking at.

In a way it was a poignant feeling in more ways than one though. There was the empathic feeling for all those innocent people drowning in the cold, dark Atlantic, and a natural abhorence at what men will do to each other, and even to women and children. At the same time there was a weary resignation that when all is said and done, here was a rusty piece of historical flotsam, left to attest to the futility of all the conflict and suffering which we as a species must endure. I often feel the same way when I chance upon a sun bleached crab's carapace, lying on a beach. Once it was a creature that breathed and lived. Now it is just an empty reminder of our inevitable mortality. I am moved to suppose that our only salvation lies in the meaning we give to our lives as we live them, and there can't be much purpose in slaughtering innocent people. I am glad to be so fortunate to live in happier times! 

As for the innocent passengers of Lusitania, and the many other victims of u-boat warfare, and even those poor submariners themselves, so many of whom paid a terrible price for their loyalty to their country. If we have souls, may they all find peace, where ever they are now.
 

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Inside the museum was a scale model of a u-boat, done all in wood. Its worth adding to the post simply because it was so impressive.

Mechanised Force: British tanks between the wars

By David Fletcher

David Fletcher is a noted historian, an expert on armoured warfare and the longest serving employee of Bovington Tank Museum. This is the first of his books I have read and although it was quite dense, I enjoyed it nonetheless. Fletcher lays out the history of British tanks in the mid war period, that is to say from between the first and second world wars when tank designs were prone to wild experimentation, not least in the United Kingdom.

Having more or less invented the tank as a fighting concept, the British had produced hundreds of tanks, in several different designs and types by the end of World War One. Throughout the 1920s and 30s British tank designs came thick and fast and with great innovation, but when the Second World War began, the British had largely been eclipsed by the Germans. In this book, Fletcher touches on how this happened, and to some degree, why. My impression, founded on this book and my general perception of the period, is that the Germans succeeded for the simple reason that they had an overall plan and all their designs worked towards it, where as the British (much like the French) were largely working theoretically. It is interesting to note how often Fletcher describes British design innovations which were picked up by the Germans and developed whilst being ignored by the British government due to costs and/or the problem of having so many conflicting projects with each their own advantages and disadvantages.

Another interesting point raised in the book, at some considerable length, is the small matter of 'technical tunnel vision'. The British it seems were obsessed with engine possibilities, gear boxes, suspensions and transmissions. Throughout the entire twenty year period the British paid very little attention to weaponry or armour. They stuck with 14mm hardened steel for almost every single design, and were disinclined to employ any gun bigger than 47mm. Perhaps most interesting of all is how the only British tank of any distintion in the period, the Vickers Medmium Mk II (as seen on the cover of the book) was quickly cobbled together from various other designs and seems to have existed outside the evolution of British tank design in the mid war period. I have always assumed the Mk II was part of an overall design philosophy and the Mk III was a continuation of it. Not so. The Mk II had very little to do with any other design at all.

An interesting read, I've already ordered three more of Fletcher's books!
4/5

24th. December. 1811.

 A model (roughly 1/72 scale) of  HMS St George losing her masts.

On the 23rd of December, 1811, two Royal Navy ships of the line, HMS St George (98 guns) and HMS Defence (74 guns) found themselves in rough seas off the western coast of Jutland. Both were returning from convoy duty in the Baltic, accompanied by a third ship HMS Cressy (74 guns). St George had already suffered in a previous storm on the 15th December and was under a jury rigged mast and with a temporary rudder. When the storm in the North Sea hit her, she was unable to avoid the lee shore and on Christmas Eve both St George and Defence were wrecked in the shoals north of Thorsminde where today the St George Museum commemorates the loss. 1,314 men, women and children drowned and it is said to have been the biggest loss of life to natural cause, in the history of the Royal Navy.

 The route of St George's last voyage. 

Mette and I went to see the museum several years ago, along with her brother and her parents but it was shut. Last week we went again, this time with my brother Peter and his wife Bettina, and so I finally got to see the exhibitions, which were very informative. Having read about Napoleonic warships, first via Patrick O'Brian's novels and then later from various factual books, I had a fairly good idea as to what kind of ships St George and Defence were, but as always there are any number of details which, though books can supply, are best understood from direct observation. An example of this were the 12 pounders which were central to the main display in the first room of the museum. When I turned to look at them, I naturally assumed from their size that they were the ships primary 32 pounder guns. As far as I am aware I have never actually seen a Napoleonic naval gun so I was quite taken aback when I understood they were actually the guns from the ship's upper most gun deck. With hindsight this made sense as the uppermost guns would have fallen from the ship as she turned over where as the 18 and 32 pounders would have been trapped within the hull.

