Download or read book The Forgotten VCs written by Brian Best and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-10-30 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fought amid the most challenging terrain of any theater during the Second World War, the campaign in the Far East saw heroic actions against the unyielding Japanese that resulted in the awarding of more than forty Victoria Crosses greater than a fifth of all the VCs of the war.Such actions include that of Major Frank Blaker, whose battalion of the Gurkha Rifles was held up by Japanese machine-guns on 9 July 1944. After climbing for five hours up a 2,100-foot hill, Blaker crawled on his hands and knees through dense jungle alone until he was close enough to stand up and charge the strong enemy position. Though mortally wounded, he urged his men to follow and the hilltop was taken.During the famous Chindit operations, Lieutenant George Cairns was with the South Staffordshire Regiment as it attacked a Japanese position on top of Pagoda Hill. The Chindits reached the summit and, charging into the Japanese, a vicious hand-to-hand battle ensued. In the fighting a Japanese officer hacked off Cairns left arm but, astonishingly, the young Londoner then killed the enemy officer, picked up the sword with his right hand and carried on fighting. He died the next day.The Gurkhas are renowned for their courage and it is unsurprising that many of the Fourteenth Armys VCs were won by these tough Nepalese soldiers. Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung found his battalion of the 2nd Gurkha Rifles pinned down by an enemy sniper. So he stood up in the open and killed the Japanese soldier. As his battalion advanced again, it once more came under enemy fire. Bhanbhagta Gurung charged the enemy positions, taking five Japanese foxholes, one by one in the face of almost pointblank fire.The wide-ranging nature of the conflict in the Far East saw awards being granted for actions not just in Burma but also in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Borneo, New Guinea and even off the coast of Japan itself. The recipients came from across the Commonwealth, including Australia, Canada, Fiji, Great Britain, India and Nepal.These VC actions are told in great detail in The Forgotten VCs, the first book to examine in depth the Victoria Crosses of the war in the Far East. Brian Best brings to life the daring deeds of a group of courageous men in the most inhospitable of battlefield conditions, filling a glaring gap in the historiography of Britains most prestigious award for valor.
Download or read book The First VCs written by John Grehan and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2016-10-31 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Officers led and men followed; all were expected to do their duty without thought of reward. Enlisted men rarely penetrated the officer ranks and promotion owed more to money than merit. Then came the Crimean War.The incompetence and ineffectiveness of the senior officers contrasted sharply with the bravery of the lower ranks. Fuelled by the reports from the first-ever war correspondents which were read by an increasingly literate public, the mumblings of discontent rapidly grew into a national outcry. Questions were asked in Parliament, answers were demanded by the press why were the heroes of the Alma, Inkerman and the Charge of the Light Brigade not being recognised? Something had be done.That something was the introduction of an award that would be of such prestige it would be sought by all men from the private to the Field Marshal. It would be the highest possible award for valour in the face of the enemy and it bore the name of the Queen for whom the men fought.This is the story of how the first Victoria Crosses were attained in the heat of the most deadly conflict of the nineteenth century. It is also an examination of how the definition of courage, as recognised by the awarding of VCs, evolved, from saving the regimental colours at the Alma to saving a comrade in the No Mans Land before Sevastopol.
Download or read book VC written by Tom Nicholas and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-07-09 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An incisive history of the venture-capital industry.” —New Yorker “An excellent and original economic history of venture capital.” —Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution “A detailed, fact-filled account of America’s most celebrated moneymen.” —New Republic “Extremely interesting, readable, and informative...Tom Nicholas tells you most everything you ever wanted to know about the history of venture capital, from the financing of the whaling industry to the present multibillion-dollar venture funds.” —Arthur Rock “In principle, venture capital is where the ordinarily conservative, cynical domain of big money touches dreamy, long-shot enterprise. In practice, it has become the distinguishing big-business engine of our time...[A] first-rate history.” —New Yorker VC tells the riveting story of how the venture capital industry arose from America’s longstanding identification with entrepreneurship and risk-taking. Whether the venture is a whaling voyage setting sail from New Bedford or the latest Silicon Valley startup, VC is a state of mind as much as a way of doing business, exemplified by an appetite for seeking extreme financial rewards, a tolerance for failure and experimentation, and a faith in the promise of innovation to generate new wealth. Tom Nicholas’s authoritative history takes us on a roller coaster of entrepreneurial successes and setbacks. It describes how iconic firms like Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia invested in Genentech and Apple even as it tells the larger story of VC’s birth and evolution, revealing along the way why venture capital is such a quintessentially American institution—one that has proven difficult to recreate elsewhere.
