Featured battle : Magdeburg

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 05 May 1809

The tiny Prussian force was commanded by Major von Schill. He had refused to accept French domination of Prussia and led a Friekorps of around 1,000 men. This action against a much larger French force captured three ammunition waggons.

Eyewitness at Dieppe

Ross Reyburn
Wallace Reyburn was a truly exceptional war correspondent the only one who went ashore during the ill-fated Dieppe raid 1942. He wrote of his experiences in ‘Rehearsal for Invasion’ a war time best seller. This book, written by his son Ross, has three parts. Part one, A Fortunate Survivor, Ross introduces his father to the reader and places the Dieppe raid in its context. Part two, Rehearsal for Invasion, is Wallace Reyburn’s account of his involvement in the landing. He doesn’t shy away from the brutality of close-quarter combat and records the bravery of the Canadian troops fighting against better armed more numerous Germans. Part three, The Appendices, give a flavour of the times and how the book was received.
The adventure is ‘Boys Own’ stuff, beautifully written, absorbing yet gritty in parts. The whole rings true and we highly recommend it as a very good read.

Pen & Sword History, 2022