St. Valery
£7.99
St. Valery—The Impossible Odds
Impossible odds at the desperate defence of St Valery
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About the Ebook
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.
Why You'll Love This Ebook
- Discover the impossible odds faced at the defence of St Valery
- Explore a desperate chapter of Scottish wartime history
- Engage with gripping military history from 1940
- Read another celebrated title from Origin - an imprint of Birlinn Ltd
Reviews
'A wonderful memorial to those who did not return' BBC History Magazine
'Bill Innes's work and the stories his protagonists have to tell are remarkable, both in their content and in their sheer quality of writing' Nairn Telegraph
About the Author
Bill Innes was born in Kinlochleven, brought up on Uist and studied at Glasgow University. He was an airline pilot for forty years before becoming a well-known presenter and reporter on Gaelic radio and TV. He edited the much acclaimed edition of Donald John MacDonald's poetry Chì Mi, which won the 1999 An Comunn Gaidhealach Mod Award for best book.Publication Details
Publisher: Origin (an imprint of Birlinn Ltd)
Publication Date: 01 November 2012
Print Length: 256 pages (Ebook edition)
ISBN (Ebook): 9780857905192
Format: Ebook
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