The Vickers MG Collection and Research Association in the UK are re-publishing the memoirs of a CANLOAN Officer to the Middlesex Regiment during the Second World War. You can watch this introductory video here: https://youtu.be/8VkZdzS_aX4.
The book is a new edition of A CANLOAN Officer by Rex Fendick. Rex was a lieutenant in the Middlesex Regiment from June 1944 until the end of the Second World War, with a little time in Germany as part of the British Army on the Rhine. This is, as far as we’re aware, the only machine gunner memoir of the Second World War from a platoon commander. For extra interest, Rex wasn’t British: he was a CANLOAN – a Canadian officer on loan service to the British Army for the duration of the War because of the shortages of infantry officers that the British Army had in this period.
The insights in this book are not just about machine gunnery, but about leadership, comradeship and the essence of being in combat in North-West Europe during this period. For those who want a general read, it will satisfy them. For those who want to learn about machine gunnery and how the Vickers machine gun was used, it provides all the detail, including a technical appendix demonstrating how complex it really was!
The cost is £28, and orders can be made here: https://vickersmg.blog/product/a-canloa ... xkQAk42GJs.