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In my last entry, I spoke of a wonderful book titled Great Land Battles of World War II. One fascinating chapter details the desert commanders related to the battle that was fought in the Cyrenaican Desert in November 1941, during Operation Crusader.  There is a lengthy entry on Field Marshall Rommel, as well as these shorter ones:

General Sir Alan Cunningham (1887 - 1983)

The younger brother of Admiral Cunningham, General Cunningham led the forces which evicted the Italians from Ethiopia in 1940 – 41.  In August 1941, he assumed command of the 8th Army in North Africa and one of his first tasks was to conduct Operation Crusader.  Here he failed to exhibit his customary dash and, in the words of one critic, ‘lost the battle in his mind.’  Failing to press home his attack, he was relieved by Auchinleck and for the rest of the war was employed in administrative roles.  At the close of the war he became the last High Commissioner in Palestine.

Brigadier ‘Jock’ Campbell, VC (1894 – 1942)

Campbell was an officer in the Royal Horse Artillery who devised and commanded ‘Jock Columns,’ mobile columns of infantry and artillery, in the Western Desert 1941 – 42.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his handling of the Support Group of the 7th Armoured Division in the Battle of Sidi Rezegh, during which he was wounded.  He had just been appointed Commander 7th Armoured Division when he was killed in a road accident on 26 February 1942.

General William Henry Ewart Gott (1897 – 1942)

General Gott was a relatively unknown British officer who came to prominence as a corps commander in the Desert campaign in 1941.  He was nicknamed ‘Strafer,’ not from any personality trait, since he was a mild-mannered man, but simply from the First World War German phrase ‘Gott Strafe England.’ In 1942 he was appointed to succeed Ritchie and command the Eighth Army, but flying forward to his new headquarters he was killed when the aircraft crashed.

General Ludwig Cruewell (1892 – 1958)

Cruewell was commissioned into a dragoon regiment in 1912, served through the First World War and was a member of the postwar army.  In 1938, he was given command of 6 Panzer Regiment and in December 1939 promoted Major General.  In 1940, he received command of 11 Panzer Division and in 1941 was appointed commander of the German Afrika Korps.  He served well under General Rommel and during Rommel’s absence in 1942, commanded Panzer Armee Afrika.  Captured on 29 May, 1942, whilst commanding on the Italian front, he spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner.

In this blog, throughout the past 18 months, I have profiled many newly released military history books.  There is, however, an older book which would surely be worth adding to any military history buff’s collection.

Great Land Battles of World War II, written by Ian Hogg, was published in 1987.

The books jacket states: “There were many types of land warfare in World War II – armored, siege, jungle, infantry, mobile, invasion – each with its own challenges, disciplines, logistical problems and potential for glory or disaster.

Ian Hogg chooses ten different kinds of battle which can lay claim to greatness.  Some are obvious, some are controversial, but all were gripping encounters crucial in their own way.

He has concentrated on Western and Pacific theaters and his choice also reflects the great variety of equipment, objectives, strategy, tactics, and the personality of commanders.”

In the Introduction, Hogg points out that “No two battles are ever alike, even if fought over the same ground, as studies of the various wars across the Low Countries have shown.  But there are significant differences between types of battle, and in this book are ten different kinds of battles to show the variety of problems, solutions and lessons to be learned.” 

Future blog entries will enlarge upon this interesting book.

In an earlier blog entry, I mentioned The Valiants Memorial in Ottawa, which honours fourteen valiant men and women, representing many others, who gave outstanding wartime service to Canada during the last four centuries.  I would be remiss if I did not profile one of the most famous valiants, Andrew Charles Mynarski.

Andrew Mynarski was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in October 1916, the son of Polish immigrants. After finishing school, he worked for four years as a leather worker to help support his family after his father died.

Upon his enlistment in November 1941, he trained in Alberta and Manitoba, graduating as a mid-upper air-gunner in 1942.  Pilot Officer Mynarski was the first member of the RCAF to be decorated with the Victoria Cross in the Second World War. 

His citation reads as follows: 

“Pilot Officer Mynarski was the mid-upper gunner of a Lancaster aircraft, detailed to attack a target at Cambrai in France, on the night of 12th June 1944. The aircraft was attacked from below and astern by an enemy fighter and ultimately came down in flames. 

As an immediate result of the attack, both port engines failed. Fire broke out between the mid-upper turret and the rear turret, as well as in the port wing. The flames soon became fierce and the captain ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft. 

Pilot Officer Mynarski left his turret and went toward the escape hatch. He then saw that the rear gunner was still in his turret and apparently unable to leave it. The turret was, in fact, immovable, since the hydraulic gear had been put out of action when the port engines failed, and the manual gear had been broken by the gunner in his attempts to escape. 

