BOOK REVIEW: THE EASTERN FRONT 1914-1917

 This is a book from my library that I have had a long time and actually could not recall ever reading although I am sure I did at the time of purchase.

Having now read this book again I am pleased I did  as it really is very good. The Eastern Front is hardly mentioned in most WW1 histories yet the campaign was so very different to that on the Western Front. Indeed it was more like the the sort of open warfare that most generals expected in 1914. The book covers the various battles with a  fairly broad brush as I would expect given the huge scale of the fighting. However it also covers the economics of war mainly from the Russian perspective. It tries to answer the question of whether Russia had the industrial strength to have won if the revolution had not curtailed the political will to continue the fight. A great deal of research has gone into this question and it makes good and interesting reading.

There are many fascinating aspects to the war in the east. These include massive troop movements, lack of a continuous front line, fortifications, where they existed, being only a virtual scratch in the ground and the huge numbers of prisoners taken due to outflanking by both sides on a regular basis. 

An excellent book with only one  downside in that it leaves me with a thirst for more detail on the various battles and campaigns. There is very little published about the Eastern Front and I will have to undertake a search to find more books on this fascinating theater of war.

BOOK REVIEW: UNTIL THE EYES SHUT.

 This is a new book I found when trawling Amazon. The author is the grandson of an Austrian, Hans, who was drafted into the Wehrmacht at the age of 18 in late 1943. After training he joined a mountain division  ( 3rd Gebirgsjager Division) and spent the rest of the war as a machine gunner on the Russian front.

The author spent many hours talking with his grandfather about his experiences, which was clearly a difficult thing for both of them. The story of that year and a half in Russia and eastern Europe, constantly retreating under overwhelming Russian pressure, is harsh and brutal. Quite how Hans survived is a miracle given the merciless fighting he endured. However, also remembered is the comradeship with the others in the troop and the unexpected occasional gestures of humanity among the awful destruction and death. This book really tells the true story of the ruthless struggle on the Eastern Front.

In May 1945 as the German forces collapsed, Hans attempted to make his way home only to be captured by the Russians and imprisoned. He spent over two years working in a factory building T34 tanks before being released at the end of 1947 and then only because he was Austrian. German captives endured far longer in prison with most not being released until well into the 1950's. On his return home he took over the family farm and remained there for the rest of his life.

I highly recommend this book not only for its accurate and fascinating portrayal of life as a German soldier on the Eastern Front but also for the vivid descriptions of the simple human impact of that vicious campaign.

UPDATE.

 August in the UK this year has clearly been the first month of Autumn with some weeks of rain, cloud and low temperatures. The good side of this is that I have managed to get a bit more modelling time. Since my last update I have completed  upgrades 27 through 32 which have added 714 more soldiers to the ranks. 

On the woodworking project I am still waiting for the quarter inch thick white melamine faced MDF sheets that I use for the back of the display unit and the actual shelves. In common with many building and timber products these sheets are in short supply at the moment and have  more or less doubled in price too. I am told delivery should be next week so will keep my fingers crossed. As soon as work starts on construction of the new unit I will post accordingly.

Regular readers will have noticed a new Imagi-Nations post this past week. As I mentioned previously the timeline is now within a couple of years of the present day so I decided to spread out the remaining chapters and publish just once a month. I hope you all still find them interesting.

I have been surprised that no one commented on the video I included in my last update on the battle of Isandlwana. Maybe everyone has already seen the film and I was late to the party. However if you have not watched it, I urge you to do so, it really is very good.

IMAGI-NATIONS. PART 43.

 THE BATTLES WITH RUSSIA.

While fighting raged in the west against Germany in late 1888 and early 1889 the two sides in Ukraine remained facing each other with neither side having the strength to force a decision. The Russians had committed virtually their whole army to the struggle but still could not risk an assault against the over whelming UNION artillery. The UNION had only four armies in Ukraine and until reinforcements became available after the defeat of Germany they too did not wish to risk an attack. Both sides contented themselves with digging in and exchanging regular artillery barrages although the Russians had soon learned that UNION counter battery fire was highly effective meaning Russian batteries had to move positions regularly.

