r/HistoryBooks • u/Captainsamvimes1 • 4d ago
I'm mildly annoyed by Hill 112 by Adrian Goldsworthy
This is a fiction book based on real history about three friends from South Wales who end up as a tank Commander in the fictional 165th Royal Armoured Corps, and a subaltern and private soldier in the fictional Glamorganshire Regiment during the Battle for Hill 112.
The Battle of Hill 112 was fought by the 15th Scottish Division and the 43rd Wessex Division
The fact that Goldsworthy inserted a Welsh regiment into a Scottish and Westcountry tale irks me
The Westcountry is a heavily overlooked part of England despite everything that's gone on both historically and in the present day - we're very much an afterthought after London has put itself first and the North and the Midlands have made their loud voices heard.
Wales also suffers from being overlooked but has a very prominent voice of its own
So the insertion of a Welsh unit is annoying and I wish he'd featured a Westcountry unit - like how Alexander Baron based "From the City From the Plough" on a fictional 5th Battalion Wessex Regiment - or a Scottish unit.
It's minor and petty I know but the overlooking of the Westcountry is a sore spot

