Battle Winners - Smith, Alan

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Résumé :
Battle Winners is a vibrant and detailed account of the extraordinary battles of the Australian 6th and 9th Division six field artillery regiments against the Italian Army and Afrika Korps in the unforgiving terrain of the Western Desert from 1940 to 1942. It traces the 6th Division's advance to Benghazi, the legendary Siege of Tobruk and their 'bush artillery' of the 9th Division, closing with the bloody finale that was Second El Alamein against a battle-hardened foe. The book describes the organisation, equipment, development and artillery tactics of both sides in meticulous detail. General Montgomery's appointment in August 1942 proved the turning point and the Eighth Army artillery rose to become the 'queen of battles' at the climactic El Alamein battle. Battle Winners includes a Roll of Honour, casualty lists, maps and photographs and includes a Foreword by Major General S. N. Gower, AO, AO(Mil)....

Biographie:
Alan Smith's first novel was published just before his fiftieth birthday. ' I was one of those people who always intended to write a novel but went to the pub instead. It finally dawned on me that being a writer might entail actually doing some writing and so I resolved to write a page a day. Any fool, me for instance, can write a page a day.' The publication of this novel, Big Soft Lads, and a second, What About Me, liberated Alan from school teaching and lead him into journalism, university and prison. His part time job teaching philosophy in prison came along at the same time that The University of Northampton offered him a job teaching Creative Writing and The Guardian began publishing his articles about prison. This split three ways part time life went on for fifteen years. 'It suited me down to the ground, I was never taken over by any one of the jobs and I was never really a part of things. I could drop in and take a good look at things, take notes and write about it. Being a nosey outsider is what, I discovered, I really liked being and just the best way for me to be a writer.' Alan was born in Sheffield into a family of steelworkers. He went to the Central Technical School in Sheffield where he spent several years in the machine shop, drawing office and foundry. 'They also gave us a good academic education and because of this I went to the University of York to study philosophy. It was the late sixties and some of my recollections are a little confused. Fifty years later I came back to live in York to be near my daughter and her family.' Having a book published means that a writer has to be involved in publicity and sales. 'I discovered how much I enjoy showing off and being at the centre of attention. An American colleague took me to one side and gave me a scolding. English diffidence, she said, we don't want any of that crap. I never looked back.