Al Murray - Command: How the Allies Learned to Win the Second World War

Copyright 2022 Al Murray

The right of Al Murray to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

First published in 2022 by Headline Publishing Group

First published as an Ebook in Great Britain

by Headline Publishing Group in 2022

Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

Front jacket photograph AFP via Getty Images (sky @ AaiThit/Shutterstock)

Back jacket photograph The PrintCollector/Getty Images

Author photograph Pete Dadds

Jacket design by Jack Storey

Hardback ISBN: 978 1 4722 8459 4

eISBN: 978 1 4722 8461 7

HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP

An Hachette UK Company

Carmelite House

50 Victoria Embankment

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www.headline.co.uk

www.hachette.co.uk

Contents

Pete Dadds

Al Murray is best known for his award-winning stand up alter ego the Pub Landlord, appearing on the stage, television and radio, setting the world to rights with his maroon blazer and frothing pint. Away from the Pub Landlord he has a keen interest in history, hosting several acclaimed TV history programmes, as well as the hit Second World War podcast We Have Ways of Making You Talk , alongside bestselling historian James Holland. This is his first book without any jokes in it.

Command is everything popular history should be: authoritative, full of deep wisdom and knowledge, genuinely fresh and original in approach and content, and both compelling and entertainingly written. Skilfully blending the famous names with those lesser known, he examines each in a completely fresh light, focussing on differing aspects that collectively offer a satisfyingly comprehensive whole that takes the reader on a journey across a wide range of landscapes, theatres and battles. It is an utter joy to read from start to finish. James Holland

With his trademark combination of humour and deep-thinking - an iron fist in a velvet glove - Al Murrays brilliantly incisive debut history forces us to think again about the nature of Command and how the Allies were able to turn disaster into triumph in World War II. Quirky, original and hard-hitting, it is as enjoyable to read as it is instructive. Saul David

Command is a stunning achievement. This is a book that sucks you in from the first page. Deeply incisive, each paragraph brings a new revelation. Al Murrays writing is as original and his conclusions as controversial as the generals he depicts. At the end of each chapter, you are left exhaling with a sense of I didnt expect that. Peter Caddick-Adams

The Pub Landlords Book of British Common Sense

The Pub Landlord Says Think Yourself British

Great British Pub Quiz Book

Watching War Films with my Dad

A unique analysis of the greatest commanders who helped the allies win the Second World War, written by one of the UKs best loved comedians and commentators. He also loves history.

Al Murrays passion for military history and the Second World War in particular has always been a duel passion with his comedy and was brought to the fore with several acclaimed and award winning television shows and the recent huge success of his podcast We Have Ways of Making You Talk which he hosts fellow bestselling military author James Holland . The podcast has built up a loyal, nationwide fanbase and has given birth to its own annual three-day festival. In his first serious narrative book, Command showcases Al Murrays passion for this pivotal period in the Twentieth Century, as he writes an engaging, entertaining and sharp analysis of the key allied military leaders in the conflict.

Command highlights the performance and careers of some of the key protagonists who commanded armies, as well as the lesser-known officers who led divisions, regiments and even battalions for the British, Commonwealth and United States of American armies. By showcasing each combat commander across every theatre of operations the allies fought in, Murray tells the story of how the Western Allies rebounded from early shocking defeats (Dunkirk and Pearl Harbor) to then victories (El Alamein and D-Day) in its efforts to defeat the Axis forces of Nazi Germany and Japan, and what that tells us about the characters and the challenges that faced them. Command will be the book all fans of Second World War History will want to buy who appreciate a true enthusiast of the genre who has something new and compelling to say.

To the Independent Company

for keeping us company

Tunis fallen?! Ups a daisy! Had we ordinary layabouts defeated the formidable German army? Spike Milligan, Monty: His Part in My Victory

If you want the truth, go to a comedian. Spike Milligans ribald memoirs of his time as a conscripted man in the Royal Artillery make an interesting point. As part of the First Army which had fought a rushed action to try to stop the Germans establishing themselves in Tunisia, and then tried to squeeze the German armies between itself and Eighth Army, advancing from the east Milligans battery had been in action almost constantly, and when not fighting, it had been on the move. His memoirs fondly recreate the easy humour in the battery and clearly illustrate the mens attitudes to the war. Its quite clear that patriotism is low down their list for fighting. From starting out without any equipment, shouting Bang! as they drilled at their guns, Milligan and his fellow layabouts went on to take part in the climactic battles which ended the war in North Africa, then on into Italy for all Milligans joking, blowing raspberries and flicking Vs at the enemy, he knew that he and his friends were part of a war-winning machine. How had this happened? Featuring large in Milligans experience was Major Chater-Jack, whose care and concern for his men, conscripts fighting in a war they had not sought (certainly not Milligan, who had done everything he could to avoid turning up to his depot), was a huge factor in transforming these civilians into soldiers. To Bombardier Milligan, command mattered.

The Second World War is an endlessly peelable onion, a subject that seems to offer no boundaries, that throws up new mysteries and revelations as well as mythologies even as it glides slowly further into the past. Even knowing where or when to start is daunting. Picking a subject, finding its edges, satisfying oneself with definitions and parameters is nigh on impossible. But there is a simple question that hangs over the war: how did the Allies win? And, more importantly, given the answer that some feel is self-evident: by economic and industrial might take on three imperiums each with a larger economy than yours and you are surely done for how did they learn to apply those obvious advantages against foes who were far more interested in waging war, at least at the outset, than they were? With so much stuff at their disposal, was the Allies victory not assured, regardless of how their men were led?

If it is anything at a glance, the Second World War is a war of hardware, of tanks, planes, ships and factories. A war of materiel, of resources. And a war of technology. The dazzling speed of development before and during the war of weapons technology from the Gloster Gladiators Faith , Hope and Charity that were used to defend Malta in 1940 to the V-2 ballistic missiles raining down on London only four years later, as well as the unprecedented and unimagined power of the atomic bomb goes a long way to make the case that this was a war of machines and of the economies that produced those machines. And given the effort that the Western Allies put into destroying and disrupting German industry, its clear that this was how they saw the war: they would use their own technology and industry to deny the Germans the use of theirs. The result was that 45 per cent of German industry was given over to producing aircraft, a clear indication of the extent to which the strategic bombing campaign was effective in defeating Nazi Germany. Germanys industrial opportunities were dictated by Allied bombing and blockades. Again this is an argument about stuff, tech, materiel.

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