Books

[StefanM]

A new book that might be worth a read when it comes out shortly:




Operation Unthinkable: The Third World War. The Allied Plans for the Invasion of the Soviet Union 1945

By Jonathan Walker


Publisher's sales blurb:

"...As the war in Europe entered its final months, the world teetered on the edge of a Third World War. While Soviet forces hammered their way into Berlin, Churchill ordered British military planners to prepare the top secret Operation Unthinkable — the plan for an Allied attack on the Soviet Union - on 1 July 1945. Using US, British and Polish forces, the invasion would reclaim Eastern Europe. The controversial plan called for the use of Nazi troops, and there was the spectre of the atomic bomb. Would yet another army make the fatal mistake of heading East? In Operation Unthinkable Jonathan Walker presents a haunting study of the war that so nearly was. He outlines the motivations behind Churchill’s plan, the logistics of launching a vast assault against an enemy who had bested Hitler, potential sabotage by Polish communists, and he speculates whether the Allies would have succeeded had the operation gone forward. Well supported by a wide range of primary sources from the Churchill Archives Centre, Sikorski Institute, National Archives and Imperial War Museum, this is a fascinating insight into the upheaval as the Second World War drew to a close and former alliances were shattered. Operation Unthinkable became the blueprint for the Cold War. "

[dastier]

Yes this sounds interesting. Perhaps it will provide evidence, an evaluation on the feasibility and realistic outcome of such a plan plus whether or not it was really considered.

I've always heard that the British and American public were tired of the war and that even the U.S.A. could not financially afford to fight much longer. As well the American military priority was winning the war against Japan.

Hopefully this book will be based on sound research and access to perhaps previously unattainable documentation. Anyone know of Mr. Walker's credentials?

[StefanM]

Jonathan Walker also wrote "Poland Alone" which is a recommended reference for one of the History Modules of the Combined Honours Degree offered by leading universities in the UK.
His author blog is: Jonathan Walker - Military Author

I ordered "Operation Unthinkable" from Amazon yesterday mid-afternoon and it is scheduled for delivery between 12.47 and 13.47 today....got to hand it to Amazon for an awesome service

I am looking forward to seeing what part Churchill had for the Polish Army of the West in Operation Unthinkable and to see if Walker found the elusive plans that Anders may have had for the next world war that he predicted would erupt between the West and the USSR once Germany was defeated. There is still very little research by Polish historians on this aspect and Anders contacts with Franco's Spain, which is where he wanted the Polish forces to be stationed as a Catholic Christian bulwark against the impending communist take-over of Europe which he fully expected within a few years of the ending of WWII.

'One atom bomb is all we need and our Lwow will again be freed.' was a popular slogan amongst 2PolCorps who had had a taste of Stalin's hospitality in the arctic camps of Siberia and various Soviet Republics.

[StefanM]

A new book on the Warsaw Rising 1944. It will be interesting to see what if any new insights the author contributes to the well explored story of the Rising.



Warsaw 1944: The Fateful Uprising
by Alexandra Richie
Hardcover: 752 pages
Publisher: William Collins (24 Oct 2013)
ISBN-13: 978-0007180417

This book will have a slightly different title in the US market:



Warsaw 1944: Hitler, Himmler, and the Warsaw Uprising
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1 edition (December 10, 2013)
ISBN-13: 978-0374286552

Publishers description:

In autumn 1944, German troops and police entered Warsaw to deport its inhabitants. Though the war was now all but lost, the demolition of Warsaw remained part of the Nazi racial plan of ′cleansing′ central Europe for future German settlement. In the first five days alone, 40,000 human beings were shot, thrown out of windows, burned alive or trampled in a frenzied killing spree. But, to Himmler′s surprise, the Poles did not give in. The Warsawians were well organized and fought valiantly. With the entire population behind it, the Uprising, which was originally expected to last less than a week, held out for sixty-three days. Finally, faced by a vastly superior force, the resistance was gradually crushed. More than 250,000 people had been killed and 85 per cent of Warsaw had been destroyed.

