Battle Diary

by George Forbes

Always to be found where the battle was fiercest or the shelling most intense, giving courage to the wounded and dying, Fr George Forbes, former Grenadier Guards officer, a Benedictine monk of Ampleforth, in wartime Chaplain to the Guards Brigade, tells his own experience of the Italian campaign of 1943-45, and adds some thoughtful comments in an Appendix on the distressing handover of prisoners to the Russians and Jugoslavs at the end of World War 2 – ‘one of those cases when, whatever answer you give, you are bound to be wrong’. Forbes writes simply and clearly, not without humour, and gives a unique view of the front line battles fought by the men he was with for three years. Much of the fighting was in mountains up to 3000 feet high (1000 m), where ice, rain and mud were worse enemies than the German Army (which emerges with respect). Notes on the people named and an index of army terms make the book a stand-alone read.

124 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 17, 2013

About the author

Author, astronomer, explorer, engineer and inventor.