Julian Paget - The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC
Here you can read online Julian Paget - The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC full text of the book (entire story) in english for free. Download pdf and epub, get meaning, cover and reviews about this ebook. year: 2009, publisher: Pen & Sword Books, genre: Non-fiction. Description of the work, (preface) as well as reviews are available. Best literature library LitArk.com created for fans of good reading and offers a wide selection of genres:
Romance novel
Science fiction
Adventure
Detective
Science
History
Home and family
Prose
Art
Politics
Computer
Non-fiction
Religion
Business
Children
Humor
Choose a favorite category and find really read worthwhile books. Enjoy immersion in the world of imagination, feel the emotions of the characters or learn something new for yourself, make an fascinating discovery.
- Book:The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC
- Author:
- Publisher:Pen & Sword Books
- Genre:
- Year:2009
- Rating:5 / 5
- Favourites:Add to favourites
- Your mark:
The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC: summary, description and annotation
We offer to read an annotation, description, summary or preface (depends on what the author of the book "The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC" wrote himself). If you haven't found the necessary information about the book — write in the comments, we will try to find it.
Bernard Paget enjoyed a hugely successful military career which culminated in his top level appointments in WW2. As C-in-C Home Forces and the C-in-C 21st Army Group he was responsible for preparing the Army for the long awaited Second Front in Europe in 1944. To his lasting chagrin he was not to use in battle the weapon that he had shaped and tempered. He proved himself both a gallant soldier in the Great War and a shrewd commander in the dire conditions of the ill-fated Norway campaign.It was as a trainer that he excelled and this ideally fitted him for his wartime appointments. An irascible, brusque and, at times, downright rude man, possibly due to constant pain from his war wounds, he nonetheless worked well with Alanbrooke (the CIGS) but he had, like many others, a stormy relationship with Monty who, to Paget s deep disappointment, took over 21st Army Group from him prior to D-Day. Paget was made Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East, a key post previously held by Wavell, Alexander and Jumbo Wilson. This book throws fresh light on other major World War II figures.After retiring in 1946 he pursued a full career both in education and charities. Although one of the most influential generals of his time, due to circumstances, and possible character, he was regarded as always the bridesmaid and never the bride . But his contribution to victory cannot be overestimated.
Julian Paget: author's other books
Who wrote The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.
Julian Paget
John A. English
Peter Paget
Steven Paget (editor)
Great Britain. Army. Army Eighth
Gran Bretaña. Army
Allied Forces. Army Group 21st.
James Carleton Paget
Julian Paget
Toynbee Paget Jackson
The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work
Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.
Light
Font size:
↓
↑
Reset
Interval:
↓
↑
Bookmark:
Make
First published in Great Britain in 2008 by
Pen & Sword Military
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright Julian Paget, 2008
ISBN 978 18441 5810 2
The right of Julian Paget to be identified as Author of this Work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.
available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission from the Publisher in writing.
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission from the Publisher in writing.
Typeset in Palatino Linotype by
Lamorna Publishing Services.
Lamorna Publishing Services.
Printed and bound in England by Biddles Ltd
Pen & Sword Books Ltd. incorporates the imprints of
Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword Military,
Wharncliffe Local History, Remember When Publications,
Pen & Sword Select, Pen & Sword Military Classics and Leo Cooper.
Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword Military,
Wharncliffe Local History, Remember When Publications,
Pen & Sword Select, Pen & Sword Military Classics and Leo Cooper.
For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail: enquiries@pen-and-sword.co.uk
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail: enquiries@pen-and-sword.co.uk
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Contents
Maps and Diagrams
Paget Coat of Arms
Norway
Southern Norway
The Three D-Day Plans
Preface
The achievements of great men are part of our history, particularly if they have themselves contributed to that history. This certainly applies to my father, who played a significant part in the Second World War. But he was a man of exceptional modesty, and he firmly refused to write his own memoirs, or allow anyone else to do it. He was determined not to join The War of the Generals, with each setting out to promote their own claim to fame.
As a result, little has been written about his achievements, and there are gaps in the records which could and should be filled from his diaries, letters and papers, and I believe that this should now be done. This book is an attempt to fill some of those gaps, without letting it become either a biography or memoirs. My father kept a personal diary throughout the war, which provides much previously unpublished material.
