We Died With Our Boots Clean - Softcover

McAlpine, Kenneth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0753152762 ISBN 13: 9780753152768

Publisher: Reminiscence Large Print, 2012

Synopsis

At the age of seventeen, Kenneth McAlpine ran away from the Repton school to join Churchill's new elite special force, the Royal Marine Commandos. As the youngest member of the youngest commando force, after three months he found himself fighting on the beaches of Normandy. In We Died With Our Boots Clean, McAlpine tells his own unique story of World War II and his highly eventful military career.

From an unusual encounter with Montgomery and Patton, a concerted attempt to kill a sergeant major and his best friend’s arrest for swearing at the Queen of Holland, McAlpine paints a fascinating picture of commando lifeand the harsh training that prepared soldiers for frontline combat in an eliteunit. Full of absorbing anecdotes such as his time in a military prison and a rescue operation at a concentration camp, this book is an essential part of a World War II enthusiast’s library.

About this title

Review:

this memoir will be invaluable as evidence --Times Literary Supplement, 15th January 2010

Funny, touching and sometimes shocking --Country Life Magazine: Best Books of 2009

This fascinating book once again proves that the truest records of the second world war lie in the memories of the ordinary soldiers who fought on the ground. --The Sunday Times, 7th Feb 2010

There is still a need, however, to reconcile the achievements of the British Army during the Second World War with the sometimes catastrophic miscalculations of its generals and the extraordinary fortitude of the average soldier - under-equipped, under-paid and exposed to unnecessary horror. When that account is finally written, We Died with Our Boots Clean will be cited as crucial evidence. --Times Literary Supplement, 15 January 2010

This is a good read in the great british tradition of presenting wartime as an Ealing Studios tragi-comedy. --The Times, 27 March, 2010

About the Author:

Kenneth McAlpine joined the Royal Marine Commandos at the age of seventeen and spent the war years fighting in France and Holland. After the war he became a wine merchant, writing articles for specialist publications on the subject. He lives in London with his wife.

About this edition

• Publisher: Reminiscence Large Print
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0753152762
• ISBN 13: 9780753152768
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240