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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Simply, this is one of the best accounts of military biography every written. Thoroughly inspirational and captivating is Sydney Jary's bio of a his naive yet unwittingly forward thinking infantry command. Sydney Jary writes with an accessibility ensuring all can be enveloped in 18 Platoon.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An absolute must-read for all those interested in military history. Jary tells the story of his time as an infantry platoon commander from Normandy to the end of the war. He joined his platoon on D+3 and was the only platoon commander to serve in Normandy that was still with the Battalion at the end of the war.
It is a brutal and bloody existence and the book pulls no punches, or if it does then I'm sure glad I never went to war.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sydney Jary led 18 platoon of 4/Somerset Light Infantry in Normandy, the Netherlands and Germany in 1944 and 1945. Working with excellent NCOs he built the sort of "band of brothers" that forms the backbone of all armies; and had the ability to encapsulate this bond in a splendid little book. Jary's writing is almost in the same class as John Masters' BUGLES AND A TIGER (I think I've read Masters a dozen times and had four versions "liberated" by chums). Not only does it perfectly encapsulate friendship and pride of corps; but it avoids either a winsomely Great War Poets approach or that of the opposite Captain Hurricane Jerry killers persuasion. Jary clearly enjoys combat, yet admits to be being a pacifist at times. His section on looking into the destroyed assault guns is a good example of the latter.
For the military reader there are some very useful points on the supposed superiority of the Wehrmacht over the BLA and some interesting comments on the American army and how it treated its squaddies. There is also plenty of the chaos and sudden surprise of close combat, and with Jary close is exactly what combat is.
For those interested in leadership this (and Masters' book) are very thought-provoking though perhaps one cannot carry over principles hardened in combat to how you run a board meeting. Jary has some poignant comments on re-entering civilian life. Perhaps the book's strongest point is its decency.
Thoroughly recommended.
For the military reader there are some very useful points on the supposed superiority of the Wehrmacht over the BLA and some interesting comments on the American army and how it treated its squaddies. There is also plenty of the chaos and sudden surprise of close combat, and with Jary close is exactly what combat is.
For those interested in leadership this (and Masters' book) are very thought-provoking though perhaps one cannot carry over principles hardened in combat to how you run a board meeting. Jary has some poignant comments on re-entering civilian life. Perhaps the book's strongest point is its decency.
Thoroughly recommended.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A lucky man
Jary was a lucky man. That he survived doing the things he did is truly astonishing. This book is a fitting tribute to an unorthodox junior officer in a difficult war. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Combover
A true picture of life as an infantry subaltern in WW2
This book is one of the most excellent books to be found on what life as an infantry officer in WW2 was like. Read more
Published 7 months ago by K. S. Hutchence
A brutal and honest account of war from a man at the coal face
I've met the man - a more humble gentleman you would struggle to meet. His common sense approach to war fighting, training and leadership is perfectly recounted in this classic... Read more
Published on 17 May 2006 by GTL544
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