For Your Tomorrow - The Forgotten Army and the 21st Century

For Your Tomorrow examines the torrid Burma campaign of World War Two, through the words of the men who fought, & the eyes of the 21st Century youngsters whose freedom they guaranteed.

This war documentary will take you on an exploration of how we value the actions of a group of now elderly men who fought for our freedom in the middle of the last century. It's a different approach to the subject of war, examining how much (or little) modern youngsters know about the incredible experiences of their grandfathers' generation.

This documentary draws on the experiences of a group of men in the torrid Burma war, but their tales serve as a microcosm of worldwide events during World War Two.

Ben, 19, is an intelligent & likeable young man. Although he knows that his great-grandfather was killed as part of the Second World War's "Forgotten Army" in Burma during 1945, he knows very little else.

Pamela, 28, is a vivacious & creative artistic director, who is putting on a play about wartime experiences in her local town. Her late grandfather fought as a Chindit in Burma, & she also knows little of his experience.

For Your Tomorrow examines the torrid Burma campaign of World War Two, through the words of the men who fought, & the eyes of the 21st Century youngsters whose freedom they guaranteed.

The defence of Burma & India against the seemingly unstoppable advance of a ferocious Japanese military was an event which helped turn the course of the Second World War, yet was, & still is, almost unrecognised by much of the free world. The Forgotten Army, as they became known, were fighting a formidable enemy, often in awful & alien tropical jungle conditions, & handicapped by undersupply. the Burma campaign united troops from the entire British Empire, and the incredible exploits of Chindits and Gurkhas became legend.

Many of the surviving men still suffer today from diseases & parasites which they picked up in the jungles & swamps of Burma nearly 70 years ago. Many survived only because they adopted a 'kill or be killed' attitude. Many did have to kill. Most lost friends & comrades.

Producer & Director Don Clark:

"I was privileged to be allowed to conduct interviews with a group of these wonderful men, including men of the Chindit Operations - the first examples of a deep penetration force - operating behind Japanese lines in jungle conditions.

I was often the very first person to whom they broke a code of silence which they had held ever since the war ended- not even their wives & loved ones had heard their tales. I recorded their testimonies, on camera, originally with the intention of merely creating some sort of archive so that future generations would know something of the story of these unknown heroes of Burma.

But it became obvious over the 6 years that I spent time, on & off, with these men, that there was an urgent need to not only preserve their individual interviews for posterity, but to ask questions about our society's knowledge of the enormity of the sacrifices they made for us & the generations still to come.

We were able to take Ben & Pamela on a journey which connects them to the generation whose bravery made their society stable & secure. Men who are now in their eighties & nineties, but who were perhaps Ben's age when they were conscripted, come alive when they talk of 'their' war, & the youngsters are stirred from their personal comfort zones. We as viewers all participate; we all learn."

For Your Tomorrow is a 68 minute documentary film, and the newly available DVD contains about an hour of bonus features, which will not be available to see either in the cinema screenings or TV broadcasts of the film.

You can watch the trailer below, and view or order the DVD from the film website.

Portsmouth's World War Two Heroes: Stories of the Fallen Men and Women

During the Second World War 2,549 service men and women from Portsmouth were killed in their various wartime occupations. Now this book uncovers their stories; stories that have never been told before: a bomb disposal petty officer awarded the George Cross; a 16-year-old paratrooper; a Battle of Britain hero; men killed in battleships, submarines, bombers and tanks throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Chapters consider each of the forces, including the Merchant Navy, NAAFI and WRNS, and also consider the theatres of war in which these men and women fell.

By using database software, an analysis of all 2,549 casualties has been possible, allowing the author to look at statistics, such as their age and where in the area they came from. Although a touching exploration of the stories of individuals and units, the extra length that author James Daly had gone to in his research has made it possible for the reader to build a picture of the effect that the Second World War had on people of Portsmouth and the community at large.

Available from:
The History Press

The German Aces Speak - World War II Through the Eyes of Four of the Luftwaffe's Most Important Commanders

Few stories epitomize the sheer drama and sacrifice of combat more perfectly than those of the fighter pilots of World War II. As romanticized as any soldier in history, the WWII fighter pilot was viewed as larger than life—dashing souls waging war amongst the clouds.

From 1939-1945, thousands of Allied fighter pilots took to the skies above Europe and North Africa with the common goal of ending Adolf Hitler's dream of European domination. In the 65+ years since the Allied victory in World War II, stories of these pilots' heroics have never been in short supply.

But what about their adversaries? What about the highly skilled German aviators who pushed the Allies to the very brink of defeat?

During World War II, the Third Reich’s fighter pilots destroyed some 70,000 enemy aircraft during the war, with approximately 45,000 destroyed on the Eastern Front. For example, JG.52 alone is credited with more than 10,000 enemy planes shot down. Of these Luftwaffe aces, 103 pilots scored more than 100 victories, while of this number, fifteen pilots scored more than 200, and with two men, Erich Hartmann and Gerhard Barkhorn, shooting down 352 and 301 aircraft, respectively.

Of all of the Luftwaffe’s fighter aces, the stories of Walter Krupinski, Adolf Galland, Eduard Neumann, and Wolfgang Falck shine particularly bright.

For the first time in any book, these four prominent and influential Luftwaffe fighter pilots reminisce candidly about their service in World War II in The German Aces Speak. Although all were decorated by the Third Reich for their exemplary performance, this is not to say they followed the Nazi Party without question—indeed, none of them were card-carrying National Socialists. Between their duty to serve their country in war and the erratic and immoral leadership of Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring, these men elected to follow their own code of honor in combat. Although true to their oaths as German warriors, in the end they felt they and their countrymen had been betrayed by Hitler and the Nazis.

