Call for Professional Reading Lists

[Kiwigrunt]

From a Kiwi perspective, our best contribution to the canon is probably Howard Kippenberger, Infantry Brigadier, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1949. "Kip" as he was/is affectionately known was once of our greatest commanders. A vet of WWI & II he rose to the rank of Major General until his command was tragically cut short when he lost both feet at Casino in '44. He went on to be a veterins advocate and official government historian. If you can get hold of a copy (unfortunately out of print) of Infantry Brigadier you'll get a no-BS account of the Kiwi way of war and leadership. A copy of my research into Kip is available from http://www.victoria.ac.nz/css/pages/...iscussion.aspx

I’ll definitely have to read your work on Kip. Read ‘Kippenberger, an inspired New Zealand commander’ by Glyn Harper a few years ago. He sure appears to have been a good leader with great potential, until he stomped on that mine. Anyone’s guess how Cassino might have worked out….

[EmmetM]

I’ll definitely have to read your work on Kip. Read ‘Kippenberger, an inspired New Zealand commander’ by Glyn Harper a few years ago. He sure appears to have been a good leader with great potential, until he stomped on that mine. Anyone’s guess how Cassino might have worked out….

Cheers! To round out the reading try Denis McLean's (former Secretary of Defence and NZ Ambassador to the U.S.) Howard Kippenberger: Doubtless Spirit, Random House, Auckland, 2008.

For all non-NZ readers, "Kip" had a lot to say about U.S. Army leaders during the Italian campaign. He was not an admirer of Gen. Mark Clark (who doesn't have a great rep in this part of the world). I think anyone trying to learn about coalition warfare (nobody can ever go it alone for long) should concentrate on learning what the junior parners thought. They might be the source of the 'home truths' only true friends can deliver.