Guards VC: Blitzkrieg, 1940

From the Author
Why 'Guards VC' is a vital contribution to WW2 history.
My grandfather, former Guardsman HH Smith was captured with, and saved the life of, Lance Corporal Harry Nicholls VC, also of the 3rd Grenadier Guards, near Pecq on May 21st, 1940. My grandfather never discussed his wartime experiences and it was at his funeral in 1983, in fact, that I heard of his connection with such august events.

Since then, despite having also written nine RAF/Luftwaffe Battle of Britain related books, I have been researching the events befalling the 1st Guards Brigade (3rd Grenadier, 2nd Coldstream and 2nd Hampshires) between September 1939-June 1940. Naturally the emphasis is on the period May 10th, 1940, the date the German invasion of the West began, and June 1940, i.e. after the Dunkirk evacuation. The VC-winning action of May 21st is reconstructed in great detail using not only the contemporary records of BOTH sides, but equally the first-hand accounts of British and German survivors. The same applies to the other VC won on May 21st, by CSM George Gristock, 2nd Royal Norfolks. All of the actions fought by 1st GB are re-fought in similar fashion, and thus give us an idea of what it was really like for a typical BEF unit during the Fall of France.

As this research proves, however, it was not the rout that many today think it was, and the BEF fought both bravely and determindly against overwhelming odds.

Finally we present an up-to-date battlefield tour of the Pecq site, and report on our last visit during which many relics were discovered.

100 photographs illustrate 'Guards VC', many of German origin, and nearly all are previously unpublished.

Dilip Sarkar
Hardcover with d/w Ramrod Publications 1999 1st Ed

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