Book Review: We were Brothers in Arms

Author: Frank Clark

This will be probably the last eye witness account of the post-Normandy battles as the Allies struggled for eleven months to advance from the Seine to the Rhine and beyond. These battles were complex and controversial. Nijmegen, Arnhem, the Huertgen Forest, the River Scheidt, all had their difficulties, and even after nearly seventy years questions remain. The battle for Hells Highway, the Battle of the Bulge and why XXX Corps failed to reach Arnhem,?

In his profoundly modest style, Frank describes his part as “the thread of my personal experience” from which hang the many reminiscences of comrades who also witnessed the events that changed the course of a World War and gave us the freedom that we all enjoy today.

We Were Brothers in Arms is an attempt to understand the experience of battles during WW2 through the personal experiences of the ordinary soldier. Frank as a military historian has gathered together the amazing stories from his personal collection of British soldier’s
stories during the eleven months of frenzied warfare that followed D-Day, and combined them into this fascinating volume. Frank, a veteran soldier with 40 years of active service, served in the Grenadier Guards as a young man and saw active service with the Guards Armoured Division. (He was in the Home Guard with the Battle of Britain being fought in the skies above his head) He left the Guards after six years and then became a veteran of Korea, Malaya, Cyprus, Northern Ireland and highly dangerous Cold War, Frank is well versed in the adrenalin of battle, and here he brings together the tales of a wide cross section of WW2 fighting men on the front line. There are stories from the infantry, the assault troops who stormed the Normandy beaches and forced bridgeheads. The dashing reconnaissance men in their thin-skinned, tanks sending back vital radio reports; the parachutists, dropping behind enemy lines to fight, the sappers building bridges and clearing minefields under fire; the gunners, bringing down fast, furious and accurate barrages; the signallers, patching up communication links; the non-combatant stretcher-bearers, the doctors tending the wounded, the support services bringing up food and ammunition. As a
commissioned officer in the Intelligence Corps he is able reassess some of the battle using intelligence data. This book tells a story of war, and reminds us why their sacrifice should never be forgotten.

We Were Brothers in Arms is a compelling account of the last months of war told through eye witness accounts, many never before published. Frank is an avid military historian and writes regularly on military topics. He writes for the Crimean War Research Society of which he is a member.

Footnote: – Profits from the sale of this book will be donated to a Help the Heroes fund, called The Colonels Fund. The 1st Bn. Grenadier Guards returned from Afghanistan at the end of October 2012 after a gruelling but highly successful operational tour. Sadly, 5 Grenadiers were killed in action and there were 46 battle casualties, of which 11 were amputees. A Victoria Cross was won but sadly posthumously. Such a grim toll shows only too clearly that the task of helping our Grenadiers is only just beginning and we will need to continue to raise funds into the future. Your purchase of Frank’s book will help raise much needed funds. Price: – £16.99 or £20.00 signed copy plus standard booksellers P&P £2.40

FC Dec 2013 Website: – http://frankclark.moonfruit.com/homr/4580831294?p