This book is very much a broad brush picture, with emphasis on the matters that are particularly relevant to my father, and on which he has something of interest to contribute. On this basis, four subjects are given particular prominence; the Norwegian Campaign of 1940, when he commanded the ill-fated expedition to Andalsnes; the planning of D-Day, in which he played a significant, but largely unrecognized, role; the training of 21st Army Group, which was possibly his greatest achievement; and finally, his crusade for the teaching of citizenship which is now so relevant, sixty years on.
In accordance with my father's wishes, I have tried to avoid any criticism of others, or to cause controversy. I have not sought to resolve the rights and wrongs of various controversial issues in which he was involved, but have stated the situation as seen by my father at the time, and have left it to readers to make their own judgements.
It is difficult for a son to write objectively about his father, but in my case, it is made easier, first, because my father's achievements speak for themselves, and second, because the picture is completed by the opinions of many others.
Julian Paget
Foreword by General Sir Robert Pascoe KCB MBE
I once spent just over an hour in the company of General Sir Bernard Paget. It was the summer of 1952 and, as a private National Service soldier and then an officer cadet at Sandhurst, I had been in the Army for less than two years. He was a General with forty years service behind him, including battle and command experience in two world wars involving him in many important decisions. Needless to say, I was somewhat overawed by the occasion.
We took tea together as he interviewed me to see if I was suitable to be commissioned into the Regiment of which he was the Colonel, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (43rd and 52nd). I didn't think the interview went very well, and if anyone had told me then, that some fifty years later, I, as the senior surviving officer of my old Regiment, would be invited to write the Foreword in a book about his life and times, I would not have believed him!
During the Second World War Bernard Paget made a major contribution to the outcome of the war, and greatly improved the training and the reputation of the British Army. Not for nothing has he been described as the man who did more to improve the training of the British soldier than anyone since Sir John Moore in the early 1800s.
In the 43rd and 52nd we all respected General Paget as our outstanding senior officer, but his service to the country has not been widely recognized. He was, of course, awarded many decorations and medals, he was the country's senior serving general and, in his retirement, he became Governor of The Royal Hospital, Chelsea. But few people know how close he came to leading the British Army, which he had trained so well, onto the beaches of Normandy in Operation Overlord in June 1944.
This prize command was taken from Paget's grasp and given to Montgomery, a decision which General Brooke, the CIGS, admits in his diaries caused him much anxiety at the time, because of his great personal admiration and affection for him. Many a man would have been bitter and resentful at this blow, but Paget never expressed his disappointment, and got on with the alternative job he was given in the Middle East.
After the war, Paget decided not to publish any diary or memoir, and deliberately avoided the word games entered into by many of his contemporaries. Now, in this book, Julian Paget, with unique access to his father's papers and diaries, and several military history books already published, sets out for us a clear picture of a great man, which, while doing justice to his father's career, does not betray the latter's determination to avoid raising issues that he thought were best left alone. He does military historians a great service by throwing light on his father's experiences and opinions during many momentous years.
This is an interesting and revealing account of a professional soldier's career, and his views during a critical time in our nation's history. It also shows Bernard Paget in a light which does him the full credit to which he was justly entitled.
Robert Pascoe.
Late The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (43rd and 52nd) and The Royal Green Jackets
Chapter 1
Early Years (1887-1914)
I'm going to be a soldier too.
(Bernard, aged 12)
It was June 1899, and Oxford University was preparing for the ancient ceremony of Encaenia, when honorary degrees are conferred on outstanding national figures. The Dean of Christ Church, one of the leading Oxford colleges, was my grandfather, Francis Paget, and he had some very distinguished guests staying with him at the Deanery for the occasion. They were headed by the Duke and Duchess of York (the future King George V and Queen Mary), and with them was Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and a national hero.
Light
Font size:
↓
↑
Reset
Interval:
↓
↑
Bookmark:
Make
Similar books «The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC»
Look at similar books to The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.
John A. English
Peter Paget
Steven Paget (editor)
Great Britain. Army. Army Eighth
Gran Bretaña. Army
Allied Forces. Army Group 21st.
James Carleton Paget
Julian Paget
Toynbee Paget Jackson
Reviews about «The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC»
Discussion, reviews of the book The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.