The Big Battle Annual [1960]

[1959] Annual. Original price 9/6.
96 pages. Full colour contents.
World Distributors (Manchester) Limited.

Stories of Action, Valour and Daring

Cover painting by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Contents:

 2 UNTITLED endpaper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

 4 Indicia photograph by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

 5 Contents

 6 The German Helmet text story by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

11 The British Infantry Section and the Weapons Used feature by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

12 Desperate Decisions w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

19 Small Support Weapons of World War II feature by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

20 The Fighting Men text story by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

26 V.C.'s of World War II text feature by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

27 Tell Us Phantom w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

35 Famous Cap Badges feature by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

37 The Night of the Long Knives text story by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

45 Tanks of World War II feature by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

47 They Called Him Big-Head w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

56 Colourful Generals of World War II text feature by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

62 The Pilot from the C.I.D. text story by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

72 Breakout at Dawn w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

83 Who Dares Wins... The Story of the Special Air Service text feature by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

85 The Day the Tommies Came text story by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

93 V.C.'s of World War II cont.

94 UNTITLED endpaper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Although the page-count isn't excessive, this is a heavy annual - in weight, as well as content. It is also very attractive. Not, you understand, a pretty annual, but quite the polished piece of work nonetheless. Anticipating Battle Picture Weekly, Warlord, Victor, and similar titles, it offers a nice variety of fiction and non-fiction, prose and strip material, and does all this with a dash of style.

1942. Truck and jeep borne patrols of the long range desert group ranged far across the wastes of the western desert, striking terror in the rear of the enemy lines. Car and aircraft parks were attacked, petrol dumps set on fire, ammunition dumps blown up, roads mined and trucks ambushed.

Privates Tod Sloane and Ron Blake of the special patrol, B Squadron, L.R.D.G. were both fighting for promotion until a desperate action brought their rivalry to a climax.

The first strip is the kind of thing which could have appeared in any military title, with no distinguishing style to mark out the story. There are, however, a number of minor its of dialogue which makes me think that someone with experience in the armed forces was behind the script.

Instituted by Queen Victoria in 1856, the Victoria Cross is the supreme British award for gallantry in the field of battle.

• Captain B.A.W. Warburton Lee, R.N.
• Second Lieutenant Richard Wallace Annand
• Flight-Lieutenant D.J. Nicholson, R.A.F.
• Corporal J.H. Edmondson, Australian Military Forces
• Second Lieutenant Premindra Singh Bagat, Corps of Indian Engineers
• Second Lieutenant C.H. Upham, N.Z. Military Forces
• Flying-Officer L.A. Trigg, D.F.C., R.N.Z.A.F.
• Lieutenant-Colonel C.C.I. Merritt
• Second Lieutenant K. Ngarimu, N.Z. Military Forces
• Subadar Lalbahadur Thapa, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles
• Lieutenant-Commander Wanklyn, D.S.O., R.N.

Although the selected V.C. winners are given brief biographies, they don't manage to truly capture the tremendous acts of bravery for which the individuals were honoured. It would have been better to source photographs (where possible) and reprint the Times notices. With so many great stories, it is a wonder that more wasn't made of the real-life material.

Up to the minute battle information, vital to the Allied cause, was collected by Phantom, code name for the General Headquarters liason signal regiment. Highly specialised mobile groups of men, expert in signals and reporting battle conditions, scouted between the gaps in the advancing Allied armies, moving like phantoms even behind the enemy lines. They had access to each and every H.Q., gathering top secret information and advising battle commanders on future tactics.

March, 1945. The Germans were still fighting fanatically for the Rhineland. Tension mounted as the British 90th Infantry Division prepared to attackthe key centre of Delfhausen across the River Molde. Phantom signal officer Lieutenant Harvey Wilson called on one of the Brigade Headquarters.

While somewhat stereotypical in its depiction of green officers being dismissive of specialised officers from lower ranks, the story folds out with a remarkable sense of combat conditions. The colouring is abysmal, and there are a few panels which lack backgrounds, both of which are my bête noires, but the wonderful manner in which things conclude make me look upon the strip with more affection than I normally would.

Burma, 1944. The Japanese Colonel Tanahashi struck against the British advance guard in the Kaladan Valley, scattering the British troops and laying bare their flank...

Cut off, a small British patrol fought its way back out of the trap with its leader, Lieutenant Rand, and his sergeant, 'Bighead' Colson, arguing all the way...

As much tension as personal conflicts can generate, there's simply too little room for They Called Him Big-Head to develop into something more than a passing moment in the midst of a battle. Despite that, these are interesting characters who have a wonderful story, and the lack of background to their bickering could have presented an interesting look at life in the centre of the conflict - that we don't get to see how things got to the stage where the story begins is a frustrating omission created by the necessity to wrap things up in a timely manner. A more luxurious pacing is sorely needed in tales such as this.

December, 1941. After a siege lasting 242 days, the heroic defenders of Tobruk had been relieved. In June, 1942, Rommel's troops again surrounded the fortress, but this time the defence by Imperial troops was to collapse in a matter of a few days.

News that Tobruk was being surrendered came to Corporal Caswell and the survivors of his section. When they were fully engaged with the enemy in a place called Kings Cross.

I want Breakout at Dawn to be true. There's no reason, mind you, that this tale has any relation to history, but it is such a great little narrative that it manages to draw attention away from the poor colouring completely.

A history of the SAS, no matter how concise, is going to have gaps, and, with barely a page and a half in which to lay out the background, the feature on its formation is riddled with tantalising hints of a greater narrative lurking under the surface. Events are rushed through, with no room to explain the source of some of the techniques, or tell the circumstances of how certain key aspects of the group was arrived at. There are fantastic books about the subject which struggle to find room for the great stories, and this is merely a taster.

This is not, despite what you may believe, a poor showing.

Yes, there is a sense of things being rushed through, and the lack of detail takes some of the sheen away, but there are still enough carefully-honed lines which have the ring of authenticity, and some of the art is truly breathtaking. That it wasn't followed by a series of annuals is a shame. It has the ring of being a Battle Picture Weekly try-out, with features on tanks and badges - pages peppered with images which are cleaner and clearer than similar features a decade later.

A fascinating little chunk of history.