Tank Action

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Tank Action

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SKU: 9781474603270
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A gripping account of World War Two, from the perspective of a young tank commander.

In 1944 the average life expectancy of a newly commissioned tank troop officer in Normandy was estimated as being less than two weeks. David Render was a nineteen-year-old second lieutenant fresh from Sandhurst when he was sent to France to join a veteran armoured unit that had already spent years fighting with the Desert Rats in North Africa. Joining the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry five days after the D-Day landings, the combat-hardened men he was sent to command did not expect him to last long. However, in the following weeks of ferocious fighting in Normandy, in which more than 90 per cent of his fellow tank commanders became casualties, his ability to emerge unscathed from countless combat engagements defied expectations and earned him his squadron’s nickname of the ‘Inevitable Mr Render’.

In Tank Action David Render tells his remarkable story, spanning every major episode of the last year of the Second World War in Western Europe, from the invasion of Normandy to the fall of Germany. Ultimately it is a story of survival, comradeship and the ability to stand up and be counted as a leader in combat.

David Render was a Second World War tank troop commander who participated in the D-Day landing and the entirety of the subsequent fighting in the Allies campaign to liberate Europe in 1944 and 1945. After the war, he went on to become a highly successful businessman and national champion racing-car driver.

Stuart Tootal spent twenty years as a soldier, serving in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. In 2006 he commanded 3 PARA as the first UK combat unit to be sent to Helmand province in Afghanistan. A champion of veterans’ affairs, on leaving the Army he set up the Parachute Regiment Afghanistan Trust charity and now works in the City of London. A defence and security commentator for several national media networks, he also regularly lectures on leadership in the commercial environment. Tank Action is his third book.
‘Extraordinary youth, unbelievable bravery and humbling heroism: David Render and his crew are the real deal. His book with Stuart Tootal more than delivers’—Damien Lewis, bestselling author of Zero Six Bravo and Operation Mayhem‘[A] remarkable and gripping tale of heroism’—John Ash, BRITAIN AT WAR‘During the invasion of Normandy in 1944, the life expectancy of a junior British officer in a tank regiment was two weeks. Courtesy of luck, 100 cigarettes a day and some quickly acquired nous, 19-year-old Second Lieutenant David Render survived the killing fields of France. His comrades dubbed him “the inevitable Mr Render” and this is a fine and honest memoir of a young man at war. Render ducks neither the thrill of leading an M4 Sherman into battle nor the carnage its 75mm gun delivered. He is now 92. To you sir, a salute’—John Lewis-Stempel, EXPRESS‘Render’s book is particularly good at explaining the tactics of tank warfare . . . His first-hand account of his experiences – brilliantly written with Stuart Tootal – is not only wonderfully informative on the nitty-gritty of a key element of the Allied victory, but as gripping as the very best war fiction’—John Harding, DAILY MAIL‘An incredible memoir’—FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE

Additional information

Dimensions 1 × 6 × 9.25 in
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ISBN-10

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Audience

BISAC

Subjects

HIS027100