This brand new anthology has been compiled to commemorate 10 years in Afghanistan. Announced in November 2010, contributions for a book of war poems were sought, and aided by appeals in the media, including BFBS Radio, the Army Families Federation and the charity Combat Stress, to name but a few; poems came from serving personnel of all ranks, veterans, families and friends. These poems all have one thing in common: they speak from and with the very soul of our Armed Forces of which we are...

In 1939 a 21 year old joined the N.Z.R.A.F. as a reservist. When World War II was declared he was called up and sent to Woodburn training camp in Blenheim and taught to fly. In August 1940 he sailed from New Zealand for England and went to war. As the sea voyage progressed from holiday cruise to deadly dangerous, he kept a diary and then gave it to a steward to post home from LA.He was a foundation member of 485 NZ Spitfire Squadron. He watched his best friends die before his eyes,...

Chris Masters, the country's foremost investigative journalist, turns his penetrating gaze on the modern Australian soldier. Moving away from our ongoing fascination with Anzac story, he looks at the rich and illuminating present to write a character study of the modern Australian soldier - war fighter, peacekeeper, street-level diplomat and aid worker.Having been taken into their ranks in a way rarely before afforded an outsider, Masters gives heart and shape to the contemporary d...

This is Harry Verlander’s story, one of five true-life recollections from the Second World War in Tales From The Special Forces Club.The Special Forces Club is a fabled gentlemen’s club, based in the heart of London. It has a closely guarded secret: you have to be a genuine hero to be a member.Harry had volunteered aged 16 in 1942. By 1944, he was parachuting into France on D-Day as part of the Jedburgh espionage teams. His main adventure, though, was in the jungles of Burm...

A thrilling WWII tale based on the real-life exploits of the Long Range Desert Group, an elite British special forces unit that took on the German Afrika Korps and its legendary commander, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, "the Desert Fox."Autumn 1942. Hitler’s legions have swept across Europe; France has fallen; Churchill and the English are isolated on their island. In North Africa, Rommel and his Panzers have routed the British Eighth Army and stand poised to overrun ...

This is Mike Sadler’s story, one of five true-life recollections from the Second World War in Tales From The Special Forces Club.The Special Forces Club is a fabled gentlemen’s club, based in the heart of London. It has a closely guarded secret: you have to be a genuine hero to be a member.Mike Sadler was in Rhodesia working on a farm when he decided to join up and fight Hitler. He would become one of the legendary men in the Long Range Desert Group, roaming behind Erwin Ro...

A British infantryman shares his harrowing story of life on the frontlines of WWII, from the North African Campaign to the invasion of Germany.In April 1939, when Bill Cheall joined the famous Yorkshire infantry regiment known as the Green Howards, he could not have imagined the drama, trauma, rewards and anguish that awaited him. But he recounts it all here, in this vivid memoir of service and courage under fire.As a Green Howard, Cheall was on the receivin...

Women in the Second World War explores the experiences of women who served in the armed forces, or complimentary services. Using interviews, anecdotes, memoirs and/or accounts from the women (or, where appropriate, their children), the book tells the women's personal accounts of what their lives were like and what particular experiences they had while serving. They were all ordinary British women, and tell here in their own words their experiences on active service. Their accounts...

On 28 June 1915, young James Martin sailed from Melbourne aboard the troopship Berrima – bound, ultimately, for Gallipoli. He was just fourteen years old.Soldier Boy is Jim's extraordinary true story, the story of a young and enthusiastic school boy who became Australia's youngest known Anzac.Four months after leaving his home country he would be numbered among the dead, just one of so many soldier boys who travelled halfway around the world for the chance of adven...

Journey to Tobruk tells the remarkable life story of John Murray, a genuine Australian hero, on and off the battlefield. This engaging blend of military history and biography - with a strand of family history (and family secrets) woven through - follows the transformation of a raw young bushman into a courageous soldier and inspiring leader. A lifelong correspondence between John and his mother is a feature of the narrative; Murray's laconic tone, which never falters even as he en...

'His heart was in the land and he thought of nothing else.'At the close of the First World War, and after surviving a gas attack on the Western Front, Captain Walter Eddison moved his family from war-ravaged Britain to start a new life in Australia. The Eddisons were offered 'land fit for heroes' under the Australian government's soldier-settlement scheme, but the grim realities of life in the remote bush were not easy for a family used to the green pastures of England.Walter...

A British Army veteran revisits his military career, sharing thrilling stories of Special Forces missions behind enemy lines during World War II.A pre-war Sapper, Charlie Radford served in North Africa until he returned to the UK for parachute training. He volunteered and joined 2SAS in Scotland. His first behind-the-lines operation was in France (Op. Rupert) cutting railway lines, and he then took park in Operation Loyton, now in armed jeeps. His next assignment (O...