Heroes: The Greatest Generation and the Second World War. James Holland
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      Heroes

      THE GREATEST GENERATION AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR

      James Holland

      

       For Jimmy P

      Table of Contents

       Cover Page

       Title Page

       Dedication

       Bill Laity

       FRIENDSHIP

       John Leaver & Fred Walsh

       LOVE AND WAR

       Warren ‘Bing’ Evans & Frances Wheeler

       DERRING-DO

       George Jellicoe

       FIGHTER BOYS

       Roland ‘Bee’ Beamont

       Ken Adam

       SPORTING BLOOD

       Tom Finney

       THE SHADOW WAR

       Gianni Rossi

       Lise Graf

       BENEATH THE WAVES

       Michael ‘Tubby’ Crawford

       THE HEROIC ALLY

       Wladek Rubnikowicz

       BOY TO MAN

       Hugh ‘Jimmy’ James

       PARATROOPER

       Heinz Puschmann

       THE LAST BATTLE

       Bill Pierce

       Acknowledgements

       P.S.

       About the author

       About the book

       Read on

       About the Author

       By the same author

       Copyright

       About the Publisher

       Introduction

      When Roland Beamont turned twenty-one, he was already a veteran of the Battle for France and the Battle of Britain, had shot down a dozen enemy aircraft, and won a Distinguished Flying Cross. A year later he was a squadron leader with over sixty pilots and groundcrew under his command; before he was twenty-four, he was in charge of an entire wing of three squadrons, operating a brand-new aircraft that he personally had played a significant role in developing.

      Today in the Western world none of us is forced to spend the best years of our life fighting and living through a global war. International terrorism may be a cause for worry, but it has directly touched few of our lives so far. For the generation who were born from the embers of the First World War, however, coming of age offered little cause for celebration. Youth was sapped as the young men – and women – were forced to grow old before their time. Mere boys found themselves facing life-threatening danger and the kind of responsibility few would be prepared to shoulder today.

      These people were an extraordinary generation. The majority of those who fought were not professionals, but civilians who either volunteered or were conscripted as part of a conflict that touched the lives of every person in every country involved; ordinary, everyday people. One of СКАЧАТЬ