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Arnhem - The Fight To Sustain
Arnhem -
The
Landing Grounds and Oosterbeek
Arnhem -
The
Bridge
The History of the RAOC
Thomas - A Soldier’s Tale
Frank Steer has written three books on the historic battle of Arnhem, immortalised in the film "A Bridge Too Far". He is currently researching and writing a history of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. He also has a novel of the First World War, Thomas - A Soldier’s Tale, for which he is seeking an agent and will be delighted to hear from anyone who might be interested in handling it.
Arnhem - The Fight To Sustain
The British airborne drop at Arnhem in September 1944 was one of the most
dramatic incidents of World War II. No story of the Arnhem campaign is more
filled with courage and devotion than that of the British support units, such as
the Royal Army Service Corps and the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Some support
units were to land by parachute and others as glider troops and set up supply
dumps at the front line, while others were to drop supplies from RAF aircraft
flying over the battlefield.
The unforeseen presence of a German field marshal and two SS divisions quickly
turned Arnhem into a trap for the British paratroops. On the ground the airborne
logisticians at the battle of Arnhem fought to the bitter end, indistinguishable
from their paratrooper comrades. In the air, their deeds and sacrifice were
shining examples of duty done under the most desperate circumstances. Witness
the account of Flight Lieutenant H J King, navigator of Dakota KG 374 of 271
squadron RAF, Down Ampney: These men were not volunteers like aircrew. They
received no flying pay, yet were, without doubt, superb in their fulfilment of
duty even though KG 374 was burning for the whole period over the dropping zone.
Arnhem - The Fight To Sustain tells the stirring story of the men and the
methods employed in sustaining 1st Airborne Division. It is the first account of
the Corps that make up today's Royal Logistic Corps in action together.
Following extensive research the story draws heavily on contemporary documents
and eyewitness accounts and is lavishly illustrated.
May be purchased from Amazon.co.uk or from the publishers,
Pen & Sword.
All profits from this book go to charity - the RLC Benevolent Fund and the
Airborne Museum "Hartenstein" at Oosterbeek in Holland.
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Arnhem - The Landing
Grounds and Oosterbeek
This is latest of the well-respected Battleground series of books, and covers a
number of aspects of the battle of Arnhem. It concentrates on the landings and
the desperate and legendary battle fought by the remnants of 1st Airborne
Division in the town of Oosterbeek. The book relies on both historical knowledge
and anecdotes from veterans to bring to life the events of those fateful days of
late September 1944. Having set the strategic scene on the opening chapter the
guide suggests four separate tours around the area, one on foot and the others
requiring a car. They can all be completed in a full day, but are structured in
such a way that visitors can make their own choice of how and where to visit.
For a clear, concise and accurate account of the Arnhem-Oosterbeek battlefield
this is unlikely to be beaten.
May be purchased from Amazon.co.uk or from the publishers,
Pen
& Sword.
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Arnhem - The Bridge
In the second of his two Battleground guides to the epic struggle put up by the
British and Polish paratroopers at Arnhem, Frank Steer concentrates on the
battle in the town itself and particularly for the vital bridge. Seized at a
comparatively early stage, the bridge became the focus for prolonged and vicious
fighting. Cut off from further reinforcement by the furious Germans, the small
garrison, led by the redoubtable Colonel John Frost, waged an increasingly
desperate struggle for survival against overwhelming odds, hoping against hope
that 30 Corps would arrive in time. As is well known they did not. The fact that
this battle was lost and the bold aims of Market Garden were not fully achieved
in no way diminished the extent of the achievement of the Paras. Indeed it has
added to their glory.
May be purchased from Amazon.co.uk or from the publishers,
Pen & Sword.
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British Campaigns: The
Western Desert
Now the British were driven back. Tobruk fell under siege - but the line held.
Then, strengthened by reinforcements, a second offensive by Rommel rolled the
British back to El Alamein where his weary troops were finally checked. Now
Montgomery took charge of the British 8th Army and the scene was set for a clash
of epic proportions between two the greatest commanders of the Second World War.
This is the definitive film record of the war in the Western Desert focusing on
the battles and campaigns fought by British and Commonwealth forces from 1940 to
the fall of Tunis and comprised almost entirely of front line footage recorded
by combat cameramen. Apart from rare captured Italian and German film, also
included are film 'rushes' and Movietone newsreel outtakes which have never been
shown before. The entire and campaign is covered in considerable detail, along
with the air war and Middle Eastern convoys. Fascinating 'then and now' footage
reveals the battlefields as they are today and there are detailed comparisons of
the armour and weaponry used by all sides. There are also exclusive interviews
with surviving British veterans, filmed on the battlefield, as well as Viscount
David Montgomery and Manfred Rommel, the sons of the legendary commanders,
expert analysis by Colonel Frank Steer (Commander, Supply for the British Forces
in the Gulf War), coverage of the last visit of the 'Desert Rats' to Tobruk in
2001 and much more.
