Major Blunders of The Second World War: New Insights into Mistakes and their Consequences

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Andrew Sangster

Major Blunders of The Second World War

New Insights into Mistakes and their Consequences

Andrew Sangster

$34.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

BIG SKY PUBLISHING
04 June 2025

History; Espionage & secret services; Land forces & warfare; Naval forces & warfare; War & defence operations

A mistake is an error of judgement, a blunder is a mistake caused by carelessness or ignorance, implying incompetence. Blunders are not always the result of incompetence; a chess player may give a critical piece away being distracted by noise, but in war it results in death with serious repercussions. This book explores such errors during the Second World War, some hardly known, a few contentious, many embarrassing.

An American destroyer which fired a live torpedo at a battleship carrying Roosevelt, an American officer who unintentionally passed British information to Rommel, and a German plane crash-landing in neutral territory with plans for invasion are some little-known incidents. Overconfidence resulted in a Luftwaffe raid hitting exposed American gas shells killing Italian civilians, British and American military. Self-assurance led to an American general who lost men and tanks failing to rescue his son-in-law from a PoW camp. Inadequate planning brought disaster in the raid on Dieppe. Poor tactics deployed in the bombing of Monte Cassino was bad propaganda for the Allies but assisted the German defence.

There are some issues which remain disputed, as with the British sinking the French Fleet, but whether it was a blunder remains questionable.

By: Andrew Sangster
Imprint: BIG SKY PUBLISHING
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 5,842mm, Width: 3,886mm,
ISBN: 9781923300569
ISBN 10: 1923300563
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 04 June 2025
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Andrew Sangster has six degrees, in Law and Theology and four in history including his doctorate. An ordained priest, he has trespassed away from the Church to teaching and the study of history. He has taught in grammar schools and at Eton College, was a headmaster for some nine years and has assisted post-graduate students of history. He has more than twenty published history books both in the United Kingdom and overseas with some co-authored with Pier Paolo Battistelli, the well-known Italian historian. When not called for Church duties he studies the lesser-known aspects of modern history and plays chess for relaxation.