Robert Widders is one of the very few men to have served in all three branches of the armed services: the Royal Navy, the Army, and the RAF. A Few Deeds Short of a Hero tracks his life from childhood through naval service in the NATO rapid response Atlantic Squadron during the cold war, through Army military manoeuvres in Germany and active service in No4 RAF War Hospital during the Gulf War.Through his life-long service and brief period AWOL, for which he served military imprisonment, he paints a colourful picture of both the boredom and tragedy of war interspersed with the shenanigans of a young man sliding towards alcoholism, and a penchant for feats of physical endurance including running the Bahrain ultra-marathon and expeditions to both the Sahara and Mount Everest base camp. Robert Widders has emerged on the other side of conflict and a life shaped by the military as a balanced individual and has achieved success as an historian and a teacher. Reviews:"Graphically charts the highs and lows, boredom and excitement, camaraderie and tragedy of military life."Liverpool Post"Wonderfully self-deprecating."Ryan Tubridy, the Tubridy Show, Radio 1 (Ireland)"Adventurous is an understatement when describing Robert Widders."University of Birmingham, Alumni News"A unique insight into the mind-set of the enlisted man."Ireland's Big Issuewww.robertwidders.co.uk

A Few Deeds Short of a Hero: A candid account of life in the Armed Forces from one of the few men alive to have served in all three branches.

Biographies & Memoirs

Widders, Robert

Leaders & Notable People

Independently published

Sister Mary Cooper died in a Japanese prison camp from the combined effects of starvation, brutality, and tropical diseases. Timothy Kenneally, and Patrick Fitzgerald tried to escape from a slave labour camp on the Burma Railway. They were were caught, tortured - crucified - and then executed on 27 March 1943. And Patrick Carberry spent the summer of 1943 cremating the emaciated corpses of his comrades, who had died from cholera. These people had two things in common: they were Irish citizens serving with the British armed forces; and they were amongst more than 650 Irish men and women who became prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Army in 1942. Nearly a quarter of them were murdered whilst in Japanese captivity - this is their story. Combining historical narrative with first-hand accounts of the conditions in Japanese POW camps, Robert Widders brings to light their suffering and the strength that saw them home again.

THE EMPEROR’S IRISH SLAVES: PRISONERS OF THE JAPANESE IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Historical

This meticulously researched book tells the story of the men who fought for freedom but were vilified after death. It tells the story of men like Joseph Mullally who died on D-Day, 6 June 1944, fighting with the British Army on the beaches of Normandy, a year before his court-martial. And Stephen McManus who'd already suffered torture and starvation whilst being worked to death in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Gerry O'Neill risked his life with the newly formed Irish Navy, rescuing wounded British soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk And Nicholas McNamara volunteered to serve with RAF Bomber Command knowing it meant almost certain death. The freedoms and democratic rights we enjoy today were earned by men like these, who fought, and sometimes died, on the home front and the battlefields of World War II. The deserters from the Irish Army, who joined the Allied struggle, faced the horrors of the bloodiest war in mankind's bloodstained history. Their stories are now told, in meticulous detail, in Spitting on a Soldier's Grave.

Spitting on a Soldier's Grave

History

Europe

Troubador Publishing Ltd

Sister Mary Cooper died in a Japanese prison camp on 26 June 1943, from the combined effects of starvation, brutality and tropical diseases. Timothy Kenneally and Patrick Fitzgerald tried to escape from a slave labour camp on the Burma Railway. They were caught, tortured - crucified - and then executed on 27 March 1943. And Patrick Carberry spent the summer of 1943 cremating the emaciated corpses of his comrades, who had died from cholera. These people had two things in common: they were Irish citizens serving with the British armed forces; and they were amongst more than 650 Irishmen and women who became prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Army in 1942. Nearly a quarter of them were murdered whilst in Japanese captivity - this is their story. Combining historical narrative with first-hand accounts of the conditions in Japanese PoW camps, Robert Widders brings to light their suffering and the strength that saw them home again.

The Emperor's Irish Slaves: Prisoners Of The Japanese During The Second World War

The History Press Ireland

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Widders, Robert. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Widders, Robert

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Widders, Robert. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Few Deeds Short of a Hero: A candid account of life in the Armed Forces from one of the few men alive to have served in all three branches.

THE EMPEROR’S IRISH SLAVES: PRISONERS OF THE JAPANESE IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Spitting on a Soldier's Grave

The Emperor's Irish Slaves: Prisoners Of The Japanese During The Second World War