May be purchased from
DD Video
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In 1993 the Royal Army Ordnance Corps was absorbed into the Royal Logistic
Corps. It had been in existence as a Corps of the British Army since 1918,
although the history of the part played by the Ordnance personnel who are part
of its history tracks back to the 15th Century.
The Trustees of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps Charitable Trust have decided that
a history is required of the RAOC covering the period of its existence from
1918, and have invited Frank to write it. In doing so it is important to include
as much appropriate anecdotal information as possible and if there are former
officers and soldiers of Corps who have a story to tell, or have a picture to
show or simply feel they might wish to contribute would they please write to:
Brigadier F R Steer MBE
The Institute of Quality Assurance
12 Grosvenor Crescent
London SW1X 7EE
Alternatively, please contact Frank at
info@frank-steer.com
All assistance will be gratefully received. This is a most worthwhile project
which will mean a great deal to those surviving members of the Corps in which we
served with no small amount of pride.
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Thomas - A Soldier’s Tale
"Thomas - A Soldier's Tale" is different. This is the clear message from readers
of the manuscript who have, universally, described it as a "really good read"
and "better than Birdsong". All comparisons are, of course, odious; but in this
case it serves to highlight the fact that this is an excellent piece of work
with compelling appeal to the genre that invests with great enthusiasm and in
large numbers in historically accurate novels. It is in the same mould as the
novels of Bernard Cornwell and Leslie Thomas, and is evocative of successful TV
programmes such as Band of Brothers, The Unknown Soldier and All The King’s Men,
which starred David Jason. It is a powerful story of soldiers going about
soldiers’ business and told from a soldier's perspective.
Hence the title, for the central character is Thomas. He is, de facto, Tommy
Atkins personified and brought to life in the characters created for the story;
developed throughout the story; and brought into, or removed from, the story as
events unfold. The result is a captivating tale of the lives of a group of men
in a British infantry battalion in the first 10 months of the Great War from
mobilisation in August 1914 to a battle at Festubert, a small town in Northern
France, in mid-June 1915.
It is the story of events in the first part of the First World War, before the
routine "mud and blood" of Flanders and "lions led by donkeys" themes that
typify and dominate much of the literature of the period. This is a story of the
reality of the relationships between individuals at each level. No army could
have performed as competently as did the BEF without a high level of skill,
understanding and mutual respect at the level of those doing the fighting. Above
them, incompetence and the politicisation of the military leadership raised
other issues which are used in this book to sketch in the background to events;
but down where the dirt actually found its way under the fingernails were a
group of highly competent individuals who quickly learned that their survival
depended on each of them playing his part and understanding, and appreciating,
fully the parts played by others.
The book opens on Remembrance Day 1994, eighty years on from the start of the
war when any survivor of the BEF would be 100 years old. The short introductory
chapter is a lead in to the vivid memories of a survivor and, as he falls asleep
by the fire, the start of the dream that has repeated itself throughout his
life, which has never left him. The story then follows his dream, tracing his
life from the time, aged eighteen, he had been forced to run away by an incident
in his village and to join up. It takes him through his first two years in
Northern Ireland where he begins to grow up in company with other young men from
a range of backgrounds. Each of the characters develops as the group increases
in size and experience to provide the tapestry, the patchwork, that is the
multi-faceted nature of a battalion on peacetime, garrison duty. With the growth
of each of the individual characters so "Thomas" begins to take on a character,
drawing off their individual foibles, their strengths and their weaknesses, so
that he becomes the means of expressing the feelings of the soldiers in general.
The sequence of events follows what befell one British Infantry battalion, the
1st Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment, through that period, based on the reality
of its diaries and recorded history. However, these events are viewed through
the eyes of the dozen or so characters all created and developed specifically to
explain every facet of what happened, to record and express views and feelings
at, from and about all levels in the complex structure that is an Army at war.
Key events are the battle of Mons, the battle of Le Cateau, the withdrawal to
the Marne, the battle on the Aisne, the race to the sea, the first battle of
Ypres, Christmas in the trenches, the blowing of one of the first underground
mines, gas attacks, life in the trenches and finally the battle at Festubert.
Each of these takes its place in this story of people caught up in events over
which they have no control, and with each event meticulously correct in its
historical detail they provide the essential background to this compelling
description of the effect of the war on individuals.
Woven through the story are stories of love, of hate, of bestiality, of rape, of
desertion, of boredom, of pestilence, of fear, of cowardice, of bravery, of
theft and of loyalty. All designed to add the human flavour to the inhuman
nature of war.
The old man never wakes from his sleep, it is his last dream and they bury him
in a Norfolk graveyard. The soldiers who fire the salute over his grave are from
the Royal Anglian Regiment, which today carries the history and traditions of
the Norfolk Regiment. These modern personifications of Thomas had themselves
just returned in the preceding few weeks from an operational tour of duty in
Sarajevo, which it is where it had all started just 80 years earlier. They were
saying goodbye to one of their own.
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