Today Warsaw is again a bustling metropolis. Poland is a member of NATO, a member-elect of the European Union, and its partnership with Germany is remarkably close. But scars remain: on virtually every street corner, small memorials commemorate the dead.

In her compellling account of the Uprising, Alexandra Richie puts the battle of Warsaw in its rightful place within the context of the Second World War. Using previously unpublished documents and photographs, she weaves the events of the battle and the experience of the soldiers and civilians as they fought street by street into a wider political, social and military context, incorporating views of Poles trapped within the city as well as Germans and Russians who witnessed the events. By examining the Warsaw Uprising in light of the Churchill-Roosevelt-Stalin negotiations over the fate of post-war Europe, Richie examines why it has rightly been called the first battle of the Cold War.

[Gunny Hartmann]

A new book on the Warsaw Rising 1944. It will be interesting to see what if any new insights the author contributes to the well explored story of the Rising.



Warsaw 1944: The Fateful Uprising
by Alexandra Richie
Hardcover: 752 pages
Publisher: William Collins (24 Oct 2013)
ISBN-13: 978-0007180417

This book will have a slightly different title in the US market:

Warsaw 1944: Hitler, Himmler, and the Warsaw Uprising
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1 edition (December 10, 2013)
ISBN-13: 978-0374286552

Publishers description:

In autumn 1944, German troops and police entered Warsaw to deport its inhabitants. Though the war was now all but lost, the demolition of Warsaw remained part of the Nazi racial plan of ′cleansing′ central Europe for future German settlement. In the first five days alone, 40,000 human beings were shot, thrown out of windows, burned alive or trampled in a frenzied killing spree. But, to Himmler′s surprise, the Poles did not give in. The Warsawians were well organized and fought valiantly. With the entire population behind it, the Uprising, which was originally expected to last less than a week, held out for sixty-three days. Finally, faced by a vastly superior force, the resistance was gradually crushed. More than 250,000 people had been killed and 85 per cent of Warsaw had been destroyed.

Today Warsaw is again a bustling metropolis. Poland is a member of NATO, a member-elect of the European Union, and its partnership with Germany is remarkably close. But scars remain: on virtually every street corner, small memorials commemorate the dead.

In her compellling account of the Uprising, Alexandra Richie puts the battle of Warsaw in its rightful place within the context of the Second World War. Using previously unpublished documents and photographs, she weaves the events of the battle and the experience of the soldiers and civilians as they fought street by street into a wider political, social and military context, incorporating views of Poles trapped within the city as well as Germans and Russians who witnessed the events. By examining the Warsaw Uprising in light of the Churchill-Roosevelt-Stalin negotiations over the fate of post-war Europe, Richie examines why it has rightly been called the first battle of the Cold War.

From the Amazon Customer Review it sounds like a good read!...

[JKZ]

Hi, I found this forum when I searched for my grandfathers name on Google. My grandfather is Józef Zabielski, I'm his granddaughter. He would be honored that people like you keep passing his story around to others.

[Krakow1]

Finally arrived, a copy of Private Edition of 100 numbered copies : published by Walka Books from New Orleans (George Cholewczynski ),

"General Sosabowski's Tourist. A Polish Paratrooper Memoir.

Written by Boleslaw Ostrowski who is still alive (born in 1919) who lived it.....really lived it.

[Krakow1]

Last available copy of 100 is on Ebay now.....

[Polish2Corps]

I'm currently writing a history of the Polish 2nd Corps and have been amazed by some of the fantastic posts in this forum. I've put a very brief overview presentation at
Overview presentation of the history Polish 2nd Corps - YouTube

[Piwo2]

Lads,

Didn't really know where to put this...don't think it warrants its own thread.



So any of you who are musically inclined.... I'll be glad to send the entire work in another post.

Ist. Armored Brigade March printed in England......1 shilling and sixpence.......

cheers,

Piwo