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Book List for Parachute Regiment & Airborne Forces

Discussions about those units who make up The Parachute Regiment.
SO19
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Book List for Parachute Regiment & Airborne Forces

Post by SO19 »

Parachute Regiment/Airborne Forces - General

Pegasus - The Journal of the Parachute Regiment & Airborne Forces (1946- Present) Image

Para! 50 Years of the Parachute Regiment - by Peter Harclerode Image
The PARAS: The inside story of Britains toughest Regiment - by John Parker Image
PARA - Inside the Parachute Regiment - by Claire Gilman Image
PARAS - An Illustrated History of Britains Airborne Forces - by David Reynolds Image
The Making of a PARA - by Rory Bridson Image
The Red Devils: Red On, Green On - Go! - by Graham Smith Image
First in! Parachute Pathfinder Company - by Ron Kent Image
The PARAS Ultimate Fitness - by Claire Gilman Image
The PARAS: 50 Years of Courage - A tribute to the Airborne Forces - by David Reynolds Image
Uniforms Illustrated No 10: The PARAS: The British Parachute Regiment - by James G. Shortt Image
The PARAS: The Story of the Parachute Regiment - by Theodore Rowland-Entwhistle Image
Paras: The Untold Story of the Birth of the Parachute Regiment - by Bill Buckingham
Ready for Anything: Parachute Regiment at War, 1940-82 - by Julian Thompson
THE RED DEVILS' (FROM BRUNEVAL TO THE FALKLANDS) - BY G.G. NORTON Image
The PARAS - by Frank Hilton

Rapid Reaction Forces - by Patrick Allen Image
ASSAULT FROM THE SKY: A HISTORY OF AIRBORNE WARFARE - by John Weeks
The Airborne Soldier - by John Weeks
Out of the Sky: a history of airborne warfare - by Michael Hickey
Airborne Warfare 1918 -1945 - by Barry Gregory and John Batchelor Image
AIRBORNE ASSAULT: PARACHUTE FORCES IN ACTION 1940-91 - By BRUCE QUARRIE
Wings Of War: Airborne Warfare 1918-1945 - by Peter Harclerode

Urquhart of Arnhem: The Life of Major General R.E.Urquhart, C.B., D.S.O. - by John Baynes
Nearly There: Autobiography of John Frost of Arnhem Bridge - by John Frost Image

WWII

General

Airborne: World War II Paratroopers in Combat - by Julie Guard
Devils and Eagles in Normandy 1944: American, British and Canadian Airborne Forces in Normandy - by Carl Shilleto Image

German

It Never Snows in September: The German View of Market-Garden and the Battle of Arnhem September 1944 - by Robert J. Kershaw Image
Storming Eagles: German Airborne Forces in World War Two - by James Lucas Image
German Airborne Divisions: Northwest Europe 1944-45 (Battle Orders) - by Bruce Quarrie
German Airborne Divisions: Mediterranean Theatre 1942-45 (Battle Orders) - by Bruce Quarrie
German Airborne Troops - by Roger Edwards Image
German Paratroopers: The Illustrated History of the Fallschirmjager in World War II - Chris Mcnab
The 1st Fallschirmjager Division in World War II: Years of Attack v. 1 - by Ben Christensen
The 1st Fallschirmjager Division in World War II: Years of Retreat v. 2 - by Ben Christensen
Fallschirmjagers: Eastern Front 1941-43: Vol 1 (Archive Series) - by Remy Spezzano
The Battle of Crete - by George Forty
The Fall of Crete - by Alan Clark
Fallschirmjager in Crete, 1941: The Merkur Operation - by Jean-Yves Nasse
Fallschirmjager: Portraits of German Paratroops in Combat - by Radovic Branislav
Fallschirmjager in Action (Weapons in Action Series) - by Uwe Feist
German Paratroops: Uniforms, Insignia and Equipment of the Fallschirmjager in World War II (Schiffer Military History) - by Robert Kurtz
Fallschirmjager: Storming the Gran Sasso- the Liberation of Mussolini - 12 September 1943 - by Oscar Lopez