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Left. 12 Pounder guns and carriages. 
Right. A carronade. I never understood just how incredibly small carronades could be until I saw this one. It was hardly 80cm long!

HMS St George was a second rate ship of the line. Second rate refers to the number of guns she carried and not her qualites as a sea going vessel. She carried 98 guns on three decks, with twenty eight 32 pounders on her gun deck (that is to say the lowest of the three gun decks), thirty 18 pounders on her middle gun deck and forty 12 ponders on her upper gun deck, forecastle and quarter deck. By the standards of the age (she was built in 1785) she was about as powerful as it was possible for a ship to become (first rates were very rare), and consequently she was the flag ship of Rear Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds who was at the time, second in command to none other than Admiral James Saumarez.
St George had previously taken part in the Battle of Hyères Islands and the Battle of Copenhagen of 1801.

HMS Defence smaller but as a third rate 74 gun ship of the line, she was a powerful warship none the less. Her armament consisted of twenty eight 32 pounders on the gun deck and forty six 9 pounders on the upper gun deck, forecastle and quarterdeck. Built in 1763, Defence had seen a long and glorious career, participating in the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the Battle of Cuddalore, the Glorious First of June, the Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Trafalgar.

Only twenty one sailors survived the wreck of these two mighty ships. One was Joseph Page. In a booklet I bought at the museum he is quoted (I am paraphrasing slightly as I am translating from Danish); The Master gave the order to cut the masts but at that moment they were broken down by the storm. The sea washed over the ship and the people screamed. Cannons were ripped loose and cast about the deck, crushing men to death. It was a terrible sight. I saw the carpenter's wife with a little girl in hand. She tried to reach the quarterdeck but a terrible wave broke across the ship and washed her, and many others down the hatch and into the hold.  
 

Its not hard to imagine the fear and confusion that must have reigned on the stricken ships when you see the awesome power of the sea off the Jutland coast. The first day we arrived, the wind was up and sea was in a state of turmoil with some waves reaching four meters in height. It looked frightening enough and this was only a regular day. Personally I intensely dislike swimming in cold water, and the few times I have sailed out onto the sea, I have not enjoyed the experience at all. I can imagine how strong the sea must have been on that nght, and it is not a pleasant thought.The western coast of Jutland is a flat harsh place, famous as a dangerous lee shore. The museum also had exhibits devoted to other wrecks, including the infamous U Boat U-20 (I'll write a post about that later)

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Left: Some of the many bottles which were salvaged from the St George. Some were still intact and contained various alcoholic beverages which were long past their sell by date!
Right: I'm not sure if this is grape or cannister shot, but I think it is the former. The small wooden container to the lower left is half of a sabot, which was designed to come apart once the gun had been fired. Grape shot was used to clear enemy decks, in much the manner of a huge shot gun.


The first investigation of the wreck of the St George took place six days after she had run aground. A boat was sent out and the crew found the warship already partially submerged into the sea bed (the sands along Jutland are prone to excessive mobility). The quarter deck, along with the Captain's and Admiral's cabins was gone and part of the ship's waist had been destroyed. Very little was visible above the surface and only a few ropes and sails were salvaged.

There have been several dives on the wreck over the years. The first took place in 1876. Several small guns and a pair of bells were recovered. One of the bells was donated to a local church and the other is now at the Museum where it hangs along side one of the ship's anchors. The second dive took place in 1904, and on that occaision 48 guns were brought to the surface. They were found to be in good condition, but soon began to rust once they were in contact with the air. They were all sold to a French company and melted down. When the guns were brought to Thyborøn (a town to the north of the wreck site) one of the guns was found to have its tompion still in place. When this was removed (with a loud pop) some joker decided to examine the interior of the barrel using a match for illumination. Needless to say he lost his eyebrows and scorched his beard for the powder was still dry!

