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Rickshaws, Camels and Taxis: (Rogues, Ruffians and Officers of the Royal Corps of Transport)
£5.70
Most books written about the British Army contain stories about the Infantry, Royal Artillery, Army Air Corps and/or its Armoured Regiments. They generally tell stories of how brave the protagonists within each Regiment were and how their actions usually changed the course of each battle or firefight. Great reading for most schoolboys and aspiring 2nd Lieutenants and of course these stories are deservingly told in vast volumes of books. But stories of who actually supported these Regiments and got them to the right place with the right equipment is rarely told, probably because stories of the supporting Corps and their soldiers are deemed to be too routine and dull for anyone to read. But If it wasn’t for these so called REMF’s (Rear Echelon Mother F*****’s) then Britain’s fighting forces would be about as much use as a Regiment of traffic wardens. They might look good in uniform but when it comes to defeating the enemy they can’t do it without vast amounts of fuel, ammunition, rations, communications, medical support etc. Books written by Corps Officers don’t help in portraying the ‘Rear Echelon Troops’ with a more exciting vision either, they’re usually written with quotes like, ‘If the strategic role of the blah blah blah was militarily blah blah blah and 17 Corps was in the vanguard blah blah bleeding blah. The small amount of reading materiel written by Corps officers rarely tells the stories of the soldiers serving under them, but they will tell you about when this Corps or that Division did something or other quite tedious and impersonal. ‘Rickshaws, Camels and Taxis’ (Rogues, Ruffians and Officers of the Royal Corps of Transport) will hopefully go some-way towards disproving the myth that its soldiers and officers are uninteresting and not noteworthy. The interviewees in this book have great stories to tell about how they dominated army boxing in the 1970’s, how some of them coped with prison sentences at the Military Correction Training Centre (MCTC) in Colchester, about being ambushed whilst on a Combat Logistics patrol in Iraq and what happened when one of the Corps’ Staff Sergeants had a loaded pistol shoved in his face in Belfast. The contents of this book doesn’t tell the reader about Britain’s amazing fighting Regiments who have defeated an enemy force to protect our green and pleasant land, it quite simply tells the story of some amazing, and sometimes fighting, soldiers of the Royal Corps of Transport (RCT). All soldiers from every Corps and Regiment of the British Army have foible’s and that includes these eleven, but these men would definitely be the sort of soldier you’d want standing at your shoulder ‘when it all kicked off’. Harry Clacy
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Additional information
| Publisher | 1st edition (25 Aug. 2014), CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 270 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1500954896 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1500954895 |
| Dimensions | 12.7 x 1.45 x 20.29 cm |
by LARRY
A good read about army life in 10 regt . Funny the things we got up to in catterick Bks back in the 70,s and 80,s . And also a few sad stories which was part of army life .
by Liz
Read in two days very good as an ex Ta member from NI we worked closely with some of the people mentioned thanks for a good read .Note 152 regt RCT not 150 is Ulster Regt and still active.
by Amazon Customer
Once again Harry Clacy has written a very amusing book.
These are all true stories explaining the very best of our forces.
I have a few of his books and they never fail to brighten up my day.
by steve drew
Great Book!! i’ve read this Twice now! Harry gives a good short insight into the Corps History at the start, & proceeds to tell the Biography of Eleven Soldiers who Served in The Royal Corps Of Transport. Taking the Reader to all operations & locations where they have served. A Must Read!!
by Mr K R Bunce
I served in the RCT from 1975 till we re badged as RLC in April 1993 it was a Corps I was extremely proud to be a member of.
A most excellent read, it brought back memories of my time in the Corps and updated me on the exploits of some that I knew.
This book will appeal to military people and people who aspire to want to know what it is really like. The best £3 odd I have spent in ages.
by jason
Great book very well written! Real live soldiering
by Alan McNamara
This was a GREAT read. I thank the author for telling the story of our Corps because we always hear about the frontline troops but never those who supply them. This book told that story and of our Corps very own heroes. Thank you Mr Clacy
by Mr. David Walker
Whilst most military books concentrate on a single character, event or time period Harry has written this book so that it leads the reader through an uncomplicated and understandable historical regimental journey without bogging the reader down with to many dates, times and military jargon.
Harry goes on to give a brief history of eleven RCT veterans, with each character taking the reader on a very different trip through one of the largest corps in the british army. With jail breaks, fighting, sometimes too much drinking and pockets full of pride each story has a feel that any ex military reader will easily identify with. Each chapter ends in a very “band of brothers” style of “where are they now” that adds to that personal journey and teases the reader into the next chapter…
Once you pick this book up be prepared to not want to put it back down.