The Sharp End: The Fighting Man in World War II

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Sharp End: The Fighting Man in World War II (Hardcover) Most of the soldiers in World War II never experienced combat. It took a dozen soldiers behind the front lines to support and supply a single trooper at "the sharp end" where the battles were fought and won. "The Sharp End" focuses on the British and American fighting men. The author attempts, with considerable success, to describe the daily life of the men on the front lines -- their training, the hardships of the front lines, how they were killed or wounded, what they ate, how they dug foxholes, their morale and why they fought. Fascinating vignettes abound in this book. One of the most interesting to me was the author's description of British soldiers' addiction to tea which they brewed up at every opportunity, even while under fire. A British orderly once described the five principles of preventing shock as "a cup of tea and four lumps of sugar." Getting tea to the front lines had a priority second only to ammunition. Other vignettes are not nearly so cheerful. The author gives an extended discussion on subjects such as battle fatigue or "shell shock", medical care, and self-inflicted wounds. All in all, reading this book will give you an excellent idea of what it was like for the World War II soldier in the deserts of North Africa, the forest of Western Europe, and the jungles of SE Asia. It was not a pleasant life -- nor a very long one for many of the infantry who bore, by a large margin, the majority of the casualties of the war. Smallchief


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