I'm in complete shock that you've never heard of Douglas Bader. An absolute British hero. I would take a moment and read up on him it's an amazing story.
He played for us in the prem the season we went down, he played the whole of the championship season, and we offered him a new contract to play in the premiership again when we went back up, instead he opted to leave a premiership club and join Fulham in the championship. I hope this has cleaed that up for you, not sure why you even wanted to make an issue of it.
He played 925 minutes when we went down, Romain Saiss played 2709 minutes this season. 4th most for a Europa League chasing Wolves side. Nathanial Chalobah came up with a Watford side playing an integral part in promotion then by sounds of it got told he wouldn't be a regular starter, had zero Premier League minutes, looked for a move, couldn't find another Premier League team, dropped down a division. He then only proceeded to play 937 minutes out of a possible 4140 for the best team in The Championship. In those 3 seasons combined, Saiss has racked up 8000 Premier League minutes. I hope this has cleraed that up for you, not sure why you even wanted to make an issue of it.
A bit controversial with his views though. Political ones. Also he had a huge ego like his mentor Leigh-Mallory and unlike the architect of the victory of the BOB Dowding. He and Leigh-Mallory wanted a decisive aerial engagement with the unwieldy Big Wings which is what Goering wanted to. Dowding's policy of attrition with strategic errors from the Luftwaffe command helped win the BOB and stop Seelowe.
A landmark series indeed. The blu rays from Network is well worth getting having been cleaned up and remastered. It's an archive with many of the key players and witnesses to the events of the years prior to and after the War. And those on the front line. An invaluable resource. Like The Great War series broadcast in 1964 and The Last Tommies.
Have you read James Holland’s book the ‘Battle of Britain.’ It’s a an excellent look at the air battle focusing on all levels of the conflict from the strategical and logistical standpoints all the way down to individual fighter pilots and their experiences. He is by far and away the best world war 2 non fiction read, like Antony Beevor but much more smooth flowing.
I like Richard Overy’s writing style too - waiting for The Imperial War 1931-45 to come out in paperback in jan next year as dont really do hardbacks as do most of my reading while commuting and hardbacks weigh too much
The earliest book I read on this was Chaz Boywer's (sadly no longer with us but I corresponded with his daughter telling her what a delight his books were to a ten year old) and I'vre read a little of Holland's BOB. He also covered these points in a documentary. Excellent military writer. I have several of his works on the shelves. Sicily'43, Big Week, Normandy 44 and so on. Just a shame I cannot find the time to read them with the care they need.
On a related note for anyone who is yet to discover it, since my own brother put me on to the podcast his brother Tom does with Dominic Sandbrook last year it's almost instantly become my favourite - 'The Rest is History'. Brilliant.
Agreed, the range of topics they cover is staggering. I particularly enjoyed the two partner with Dan Carlin.
Moving this a little further off topic (well I don't think Kortney Hause has many military history aspirations or credentials as far as I can tell!) there might be a few on here who were taught history at Watford Boys Grammar in the late 70s by the rather 'mad' but always delightful Denis Winter. Never a natural teacher but to this pupil in those days already had that lofty air of a brilliant academic. He left WBGS to head to Australia in 1980 having already had 'Death's Men - Soldiers of the First War (1978)' published which he followed up with 'First of the Few - Fighter Pilots of the First World War' to some acclaim. Both brilliant and insightful, pretty well known subjects given a different twist with personal stories included after I'd imagine detailed archive research. He was that sort of obsessive bloke. His main and most controversial work 'Haig's Command: A Reassessment (1991)' is a completely damning indictment of General Haig. This book was loved by a few fellow historians and absolutely loathed by the majority of his colleagues for the stance that Denis took. His professionalism came under major attack but I can't find any suggestions that he bit back at them or not. I'd love to know and wonder if anyone is aware if Denis (born 1940) is still with us or not. All his books are really readable and thought-provoking. I'd highly recommend them to those on here who have a WW1 interest and might be unaware of Denis' Watford connection! I've yet to read his 1994 book '25 April 1915 The Inevitable Tragedy' about the Gallipoli landings, but I must get a copy.
Amazon.co.uk: Denis Winter: Books, Biography, Blogs, Audiobooks, Kindle Winter's Haig (johndclare.net) Had a quick look and cannot find anything on him aside from his works. People like myself and the Moog were with Allchorn. Also an Oxbridge graduate.
