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Giles Milton QUOTES

Giles Milton QUOTES

21 " a most Gallant Company of Gentleman Adventurers’.32 "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

22 " Not many weapons could relieve a man of his underwear. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

23 " On 10 March, ten days after the attack, Gubbins received the sweetest news of all. He received a message from another agent at the plant, describing the visit to Norsk Hydro of General von Falkenhorst, the commander of the occupying German forces in Norway. ‘At the sight of the ruined plant, he smiled and said: “This is the most splendid coup I have seen in this war.”’42 A consummate professional, he admired the saboteurs’ work and conceded that they had pulled off a dazzling act of destruction. Once he had inspected the damage, he ordered the release of all the Norwegian civilians who had been rounded up. He then issued a second order: that all the German sentries on duty that night were to be arrested. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

24 " If you wanted to win – and win at all costs – there was no place for gentlemanly behaviour. Guns, gas or grenades; you should be prepared to get your hands dirty. ‘A spiked mace smashed in the face,’ he reasoned, ‘is probably quite as "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

25 " the whole art of guerrilla warfare lies in striking the enemy where he least expects it and yet where he is most vulnerable "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

26 " The Art of Guerrilla Warfare and The Partisan Leaders’ Handbook. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

27 " The W-Bomb was to be the first weapon of war that could both sink a ship and cure a hangover. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

28 " Prior to the arrival of both the president and prime minister, listening devices and directional microphones had been concealed in the principal rooms of both the Villa Vorontsov and the Livadia Palace. Members of the British Military Mission in Moscow—all too familiar with eavesdropping—recommended discussing sensitive issues in the bathrooms, with the taps gushing water to drown out their conversations. "

― Giles Milton , Checkmate in Berlin: The Cold War Showdown That Shaped the Modern World

29 " We really believed in our hearts that this was the dawn of the new day we had all been praying for and talking about for so many years. We were absolutely certain that we had won the first great victory of the peace—and, by ‘we,’ I mean all of us, the whole civilized human race. "

― Giles Milton , Checkmate in Berlin: The Cold War Showdown That Shaped the Modern World

30 " As radioman Rudolf-Günter Wagner broadcast the news to the crowds of newly liberated Berliners, his words were drowned out by joyous whoops and shrieks. “Hurrah!” they shouted. “Wir leben Noch!” (We’re still alive!). Berliner Manfred Knopf had lived through four years of uncertainty. Now he felt a sense of victory. “We belonged to the Western world! "

― Giles Milton , Checkmate in Berlin: The Cold War Showdown That Shaped the Modern World

31 " There was a flash, a roar and, for Hayes at least, an unwelcome surprise. The force of the blast lifted him clean off the deck and hurled him into the water, from which he emerged, concussed and bedraggled, minus his pipe, shorts and pants. March-Phillipps’s men were astonished by the spigot’s power. Not many weapons could relieve a man of his underwear. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

32 " These new recruits found that life at the Firs was never dull. Bombs exploded unexpectedly, sheds caught fire and, on one memorable occasion, an entire corner of the building ‘containing some lethal liquid’ blew up in a spectacular explosion. It was hastily repaired, before the owner of the property, Major Abrahams, got to hear about it. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

33 " Fleming had good reason for acquiring the longbows. He intended to teach his men to use them ‘to hurl incendiary charges into German petrol dumps’.30 Without fuel, Hitler’s tanks and jeeps would be trapped inside their beachhead. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

34 " Pollock delighted in underhand work – it was not so different from being a lawyer "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

35 " Colonel Ludwig Krug, telephoned his commander, General Wilhelm Richter. ‘Herr General,’ he said, ‘the enemy are on top of my bunker. They are demanding my surrender. I have no means of resisting and no contact with my own men. What am I to do?’ There was a long pause down the line. General Richter had received nothing but bad news all day. ‘Herr Oberst,’ he replied, ‘I can no longer give you any orders. You must act on your own judgment. Auf Wiedersehen. "

― Giles Milton , Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die: How the Allies Won on D-Day

36 " Senior figures in the War Office and Admiralty decided that sinking German ships would be more cost-effective than building British ones. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

37 " All his men were crack shots, but Fairbairn himself favoured close-range physical combat over the bullet. ‘His system is a combination of ferocious blows, holds and throws, adapted from Japanese bayonet tactics, ju-jitsu, Chinese boxing, Sikh wrestling, French wrestling and Cornish collar-and-elbow wrestling, plus expert knowledge of hip-shooting, knife fighting and use of the Tommy gun and hand grenade. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

38 " This, like all the other British communiqués, was completely untrue. After two years of war, the British government and its servants were finally learning to behave like cads. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

39 " Das Reich’s journey to Normandy should have taken no more than seventy-two hours. Instead, it took seventeen days for the main body to arrive, and it was even longer before the last of the vehicles reached the battlefield. By the time General Lammerding’s men and tanks were ready for action, it was too late. The Allied beachhead was secure. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

40 " We created an establishment which contributed more to the war effort than any other weapons design department,’ said Macrae. But it was an establishment so ungentlemanly in its outlook that it was to be for ever erased from history. "

― Giles Milton , Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat