The Noise of Battle: The British Army and the Last Breakthrough Battle West of the Rhine, February-March 1945

OK, so where can I start. I guess I can begin by stating that I waited for it to become available through third party sellers because I did not want to spend 80 dollars on a kind of obscure topic by an author I hadnt heard of before. I waited until it became available at half price, rationalizing that I could always return it if need be. I am going to keep THE NOISE OF BATTLE, although this book turned out to be nothing like I expected.For one, it is not written by an academic - which I imagined it would be. Tony Colvin is the son of the Battalion 2iC of one of the British infantry units that fought with the 3d British Infantry Division in early 1945 as the 21st Army Group pushed out of Holland into western Germany. His father took him to several of the battlefields described in the book when the author was only eight years old.Colvin's interest in the topic began well over three decades before this book was published. He decided to write this account after reading the British and Canadian official histories who didnt even acknowledge the contributions of the British 3d Division when describing events during this period. From his own father's own stories of the fighting that took place during this period, Colvin knew that the soldiers of that division had been done a great disservice by the official historians. Bit by bit, Colvin began collecting information and interviewing veterans from his father's battalion, brigade, and supporting units such as the 6th Guards Tank Brigade.For reasons unexplained, the manuscript then lay dormant for several decades, though I suspect it might have been because it questioned the events behind several officers receiving allegedly undeserved medals. Those individuals have since passed away.What can you expect from three decades of research? Detail, lots and lots of detail. Perhaps too much in some instances. It is precisely for this reason that the book is 824 pages in length. That said, not all of the detail is associated with the main subject of the book - namely the performance of the 9th British Infantry Brigade in several battles over a multi-week period in February through March 1945.Some of the positive points of having so much information is that tank - infantry cooperation between the 3d Infantry Division and 6th Guard Tank Brigade, as well as several other infantry - armor pairings, is extensively examined. In addition, the author provides very useful material on the late war German airborne forces.Only half of the book, however, deals with the above mentioned subjects. Colvin devotes the remainder to chapter sized sections covering varied topics, to include comparing the Churchill tank with the Sherman, looking at examples of good and bad tank-infantry cooperation in the British Army, bashing British senior generals - both Army and Royal Air Force, casting doubt on the performance of 2d Tactical Air Force and the Hawker Typhoon/Tempest series of aircraft, and a number of other subjects. Sometimes his arguments are well organized and objective, while at other times he is cherry-picking facts and providing his opinion vice reasoned analysis.It all makes for a very interesting book crammed full of good research. You just have to be able to discern where the good research starts and his opinion begins. For the most part, Colvin makes it easy for readers to do just that.In a nutshell, I liked it even though its one of the more eccentric presentations focusing on the late war British Army. There is a lot of fresh, primary source material that a serious reader would find of interest, though the scope is somewhat limited by Colvin's interest in one brigade of a single British division plus its supporting tank unit.Normally I would give an general overview of how the book is organized, but there isn't a contents page up front so I didn't feel like flipping through the entire book attempting to identify where sections began and where they ended. Recommended with reservations.

If you are interested in infantry combat in northwest Europe in World War 2 this is a book for you! In the first half of the book, the author describes three battles in great detail fought by the British 3rd Infantry Division over four days between 27 February and 2 March 1945. The author's father was the 2IC of one of the battalions that fought in the battles. After the war, his father took him on the first of many tours of the battlefield. He was struck by the large number of graves from his father's battalion buried in the battlefield cemetery. This resulted in the author's 40 years of study and research to understand why in the 6th year of a war so many of the poor bloody infantry were killed in the battle. The second half of the book is an analysis of all aspects of the battle from the German defenders to the British infantry, artillery, tanks and aviation. The results of his research is a detailed history of the the doctrine, organization, equipment and cooperation in the British Army during the war and a comparison with the German and American armies. This results in a real education for those interested in all arms cooperation or combined arms warfare. The author ties it all together with a final chapter entitled " Why?, An Explanation." Again, for those interested in infantry combat and combined arms warfare, this is an amazing story. It may also give fans of Field Marshall Montgomery a reason to alter their opinion of his generalship.

The book contains interesting information but it severely lacked a strong editor. Mr Colvin's coverage of the battles are detailed and interesting especially his skill in consolidating the participant's accounts of the battles. In the second half of the book the author digresses into regimental backgrounds that could have been summarized basically as: The social stratifications in the British army hindered its consistent performance on the battlefield. Likewise Mr Colvin's views on Churchill, Montgomery, the tank divisions, and the RAF's pigheadedness towards battlefield support could likewise have been condensed. As a result, his arguments and analysis flow into diatribes.

I really wanted to like this book, having had chance to visit these forgotten battlefields. Unfortunately the book turned out to be a major disappointment. The soldier's stories are fascinating in the first half of the book but the narrative is disjointed. The major problem is the author's prejudice against the British units involved. The Germans are all heroes and their StuG commanders "Aces". The British are portrayed as incompetent, especially the Guards regiments which Colvin seems to loath. While considering their performance Colvin seems to ignore the fact that 6 Guards Tank Bde had fought all the way from Normandy and were suffering as a result. The second part of book is a bizarre mixture of conspiracy theory and the author's prejudices.

This book contains a wealth of information, but factual errors and misinformed assessments plague the analysis. The author does not understand the factors influencing Guy Simonds's operations in Normandy nor Montgomery's strategy for Normandy. This book requires very careful reading.

This is an amazing book. I can only describe the experience of reading it as immersive. Colvin describes two small battles in north west Germany in the greatest possible detail, giving full differing points of view of the same events, Rashomon-like without judgement, As a description of individual soldiers in action I have never read anything like it. But Colvin then zooms out of the battle and back in time - describing the thinking and choices made by the British and Germans that led to the battles being fought as they were and boys dying as they did. Colvin is not a professional historian and this is clearly a life-long labour but I cannot see how anyone other than an experienced person in life, in organisations and with long-links the men involved could write a book like this. The way the book is structured is unusual but in the end that only adds to the experience, as you piece the jigsaw together in your head and the full picture gradually unfolds.

What a great read Makes you question prevous ideas.but don't agree with all his statements re.British army performance

excellent