Without hesitation, Pilot Officer Mynarski made his way through the flames in an endeavour to reach the rear turret and release the gunner. Whilst so doing, his parachute and his clothing, up to the waist, were set on fire. All his efforts to move the turret and free the gunner were in vain. Eventually the rear gunner clearly indicated to him that there was nothing more he could do and that he should try to save his own life. Pilot Officer Mynarski reluctantly went back through the flames to the escape hatch. There, as a last gesture to the trapped gunner, he turned toward him, stood to attention in his flaming clothing and saluted, before he jumped out of the aircraft. Pilot Officer Mynarski’s descent was seen by French people on the ground. Both his parachute and his clothing were on fire. He was found eventually by the French, but was so severely burned that he died from his injuries. 

The rear gunner had a miraculous escape when the aircraft crashed. He subsequently testified that, had Pilot Officer Mynarski not attempted to save his comrade’s life, he could have left the aircraft in safety and would, doubtless, have escaped death.

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Pilot Officer Mynarski must have been fully aware that in trying to free the rear gunner he was almost certain to lose his own life. Despite this, with outstanding courage and complete disregard for his own safety, he went to the rescue. Willingly accepting the danger, Pilot Officer Mynarski lost his life by a most conspicuous act of heroism which called for valour of the highest order.”

He is buried in Méharicourt Cemetery, Méharicourt, France. His Victoria Cross is on display at the Air Command Headquarters in Winnipeg.

Mynarski is also mentioned in The War Amps internationally award-winning production The Boys of Kelvin High: Canadians in Bomber Command, which tells the remarkable story of those who flew in mighty bombers through enemy territory night after night.  Against great adversity, they pressed on in a relentless drive to defeat Hitler’s Nazi regime.

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Every now and again, I get asked about the origins of some of the unique war art pieces on display at my Ottawa Headquarters.  An article was published in The War Amps internal magazine some years ago that answers this question.  It is copied herewith:

Cutlery fashioned from hammered shrapnel, flower vases made from shell casings, tunic buttons transformed into lockets: these are a few examples of trench art – the folk art of war.  Collector Ron McGuire offers Fragment readers the following background on trench art and a glimpse at just some of the several hundred pieces in his personal collection.

Ron’s collection started with a piece given to him by his best friend, Ron Stewart.  The item resembles a miniature candlestick holder, but was probably intended as a “cigarette saver” – used to butt and hold a cigarette (during an attack, for example).  The base is made from the bottom of a pocket watch, with a hole in the centre containing a cut-down brass revolver shell casing, which holds the cigarette. The handle is made from a bully beef tin.  This example of trench art was fashioned by Ron Stewart’s father in the trenches of France in 1914.

An unusual art form, trench art was a positive consequence borne of the waste and destruction of war.  Soldiers in the First World War passed the long hours awaiting action, or recovering in hospital, by crafting items out of waste materials found near the fighting.  Using whatever makeshift tools were available, soldiers would convert aircraft parts, wood and brass artillery, and cartridge shell casings into souvenirs or gifts for their families.  Prisoners of war made objects they could sell or barter for small luxuries such as cigarettes and soap.  Convalescing wounded embroidered cushion covers and tablecloths, and hand-painted aircraft models and leather pennants.

Examples of trench art are not limited to the First World War, though the Great War produced the largest number of objects still in existence.  Some notable examples of a type of trench art, known as prisoners of war art, take the form of exquisitely detailed chests and scale models of sailing war ships.  These can be traced back to the Napoleonic Wars (1804 – 1815).  However, few samples from this era can be acquired today because the majority of pieces are in museums.  Objects from the late 19th century, the Second World War, the Korean, and Vietnam Wars are also scarce because making such items was not a popular activity during those times.  After the First World War, many families had such pieces brought or sent back to them, but with the Second World War, the brass was needed for the war effort.  Many people gave up their pieces to be recycled for ammunition.

The First World War, and the period shortly thereafter, was the “heyday” of trench art.  Crafted objects ranged from such useful items as letter openers, candlestick holders, mugs, book-ends, and vases to aircraft and ship models, as well as embroidered cushion covers and doilies.  Metal items were elaborately engraved or hammered to give raised impressions of signatures, flowers, and crests of the various regiments.  These same motifs were worked into fabric.  It is not unusual to find objects made of a mixture of allied as well as enemy artillery shells.  The origins can be determined by identifying the markings on the bottom of the casings (if they have not been burnished off).  Painstaking attention to detail is evident in the accompanying photos.