British & Commonwealth

THE CREATION & DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH AIRBORNE FORCES 1941-45 - by Dr W. Buckingham
British Airborne Troops - by Barry Gregory Image
WITHOUT TRADITION: 2 PARA 1941 - 1945 - by Robert Peatling
Red Beret: Story of the Parachute Regiment, 1939-45 - by Hilary St George Saunders Image
The Bruneval Raid - by George Millar
Green Devils - Red Devils: Untold Tales of the Airborne Forces in WWII - by Edmund L Blandford
Red Berets into Normandy: 6th Airborne Division's Assault into Normandy D-Day 1944 - by Sir Huw Weldon
The Day the Devils Dropped in: The 9th Parachute Battalion in Normandy D-Day to D+6: Merville Battery to the Chateau St Come - by Neil Barber
Operation Tonga: Pegasus Bridge and the Merville Battery (Elite Ops) - by Jon Cooksey
Red Devils: The 6th Airborne Division at Normandy: 6th British Paras, 5-6 June 1944 - by Georges Bernage
Devils Own Luck: Pegasus Bridge to the Baltic 1944-45 - by Denis Edwards
The Pegasus Diaries: The Private Papers of Major John Howard DSO - by John Howard
Bounce The Rhine: The Greatest Airborne Operation in History - by Charles Whiting Image
The Silken Canopy - by Major Victor Dover MC
By Air to Battle: The Official Account of the British Airborne Divisions - HMSO 1945 Image
WITH THE 6TH AIRBORNE DIVISION IN NORMANDY - BY LT GEN R N GALE
Go to It!: An Illustrated History of the 6th Airborne Division - by Peter Harclerode
Pegasus Bridge D-Day: The Daring British Airborne Raid - by Stephen E. Ambrose Image
Operation Market Garden Then and Now: v. 1 (Then & Now) - by Karel Margry
Operation Market Garden Then and Now: v. 2 (Then & Now) - by Karel Margry
No Surrender at Arnhem - by Robert Peatling
AIRBORN CARPET: OPERATION MARKET GARDEN - by ANTHONY FARRAR-HOCKLEY
A DROP TOO MANY - BY MAJOR GENERAL JOHN FROST CB, DSO, MC Image
With Pegasus In India: Story Of 153rd Gurkha Parachute Battalion
A BRIDGE TOO FAR - by CORNELIUS RYAN
A Bridge At Arnhem - by Charles Whiting
I Was a Stranger - by General Sir John Hackett
Men At Arnhem - by Tom Angus
ARNHEM 1944 - by William F. Buckingham
ARNHEM SPEARHEAD: A Private Soldier's Story - by JAMES SIMS Image
The Devils Birthday: The Bridges to Arnhem 1944 - by Geoffrey Powell Image
Return Ticket - by Anthony Deane-Drummond
Arnhem 1944: Operation Market Garden - by Stephen Badsey Image
ARNHEM: A TRAGEDY OF ERRORS - by PETER HARCLERODE Image
ARNHEM - BY MAJOR GENERAL R E URQUHART
In the Shadow of Arnhem- by Ken Tout
Arnhem: The Landing Grounds and Oosterbeek (Battleground Europe) - by Frank Steer
Arnhem: The Bridge (Battleground Europe) - by Frank Steer
Arnhem: The Fight to Sustain - by Frank Steer
Arnhem 1944: The Airborne Battle, 17-26 September - by Martin Middlebrook Image
Every Man an Emperor: The Battle of Arnhem/Oosterbeek 17th-25th September 1944 - by Gerry Leaper
THE BATTLE FOR THE RHINE 1944: ARNHEM AND THE ARDENNES : THE CAMPAIGN IN EUROPE - by ROBIN NEILLANDS
The Last Drop: Operation Varsity, March 24-25, 1945 - by by Stephen L Wright
Operation Plunder and Varsity: The British and Canadian Rhine Crossing (Battleground Europe) - by Tim Saunders

The History of the Glider Pilot Regiment: An Official History - by Sir John Hackett and Claude Smith
Wings of Pegasus (British Glider Pilot Regiment) - by George Chatterton
Silent Invader: Glider Pilot's Story of the Invasion of Europe in World War II - by Alexander Morrison
Arnhem Lift: The Diary of a Glider Pilot
Wot! No Engines?: RAF Glider Pilots and Operation Varsity - by Alan Cooper
Lion with Blue Wings. The story of the Glider Pilot Regiment. 1942-1945 - by Ronald Seth
Straight from the Horsa's Mouth - by Ted Hold
GLIDERBORNE: The story of the 2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. (The 52nd) in World War II
Diary of a Red Devil by Albert Blockwell: by Glider to Arnhem with the 7th Kings Own Scottish Borders - by Albert Blockwell

Post War

6TH BRITISH AIRBORNE DIVISION IN PALESTINE 1945-1948 - by General R. Dare Image

Contact - A.F.N. Clarke Image

Not Mentioned in Dispatches... the History & Mythology of the Battle of Goose Green - Spender Fitz-Gibbon Image
Goose Green: A Battle is Fought to be Won - Mark Adkin Image
With 3 Para to the Falklands - Lieutenant General Sir Huw Pike
3 Para: Mount Longdon - The Bloodiest Battle (Elite Forces Operations Series) - Jon Cooksey
Green-eyed Boys: 3 Para and the Battle for Mount Longdon - by Christian Jennings
Spearhead Assault: Blood, Guts and Glory on the Falklands Frontlines - by John Geddes
Forward into Hell - by Vincent Bramley Image
Excursion to Hell: Mount Longdon, a Universal Story of Battle - by Vincent Bramley Image
The Two Sides of Hell - by Vincent Bramley Image
For Queen and Country - Nigel ‘Spud’ Ely Image
Falklands Hero: Ian McKay, the Last VC of the 20th Century - by Jon Cooksey

