Off At Last, by Robert Sigmond (Hardback with Dust Jacket)

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Off At Last, by Robert Sigmond (Hardback with Dust Jacket)

Details Specifications

Book published privately by the author in 1997, 221 pages. Hardback with Dust Jacket - c.21.5cm by 28cm. (A1WWSO)

From the rear side cover: 'Off at Last' tells the story of the 7th (Galloway) Battalion The King's Own Scottish Borderers in the Second World War. Duplicated from the 5th Battalion K.O.S.B. it served mainly in a coastal defence role and later it was part of the Orkney and Shetland defences. At the end of 1943 the Battalion became airborne and as soon as the 1st British Airborne Division returned from the Mediterranean it was to join this Division and to become part of the 1st Airlanding Brigade. This Brigade was formed together with the 1st Battalion The Border Regiment and the 2nd Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment. Then, at long last, the Battalion took part in those nine days of bitter fighting at Oosterbeek in Holland. Not even 10% of those who were flown in by glider returned to Allied lines and 120 Borderers lost their lives. Early 1945 a 'new' 7th Battalion was formed which was sent to Norway in May as a liberation force. In November 1945 the Battalion was disbanded and never formed again.

The book is illustrated throughout with lots of black and white photographs, and most of the book is concerned with the role of the battalion at Arnhem. Chapters include:

The Regiment
1939 the Making of the 7th Battalion
1940 From the Borders to defence in the south
1941 Guarding the South East approaches by the seaside
1942 Back to the hills in Northumbria
1943 Up to OSDEF (Orkney and Shetland Defences)
1944 Into the Air
1945 Operation Market - including off at last, Ginkel Heath, Johannahoeve, Oosterbeek 1st 2nd and 3rd positions, and the end.
Oosterbeek Aftermath - including Pegasus I, Pegasus II, The Brummen shooting incident, and with the Dutch Resistance
Prisoners of War
Rebuilding the Battalion
1945 Norway
The Arnhem Film Unit
Disbandment of the 7th Battalion

The condition of the book is generally good. The dust jacket has several minor scuffs and blemishes, and light nibbling, creasing and wear along the edges and corners (including a 1cm tear along the top of the outside spine), but the spine is intact and all pages are clean, intact, unblemished and tightly bound.