Flaming in the Red Dragon is a completely new academic perspective on British Army divisional history, which analyses the sustainment of 53 (Welsh) Infantry Division, in peace and war, throughout its cycle of inter-war development, mobilization, reorganization and training in UK, to combat operations in North-West Europe by examining and assessing the strengths, limitations, requirements, structures, preparation and operations of its People and Logistics, AQ in the terminology of the day. Flaming in the Red Dragon covers a fascinating spectrum of activity: the interactions of and demands upon, the 53 WID AQ Staff, divisional movement in the UK, the lessons of Exercise SPARTAN in 1943, preparing for Operation OVERLORD in 1944, Q artillery planning, the steady of toll of losses from accidents in training and combat, soldier and officer discipline, the influence of Luftwaffe air action upon AQ operations, handling of Prisoners of War, health & hygiene and care of the dead. Flaming in the Red Dragon assesses the many forgotten daily aspects of divisional life, including accommodation, battle-fatigue, entertainment, laundry, leave, mail, pay, spiritual support and welfare. Operationally it explains how war-fighting was supported through the provision of transport, ammunition, fuel, rations, water, spares, the recovery and replacement of equipment, the criticality of AQ planning and traffic control, and the integration of the complex Q support for armour and specialist vehicles. The story does not end with VE Day because AQ was deeply involved in post-war stabilization and occupation tasks in Germany, which posed not only significant but often demanding AQ challenges. AUTHOR: Clem Maginniss was born in Coventry and educated at Ratcliffe College Leicester and at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Modern European History and International Relations from the University of Warwick. He served for 40 years in the Regular Army, the Territorial Army and the Army Reserve, first in the Royal Corps of Transport and then the Royal Logistic Corps. A graduate of the Army Staff College Camberley, he has held a range of fascinating National, NATO and United Nations appointments involving mobilization planning, railway operations, medical logistics, combat engineer support, tank transporting, officer training, flood relief, infrastructure development, estate management, humanitarian assistance and the Foreign Office. He has written extensively for the British Army Review and the Royal Logistic Corps Review on logistic history, doctrine, operations and equipment but An Unappreciated Field of Endeavour is his first book. His interests are Great and Second World War military and naval logistics, underwater exploration, ship-wreck research, defence archaeology, railway heritage, keeping fit and a range of outdoor pursuits. He lives in Norfolk with his wife Edwina. 86 b/w photos, 25 colour photos
