Customer Reviews

Once Upon a Wartime: A Canadian Who Survived the Devil's Brigade

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4 star:		(2)
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Cottingham does a very good job of tracing his war experiences from the Aleutians to Italy and France. His description of a naer attack of walruses in the Bering Sea is facsinating as well as his near death in Italy under tank fire. The only weakness is the inability to develop the profile of his friends and fellow soldiers. A good well paced narrative.

A very well written book that follows one man through his training and fighting with the First Special Service Force. There are a lot of mini stories that show the bravery and tenacity that these hardened and well trained men possessed. This is not the glossy, "hell is for heroe's" kind of story, but it tells of the boredom and fear of waiting for combat and combat itself. The movie(Devil's Brigade) shows just a portion of what these soldiers went through..."Once Upon A Wartime" gives it a face and a shot of reality. Hats off to Mr. Cottingham and his fellow "Forcemen". Well worth reading

Having read almost every available book and text published about the First Special Service Force, this book is not only one which I found hard to put down but is also one of the few that I look forward to re-reading.

Mr. Cottingham's recollections are obviously the product of a sharp mind and are doubly valuable when recounted through his clear and concise writing style. The historical events described are obviously important in and of themselves, but the reader becomes much more engaged by the fact that Mr. Cottingham and his fellow Forcemen are sympathetic men rising to face the extraordinarily difficult demands made of them.

This is not a "blood and guts" book thrusting the subject before the reader and attempting to impress by grandious "war stories". Rather, this is a personal recollection presented in a self-deprecating style that allows readers to come to their own conclusions that these men were true heroes at a time in our history when they were needed.

We should be thankful for the wartime contributions of the men of the First Special Service Force and grateful to Mr. Cottingham for this historically valuable, well-written contribution to the topic.