When the Germans had initially invaded  in the west, the UNION was very concerned that the Russians would launch an attack to support their allies knowing that UNION forces would be weakened in Ukraine as a result of fighting on two fronts. They had therefore adopted a strategy of launching cavalry raids from the south of Ukraine against the 1000 mile long Russian supply lines in the north. The four cavalry brigades available were formed into an ad hoc  cavalry army under the command of General Forrest and he established a base just north of Kiev. The government of Ukraine supported the UNION cavalry by supplying food and fodder to the base meaning that UNION transport companies only had to deliver ammunition and other military supplies. In addition the UNION finally decided to construct a railway line from Richmond to Kiev, something the Ukrainians had been requesting for years but which the UNION had refused because of the conditions agreed with Russia in the peace treaty after the War of Independence which precluded either side from constructing any railways in Ukraine.

The cavalry under Forrest launched their first raid  against Russian supply lines and their railway on 7 December 1888. It was a great success and resulted in destruction of several Russian trains and substantial damage to the tracks in many  places as well as destruction of large amounts of supplies. Over the next few months the raids continued as the Russians desperately sought to defend their supply lines. A large number of Russian reserves as well as troops from the front line formations were deployed to protect the railway reaching over 50,000 men by January 1889. Blockhouses were constructed at intervals along the railway but UNION cavalry seemed able to slip between the Russian positions almost at will. By late February severe shortages of ammunition and other supplies were being felt throughout the Russian front line formations.

The Russians realised that their situation was becoming desperate and with news of the collapse of the German army it was only a matter of time before huge UNION reinforcements would arrive to launch an over whelming attack on the weakened Russian army. Clearly the Russian gamble had now failed and it was time for the Russians to retreat out of Ukraine and seek to defend the border where at least they would be free of the very damaging UNION cavalry attacks. Preparations immediately began to start a phased withdrawal using strong rearguards to prevent the UNION turning the retreat into a rout.

At the end of March 1889 the Russians began their retreat. The UNION had no idea at first the Russians were falling back as strong Russian rearguards gave the impression the Russian forces were still in position. A UNION cavalry attack on the Russian railway  on 2nd April gave the first serious indication of the Russian retreat. As UNION cavalry ambushed a Russian train moving east the cavalry were surprised to receive very fierce return fire from the train. As it came to a halt, over 2,000 Russian troops deployed from the train and assaulted the dismounted cavalry. Almost immediately another train arrived and also disgorged a large number of troops who joined the attack on the UNION cavalry. Vastly outnumbered and suffering heavy casualties, the UNION cavalry had to make a quick retreat.

The same thing happened two days later as the UNION command realised that railway traffic on the Russian tracks was now predominately east bound. A Russian retreat was clearly in progress. UNION forces were instructed to follow up the Russian withdrawal but, to avoid unnecessary casualties , to maintain a distance unless Russian troops showed an inclination to hold their ground for more than a day or two. The UNION cavalry were ordered to cease attacks on the Russian railways, except for horse artillery fire on passing trains, and just monitor the Russian withdrawal.

By early June 1889 the Russians had withdrawn to the Volga river and could be seen by UNION cavalry patrols to be entrenching on the eastern bank on Russian soil. The UNION army advance guard arrived on the west bank on 15th June and deployed opposite the main bridge. UNION heavy artillery was ordered to destroy the bridge with a bombardment  at dawn on 17th but during the evening of 16th June the bridge exploded and collapsed from the effects of Russian demolition charges. During the following days a number of Russian stragglers were captured along the line of the railway as they made their way east. All were escorted to the Volga and, after a short delay, a boat came over from the Russian side and was allowed to remove the last Russian troops from Ukraine. Further south, the other two light bridges over the Volga were destroyed by Russian demolition charges as soon as UNION forces came in sight.

As the UNION celebrated its victory over the combined forces of Germany and Russia, time was also taken to remember the many thousands of UNION soldiers who had been lost in the heavy fighting on both fronts. The war had cost more UNION lives than any other war and the UNION was very aware that defeat had come very close. The exhausted UNION armies remained in their front line positions while preparations were made for them to return to their bases and arrangements were made for small garrisons to monitor both the Volga and the Rhine. Without warning on 28th June a message was flashed to all UNION commands that cavalry from 10th Reserve army patrolling in southern China had located a very large Chinese army moving south towards the border.

BOOK REVIEW: FROM THE GRACCHI TO NERO.

A History Of Rome From 133 BC To AD 68.

