116 Infantry Brigade Royal Marines, North West Europe 1945, by George Gelder

Published by the RM Historical Society, 192 pages. Slim Paperback (N8542WSO)

From the rear side cover: The story of 116 Brigade Royal Marines is the story of a unit that was never meant to exist in a role rarely given to  Marines, holding the line. Economic and military planners assumed the War against Germany would be over in 1944 whilst the Corps was preparing for the campaign against Japan and its post war Commando led existence. Higher than anticipated casualties in the Battle for Normandy and a stiffening of German resistance as fighting approached their own borders created an unprecedented manpower shortage for the Allies.

The River Maas was the flank that needed to be defended to enable the main push across the Rhine into Germany. Desperately short of men the Army turned to the Admiralty for support and so 116 Bde RM came into being.

With meticulous research in records dispersed across the UK and by interviews with the few remaining veterans, George Gelder has brought to life the story of these Blue Beret Marines who fought alongside their Commando and Army brethren in the final moments of the War. Their story goes beyond VE day, with small detachments of just five or six Marines being responsible for tens of thousands of German POWs, often with many still under arms. Those critical first weeks of peace in the North German ports could have been very different without the steady, calm determination of these Marines.

Condition of the book is generally very good. The covers have one or two very minor scuffs but are clean and bright, the spine is intact and all pages are clean, intact, unblemished and tightly bound.