A01=Linda Nissen Samuels
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Author_Linda Nissen Samuels
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Battle of Britain
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=BGH
Category=BGT
Category=DNBH
Category=DNBT
COP=United Kingdom
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dieppe raid
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jewish hero
Language_English
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Price_€10 to €20
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Royal Air Force
softlaunch
suicide mission
Product details
- ISBN 9781908291844
- Publication Date: 20 May 2022
- Publisher: Chiselbury Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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This biography of Jack Maurice Nissenthall, written by his daughter, Linda Nissen Samuels, draws heavily on Jack’s own writings: The Wizard War, an unpublished autobiographical account of his part in the development of radar before and during WW2 and its impact on the eventual outcome, and original letters and photos. Through them, we hear this Unsung War Hero telling his own story in his own words.
At the heart of Jack’s story is the written order that he accepted, as the anonymous “RDF (Range and Direction Finding, an early term for radar) expert” - that he was to be “adequately protected” by bodyguards from the South Saskatchewan Regiment because “under no circumstances” was he to be allowed to fall into enemy hands. Effectively, this meant that ten Canadian soldiers specifically tasked to assist him, were also, in Jack’s own words, “a sort of negative safeguard”, “my execution squad”. That he was not captured and did indeed survive was due partly to his physical fitness and the “cheerful and resourceful courage that shows in this book.” (From the Foreword to Jack’s own manuscript- written by Prof R. V. Jones, Britain’s Assistant Director of Air Intelligence in World War II.)
This present book answers the question: what made him do it?
It also recounts many episodes which demonstrate how Jack’s whole life exemplifies dictionary definitions of a hero – as a person of high moral integrity, resourceful, passionate and patient, energetic, courageous, confident and caring who willingly takes risks and makes sacrifices for others. But Jack is not a common-or-garden, rough, tough hero. You’ll be charmed to read how, as a love-struck twenty-something, he wears his heart on his sleeve, writing to his girlfriend Dally about their first kiss.
Why is it then, that this exceptional person was undervalued and overlooked by the powers-that-be at the end of World War II? And why was he not decorated for bravery? Indeed, an article proposes that he is “The VC that never was.”
This book gives an insight into why, nearly eighty years later, Jack Nissenthall’s extraordinary war service is still largely unknown and unsung (except in Canada), and why there are still so many unanswered questions about it.
But in the end, readers will surely acknowledge this hero’s modest and cheerful embodiment of integrity - and want to sing his well-deserved praises.
She was born and educated in South Africa. An award-winning short-story writer, she has also published several children’s books on climate change which have been endorsed by Sir David Attenborough and Dr Sylvia Earle (director of Mission Blue USA), Nissen Samuels is uniquely qualified to write this book, having known Jack for half a century! The author lives with her husband in London and is an artist and teacher.
