Go to It! : An Illustrated History of the 6th Airborne Division

Beskrivning:

The writing of this book has been very much a labour of love and I am greatly, indebted to a large number of former members of 6th
Airborne Division for giving so freely of their time and for providing me with documentary and photographic material in addition to
personal accounts of actions in which they were involved. This is their story and this book belongs to them and their former comrades.
I have drawn on both published and unpublished material, the latter based on interviews with several members of the division as well
as written personal accounts and material discovered in the archives of The Parachute Regiment. Unfortunately there are periods in the
division's history which were not covered photographically at the time, such as the advance to the Seine, and this has inevitably resulted
in an absence of illustrations at certain points in the book.
General Sir Nigel Poett very kindly agreed to write the foreword and to check my facts for accuracy. General Sir Kenneth Darling and
Brigadier James Hill also devoted much time to checking my facts, as well as supplying me with much material, whilst Lieutenant General
Sir Napier Crookenden was kind enough to supply me with photographs and documents from his personal collection. I am most grateful
to them and to Major General Dare Wilson who very kindly checked my chapter on the division's operations in Palestine, much of my
information being based on his own excellent book Cordon & Search With 6th Airborne Division In Palestine 1945-48.
Others who also provided me with much assistance include: Brigadiers Geoffrey Proudman, Ken Timbers and John Lewindon; Colonels
Sian Brackenbury, Paddy de Burgh, John Tillett and David Mallam; Lieutenant Colonels Fraser Eadie, Rex Gladwyn, Harry Rice, Bill
Corbould and Michael Young; Majors Guy Radmore, John Shave, Owen Brownlow-Wray, John Howard, John Sim, Robin Rigby, John
Mawr, Bill Chidgey, Morris Fogwell, John Cross and Charles Strafford; Captains John Turner and John Irwin; Messrs Dan Hartigan,
M. R. Bailey, Harry Foot, Brian Baxter, Matt Wells, Charles Collins, Harry Long, F. Westell, Ron Dixon, Barry Boswell, J. Enstone,
Jim Absalom, Norman Stocker, Bobbie Brown, Reg Barrett-Cross, T. Backshell, L. Mitchell, Brian Owen, Dr Peter Thwaites, David
Fletcher, Dick Sweetland, Bob Cross, John Hillyer-Funke, W. Blunt, F. Atcherley, C. Bailey, Howard Hardy, H. Iredale, R. Tucker, Ted
Farr, Lou Billingsley, B. Downing, Gilbert White, Ken Walton, R. P. Tucker, Ian Hogg and A. W. Sweetlove.
I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to all of them, and in particular to those who very kindly loaned photographs
for use in the book.
I would also like to extend special thanks to Major Jack Watson who was responsible for putting the idea of the book into my head
and who dealt so patiently with the endless stream of questions with which I constantly plied him. _
My thanks also go to Jane Carmichael, Keeper of Photographs at the Imperial War Museum in London, and her staff for supplying
so many of the photographs, and to Simon Anglim, Diana Andrews and Stan Ward of the Airborne Forces Museum for the hours of patient
help that they provided during my research. In addition, I would like to express my appreciation to Colonel Hamish MacGregor, Regimen-
ad Colonel The Parachute Regiment, for his kindness in granting me access to the regimental archives. I would also like to acknowledge
the kind permission of the Institute of Royal Engineers for me to use the title Go To It!, this having previously been the title of Major
John Shave's history of 3rd Parachute Squadron RE which was published in 1948.
Finally, I want to thank my long-suffering wife, Gilly, for her great patience and unfailing support during the writing of this book.

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