 

Following my review a while ago of my old school book about Republican Rome, Ion of the Archduke Piccolo blog told me about this book, by the same author, which is the follow up volume. Of course I just had to buy a copy and secured this used "as new" paperback. Thanks Ion for bringing this book to my attention.

I have now read the book and it is excellent. I really like the writing style and it complements the previous volume perfectly. The transformation of Republican Rome to Imperial Rome is clearly described. It is strange that, at the time, the Emperor was not so, just First Citizen. Romans had a great historical aversion to the idea of a Monarchy so the move towards an Emperor was carefully disguised using the old Republican terms of Consul etc. It is also clear that most Romans had no desire to repeat the misery of the Civil Wars  so were happy to accept the peace and prosperity bought by an all powerful "First Citizen" who curbed the ability of individual Senators to enrich and empower themselves at the expense of the nation.

I have looked for the logical next volume covering the Emperors after Nero but can find nothing written by Scullard which is a great shame. However as I am more interested in the early history of Rome I will not worry too much about finding an alternative author.

On a general note, in reading about Rome, it never ceases to amaze me just how sophisticated Roman society actually was some 2000 years ago. I often wonder, if Roman civilization had not given way to the Dark Ages but had continued to advance without interruption, just where would we be today. It is at least arguable that a good 500 years of development were lost to Mankind. On that basis the civilization of today could have existed in 1521. Now that is a thought !!!!

BOOK REVIEW: LORD CURZON

The Last Of The British Moghuls.

 

This is the second book I recently purchased at our local National Trust second hand bookshop.

The author is clearly a strong supporter of Indian nationalism. As a result the first half of the book covers Curzon's early life and the other half is devoted to his time as Viceroy. His political career before and after his 7 years as Viceroy is virtually ignored. The main aim of the book seems to be to suggest that the effects of his upbringing and schooling especially his time in the English public school system created some sort of deviant human being which manifested itself in his time as Viceroy.

The book also devotes a lot of space to describing the advent of some very marginal Indian resistance movements while almost ignoring Curzon's well known struggle with Kitchener for control of the Indian army. In fact one could be forgiven for assuming after reading this book that Indian independence took place because of Curzon's performance as Viceroy and indeed only a couple of years later rather than over 40 years later.

I am sure that this book's version of history will appeal to some but I am not one of them. I have no doubt that Curzon,  like all people,  had flaws, but some of the suggestions alluded to in this book are really ridiculous. This is not a real autobiography of a significant politician of the late 19th and early 20th century but rather a politically motivated hatchet job designed to strengthen the view that the British Raj in India was operated by sociopaths and was therefore very bad with no redeeming features at all. 

Like many people I take the view that the Raj had both good and bad elements. However at the time it seemed like a good idea and I just do not believe that it is reasonable to apply today's perspectives to those of the past. It is certainly not fair to paint such a distinguished statesman as some sort of monster just to support a radical political theory.

As I do not believe in destroying any book under any circumstances this book will be donated to a charity shop  as quickly as possible.

WOODWORKING PROJECT. PART 2.

Having allowed the glue on the new bookcase to dry over the course of a couple of days the next task was to cut off the surplus dowel rods used to fill the "pocket screw holes" and sand the dowels flat. In the photo below you can just see the dowel used to fill the screw hole attaching the bun feet sanded down.

 

The next picture shows the top with rounded over corners and edges.

The next step in the finishing process was application of two coats of Antique Pine stain. Although all our furniture downstairs is oak, upstairs the colour of choice is antiqued pine. The photo below shows the unit after those two coats. Also shown below , because I forgot to photograph it before staining, is the dowel rod in a "pocket screw hole" cut down and sanded flat. As can be seen the effect is of a lozenge shape. This looks quite attractive and eventually after finishing is complete it almost disappears.

This photo shows the whole unit fully stained.

After staining the unit received two coats of lacquer with a very light sanding between coats. The next photo shows the unit in its new permanent home after the lacquer dried overnight.

The final touch is a light waxing. Although the unit looks wider at the top than the bottom it is in fact quite square. The strange shape is caused by the funny angle I used to take this photo.

 

Just for interest, the dimensions of the unit, including overhangs and bun feet are: length 39" 990mm, width 18.5" 475mm and height 36.75" 935mm. The total shelf space is 216" (18 feet ) 5490mm (5.5m ).

I am currently awaiting delivery of the timber for the new modelling unit itself and will post on the construction of that unit just as soon as work gets underway.