
St. Valery
The Impossible Odds
Bill Innes(Editor)
Birlinn Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 4. October 2004
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-84341-019-5 (ISBN)
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Description
The gallant rearguard action which led to the capture of the 51st Highland Division at St Valery-en-Caux (two weeks after the famous evacuation of the main British army from Dunkirk) may have burned itself into the consciousness of an older generation of Scots but has never been given the wider recognition it deserves. This new book re-examines that fateful chain of events in 1940 and reassesses some of the myths that have grown up in the intervening years. Two of the main contributors to this collection of soldiers' reminiscences, Angus Campbell from Lewis and Donald John MacDonald from South Uist, were both traditional Gaelic bards. Their work has been translated from their native language and reflects both the richness of the vocabulary they had acquired through the Gaelic oral tradition and their individual gifts as natural story-tellers born out of that tradition.
These vivid accounts bring alive the chaos and horror of war and the grim deprivation of the camps and forced marches which so many endured. Yet the personal stories also resound with the spirit, humour and sense of comradeship which enabled men to fight on in desperate situations and refuse to be cowed by their captors.
These vivid accounts bring alive the chaos and horror of war and the grim deprivation of the camps and forced marches which so many endured. Yet the personal stories also resound with the spirit, humour and sense of comradeship which enabled men to fight on in desperate situations and refuse to be cowed by their captors.
Reviews / Votes
'A wonderful memorial to those who did not return' -- Saul David * BBC History Magazine * 'Bill Innes's work and the stories his protagonists have to tell are remarkable, both in their content and in their sheer quality of writing' * Nairn Telegraph *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Birlinn General
Illustrations
24 Plates, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
501 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84341-019-5 (9781843410195)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions

Book
02/2007
2nd Edition
Birlinn Ltd
€32.37
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
Bill Innes was born in Kinlochleven, brought up on Uist and studied at Glasgow University. He was an airline pilot for forty years before becoming a well-known presenter and reporter on Gaelic radio and TV. He edited the much acclaimed edition of Donald John MacDonald's poetry Chi Mi, which won the 1999 An Comunn Gaidhealach Mod Award for best book.