None Bolder
None Bolder

Author: Richard Doherty

Publisher: Spellmount, Limited Publishers

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13:

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"One of the most famous infantry divisions of the Second World War was the 51st (Highland) Division, a Scottish Territorial Army formation that first saw service in the Great War. Composed of battalions of Highland infantry regiments - Black Watch, Seaforth Highlanders, Gordon Highlanders, Cameron Highlanders and Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - the Division deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force in 1939, later serving in Egypt, North Africa, France and on the Rhine." "At all times the Division was known for its esprit de corps which touched not only its Highland soldiers but the many non-Scots who serviced in its ranks; its machine-gun battalion was from The Middlesex Regiment while its reconnaissance regiment, after 1942, was 2nd Derby Yeomanry. All who served in its ranks wore the HD flash with pride, a pride that was justified by the Division's outstanding record during the war. This book will tell the story of the Division through official records, personal accounts and memories and previously published material."--BOOK JACKET.

Monty's Highlanders
Monty's Highlanders

Author: Patrick Delaforce

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2007-04-16

Total Pages: 419

ISBN-13: 1783460733

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The 51st Highland Division was the most famous infantry division that fought with the British Army in WW2. It was the only infantry division in the armies of the British Empire that accompanied Monty from during Alamein to BerlinAfter the 1940 disaster at St Valry when many were killed or captured, the re-formed 51st were a superlative division, brilliantly inspired and led. The Highway Decorators (after their famous HD cypher) fought with consummate success through North Africa and Tunisia and from Normandy into the heart of Germany. Blooded at Alamein where they suffered over 2000 casualties they pursued the Afrika Korps via Tripoli and Tunis fighting fierce battles along the way. They lost 1,500 men helping to liberate Sicily. Back to the UK for the second front, the Highlanders battled their way through Normandy bocage, the break-out to the Seine, triumphal re-occupation of St Valry, and were the first troops to cross the Rhine, fighting on to Bremen and Bremerhaven. In the eleven months fighting in NW Europe in 1944 and 1945 the Highlanders suffered more than 9000 casualties.

THE HISTORY OF THE 51st HIGHLAND DIVISION 1939-1945
THE HISTORY OF THE 51st HIGHLAND DIVISION 1939-1945

Author: J. B. Salmond

Publisher: Naval & Military Press

Published: 2022-10-03

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781474536950

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The 51st Highland Division fought and lost in France in 1940 and fought and won in North Africa, Sicily and finally in Europe from D-Day to the end of the war.

Churchill's Sacrifice of the Highland Division, France 1940
Churchill's Sacrifice of the Highland Division, France 1940

Author: Saul David

Publisher: Brasseys Uk Limited

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9781857533781

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More than a week after the last British troops had been evacuated from Dunkirk, the 51st (Highland) Division was forced to surrender. More than 10,000 men were driven into five years of captivity in prison camps. The author traces the story of the Highland Division, from its arrival in France to its final desperate stand.

St Valéry and Its Aftermath
St Valéry and Its Aftermath

Author: Stewart Mitchell

Publisher: Pen & Sword Military

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781473886582

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During the German May 1940 offensive, the 51st (Highland) Division, including the 1st and 5th Battalions Gordon Highlanders, became separated from the British Expeditionary Force. After a heroic stand at St Valery-en-Caux the Division surrendered when fog thwarted efforts to evacuate them. Within days, scores of Gordons had escaped and were on the run through Nazi-occupied France. Many reached Britain after feats of great courage and tenacity, including recapture and imprisonment often in atrocious conditions in France, Spain or North Africa. Those imprisoned in Eastern Europe were forced to work in coal and salt mines, quarries, factories and farms. Some died through unsafe conditions or the brutality of their captors. Others escaped, on occasion fighting with distinction alongside Resistance forces. Many had to endure the brutal 1945 winter march away from the advancing Allies before their eventual liberation. This superbly researched book contains many inspiring stories that deserve and merit reading.

St. Valery
St. Valery

Author: Bill Innes

Publisher: Birlinn

Published: 2012-11-01

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0857905198

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The gallant rearguard action which led to the capture of the 51st Highland Division at St Valéry-en-Caux (two weeks after the famous evacuation of the main British army from Dunkirk) may have burned itself into the consciousness of an older generation of Scots but has never been given the wider recognition it deserves. This new book re-examines that fateful chain of events in 1940 and reassesses some of the myths that have grown up in the intervening years. Two of the main contributors to this collection of soldiers' reminiscences, Angus Campbell from Lewis and Donald John MacDonald from South Uist, were both traditional Gaelic bards. Their work has been translated from their native language and reflects both the richness of the vocabulary they had acquired through the Gaelic oral tradition and their individual gifts as natural story-tellers born out of that tradition. These vivid accounts bring alive the chaos and horror of war and the grim deprivation of the camps and forced marches which so many endured. Yet the personal stories also resound with the spirit, humour and sense of comradeship which enabled men to fight on in desperate situations and refuse to be cowed by their captors.

The History of the 51st (Highland) Division, 1914-1918
The History of the 51st (Highland) Division, 1914-1918

Author: Frederick William Bewsher

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 1921

Total Pages: 484

ISBN-13:

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If it were possible for the General who for three years commanded all the British Divisions in France, and was served with equal gallantry, devotion, and success by each, to admit a predilection for any of them, my affection would naturally turn to the Division that drew so many of its recruits from the same part of Scotland where my boyhood was spent and my own people lived. Those who read the pages of this book will find therein a tale of patient endeavour and glorious achievement of which I claim a good right to be as proud as any of my fellow-countrymen. The 51st Division does not need to boast of its prowess or its record. It can point to the story of its deeds, plainly and simply told, and leave the world to judge.

Field of Fire
Field of Fire

Author: Jack Swaab

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2007-05-24

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0752495917

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Jack Swaab joined the veteran 51st (Highland) Infantry Division on 3 January 1943. He kept a series of diaries over the following two and a half years, recording the combination of boredom and fear that characterises active service. In mid-March 1943 he saw battle for the first time as Montgomery attacked the Mareth Line. In July that year Swaab took part in the Allied landings on Sicily, writing of the scorching humidity of the Sicilian summer. In May 1944 he records the restless time as his regiment prepared for the invasion of Normandy. In September 1944 Swaab's role changed dramatically, as he moved from commanding a troop to being a forward observation officer. His new position meant that he was working closely with the infantry in the front line. Swaab's first five months as a forward observation officer came to an abrupt end on 13 February, when he was wounded in the leg by shellfire. He was again selected for FOO duty during Operation 'Varsity', the Rhine crossing, in March 1945, and received the Military Cross.

History of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders 7th Battalion from El Alamein to Germany
History of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders 7th Battalion from El Alamein to Germany

Author: Captain Ian C Cameron

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-28

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 9781781519653

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This History of one of the best-known Scottish regiments in the British Army covers the role of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in the latter part of the Second World War. The Regiment formed part of the famous 51st Highland Division with the British Expeditionary Force in 1940 and suffered grievous casualties before escaping through the port of Le Havre. It remained in the 51st Highland Division for the rest of the war, taking part in the North African campaign, including the Battle of El Alamein in 1942, and the invasion and liberation of Sicily in 1943, before returning to take part in the many hard-fought battles following the 1944 D-day Normandy Landings and through to the Baltic. Well-illustrated with photographs and many maps, this is a fine record of a proud unit.

Scottish Military Disasters
Scottish Military Disasters

Author: Paul Cowan

Publisher: Neil Wilson Publishing Ltd

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13:

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A compilation of Scotland's failures on the battlefields of the world from Mons Graupius to Korea.