British Paratrooper, 1940-1945. Osprey Warrior, 174.
Written by Rebecca Skinner, and Illustrated by Graham
Turner.
Scope – A good introduction to the formation, training,
equipment and second world war campaigns of the British paratroops
Completeness – Good
Appeal – high, nice book
Accuracy – I know of no problems, but am new to the topic.
Describe
During the Second World War, the British decided to respond
to the successful use of German paratroops by creating their own paratrooper
units. This began with the recruitment of volunteers from soldiers from within
the British army. All volunteers from within the pre-existing army ranks, no
man would be forced to join a unit whose duties required them to jump from
airplanes. (It wasn’t until the 1950’s that one could enlist directly into the British
paratroops.) To no one’s surprise, the recruits tended to be highly motivated
and very brave.
The newly formed paratroops wore a distinctive uniform. It
consisted of a special outer tunic whose design reduced the chances of
equipment getting snagged in the parachute, shoes laced on the side and a
maroon beret that showed their elite status. Portions of the uniform, such as
the tunic, were inspired by and largely copied from, those of their German
adversaries. This made sense as it was the effectiveness of the German
paratroops that had arguably inspired the formation of the British units.
The paratroops soon proved themselves to be useful and
important additions to the British forces in several battles. The first of
these was the Bruneval Raid in northern France in 1942. A small group of
paratroopers were dropped into occupied France to occupy a radar station long
enough for technicians to examine it and obtain needed intelligence on its
capabilities, and then make their escape via sea using a Royal Navy pick up
team.
The paratroops also distinguished themselves through their
bravery, skill, and initiative in other campaigns of the war including North
Africa, Italy, and Normandy. The book continues right up to the beginning of
the paratroops service in Greece after the Germans left while civil war
starting to break out in that nation.
Never having had a strong interest in paratroops, I did not
really expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. However, it is an
interesting volume that can appeal to many people in many different ways. Some
will enjoy the story and description of elite troops bravely facing danger and
battle. Others, the stories of eccentric and larger than life personalities (There
is, for instance, a story of a British paratroop officer who not only regularly
carried an umbrella into battle, he also once captured a tank with the
umbrella. OK, it was an Italian tank but it was still an impressive feat.
)
For me much of the appeal of the story came from hearing how
new technology, in this case parachutes, was actively applied during a military
campaign. From the time the decision was made to form British paratroop units
until the end of the war, training and parachuting procedures were continuously
changed and underwent new developments. To me, it was fascinating to learn that the
earliest attempts at training British paratroops, for instance, were done
before there were actually good quality planes whose designs facilitated
parachuting available. One training plane, for instance, was an obsolete bomber
and parachutists were required to crawl down the length of the plane and then
crawl out, head first, through the bomb bay in the rear. Another training plane
had literally had a hole cut in the center of the floor to enable the
parachutists to jump out. To me, these stories of training in the new parachute
technologies and techniques were very interesting.
I was astonished, for instance, to learn that the official
reaction to a parachuting accident, even or especially a fatal one, was to make
the remaining troops jump as soon as possible before fear and trauma had
allegedly set in.
In conclusion, this is a fine book, with much of interest to
those interested in paratroops or the Second World War. It is highly
recommended.
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