Finished "Decisions At Stones River: The Sixteen Critical Decisions That Defined the Battle" by Matt Spruill and Lee Spruill with maps by Tim Kissel.  Obviously the same layout as the "Decisions at Perryville".  Some editing issues but not many.  Interesting.

Finished By the Sword Divided Eyewitnesses of the English Civil War by John Adair

A very interesting read that made the war(s) more human and inhumane

I was relieved that the quote from Robert Harley supported my order of battle for Cheriton, at least the Parliamentarian commanded shot in Cheriton Wood

Hi

Almost finished 'The Eastern Front' (Eastern Front WWI) by Nick Lloyd. Excellent narrative of the war including theatres I knew very little about (e.g. Salonika), that said there is not a lot of 'fine' detail, the maps only show where armies are nothing below that level but perhaps not surprising given the scope of the book. I know casualties on the western front were horrendous but in the east I found them hard to comprehend. Recommended.

Cheers Paul

Finished "The Port Chicago Mutiny: The Story of the Largest Mass Mutiny Trial in U.S. History" by Robert L. Allen.

On July  17, 1944, a ship being loaded with ammunition blew up, causing another ship to be torn apart, 320 deaths, another 390 injured, most of whom were black sailors loading ammunition, and causing great damage to the town of Port Chicago, several miles away. The blast was calculated to be 5 kilotons of force, the same as the bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

The US, and all the military services, did not allow blacks to do much more that basic labor tasks, such as loading ammunition or mess men.  The sailors were not trained to handle ammunition, nor were the white officers, who had contests to see who could load the most tonnage.

After the explosions, many of the sailors were afraid to resume loading ammunition and were subsequently arrested.  50 were picked out as ringleaders (though none were really proven to be such and some were just put in the category) and were charged with mutiny, rather than failure to obey orders.  The trial was a forgone conclusion and the sailors received 15 year sentences and when released a bad conduct discharge.

Through pressure across the US, with letters to various leaders by Thurgood Marshall, later on the Supreme court, and Eleanor Roosevelt. the sentences were reduced and all were freed by 1947.

Port Chicago is 21 miles from where I live, and as it turns out, I am involved in a memorial to the 50 sailors.  During their lifetimes, several attempts were made to pardon the 50, none of which was accomplished while any were still living.  In 2024 the Navy Secretary, Carlos Del Toro, did so.

The trial was held on Yerba Buena Island in the bay of San Francisco, and the Naval Order of the United States, San Francisco Commandery, is working on a specific memorial to the 50 sailors from the mutiny.  As a member of the Naval Order (though I was in the army, my grandfather was a Rear admiral so that's how I was able to become a member), and a construction engineer, I "volunteered" to be the project manager for this project.  We have been working on it over a year, trying to get the powers that be to approve a site (the first site,on the area where the trial building was, was not approved).

So, a very interesting book and well written.  The book was offered for sale at one of our Commandery functions and a friend bought several and gave me one.

Thanks for your reviews kipt, they are always interesting.

I had heard vaguely of the Port Chicago disaster but I didn't know about the sheer level of destruction or the subsiquent court-martials.

I hope you are able to complete the memorial project in a suitable location.

What an amazing project to remember a terrible miscarriage of justice.