Reading . . .

I'm reading a book called "Shots from the Front" by Richard Holmes.

It's an excellent read, and while the subject matter is WW1, there is much that contributors to this site will find interesting.

There is a picture of Nissen huts, erected on the Somme battlefield. I allways wondered why they were named "Nissen" and it turns out that they were inventedby a Major Peter Nissen, a Canadian mining engineer.

Of interest to those involved with BAOR ambulance trains, there is a picture of the inside of a 1918 British ambulance train.

Fascinating stuff. I recommend the book !

brum wrote:

I'm reading a book called "Shots from the Front" by Richard Holmes.

It's an excellent read, and while the subject matter is WW1, there is much that contributors to this site will find interesting.

There is a picture of Nissen huts, erected on the Somme battlefield. I allways wondered why they were named "Nissen" and it turns out that they were inventedby a Major Peter Nissen, a Canadian mining engineer.

Of interest to those involved with BAOR ambulance trains, there is a picture of the inside of a 1918 British ambulance train.

Fascinating stuff. I recommend the book !

Brum read that book in about 6hrs brill

I remember reading a book about Douglas Bader and it got to the part in the book about his confinement in Coldizt .Now whilst he was a P.O.W. he had himself a batman who had to carry him up and down the stairs.Well the time came for some guys to be repatriated back home and one of the guys to go was his batman.Bader took this news badly and spoke to the camp commandant complaining that he would have anyone to carry him when needed.So the poor batman didn't get the chance to go home.Well that certainly changed my view of Douglas Bader

"john boy" wrote:

I remember reading a book about Douglas Bader and it got to the part in the book about his confinement in Coldizt .Now whilst he was a P.O.W. he had himself a batman who had to carry him up and down the stairs.Well the time came for some guys to be repatriated back home and one of the guys to go was his batman.Bader took this news badly and spoke to the camp commandant complaining that he would have anyone to carry him when needed.So the poor batman didn't get the chance to go home.Well that certainly changed my view of Douglas Bader

Yeh read that too John. He wasn't liked by many people because he was very arrogant both before being a POW and after.

I've been to Colditz. Think the girl in the cafe used to be a guard, the miserable cow!

Teabag wrote:

"john boy" wrote:

I remember reading a book about Douglas Bader and it got to the part in the book about his confinement in Coldizt .Now whilst he was a P.O.W. he had himself a batman who had to carry him up and down the stairs.Well the time came for some guys to be repatriated back home and one of the guys to go was his batman.Bader took this news badly and spoke to the camp commandant complaining that he would have anyone to carry him when needed.So the poor batman didn't get the chance to go home.Well that certainly changed my view of Douglas Bader

Yeh read that too John. He wasn't liked by many people because he was very arrogant both before being a POW and after.

I've been to Colditz. Think the girl in the cafe used to be a guard, the miserable cow!

You have a wonderful way with words Teabag

"john boy" wrote:

I remember reading a book about Douglas Bader and it got to the part in the book about his confinement in Coldizt .Now whilst he was a P.O.W. he had himself a batman who had to carry him up and down the stairs.Well the time came for some guys to be repatriated back home and one of the guys to go was his batman.Bader took this news badly and spoke to the camp commandant complaining that he would have anyone to carry him when needed.So the poor batman didn't get the chance to go home.Well that certainly changed my view of Douglas Bader

Didn't have a leg to stand on.


Brian

I've also been to Colditz. Very depressing place and was then being used as a sanitorium. Funny really that being a castle it was designed to stop people getting in.
Also on the subject of Douglas Bader, he certainly put a lot of fellow prisoners in danger by his arrogant ways but then he was the product of his class and an inner belief in moving mountains.

Jimsigs1

If anyone has ever read "The Big Show" by Pierre Clostermann, French fighter pilot, they may remember a mention of Walter Nowotny, a German ace who flew an Me 262, one of the first jets. He led Kommando Nowotny, a squadron based at Achmer airfield, in the vicinity of Osnabruck. It was tasked with intercepting the late-war daylight raids by the US 8th Airforce. Nowotny crashed at Achmer, thought to have been shot down in clouds above the airfield. He was severely burned and died of his wounds in the Osnabruck hospital.

Achmer is close by the canal and was cleared of buildings and runways early post war. It became Training Area A, well used by the Osnabruck garrison. There is a memorial beside the road running past which records the airfield's use by the Luftwaffe.