Author Colin Heaton personally interviewed these air combat leaders, aces all, gathering their unique perspective on World War II and the Nazi leadership. From thrilling air battles to battles on the ground with their own commanders, these stories bring the past to life in the aces’ own words. Features forewords by historian Jon Guttman, Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, USAF (Ret.), and Luftwaffe pilot Oberleutnant Kurt Schulze.

Available from:
Zenith Press

Flight of Remembrance: A World War II Memoir of Love and Survival

Against the backdrop of World War II tragedy and devastation in Latvia, Poland and Germany and three decades of European history, this true narrative provides a window into the of wartime upheaval through the lives of Rolf Dutzmann and Lilo Wassull—two people fatefully positioned “on the other side.” Written by Marina Dutzmann Kirsch, the daughter of the protagonists, the book includes a foreword by veteran author and Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Boston University, Dr. Angelo Codevilla, who personally experienced the postwar years in Italy.

In December of 1939, swept along on a tide of dire necessity and circumstance due to the imminent Soviet takeover of his homeland, Rolf, a young Latvian aeronautical engineering student, flees with his family to Germany, a country fully under Hitler’s thrall and already engaged in a brutal war. While the account chronicles Rolf’s pursuit of his technical dream against daunting wartime odds, it is first and foremost a poignant and enduring love story that plays out against a panorama of worldwide chaos and destruction.

It is also a story of the seen and unseen forces that coalesce to keep Rolf and Lilo alive after they meet in 1940 Berlin, leading them through a chain of cataclysmic events including Rolf’s draft into the Luftwaffe and his father’s assignment as chief inspector of V-2 rocket production; the bombing of Berlin; the destruction of their homes; their numerous desperate, cross-country escapes from the bombing, the advancing Soviet troops from the east, and other Allied forces from the west; the POW camp hardships; and the deprivation of the postwar years.

For more information on the book, including photos and excerpts, visit the author's homepage.

Available from:
Kirchstone Books

Tunisian Tales - The 1st Parachute Brigade in North Africa 1942-43

Whilst many books have been written on the history of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces in the Second World War, none of them have concentrated solely on the story of the 1st Parachute Brigade in North Africa between 1942 and 1943.

'Tunisian Tales' covers the raising of the Brigade in 1941 and training in the UK before their transfer to the Mediterranean theatre of operations. It also covers the three airborne operations carried out by the Brigade there - Bone, Souk-el-Arba and Depienne/Oudna - in great detail.

The book is complemented by over 100 photos many never published before, maps (including newly-commissioned colour maps, and one used by Lieutenant Colonel Pearson when in command of the 1st Parachute Battalion) and coverage of the Airborne Medical Services in the area, besides extensive appendices.

This is Niall Cherry's third book following on from his highly successful previous titles - 'Most Unfavourable Ground' and 'Striking Back'. As in his previous works, detailed research has been carried out using official reports, war diaries and veterans' accounts. The book has the full approval of 'Airborne Assault', the Museum of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces at Duxford, and we are delighted that its curator, Jon Baker, has contributed the Foreword. 'Tunisian Tales' represents a notable contribution to new research into the history of Britain's airborne forces.

It is being published in a strictly limited edition hardback run of 1,000 copies, each signed by the author and individually numbered.

Available from:
Helion & Co Ltd
Casemate Publishing

Neither Sharks Nor Wolves - The Men of Nazi Germany's U-boat Arm 1939-1945

Although countless books have been written about the U-boat war in the Atlantic, precious few facts have come to light about the men who served in the submarines that wrought such havoc on Allied ships. Eager to get beyond the stereotypes perpetuated in movies and novels and find out who these elusive sailors really were, archivist Timothy Mulligan started searching official records.

Eventually he went straight to the source, conducting a survey of more than a thousand U-boat officers and enlisted men and interviewing a number of them personally. The result is this character study of the German submarine force that challenges traditional and revisionist views of the service.

Mulligan found striking similarities in the men's geographic and social origins, education, and previous occupations, particularly within the specialised engineering and radio branches of the submarine force. The information he gathered establishes quantifiable patterns in age, length of service and experience, as well as the organisation's overall recruitment policies and training standards. The numbers and losses of U-boat personnel are also fully examined.

Beyond these objective characteristics, this study lists such subjective factors as morale, treatment of enemy ship survivors and the relationship of the submariners to the Nazi regime, confirming a serious crisis in morale in late 1943. Mulligan concludes that the U-boat arm quickly evolved from a handpicked elite to a more representative sample of the German navy at large but continued to be treated as an elite force.

Available from:
Casemate (UK)
Naval Institute Press

The Casualties Were Small - Wartime Poetry and Diaries of a Lincolnshire Seaside Villager May Hill

May Hill began to keep a Diary not long after the outbreak of the Second World War. The strategically important East Coast area of Lincolnshire around Skegness had been transformed from a bustling holiday centre to an armed encampment. Butlins became ‘HMS Royal Arthur’ a huge Royal Navy training centre, RAF air bases sprang up throughout ‘Bomber County’ and soldiers were billeted in the villages including May’s Chapel St Leonards.

May’s son Ron volunteered for the RAF and May started to express her thoughts and prayers in verse. The poem “The Casualties Were Small” reveals her worst fears as his exposure to danger increased even before being posted abroad.

As the War continued, May maintained her eloquent record of family and village life as well as the events of the War itself – including the sad loss of three nephews and an early hint of victory with the ‘D-Day’ landings.

The selection of Diary entries in this compilation was chosen to include those which reveal the specific experiences and events which inspired over twenty poems. May’s own writing is supported by additional explanatory notes and illustrated by over thirty photographs from the collections of the family and others from her village

Detailed information and diary entries can be read on the May Hill's Diary blog.

Available from:
Ambridge Books