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"I have also, at last, got around to reading it. Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am really enjoying it, although I am only 1/2 way through." IB
From the professional journal of the Royal Engineers "This book is sub-titled "The extraordinary tale of 106 Company Royal Engineers", which was comprised of the railwaymen and miners who formed 106 Army Troops Company, from when they were mobilized in 1939 until their return home in 1945. Your heart may sink if I say it is a collection of the diary entries of some of the men, but this book is far more than that. It is a very readable account of what happened to the Doncaster railwaymen as they went to France with the BEF, returned home, went to North Africa and trained as commandos in the embryo SAS. They were captured at Tobruk and the latter part of the book deals with their time as prisoners-of-war. This of course was before El Alamein (October 1942), but even though by then they were 'in the bag', the unit had set out to site the lines at Alamein as long ago as July 1941 and the notes, maps and diagrams made at the time provides some useful background material for those interested in the battle. These were the men who built The Flying Scotsman locomotive so they were something special to start with, and Charles Jones has done an amazing job of linking the stories together with background information, maps and photographs. He interviewed the men who were there as well as delving into official archives and has pointed out some places where the official record is at variance with individuals' recollections. The chapters on life in the prison camps are particularly interesting and illuminating. POW books and films rarely start with the moment of capture - a poignant moment for a soldier as it involves laying down ones arms, but this one does in great detail. Apart from the activities of the writers, there are plenty of vignettes of life in the camps so the reader gets a real feel for what the men were going through. This is a fine tribute to a remarkable body of men, and if you are thinking 'just another unit history' - you should think again." JEB |
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