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Dad's War
Chris Tarrant and his father Basil were very close; they played sports together, watched sports together, and shared the same sense of humor. Chris loved and admired his father, but it was only after his death he realized that he hardly knew him at all. . . Basil Avery Tarrant grew up in 1920s Reading, where the smell of beer and cookies from the local factories filled the air. He worked as an administrator in a local factory, and spent his Saturday nights down at the music halls. But what happened to Basil during the war, and how he came to be awarded the Military Cross, remained a mystery to Chris and his family for nearly 60 years. In this emotional journey, Chris discovers that Basil was involved in some of WWII’s most significant campaigns, including the Dunkirk evacuation and the D-Day landings, and also took part in some of the most brutal, close-range fighting in Cleve. Dad's War is a profoundly moving and heartfelt tribute to a much-loved father, but it’s also a sincere and humble commemoration of the bravery and sacrifice of the soldiers of WWII.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 7, 2014
Chris Tarrant says he regrets not asking his father about his service during World War II. After his father died he decided to find out about his time in the service. Like so many men of his generation his father, Basil Tarrant, had fought in World War II and then spent the rest of his life saying nothing about it.
Tarrant said his father came back battered but unscathed from the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940. On D-Day in June 1944 he landed on Juno Beach fighting the Germans through Holland, Belgium and into the Rhineland. In 1945 his arm was shattered when a jeep in which he was a passenger drove over an anti-tank mine. He was awarded the Military Cross for his exceptional bravery in Northern France and recommended for a second one, which in the chaos of the end of the he never received.
Tarrant says in researching the book, he visited the archives of his dad’s regiment in Salisbury. Then spent hours at the National Archives at Kew in South-west London and then on to the Imperial War Museum. The author said he read countless war books, biographies and autobiographies along with regimental histories. Tarrant said he interviewed men who served with his dad, who’d been through the same things that he had. He also read his father’s diaries.
The author says his father was seventeen years old when he joined the Territorial Army. He said his father loved the Terriers. On August 25, 1939 he was called up full time with the 48 Division of his hometown of Reading. Four months later he was shipped off to France with the British Expeditionary Force. In 1943 he applied to join the officer cadet training at Sandhurst and in July that year he passed with flying colors. He then was placed with the 5th Royal Berkshire where he was put in charge of the 12th platoon B Company. For his role on D-Day on Juno Beach Tarrant said he used his father diary. The author said that on the 50th anniversary of D-day his father and friends returned to Juno Beach but never discussed it with him.
I touched only a few highlights of the book. If you are a World War II history buff this is a book for you. The book also provides some guidelines about searching for information about one’s family. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Chris Tarrant narrated the book himself.
Tarrant said his father came back battered but unscathed from the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940. On D-Day in June 1944 he landed on Juno Beach fighting the Germans through Holland, Belgium and into the Rhineland. In 1945 his arm was shattered when a jeep in which he was a passenger drove over an anti-tank mine. He was awarded the Military Cross for his exceptional bravery in Northern France and recommended for a second one, which in the chaos of the end of the he never received.
Tarrant says in researching the book, he visited the archives of his dad’s regiment in Salisbury. Then spent hours at the National Archives at Kew in South-west London and then on to the Imperial War Museum. The author said he read countless war books, biographies and autobiographies along with regimental histories. Tarrant said he interviewed men who served with his dad, who’d been through the same things that he had. He also read his father’s diaries.
The author says his father was seventeen years old when he joined the Territorial Army. He said his father loved the Terriers. On August 25, 1939 he was called up full time with the 48 Division of his hometown of Reading. Four months later he was shipped off to France with the British Expeditionary Force. In 1943 he applied to join the officer cadet training at Sandhurst and in July that year he passed with flying colors. He then was placed with the 5th Royal Berkshire where he was put in charge of the 12th platoon B Company. For his role on D-Day on Juno Beach Tarrant said he used his father diary. The author said that on the 50th anniversary of D-day his father and friends returned to Juno Beach but never discussed it with him.
I touched only a few highlights of the book. If you are a World War II history buff this is a book for you. The book also provides some guidelines about searching for information about one’s family. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Chris Tarrant narrated the book himself.
February 17, 2022
Basil Tarrant MC served with both the Royal Berkshire Regiment and the Wiltshire Regiment during WW2. His son, Chris Tarrant, provides a lucid and easily readable biography of his father.
His love for his father shines from the page and he tells his war service with a very human touch. The fact that Basil Tarrant lands on Juno Beach in D-Day and serves through the the war until being injured in 1945 is tantamount to his skills as an officer and soldier and the many men he commanded.
