The Daily Telegraph Military Obituaries Book Three: 3 - Tapa dura

The Daily Telegraph's latest collection of 100 military obituaries from the past 16 years, edited by David Twiston Davies , is both informative and moving. As Andrew Roberts wrote of the first collection: 'to those Britons who have known only peace, these [obituaries] are thought provoking and humbling essays in valour.' I'd heartily recommend it - there's wisdom in them thar pages. --The Scottish Field
Worthy, if briefly, is mention of the publication of the third volume of the Daily Telegraph's series of collected military obituaries...Passage of time has dictated that only one veteran of the Great War is included in this outstanding collection: Harry Patch, the remarkable 'last man standing', who died 'still enraged by the war' on 25 July 2009 at the age of 111... -- The Western Front Association.

In this, his third book of military obituaries, David Twiston Davies shows he is very much on top of his job. He is obviously aware of how popular the Daily Telegraph obituaries have become and the reasons for it. What is obvious from the introduction is that Twiston Davies knows that a great deal is happening which needs to be taken account of if the tradition of obituary writing is to continue, or even, survive. --The Catholic Herald

Renown for their obituary columns, the Daily Telegraph excel at obituaries of the celebrated and the famous and these volumes of collected obituaries by Grub Street are an absolute goldmine. In terms of a book that ought to be on the shelves of researchers, military history students and writers then this is up there as a 'must'. --Britain at War

David Twiston Davies's latest, highly entertaining collection of 100 Daily Telegraph military obituaries from the last sixteen years includes those celebrated for their great heroism and involvement in major operations. Others have extraordinary stories barely remembered even by their families. Those featured include Private Harry Patch, the last survivor of those who went over the top on the Western Front in 1917 and Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Wilson of the Somaliland Camel Corps who learned he had been awarded a posthumous VC in a prison camp. Colonel Clive Fairweather, who organised the SAS attack on the terrorists who seized the Iranian embassy in London in 1980, also features. The Canadian Sergeant Smoky Smith won the VC in Italy but was locked up to ensure he would be sober to receive it at Buckingham Palace? Obergefreiter Henry Metelman was a Panzer driver who, brutally frank about his Eastern Front experiences, later became a groundsman at Charterhouse School. Penny Phillips was an ambulance driver caught up in the retreat from the Germans in 1940. The Italian, Amedeo Guillet, led the last cavalry charge against the British; Australian General Sir Frank Hassett commanded a textbook operation at Maryang San in Korea? and Lieutenant-Colonel David Garforth-Bles was pig-sticking in India when a comrade suddenly disappeared only to be found at the bottom of an enormous well accompanied by his horse with a pig trying to bite both of them. As Andrew Roberts wrote of the first collection: They evoke swirling, profound, even guilty emotions... To those Britons who have known only peace, these are thought provoking and humbling essays in valour.