Download or read book Mark of the Lion the Story of Charles Upham VC Bar written by Kenneth Sandford and published by Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited. This book was released on 2003-06-05 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Upham was the great New Zealand war hero. He was one of the few people in history to have won the Victoria Cross twice, setting new standards of personal heroism during World War II. A quietly spoken sheep farmer back home in Canterbury, at the front in Crete and North Africa he destroyed enemy machinegun posts single-handed and led a frontal assault on enemy guns. His exploits and individual heroism are the stuff of Kiwi legend. He then spent the rest of the war in prisoner-of-war camps, including the famous Colditz Castle, where he made life a misery for the German guards, constantly trying to escape. This bestselling book was first published by Hutchinson in Britain in 1962 and reprinted many times. It has become a classic. In a new Afterword written for this edition, Bruce Wallace, author of Battle of the Titans, describes Upham's life following the war until his death in 1994. Also available as an eBook
Download or read book Liverpool VCs written by James Murphy and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2008-10-31 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Liverpool local heroes tend to be drawn from football or the music business or from the period when the city was one of Britains greatest ports. Although it has produced many military heroes, only double VC winner Noel Chavasse has had the recognition he deserves. James Murphy, in this meticulously researched and sympathetically written book, sets the record straight. His biographies of twenty-three Liverpool VC winners show what extraordinary sacrifices the men of the city made when they were called on to fight for their country. He gives graphic accounts of the exploits that won them the VC, and he recalls other actions in which they were involved. His main purpose is to show these men at war, but he also provides an insight into their civilian lives, and he records the times they lived in. And he dispels the myths and corrects the errors of fact that have grown up around them.
Download or read book The Desert VCs written by Brian Best and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2018-02-28 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was not just the searing heat of the day, hot enough to boil an egg on the bonnet of a lorry, or the sand that nestled in every crevice of the body, or the shivering cold of the starlit nights, that the British and Commonwealth troops had to battle in the North African desert it was also the tough and determined Axis forces under their brilliant leader, Erwin Rommel.The actions which resulted in the awarding of twenty-nine VCs in the Desert War included that of stretcher bearer Private Anderson walking alone into the gunfire of the enemy to rescue wounded comrades, not once, but time and time again until he too was shot and killed. Lieutenant George Gunn, who, at Sidi Rezegh, found his troop of the Royal Horse Artillery facing the onslaught of sixty German tanks. One by one the guns were put out of action, the crews killed or wounded. Eventually, only one gun was left, manned by the twenty-nine-year-old lieutenant and his sergeant. Regardless of the odds, Gunn fought on until he too was killed, shot through the head.The fighting in North Africa was not just in the harsh extremes of the rolling desert, but also the barren mountains of Tunisia, and the coastal strips of Libya. In every battle, every maneuver, the terrain was the limiting or enabling feature and it was over that unforgiving ground that twenty-nine men distinguished themselves and were awarded the highest of all gallantry medals, the Victoria Cross.
Download or read book Perspectives of System Informatics written by Alexander K. Petrenko and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-01-17 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Andrei P. Ershov Informatics Conference, PSI 2017, held in Moscow, Russia, in June 2017. The 31 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 57 submissions. The papers cover various topics related to the foundations of program and system development and analysis, programming methodology and software engineering and information technologies.
