FIELD OF FIRE: DIARY OF A GUNNER OFFICER (Pbk)

Jack Swaab joined the veteran 51st (Highland) Infantry Division on 3rd January 1943. He kept a series of diaries over the following thirty months, recording the combination of boredom and fear that characterises active service. Never previously published, his vivid personal account describes his wartime service, largely performed in the front line. Fighting for the first time in March 1943 as Montgomery attacked the Mareth Line, Swaab then took part in the landings on Sicily and in the Normandy invasion. His appointment as a Forward Observation Officer in September 1944 meant that, unlike many artillerymen, he was working closely with the infantry in the front line. After being wounded by shellfire, he resumed FOO duty during the Rhine Crossing and received the Military Cross.