Progress on my France 1940 campaign has come to a halt of late, due to focussing on the planned HEIC game for the CWD. Sadly I can't multi-task! However all is not lost on this front as I recently received a nice Amazon voucher as a 'thankyou' for the volunteer work I do and after som epondering of what to buy, remembered the following book:
I really enjoyed his 'Case White' book on the Polish campaign and after reading the contents and reviews of 'Case Red', was happy to see that it covered (naturally) the post Dunkirk phase of the campaign, but also other parts that are not often covered. I place the order and within a few days I received my copy and have been reading it ever since!
Some Thoughts
In short if you are interested in the French campaign, you really should buy this book! I've learnt an awful lot already and still have not finished. A few points that I think are interesting:
- It covers the inter-war period of all sides involved in the campaign, which provides a really good background for what follows.
- Whilst not in much detail, it does cover what happened in Holland and Belgium, with the latter getting more pages. It does highlight that the Belgium 'collapse' really did unhinge the French and British positions, maybe more so than the breakthrough at Sedan.
- This is the only book I've read so far that does explain in great detail what happened to the French Airforce and why they had a limited effect upon the campaign.
- Logistics for all sides are shown to have had a big impact on how the campaign was conducted, especially before Fall Rot kicked off. Again not something that gets the coverage it deserves.
- The French are given more credit than they normally receive, but it does not shy away from highlighting their deficencies in C&C. Whilst they had good troops, tanks etc and on the face of it a good strategy, their ability to actually implement this was severely hampered by logistical issues. I certainly have a great appreciation of the French efforts now that before.
BKCII French Force
I've had a core French force based up for BKCII for more years than I care to remember! Now I want to resurrect this 'project' and need to dig out the box and see exactly what I have and what I might need to add to. The following GHQ models page has some really useful info that is easy to convert to OOB for BKCII. When I get round to this I've no idea given current commitments for the CWD and the start of the French campaign I've got planned. However I do know I will probably require at least a Company of infantry and some tanks, so hopefully something will appear off the painting table in due course.
Kos & Leros 1943
At the same time I bought the Osprey book on this little invasion as it's something I want to game in the next year or two, but like so many things, so many ideas, so little time!
So until next time, TTFN.
“Epondering”? This is a new word to me. Both books look interesting. Leros I am familiar with through the Wargame of the same name.
ReplyDeleteShaky hand typo might have created a new word: who needs AI to do this sort of stuff😉? Leros I've come across in passing and it's one of those more obscure WWII actions that has the benefit of making a nice, small and self contained campaign. The Fall Rot book does benefit from having read say Friesler, Sebag-Montefiore and others to help get that broader view.
DeleteI suggest we add this word to our eLexicon!
DeleteA good idea Jon and now the challenge is to see it disseminated via other Blogs!
DeleteI highly recommend comedian Alex Hornet’s book “Wordwatching”. Very funny, plenty of interesting facts. We even started to go with some of his ideas, adding fuel to the fire he’d started. Of course, it sounds like you’ve plenty of reading matter already in the queue…
DeleteI once did a typo to say I’d “esend” some ££ to someone. He queried what I meant - I explained that, rather than just “send” someone a payment, if I “esent” it then that meant they got 25% extra letters, at no extra cost. Well, it made us smile at the time 😉
Cheers,
Geoff
Never heard of the book, but sounds my sort of thing, so thanks for the 'heads up' Geoff😊.
DeleteD’oh. Alex HORNE (I suspect I’m going to have to have words with this d*mned “auto-correct” thing) is the author. Creator of Taskmaster. 😎
DeleteThanks for the 'correction' Geoff!
DeleteLol....I noted that Blogger inspired typo too, Jon....maybe it's a verb referring to pondering decisions in an online environment?! I agree too, both books look like a good read.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this new verb will catch on Keith? I've not read the Leros book yet but from a skim through it looks good and has enough info to allow me to create a similar type campaign for BKCII.
DeleteThanks for the Case Red tip. Your own knowledge of 1940 seems pretty solid to me, so if you rate the book, then that is an extra thumbs up!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Norm! I think there are some very good books available to us these days for the French campaign, to allow us to get a good and balanced view. Certainly this one has added to my knowledge, which is of course good.
DeleteThat's a road less travelled by us Brits. 1940 interest normally tables off after Dynamo.
ReplyDeleteAs for 'epondering', surely it's what Yorkshire folk say when another person says they're thinking something over. (Dons tin hat in readiness).
Very true Chris. We tend to stop paying attention after the 'Miracle of Dunkirk', which is a shame as the 'Brits' were still involved and there was a lot of fighting still to come.
DeleteThe Yorkshire definition did make me chuckle!
I have a book called " A Great Feat Of Improvisation" about British logistics in 39/40. It tells a good story of what happened after Dunkirk, one which, as it said above, usually never sees the light of day which is a great shame as it is a facinating story. Glad you are bringing this period into the limelight...Regards.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the book info Tony, which I'll have a look for, as it might provide useful info for scenarios and the campaign, as well as being an interesting read. The post Dunkirk info I'm finding fascinating, as there was still a lot of fighting to be had for about 3 weeks. When you look at the impact it had on the Germans, you can see why they struggled with Barbarossa, as they couldn't replenish men and materiel fast enough.
DeleteNice overview of the book. It’s certainly a narrow focus to me but then probably can go into real details that other larger histories would miss. If I ever have time to read a book again I will consider it. 😀
ReplyDeleteThanks Stew. I would say about half of the book covers the inter-war issues faced by all countries, then the campaign up to Dunkirk. After that we get to Fall Rot itself.
DeleteThanks for the review Steve. I will add it to the list.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Richard and I hope you enjoy it if and when you get to read it.
DeleteHmm, a couple of books to add to the wants list.
ReplyDeleteThe Fall Rot one is excellent Phil. I've just finished the Kor & Leros one which was rather a struggle to be honest. Almost too much detail, to the point it was really hard to keep track of things, not helped by the maps not having all the place names mentioned in the text.
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