Download or read book VCs The Naval VCs written by Stephen Snelling and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2013-11-04 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here is a complete record of almost fifty men who won the Victoria Cross while serving in the Royal Navy during the First World War. They include the conflict’s youngest and oldest winners in operations ranging from the Atlantic to the coast of Africa, from the Straits of Otranto to the rivers of Mesopotamia. These awards were won in all manner of fighting ships, from disguised schooner to light cruiser, motor launch to submarine, and river steamer to battle cruiser. Following the established series style, The Naval VCs charts the lives and careers of the recipients and presents graphic accounts of the VC actions based on original material, much of it from eyewitness sources.
Download or read book VCs of the North written by Alan Whitworth and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-10-30 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today the Victoria Cross remains the supreme British award for bravery. It takes precedence over all other awards and decorations. During its 160-year history, since the first medals were given for gallantry during the Crimean War in the 1850s, 1,357 of these medals have been won, and almost fifty of them have gone to the soldiers of Cumbria, Durham and Northumberland . Alan Whitworth, in this carefully researched and revealing account, describes in graphic detail the exploits and the lives of this elite band of heroes. Within this group of Northern VC recipients are a number of outstanding names, including Richard Annand who gained the first VC of the Second World War and Roland Bradford who was one of only four sets of brothers to have secured the VC. He also had the distinction of becoming the youngest general in the British army. But among the roll of the brave whose gallantry and self-sacrifice are celebrated in these pages the reader will find the names and extraordinary deeds of many other men who were either born or bred or lived and died in the North. They will also find the story of the youngest Victoria Cross recipient who won his award aged just nineteen.The stories of these ordinary individuals who have 'performed some signal act of valour or devotion to their country' will be fascinating reading for anyone who is interested in military history in general and in the long military tradition of the North of England.
Download or read book VCs of the First World War Somme 1916 written by Gerald Gliddon and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2012-05-30 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Battle of the Somme, which lasted from 1 July to 18 November 1916, is remembered as one of the most horrific and tragic battles of the First World War. On the first day alone nearly 19,000 British troops were killed – the greatest one-day loss in the history of the British Army. By November the death toll from the armies of Britain, France and Germany had risen to over a million. This book tells the stories of fifty-one soldiers from the Commonwealth and Empire armies whose bravery on the battlefield was rewarded by the Victoria Cross, the highest military honour – men like Private Billy McFadzean, who was blown up by two grenades which he smothered in order to save the lives of his comrades, and Private 'Todger' Jones, who single-handedly rounded up 102 German soldiers. Not only do we learn of heroic endeavours of these men at the height of battle, but we also read of their lives before 1914, ranging from the backstreets of Glasgow to a country house in Cheshire, and of what life was like after the war for the thirty-three survivors.
Download or read book Forgotten Voices of the Victoria Cross written by Roderick Bailey and published by Random House. This book was released on 2010-10-14 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'It wasn't until after he was safely back in the aircraft again that I heard that he'd actually been out on the wing to try to put the fire out ... Remember that we were flying at about 90 miles an hour at a height of 13,000 feet' Squadron Leader RP Widdowson on Sergeant James Ward, who earned his VC in 1941 The Victoria Cross, awarded to the most courageous and determined servicemen, is the highest military decoration that can be bestowed. In Forgotten Voices: Victoria Cross, first-hand accounts of soldiers, sailors and airmen describe the incredible events that earned these extraordinary men the VC in the last century. Captivating and often humbling, these stories depict exceptional acts of bravery in unimaginable situations, of men who would say they were just doing their duty. Introduction by General Sir Richard Dannatt.
Download or read book Forgotten Battles of the Zulu War written by Adrian Greaves and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-02-29 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adrian Greaves uses his exceptional knowledge of the Anglo-Zulu War to look beyond the two best known battles of Isandlwana and the iconic action at Rorkes Drift to other fiercely fought battles.He covers little recorded engagements and battles such as Nyezane which was fought on the same day as the slaughter of Imperial troops at Isandlwana but has been eclipsed by it. Like the battles at Hlobane and Gingindhlovu.The death of the Prince Imperial, which caused shock waves round Europe and had huge repercussions for those involved, is examined in detail. The defeat of the Zulu Army at Ulundi was the culmination of the war and the author reveals new and shocking details about this battle.There is a hint of ominous events to come in the slaughter of Colonel Austruthers Redcoat column by Boers as they marched from Ulundi to Pretoria. This was the opening salvo of the First Boer War.This hugely informative book will fascinate fans of this period of our Imperial history.