Freefall - by Tom Read (Charles Bruce)
No Mean Soldier - by Peter McAleese
Killing Zone - by Harry McCallion
Fighting Scared - by Robin Horsfall
CQB - by Mike Curtis

3 Para: Afghanistan, Summer 2006 THIS is war - by Patrick Bishop Image
The Battle for Helmand - The Paras in Southern Afghanistan - by David Reynolds Image

Foreign Airborne Forces

French

The Last Valley - by Martin Windrow (French defeat at Dien Bien Phu)
2E REP: The French Foreign Legion Parachutist's Regiment - by by Yves Debay
The Making of a Legionnaire: My Life in the French Foreign Legion Parachute Regiment - by Bill Parris
The Paratroopers of the French Foreign Legion: From Vietnam to Bosnia - by Howard Simpson
Last edited by SO19 on Tue 26 Feb, 2008 6:00 pm, edited 12 times in total.
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Post by SO19 »

By no means a complete list, but it's a start. Will eventually add more German and Foreign Airborne books to it.

If you have any suggestions, just post it and I'll add it in.
[i]‘We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat’ - Queen Victoria, 1899[/i]
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Post by faddius »

French Foreign Legion's 2e Régiment Étranger de Parachutistes (2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment)

The Paratroopers of the French Foreign Legion: From Vietnam to Bosnia by Howard Simpson
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Post by Alfa »

Faddius, did you really like that book?

I got it out of the library and found it to be one of the most pointless books I've read with very little insight into the 2nd REP at all.
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Post by faddius »

It was an alright book. I preferred the book Hidden Soldier by Padraig O'Keeffe in which he describes his time through training and then being posted to the 6th REG (Foregin Legion sappers and engineers) and doing tours in Cambodia, Sarajevo and Bosnia. The final third of the book he goes into detail about his time as a private security contractor in Iraq where he was the sole survivor of a convoy ambush in al-Habaniyah with Hart Security.
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Post by sky ninja steve »

any body read the battle for helmand by david reynolds??any good??
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Post by SO19 »

Certainly have sky ninja steve, it's a good account of the deployment with lots of photos. The cheapest you'll find it is at the link below.

http://shop.national-army-museum.ac.uk/ ... id.3925/.f
'It is planned that a proportion of profits will go to Airborne Charities to support the Regiment and members of 3 PARA injured during the operation.'
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Post by sky ninja steve »

thanks for that ill save that for afghan next month
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Post by Paratrooper01 »

sky ninja steve wrote:thanks for that ill save that for afghan next month
Yeah, with all the time your going to get off sunbathing you bunch of slackers! 8)
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Post by Alfa »

While not a book about British Paras another good book is The Last Valley by Martin Windrow.

It's about the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in Indochina, it starts off quite slow as the author goes into a lot of detail on the background and make up of the various peoples who made up Indochina but once past that it's a great read with plenty of accounts of battles were Paras from the Foreign Legion and Colonial Parachute Regiments were parachuted in to try and turn the tide of battle during the various forays out of the Delta as well as, of course, an in-depth description of the battle for Dien Bien Phu itself.

SO19, what's with the stars you've added to the original post, are they to show the books you have read personally? And if that's the case what did you think of "First in! Parachute Pathfinder Company"? Sounds like it could be a good read.
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Post by SO19 »

Alfa, if you can find a copy of it then it's well worth it. It follows the 21st Independent Parachute Company (1st Airborne) through it's time in Europe, North Africa & the mid-east, 42-46. It's an old title, so best bet is to hold out until it appears on ebay, which is a lot cheaper than buying it from these small online bookshops who charge a fortune.

The ones with stars btw are either books I have, or have read. 8)
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Post by Sully »

I didn't see "Freefall" there by Tom Read (Charles 'Nish' Bruce). Well worth a read for anybody interested in the Para Regt.

It's a strange book as it deals with the author's mental illness as much as anything else but there's plenty in there about his military background and exploits in the Paras and SAS. Both are described without the macho posturing of 'Spud' Ely or Vincent Bramley but it can be a bit harrowing and it's not one for a down day.....especially because....

SPOILER

Here's what eventually happened to the author:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1751765.stm
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Post by SO19 »

I was aware of what happened to the author, but I've never gotten round to reading the book Sully. And you're right about the macho thing, I always get that impression whenever I come across it.
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Post by harry hackedoff »

What about, "Scouting For Boys" by Green Ronaldo :wink:
It certainly helped me and Para 01 :roll:
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Post by Boxingmad »

"Fighting Scared" by Robin Horsfall is worth a look. He details his time in 2 Para in the 1970s before moving on to the SAS. "CQB" by Mike Curtis is another good one, and Michael Asher's "Shoot To Kill" might be worth a look too. I've ordered John Geddes' book so will hopefully add a review of it when I'm done.
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