Hi, and welcome to my page.
I thought I would make my first blog entry a short overview of my thoughts on the releases by Belgian historian and author, Michel De Trez, as I intend to post book reviews as and when I get the chance to, hopefully at least monthly.
I thought I'd start with MDT's books because, for me, they're relatively easy to summarise and review. For anyone with a love for the US Airborne in WWII these books have become like bibles to two distinct groups. The first is reenactors. At 17 I started reenacting, and it happened to coincide roughly around the time the first of MDT's books began appearing, which was the 60th anniversary of D-Day in 2004.
Although my love for history started as a child, my real passion for the Airborne Forces came as a result of the release of Band of Brothers, and I started to collect Airborne gear at that stage. It seemed to me at the time that moving into reenacting was the logical thing to do, but before doing so I visited Normandy with my father and my cousin and made straight for MDT's temporary exhibit on the outskirts of Sainte Mere Eglise. This exhibit displayed original Airborne items connected to MDT's "The Way We Were" book series, which were short biographical releases that focused on three members of the 82nd Airborne Division, and one from the 101st. To this day, some 18 years later, I still love flicking through these books. 17 years of age at the time, I had very little to spend on that trip, but what I did have went on MDT's books. Here's why: As a wannabe reenactor, these books represented potentially the best source of information not only on what these men wore, but how, and for me, that is a key part of it all. There are plenty of books that outline, in precise detail, the equipment and uniforms typically issued to Paratroopers but seldom do they give the reader a sense of how it was all worn, why, and what modifications they may have made to the item itself or how it was used. MDT's books do just that, and what's best about it is that the uniforms and equipment you are looking at are the real thing, worn by the guys the books are about, which correlate directly with the wartime photographs in each book.
I remain to this day a stickler when it comes to getting reenactment right. You have a duty to the men or women you're representing to do it as well as you can, and many fall short. I won't go into all of that now, but what erks me, in particular, is the fact that books like those released by MDT make it easy for people to get it right. Take your time reading and studying what are in his books and you can't go wrong.
That same year MDT released his book focused on the events around Sainte Mere Eglise on D-Day and the days that followed. Unlike the others, this book was more heavily weighted on the original wartime photographs, with a smaller section focused on original artifacts found at the back. As my love for the 82nd Airborne Division grew (I lived in Leicestershire, where the 82nd had been camped prior to D-Day and Operation MARKET GARDEN), books like this became like gold-dust to me, and if you could see the condition of my copy now you'd see that it has been well used. This brings me on to the second group that find MDT's books a great resource, which is where I consider myself now. Historians.
MDT has sourced most of his original photographs directly from veterans or their families. A huge percentage show men that are positively ID'd or have been meticulously researched. The photographs contain pictures of men not seen elsewhere, and pictures of their battlefields that may previously have been unpublished. It’s super helpful for historians to pinpoint positions, work out where command posts were, and put faces to names.
In the years since MDT has gone on to release books about the Screaming Eagle’s fight for Carentan, both the 82nd and 101st in Holland, as well as a book that now stands as a bit of a collector's item about the 1st Airborne Task Force in Operation DRAGOON.
Aside from the content, the books are excellently presented in both English and French. I consider them an investment, as the print quality is excellent and they look good on the book shelf. What’s more, with many now out of print, their value has increased significantly over the years so it stands to reason that buying an MDT book whenever the chance arises is a good idea.
MDT also has a number of museums across Europe, with perhaps the most popular being at the former 101st Airborne Division battlefield at “Dead man's corner”, south of Sainte-Come-Du-Mont in Normandy. His unrivaled collection of Airborne items is a must-see, and those of his books still in print can be purchased there. If you’re a fan of the US Airborne, MDT’s books are an absolute must.
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