James Holland's Second World War Forum

Churchill’s War Years – A Superb New Account by Max Hastings

James Holland — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:28:06 +0000

Review of FINEST YEARS: Churchill as Warlord, 1940-1945 It is often muttered that the best MPs are those who have experienced a little bit of life first, and not treated politics as a career that begins the moment they graduate from the student union. Even a career politician like Churchill, who became an MP at a [...]

Excellent New Book on Nazi Hunting

James Holland — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:26:53 +0000

The perceived wisdom about Nazi hunting goes something like this: after the war, elaborate rat-lines called â€˜Odessaâ€™ and â€˜Spiderâ€™ were established that enabled SS men to escape from the clutches of the Allies. Most ended up in South America, living in luxury haciendas thanks to Nazi loot. However, the hunt continued, with dogged investigators tracking [...]

Win a Private Spitfire Display

James Holland — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 08:45:18 +0000

Chalke Valley Cricket Club in south-west Wiltshire and the Kent Spitfire have become surprising partners as they launch a nationwide competition for a lucky winner to have a private aerobatic display by this most iconic of wartime aircraft at a time and place of their choosing. The competition aims to raise money to send the Spitfire [...]

The Panzer VI – But Not The Tiger

James Holland — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:41:17 +0000

In The Odin Mission I refer to a Panzer Mk VI, which has prompted quite a response from keen-eyed observers of the Second World War, all pointing out the Mk VI Tiger tank did not come into service until 1942 and therefore could not have been in Norway in 1940.Â However, there were earlier panzers [...]

The Slide to War

James Holland — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:58:37 +0000

Adolf Hitlerâ€™s birthdays had, since his coming to power in 1933, always been occasions for his sycophants to demonstrate their unswerving adulation, but this, his fiftieth, on April 20 1939, was to be a nauseating extravaganza that would surpass any previous such occasions.Â Chief organizer and master of ceremonies was none other than Josef Goebbels, [...]