In the summer of 1940 (about the same time as Germany was invading Denmark) some Danes decided to dive on the wreck once again. At this point St George had lain in the turbulent North Sea for 129 years and yet when they dived, the Danes found the ship to be in relatively good condition. The lower eight meters of the ship was still submerged in the sand but the upper decks were clearly visible (though even good visibility in the sea off Jutland is usually under a meter) rising 1½ to 3 meters from the sea bed. The Danes used dynamite to excavate the ship and salvaged all the metal they could. Amongst their finds were several 12 pounders, two deck guns, a wealth of iron fittings and a lump of coins. Some of the ships timbers were also salvaged and these were given to a carpenter in Thyborøn who carved them into tobacco boxes.

The St George was finally visited by archeological minded people in the 1970's when the ship was found to be in a state of rapid deteriation. After some unforgiveable indecision by government beaurocrats, several dives were undertaken, recovering various anchors, guns and numerous other artefacts.

Peter and Freja standing in front of the St George's rudder. The diagram below shows a Spanish 98 gun ship of the line. 
If you consider the size of the rudder you get an impression of just how big  HMS St George was.

Count Bohemond

By Alfred Duggan

Bohemond is one of those larger than life figures who permeate recorded history, and yet who have become more or less forgotten in the collective perspective, having become eclipsed by more popular figures, such as King Richard the Lion Heart. The fact that the crusades are currently regarded in a negative light, and Bohemond was a renowned crusader probably hasn't helped his fame much, nor the fact that his people, the Normans, have been extinguished by time, leaving no nation to claim him as a hero figure.

History as we know it, and as we all know, was written by the winners, and in our time, that means the anglophones. No surprise then, that this book about Count Bohemond, whilst leaning heavily on recorded facts, was written by an anglophonic historian and contains a great deal of emphasis on Bohemond's Norman heritage and very little on the fact that he was, essentially an Italian. I don't know if this is because Duggan believed the Normans held themselves entirely aloof from their Italian subjects or because the British have such a strong sense of identity stemming from their own Norman heritage, but it does make for an interesting read-between-the-lines as the English are the only people I know of who make any kind of a claim to the Normans as heroic ancestors.

Duggan already explored the First Crusade in his first novel, 'Knight with Armour', and that too was from an English perspective, and with a Norman/English knight as the protagonist. Since I grew up in England, went to school in England and had history lessons in an English high school, I also have a deep fascination with the Normans and this is probably why I was drawn to these two books Duggan wrote about Normans whilst I am largely uninterested in his other novels, most of which deal with Romans, or with other periods of British history that I did not learn about in school. My next purchase will undoubtably be is 'Lady for Ransom' which Wikipedia informs me is about Norman mercenaries from the West serving the Byzantine Empire during the 11th century. Sounds great, and if it is anything like this novel, then it should prove to be a good read, full of interesting historical accuracy, though perhaps not with a compelling story.

Duggan isn't the best writer of fiction, it has to be admitted. His characterisations are rather primitive and (since he doesn't divert from history much) his plot lines can best be described as simple. This isn't as bad as it could be however, since I'm not reading these books for any other reason than to get a good perspective from a historian. Duggan provides that, even though his point of view came from the 1950's -60's, and for any one who has an interest in understanding how the crusades, or medieval warfare may have been, Duggan is a good choice.

Forgotten Stealth Fighter of Nazi Germany

If you've ever wondered if the Horton flying wings were actually 'stealth fighters'...

Knight with Armour

By Alfred Duggan

I forget which, but one of the many wargamers-with-blog posted a review of this novel and it sounded like something I ought to pick up, so I did. I've never heard of Alfred Duggan and I wasn't sure what to expect, but I read the review and a few online comments, and I was quite encouraged. When the blurb on the back of the novel told me that 'Duggan looks upon the past with a connoisseur's relish of villainy and violence', I was impatient to begin.

It must be taken into account that Duggan lived in an age before re-enactment had cleared up a few erroneous ideas regarding armour, but once that's taken care of, 'Knight with armour' is a very nice little tale, packed with interesting details, and told, as the blurb stated, with a relish of villainy (the violence is neither here nor there when compared to contemporary films and novels).

The story tells of protagonist Roger de Bodeham who starts out on the first crusade to liberate the Eastern Christians, taking with him the meager assets afforded by his father and elder brother and the many hardships and difficulties he meets along the way, not least with his conscience and the oaths he undertakes in the name of his pilgrimage. The novel contains several accounts of sieges undertaken during the campaign, but never really gets into the nitty gritty, and some of the assumptions regarding siege towers seem a bit dated to me.
3/5

The Quantum Thief

By Hannu Rajaniemi.