Download or read book VCs of the First World War Passchendaele 1917 written by Stephen Snelling and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2012-02-29 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of all the costly campaigns fought across the Western Front during the First World War, none strikes a more chilling chord than Passchendaele. Even now, more than ninety years on, the very mention of the name is enough to conjure up apocalyptic images of desolation and misery on a quite bewildering scale – humanity drowning in a sea of mud. Passchendaele has come to serve as a symbol of the folly and futility of war, chiefly remembered for its carnage and profligate waste of human lives. It also stands as testament to the endurance and extraordinary courage displayed by men of all ranks and nationalities. During the 3 1⁄2 month long struggle, which claimed the lives of more than 60,000 British and Commonwealth servicemen, 61 men were adjudged to have performed deeds worthy of the Empire's highest award for valour – the Victoria Cross. Men from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa were among their number, alongside men from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They came from all walks of life, counting humble privates and, for the first time, a general among their ranks. This is a lasting memorial to a body of men who deserve to be numbered among the bravest of the brave.
Download or read book VCs The Final Days 1918 written by Gerald Gliddon and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-07-15 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The latest volume in the series covering the final days of the war on the Western Front from the Allied Armies being poised to capture the Hindenburg Line to the Armistice on 11 November 1918. The book opens with the stories of seven VC-winners who took part in the Battle of the Canal du Nord on 27 September 1918. Despite enemy resistance, the British First and Third Armies advanced six miles, leading eventually to the successful capture of Cambrai. The last period of the war became a series of battles to capture a series of river lines. From the Battle of the Canal du Nord until Armistice Day, a period of just under six weeks, a total of 56 VCs were won in the victorious Allied advance. The VC winners came from France and Canada as well.
Download or read book Yorkshire VCs written by Alan Whitworth and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-10-24 with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today the Victoria Cross remains the supreme British award for bravery. It takes precedence over all other awards and decorations. During its 160-year history, since the first of these medals were given for gallantry during the Crimean War in the 1850's, 1,357 have been won, and no less than 69 of them have gone to Yorkshiremen. Alan Whitworth, in this carefully researched and revealing account, describes in graphic detail the exploits and the lives of this elite group of heroes.
Download or read book VCs Cambrai 1917 written by Gerald Gliddon and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2012-02-29 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featuring the careers of forty-three men, this volume tells the story of the Battle of Cambrai, famous for being the first occasion when tanks were used en masse in battle. Its first day was so successful that church bells in Britain were rung in anticipation of a great victory. A tank crewman numbers among the recipients of the VC.Containing biographies of a broad cross-section of men from Britain and the Dominions including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even the Ukraine. It includes a sapper, a former miner, who chose to stay with his seriously wounded colleague underground and die with him, rather than obey an order to leave him and save his own life; a maverick lieutenant-colonel who was relieved of his command and a padre who worked tirelessly over a period of three nights bringing at least twenty-five men to safety from No Man’s Land, who otherwise would have been left to die.
Download or read book VCs The Sideshows written by Gerald Gliddon and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The thirteenth and final volume of the ‘VCs of the First World War’ series features the lives and careers of forty-six servicemen who won the coveted Victoria Cross in theatres of war – or ‘Sideshows’, as they became known – beyond the Western Front and Gallipoli.Opening with the stories of four VC winners who took part in the prolonged struggle to drive the German Army out of East Africa, VCs of the First World War: The Sideshows goes on to tell the stories of the two Indian Army winners of the VC defending the North-West Frontier. Finally, it covers the campaigns against the Austro–German forces in Italy; securing the oil wells in Mesopotamia (later Iraq); defending the Suez Canal and attacking the Ottoman Army in Palestine and lastly serving in Salonika in the Balkans.Each VC winner’s act of bravery is recorded here in intricate detail, together with the background of the men and their lives after the war – if they survived.
