Customer Reviews

Dont Cry for Me Sergeant Major a

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The authors, Robert McGowan and Jeremy Hands are a pair of newpaper journalists who hitch a ride on HMS Canberra on the way to the Falkland Islands war. Their shipmates are assorted British squaddies from some of Britain's finest regiments.. McGowan and Hands vividly catch the buzz of the expedition and tangibly capture the sights, sounds and smells of the battlefield in all its unsanitary, brutal and often vainglorious theatre. The impression the book leaves is that the British soldier remains one of the finest, bravest and best trained that there is. Little wonder that they made short work of the invading Argentine troops.

This is an account of the Falklands War from a totally different angle. While there is much to be gleaned about war and the nature of those on the British side who fought in this one, the book is actually aimed at the lighter end of the scale. But that I mean that it's based on humour. Funny anecdotes, humorous exchanges and the usual sort of stuff ups inherent in pretty much any war and the tone of the book is assisted by the fact that the British army, with all its' history and foibles and anachronisms is fertile ground for humour to start with.

The book follows the British task force from the time it leaves its bases in the UK and down through its' passage to the war zone. The story then continues through the actual invasion and into some of the hard fighting that went on between the British and the Argentine forces in what surely was one of the hardest natural environments to try and fight effectively in. What surprised me for a book written at the time was the way in which the Argentinians were portrayed. They are actually given respect. The military junta leading Argentina at the time is given short shrift but the actual Argentine grunt is given his due, as is the bravery of the Argentine air force. I found this a rather nice touch and it perhaps crept into the book due to the journalists who wrote it being with the task force, not writing from the comfort of air conditioned offices overlooking the Thames.

Certainly the Falklands war is pretty much niche history unless you are an anglophile or from one of the protagonist nations but this offbeat little book certainly gives a very different view from any official history you are ever likely to read and is an interesting study of the British military at war. For what it sets out to be, this book is a solid four stars but don't rely on this for your serious history of the Falklands conflict because that's not what the authors have tried to do here.

A very funny look at the falklands war from the british point of view .While hilarious it is still a factual depiction of the many of the unknown aspects of the little war .The section on the ghurkas is particularly enjoyable as when the british soldiers told the argie prisonners that the ghurkas were cannibals !!!!!