As I was on Amazon buying books I came across this one in the ads and the cover illustration was sufficiently interesting to motivate a purchase. I don't often buy random books from Amazon, and for good reason, but sometimes you get lucky, much as you might in an old fashioned book store (and when was the last time I bought a book from a regular shop?).

'The Quantum Thief' is Rajaniemi's first novel, which as I read it seemed rather obvious as it was crammed with blatant attempts to create a sense of a distant future. In many ways it reminded me of 'The Golden Transcendence' trilogy, only clumsier. Being shorter it has more charm however, and that helped me read it because if this had stretched on to two more novels, I'd not have managed to gather enough interest to read them. As it is, the story is long enough to constitute a decent read and short enough to stay interesting, and that's all I ask of a story.

Though I wasn't all that impressed, the story was still enough that I may very well read the next novel Rajaniemi produces.
3/5

Stone thrower

Oleg's wife Tracey asked me if I would build a model of a stone thrower to decorate his coffin. Flowers were considered a tad unsuitable for a man like Oleg, and since we had so many discussions regarding castles and seige engines, I naturally said yes. I've built a great many models with Oleg, but this was probably the hardest, though technically, it was quite easy.

The reason why it was decided to put a stone thrower on Oleg's coffin, was due to the several 'machines' Oleg had built at the annual Moesgaard Viking festival (see below). I never saw any of these engines in real life as I seldom visited Moesgaard (reenactment has never really appealled to me, and after the first few times I decided I'd seen enough of the Moesgaard festival).

The model only took three days to build, but as I was building it, I was ever aware that any previous model would have generated a great deal of Skype chatter between us, with accompanying links to images, videos on You Tube (though we called it V-Tibe due to years of complicated in-jokes). Oleg would have urged me to build a model of a full sized trebuchet (like the one in the video below), though his own creations never reached such prodigious proportions (he would have had time and resources allowed it). Maybe one day I will build such a model... but then, I've been saying that since 2006.

Interesting people; Adrian Carton de Wiart

Heres a little light reading for Rememberance Day. Sometimes, its tempting to believe ridiculous stereotypes are based on something other than simple prejudice, and if that happens its good to have an example that blows the stereotype clean out of the water. If for example, you ever found yourself believing Belgians were a sort of peaceful people, averse to the idea of war, or just plain 'yellow', then meet Adrian Carton de Wiart.

Born in 1880, de Wiart came into being, at just the right time to participate in the most bloody and brutal wars of all time, get wounded and maimed in all of them, and thoroughly enjoy himself in the process. Its not a stretch of any one's imagination to suppose, de Wiart may actually have been a right nutter, or perhaps he was a reincarnation of an ancient war god, but what ever the reason, history records how Adrian Carton de Wiart, supposed illigimate son of King Leopold II (the bad king of the Congo), joined the British army (underaged of course) and went to the Boer War in 1899 where he was duly shot in the stomach and groin.

This kind of wound would put most modern soldiers into therapy for the next few years, but for de Wiart it was merely a taste of what was to come, and he was hungry. He quickly swore allegience to King Edward VII of Great Britain and as a career officer in the British Army was ready for action when the Great War kicked off. Actually, de Wiart was already at war before the Great War kicked off as he was in British Somaliland fighting the Mad Mullah (they had them in those days too) where, on an attack at Shimber Berris, he lost his left eye. Not thwarted by the difficulties of monocular vision, de Wiart made it back to Europe and got stuck in to the western front. Over the course of the next few years he was wounded seven times, eventually losing his left hand and taking a bullet to the skull (and one to the ankle) at the Battle of the Somme, another through the hip at the Battle of Passchendaele, another through the leg at Cambrai, and another through the ear at Arras. When he published his memoirs, and disregarding the fact that he'd won the VC during the conflict, de Wiart wrote frankly that he'd enjoyed the Great War.

