Softly tread the brave: [a triumph over terror, devilry, and death by mine disposal officers John Stuart Mould, G.C., G.M., and Hugh Randal Syme, G.C., G.M., and Bar [Hardcover]

Ivan Southall (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 293 pages
• Publisher: Angus and Robertson (1960)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0007JHHKA
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,647,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Story About Naval Mine Disposal in WW2, August 5, 2011

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Bomb Man58 - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Softly tread the brave: [a triumph over terror, devilry, and death by mine disposal officers John Stuart Mould, G.C., G.M., and Hugh Randal Syme, G.C., G.M., and Bar (Hardcover)

John Mould GC, GM and his mate Hugh Syme GC, GM and Bar were two of Australia's WW2 Naval Bomb and Mine Disposal heroes who volunteered for work in RMS. It was only after they told their Boss they would volunteer for RMS, they thought to ask him what the acronym stood for. Probably aghast when they learned it meant 'Rendering Mines Safe', however not to be deterred they joined other members of the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve in sailing to wartime England to undertake training in bomb and sea mine disposal. The Germans had discovered the tremendous effect naval sea mines made when they detonated on land against structures due to their immense size and explosive content, together with the psychological effect on the population.

Author Ivan Southall has produced a well written and researched account of the activities of both these men and others who were engaged in this highly dangerous wartime work at the height of the London Blitz and then ongoing work until war's end.

Both these men were to go on and undertake some extremely dangerous tasks during their time in England, the Germans continued to develop their sea mines with both acoustic and magnetic influence fuzes and these two men were amongst the first to render these weapons safe and live to recount the experience. Their work also revealed the inner secrets of these types of fuze systems and allowed the British MOD to devise render safe procedures to permit the safe disarming of these huge blast weapons.

Southall puts together a good story of Mould, Syme and their fellow officers, like the account of the young English officer who, after discovering the fuze on the mine he was attempting to render safe had commenced ticking, jumped up and commenced to run, to where he didn't know...he ended up running up a street that ended in a 'T' intersection, when the mine exploded. The force of the blast wave picked him up and carried him through the air for some distance towards a plate glass window that dissolved in front of him as he reached the window and dropped him neatly inside the shop after the glass had all been blown inwards due to the blast.

I liked this book because it is rich in accounts of men performing this dangerous work and relates their exploits in comming up against these huge weapons. Many would not see out the war as they were dissolved in huge blasts that completely obliterated all evidence of them. These men had little prior experience of tarininga nd had to rely on what they had picked up along the way from various previous tasks to guide them in attempting their next job. As the war progressed the level of sophistication of these fuze systems became more elaborate and with anti-handling mechanisms incorporated to catch out the BD officer atempting to withdraw fuzes.

This book looks at the work of Naval BD officers, however it focuses upon the exploits of these two men, who were both to be awarded the George Cross and George Medal for their work in rendering mines and bombs safe. Syme was to receive an additional award of a second George Medal, hence his 'Bar' to the GM. Both men survived the war, however John Mould was to die on an operating table after he was rushed to hospital with appendicitis in 1957.

This book is now hard to find as it is out of print and I would hope that the publishers would be encouraged to undertake a reprint of this book as interest in this work is steadily increasing in recent times. I recommend this book to the student or researcher of the history of BD work, or to anyone who likes a good story about courageous men. Well done, Ivan Southall!