MILITARY HISTORY
WHY THIS WEBSITE?
I have written my first historical book, which contains black and white photographs. I wanted to provide readers with colour versions of those images, where possible. When producing a book, its difficult to cram in all the pictures you want, so here I've added some extra pictures to fill-in the story.
Arthur Ibbotson was a Grenadier Guardsman in the Guards Armoured Division and fought from Normandy to Germany in two tanks, the M5 Honey (Stuart 6) and the M24 Chaffee. He trained on the M4 Sherman in the UK but had to undergo retraining "on the job" in Europe to use reconnaissance tanks. Other members of his Regiment also used Churchill and Cromwell tanks.
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FROM NORMANDY TO GERMANY IN A TANK
Interweaves the history of the Second World War with descriptions of tank warfare and the personal story of a grenadier guardsman, Arthur Ibbotson, who was lucky to survive.
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Individuals are brought to life through Arthur’s unpublished photographs, plus descriptions of roles, combat experiences and daily life in a war zone.
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Provides a more positive experience of Operation Market Garden than is often portrayed, providing a unique participant’s perspective of
that famous action.
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Enriched with direct quotes from multiple interviews with the author, and from letters to and from Arthur during the war, giving a contemporary evaluation.
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Describes efforts to enjoy life between battles, and after the war, despite the realities of the situation and being far from home.
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Michael Ibbotson Military History