De Wiart was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on the 2nd and 3rd July 1916, at La Boiselle, France. The citation reads;

For most conspicuous bravery, coolness and determination during severe operations of a prolonged nature. It was owing in a great measure to his dauntless courage and inspiring example that a serious reverse was averted. He displayed the utmost energy and courage in forcing our attack home. After three other battalion Commanders had become casualties, he controlled their commands, and ensured that the ground won was maintained at all costs. He frequently exposed himself in the organisation of positions and of supplies, passing unflinchingly through fire barrage of the most intense nature. His gallantry was inspiring to all.

The mid-war period was a bit slow for de Wiart but he found time to amuse himself  in Poland in 1920. When the Red Army was at Warsaw, de Wiart was acting as an observor for the British government and in July of that year found himself on a train being chased by Red Army cavalry. Undaunted by the communists he took to shooting at them from the running board with his revolver.

As we all remember, Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, and you can probably guess who was still in Poland at the time. Still an observor, de Wiart offered his advice to the Polish commander but was largely ignored, and as Poland fell, he was obliged to flee the country with the Luftwaffe shooting up his car as he left. He arrived in Rumania but again, was forced to get out by the skin of his teeth as the Rumanian fascists assassinated the pro-Allied prime minister.

Still a Colonel in the British army de Wiart went to Namsos in Norway with the Anglo-French forces, but on his arrival his plane was shot up by a Luftwaffe fighter. De Wiart survived but his aide was wounded and had to be taken back to the UK. The French decided to stay in Namsos, which was being bombed by the Luftwaffe, but de Wiart took his British unit to Trondheim Fjord, where they were shelled by German destroyers. With no air support, artillery or reinforcements, the British were being out flanked by the Germans. De Wiart knew the game was up in Norway but despite constant air attacks, held on to the last moment.

After the disaster of Norway, de Wiart was appointed as head of the British Military Mission to Yugoslavia. He flew there in a Wellington bomber but was shot down off the coast of Libya by the Luftwaffe. Captured by the Italians de Wiart was eventually sent to a special prison for senior officers at Castello di Vincigliata. After five escape attempts (including a seven month tunnelling effort) de Wiart was released as Italy tried to get in bed with the Allies. On one escape attempt de Wiart evaded capture for eight days disguised as an Italian peasant, which as Wikipedia notes, was surprising since he was in northern Italy, did not speak Italian, and was 61 years old, with an eye patch, one empty sleeve and multiple injuries.

Next, Winston Churchill sent de Wiart to China, but before he got there he attended the Cairo Conference (see image above where de Wiart is easily recognisable). On his arrival in China, de Wiart worked at the headquarters of the Nationalist Chinese Government until his 'retirement', returning home in December 1944 to report to the War Cabinet on the Chinese situation. After that he returned to Asia and (as a spectator, on the bridge of the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth) he observed the bombardment of Sabang in the Netherlands East Indies. I'm guessing a naval bombardment by a dreadnought battleship with 15inch guns wasn't just another day in the office, even for de Wiart. 

After the war, de Wiart retired, but before he could get back to Europe, he slipped and fell down a flight of stairs in Rangoon, and broke his back. This put him out for a while, but he eventually recovered and in 1951, at 71 years old, he married a woman 23 years younger than himself (apparently he had a life long reputation for being something of a fox), moved to Ireland and lived the rest of his days in peace. He died of plain old age in 1963. Aged 83.

After a life time of loyal and active service, his will left £3,496.

1930's turret designs

When I can find the time (and when I'm not being distracted by Battlefield 3) I'm still working on my medium tank casting project, and I've reached the post design stage for the turret. That is to say, I've drawn up my designs and am now ready for construction. My brother Peter (who is a precision engineer) has offered to help me by shaping some aluminium for the underlying structure, so I've made technical drawings of the two designs I have in mind. The project has two different hulls and two different turrets, and these can interchanged with each other, giving the possibility of three seperate tank models. The track assembly is the same for all variants.

Tank turrets in the 1930's came in all shapes and sizes. Since there hadn't been any major tank conflicts to influence design, many ideas which seemed good in theory were tried out. The most popular designs were cylindrical for obvious reasons, and hundreds of variants of the tapering cylinder or dome turret design were made. I've looked mainly to the Vickers designs for inspiration, since they produced so many prototypes in the mid war period.

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Above. From left to right; Light Tank Model 1936. Light amphibious tank A4 E12. Vickers Wolseley WT
Below; Vickers 6 ton light tank. A6 Medium Tank (not to be confused with the Medium Mk III). Vickers 'Independent' A1E1.