I would recommend this book to none interested in WW2, Chris Tarrant or County Infantry Regiments in general.
As Chris clearly articulates, the service and sacrifice made by Basil’s generation was in many cases the ultimate and we must never forget them.
His love for his father shines from the page and he tells his war service with a very human touch. The fact that Basil Tarrant lands on Juno Beach in D-Day and serves through the the war until being injured in 1945 is tantamount to his skills as an officer and soldier and the many men he commanded.
I would recommend this book to none interested in WW2, Chris Tarrant or County Infantry Regiments in general.
As Chris clearly articulates, the service and sacrifice made by Basil’s generation was in many cases the ultimate and we must never forget them.
August 5, 2023
If anyone has had anyone who served in WW2 in their lives then this book will speak to you. As so many of us know they never spoke, it just wasn't the done thing for their generation.
This book is full of love as well as the story of Chris's Dad life and war. The not truly understanding what they saw and had to do to survive maybe came to us later on in our lives but too late as our own personal heroes had found their peace at last.
This book made me feel like I would have loved to have known Basil. Yet it also left me feeling I know so so little of my grandparent's war, maybe even of their true selves.
This book is full of love as well as the story of Chris's Dad life and war. The not truly understanding what they saw and had to do to survive maybe came to us later on in our lives but too late as our own personal heroes had found their peace at last.
This book made me feel like I would have loved to have known Basil. Yet it also left me feeling I know so so little of my grandparent's war, maybe even of their true selves.
March 3, 2021
What I like about this book was that it put the timeline of the war into perspective. It was easy to read. His father joined up the beginning of the war and was at Dunkirk and D-day. I could relate to his father not talking to him about his war my father didn't either and he was at Dunkirk too.
He obviously had a very close relationship with his father and quite rightly thought a lot of him. What did spoil it for me though was the final chapter going through some of his father's speeches he found after he'd died. I think it would have been better without these.
He obviously had a very close relationship with his father and quite rightly thought a lot of him. What did spoil it for me though was the final chapter going through some of his father's speeches he found after he'd died. I think it would have been better without these.
September 15, 2020
This is a very touching tribute to Chris Tarrant's dad. He sounds a wonderful man, great fun, much loved by family, colleagues and those he served with. His service in the European theatre was harrowing and full of luck.
If you have elderly family, it doesn't matter what they have done, just talk to them. Get their stories otherwise we will lose so much history and personal history when they have passed ... and we will regret it.
If you have elderly family, it doesn't matter what they have done, just talk to them. Get their stories otherwise we will lose so much history and personal history when they have passed ... and we will regret it.
August 16, 2022
Made me cry loads 😢
April 28, 2026
An excellent read about the horrific experiences our young men went through during WW2. Very well written by Chris Tarrant about his fathers life and full of love and courage
January 22, 2016
'Dad's War' is a heartfelt, comprehensive & moving account by Chris Tarrant of the life of his beloved father Basil. It covers the whole of Basil's long & fulfilling life - but centres mainly on his wartime heroics as an Officer on the front line, for which he was justifiably decorated.
Chris tells us how his father forever remained modest & evasive about this period, in true stiff-upper-lip fashion - but this book sets out to honour his vast contribution to the war, & tell the world about Basil's story.
I've always loved Chris Tarrant & he's done a first-class job here of chronicling his father's life, while taking a back seat himself in the story - as it continues up until his eventual death in 2005.
Chris injects plenty of honesty & humour into the book as one would expect, & his love for his father really shines through. I have to say I've never had the events of the fighting of WW2 explained to me so clearly before in a way that I could completely understand (as I did here), & this book has the added bonus of the personal & emotional involvement of Basil himself.
This is an excellent tribute from Chris to his dad, who I'm sure would be justly proud. The details of Chris's own childhood & life are fascinating too, & it makes for a wonderfully personal & inspiring read.
Chris tells us how his father forever remained modest & evasive about this period, in true stiff-upper-lip fashion - but this book sets out to honour his vast contribution to the war, & tell the world about Basil's story.
I've always loved Chris Tarrant & he's done a first-class job here of chronicling his father's life, while taking a back seat himself in the story - as it continues up until his eventual death in 2005.
Chris injects plenty of honesty & humour into the book as one would expect, & his love for his father really shines through. I have to say I've never had the events of the fighting of WW2 explained to me so clearly before in a way that I could completely understand (as I did here), & this book has the added bonus of the personal & emotional involvement of Basil himself.
This is an excellent tribute from Chris to his dad, who I'm sure would be justly proud. The details of Chris's own childhood & life are fascinating too, & it makes for a wonderfully personal & inspiring read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews