A Drop Too Many
I don't normally enjoy reading books written by officers as they seem to be removed from the suffering of their men and blind to the mistakes of Command. I was therefore pleasantly surprised by Major-General Frost's account of his time with the 2nd Battalion.
Johnny Frost joined the British Army in 1932 getting a commission in the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). From 1938 to 1941 Frost worked with the Iraq Levies as a captain. He joined the Parachute Regiment in 1941. The book starts with the writer based in Iraq in September 1939. This is no more than some background and the start of the route followed until he was drafted to the Parachute Regiment. It becomes clear that the author is yearning to return to England and to join the action.
We follow the author as he returns to Great Britain and eventually gets drafted to the Parachute Regiment. After completing his training the first operation that he and his men embark on is the raid on Bruneval. The Bruneval Raid (Operation Biting) was a successful raid to capture components of a German Würzburg radar set at Bruneval, France. The British had two men killed, six wounded and eight captured. Five Germans were killed and two taken prisoner, including the technician.
The action then moves to North Africa where they were involved in a very badly planned raid at Oudna. Not only was it badly planned but they were virtually abandoned by the British Forces. We suffer with Frost and his men as they make their way back to their own lines. After this failed raid they are employed as infantry and we experience many a battle with Germans and Italians.
From North Africa we move to another failed raid, this time in Sicily. The American pilots appear to have had no experience in dropping parachutists and the raiders were dropped miles from their drop zones. The raid becomes a struggle to get back to their own lines and is a complete failure.
The final part of the book is dedicated to Operation Market Garden. The idea behind this raid was to capture bridges in the Netherlands, the bridge at Arnhem being the most famous of these. Frost and his men manages to capture the one end of Arnhem bridge and against overwhelming opposition and suffering from, as always with parachutists, a shortage of supplies and ammunition manages to keep possession for a week. We are treated to a graphic description of the fighting and suffering of the men. Frost himself is also injured during the fighting. One cannot help but have a high regard for Frost and his men after reading this. Operation Market Garden was badly planned yet the men tackled it without complaints only, once again, to be left high and dry behind enemy lines when their ground forces failed to complete their part in the operation.
The story of Operation Market Garden was told in the film A Bridge Too Far. Overall a good read and some new insights into the conservative nature of the British Officers Corps. I highly recommend this book and rate it 8/10
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