Brothers in Arms

Main Review: 

Long-time readers of the blog might be familiar with my good friend Tim, who over the last couple of years has been a stalwart ally in recommending books about whatever topic or period of history I’ve gotten myself caught up in at any particular moment. Knowing my predilection for a good tank book, he heartily recommended I give James Holland’s Brothers in Arms a go.  With Robert Kershaw’s Tank Men having been a stand out star of the books featured on the blog last year, I was quietly optimistic as I got settled down to read.

But whilst Tank Men covered the whole period from the first prototypes to the fall of Nazi Germany and covered three major fronts of the Second World War, Brothers in Arms is much more focussed. Holland’s book focuses on the exploits of a single tank regiment: the Sherwood Rangers, who had their origins as a territorial cavalry unit before they were given tanks. Starting with their landing on the beaches of Normandy as part of D-Day, we follow them throughout the last eleven months of the war as they fight through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and, eventually, Germany. 

Before the book starts in earnest however, we are treated to a number of maps showing the various flashpoints of the fighting from Normandy to Bremen. Interestingly, lots of these ‘maps’ are actually annontated images, some taken during the period and some co-opted from Google Earth. What this means is that in several of these images, you can see the signs of shell impacts and other marks of the fighting. Fascinating and chilling in equal measure. 

Once you’ve worked your way through the maps, you get a list of the principal ‘characters’ of the regiment on whom the story will focus. It’s a slightly more formal dramatis personae than the one given in Tank Men – with far fewer comments about their personalities and opinions on their commanders. Here, the narrower focus means that the names are easier to try and commit to memory, with pictures even being provided of 24 of the major individuals. Once the book begins in earnest, Holland makes the time to give each of the soldiers introduced their moment in the spotlight, giving a rough idea of their personal history before returning to the narrative. Very quickly, I found their names and personalities ingrained in my mind, the rogues, the cads and the zealous young men of the regiment. From Sergeant George Dring, the quiet, unassuming man who would get out of his tank to ‘stalk’ enemy armour to Padre Leslie Skinner, a non-combatant determined to find and bury the bodies of every soldier of the regiment killed in action, I was deeply invested in every single one of them pretty much straight away, which is a testament to Holland’s writing style. Each felt so distinct and human that in places I had to remind myself that these were real people and not fictional characters. 

During the more ‘action-focussed’ sections, Holland tries to capture the chaos and confusion by opting for a flurry of short, staccato sentences which really work to capture the frenetic energy of these moments. The descriptions of the fighting, particularly the wounds inflicted are typically very simple, never wanting to be overly detailed for the sake of grittiness. I was also very glad to see that pretty much all the acronyms used throughout are defined at their first usage, which is immensely helpful for a non-expert like myself.

With that said, Holland does often seem to repeat himself, even within the same chapter. In the opening stages he explains that the Allies had modified landing craft that were used as mobile gun platforms at least three times, and I can’t say that they play enough of a role in the narrative of the fighting to justify their repeated mention. Similarly, once they are on dry land and moving through the bocage of Normandy, Holland repeatedly draws attention to dead cows with their legs in the air. It’s an eerie image the first time to be sure, but by the fourth or fifth? Distinctly less so. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Brothers in Arms meshes really well with Tank Men. Both books share a focus on the actual fighting soldiers at the front line. Both make it clear that in tank regiments, Tea was King. Both frequently refer to tanks ‘brewing up’ when hit just right (or just wrong if you happen to be the crew of the tank in question). But whilst Kershaw spent a lot of time critiquing the design of late war allied tanks, particularly for their lack of effective offensive capacity (otherwise known as big guns); Holland takes a different stance and frequently sings the praises of the Sherman tank. For Holland, many of the ‘issues’ with the tanks were hearsay and rumour that spread like wildfire through the crews rather than actual faults with the tanks themselves. For Holland, quantity (of both the number of tanks produced, as well as the rate of fire they could achieve) easily outmatched quality.

But similarities aside, there’s a lot of Brothers in Arms to enjoy on its own merits. For example, this book was the first to teach me that D-Day was delayed due to a potential storm, and the famous date of 6 June 1944 could so easily have been 5 June. It also taught me that a British slang term for an artillery barrage was a ‘stonk’ and… I’m still not entirely sure what to do with that information.

The focus on the single regiment also allows a much deeper level of focus and an appreciation of how the war was actively fought. Holland draws explicit attention to how, for many, the popular history of the Second World War often seems to jump from D-Day straight to VE Day, with references occasionally made to events like Operation Market Garden or the Battle of the Bulge in between. The majority of the 11 month campaign from invasion to victory is often glossed over quite quickly, largely because of its foregone conclusion. What this often means is that the ferocity of the fighting and frequent casualties are left to one side, and the sacrifices made by the soldiers throughout are diminished. And if battle-hardened Panzer Lehr Divisions, Jagdpanthers and panzerfausts weren’t enough to deal with, the Allied advance was also frequently hindered by the weather itself, from the storms of D-Day, the frozen forests of Belgium and Holland to the waterlogged floodplains of the Rhine in spring.

War is not great, war is horrific and, for those on the front line, frequently nothing short of chaotic. But as we approach the end of the war and the casualties mount up, so too does a sense of frustration amongst the men. Being so close to the end of the war, and with the writing is on the wall for the Third Reich every man lost seems to sting a little more; although as Holland makes clear throughout – surviving unscathed was mathematically unlikely. The statistics peppered throughout make for sobering reading. One in particular that stood out to me was that by winter 1944, Allied bombers were dropping in one raid half the amount of bombs used in the entirety of the Blitz. What made this even worse was that frequently, the mass bombing of cities made it actively harder for the infantry to move in and clear the ruins; making the whole thing feel even more futile and pointless.

Eventually however, the war is over, and the Sherwood Rangers disbanded and sent back to civilian life. In a greatly appreciated postscript, Holland takes the time to explain what happened to many of the troopers once the fighting was done; with many having gone on to live rich, full lives surrounded by family and friends. With that said, it was incredibly sobering to realise just how many of the soldiers I had spent weeks reading about had now passed away. 

Right at the back of the book are a number of appendices. Some, such as a full breakdown of the makeup of an armoured regiment will be very useful for my wargaming brain going forwards. Others, including a list of all the accolades earned by the regiment and technical drawings of Sherman tanks are very impressive and full to the brim with information. For me though, it was the final appendix that was most important, a copy of a letter from a Squadron Leader to the family of a killed soldier, singing his praises and offering sympathy with their grief. The raw emotion was enough to bring a tear to my eye as I read it.

It's clear by now that Brothers in Arms was a tremendously enjoyable book to read. The few issues I had with the book (including the repetition mentioned earlier) are fairly minor and more like little niggles rather than full complaints. One of these was that roughly 95% of the women mentioned in this book appear to only be there to be the objects of affection for the men. Whilst perhaps more understandable in a book about soldiers in the Second World War, it is notable that, in places, you’d be forgiven for thinking that almost the entirety of Belgium’s population was made up of 6 foot tall nymphomaniacal super models from the way that the story paints it.

My other criticism is that I want more. As mentioned, this book only deals with June 1944 to May 1945, but the Sherwood Rangers were heavily involved with the North Africa campaign from 1940-1943 and reference is frequently made to their experiences in the desert. Having taken the fighting men of the Sherwood Rangers to heart so strongly, I would have gladly have read a longer, more expansive book or even a second volume dedicated to this earlier campaign. I have my fingers tightly crossed this is on the horizon from Holland; after all, prequels always work well – just look at Star Wars.

As Brothers in Arms was recommended to me, so too do I now recommend it to all of you without hesitation. Full of heart, character and depth (both of emotion and information) it’s certainly a early contender for nonfiction of the year for 2022.

After a flurry of plays and another book about tanks – I think it’s time we get back to fiction. If only the final part of the Padmé Amidala trilogy had just been released... Oh wait! It has – and so I’m sure I’ll see you all back here very soon.

Until then - happy reading!