Advice for dissertation on the Second World War?

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Oliver96
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Advice for dissertation on the Second World War?

#1

Post by Oliver96 » 19 Feb 2017, 20:17

Hello all! :)

I am a 2nd Year student studying Modern History at the University of Chichester.

My dissertation topic is on an aspect of Britain during the Second World War, and this will most likely be the military.

Could someone please offer any advice, both general and specifc to the subject matter, in writing a dissertation?

Also, guidance for relevant sources, especially primary ones, would be appreciated.

Further information can be provided if required.

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Re: Advice for dissertation on the Second World War?

#2

Post by Oliver96 » 21 Feb 2017, 22:20

I have decided that my dissertation will be on the 1st Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment in the Battle of Monte Cassino.

Ultimately, argued are specific points about how the contribution made by 1st Battalion there can be applied to the broader context that the Allies succeeded as a multinational coalition during the Italian campaign.

However, this is liable to change.

I'd be grateful for source suggestions and opinions? :)


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Der Alte Fritz
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Re: Advice for dissertation on the Second World War?

#3

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 22 Feb 2017, 21:09

Good luck with your dissertation project.
When choosing a topic you need to cast around for current trends in your given subject, in this case Modern History, both in terms of books, journals, presentations, etc. To be really effective, you then have to present a 'new' area of study or a new look on a particular subject. This is not as hard as it sounds as there are often many gaps in the current historiography or topics that have been ignored for a number of years that could do with a fresh perspective.

Current trends can be explored by looking at authors such as Adam Tooze, David Edgerton, Philip Hamlyn Williams, who are authors combining technology and warfare, economics and warfare and other acceptable subjects.

Remember that there is a strong tradition in British Universities that History Departments follow a Marxist or historical materialist historiography and therefore all study of War must be carried out in a social or economic framework. Hence the trend for endless histories of 'personal experience of war' studies and the relatively few academic studies of warfare. In order to study Military History you need to go to one of the very few centres that specialises in this, Kings College London Dept of War Studies, Sandhurst Military College, etc. Military Historians are about as welcome in most History Departments as Niall Fergusson!

Having had a quick look at your department Professors and Doctors interests (http://www.chi.ac.uk/department-history ... f-profiles) they are all standard Historians and I cannot see you getting a sympathetic reception to your planned subject topic. In this kind of environment you could do a subject such as British Army Wheeled Vehicles supply and link it with sufficient economic and social commentary (role of women in production, delivery and home front use,) to meet the requirements of the course. A pure Military History subject, unless you have a very sympathetic member of staff to support you is going to be a hard sell.

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Re: Advice for dissertation on the Second World War?

#4

Post by Oliver96 » 23 Feb 2017, 20:16

Thank you for the tips. :)

Fortunately, the two lecturers most associated have supported my thesis subject.

Do you know where I could find related sources, and/or forum members who might?

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Der Alte Fritz
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Re: Advice for dissertation on the Second World War?

#5

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 24 Feb 2017, 10:05

Before looking at sources, you need to define the subject of your research much more closely.
The contribution of a single battalion can be found at the Regimental museum and in the Official Histories and in any later published works either on the regiment, the battle in question or general written histories.

Addressing a wider question of a multi-national force, in Italy there were up to 26 countries fighting on the Allied side, I see nothing particularly unique in this, after all the British Empire had always fought with multi-national forces, the British Army was joined by Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Indians, Fijians, Jamaicans, Canadians, Chinese, etc. Of course in Italy they were joined by some less usual allies, the Jewish Brigade (now there is a broad subject see http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the ... gade-group) Poles (again a terrific story from prisoner of war camps in Siberia to the mountains of Italy in pursuit of a freedom that they never got,) French North Africans and many more.

If you want to explore the socio-economic make up of the army and its Allies then books like Raising Churchill's Army (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1 ... 0.10525561) would be a start. From supplying rations for a variety of different religions to special equipment and operating practices, the British Army had a long experience in running multi-national forces and you could trace this back to Clive's day.

Going a stage further (and as a Russo-German War historian, a technique I think is vital) is to make yours a comparative study, so comparing the British experience against that of the Americans or even the Germans. What did the British gain, other than manpower that the Americans did not. North African tribesmen proved to be experts in mountain warfare and feared by the Germans. Did the British Army gain from this experience?

Or you could take a historiography approach, looking at how battle and the multi-national force has been portrayed by historians, film-makers, writers, popular culture. The North Africans have recently been portrayed in film (https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2007/04/indi-a02.html) and their portrayal is bound up with the post war colonial events - how was it perceived at the time and in the present day?

The other approach is just to start reading and digging around with a vague idea in mind and see what you come up with!

So tell us exactly what it is that you want to explore and we can home down some sources for you.

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Re: Advice for dissertation on the Second World War?

#6

Post by BarKokhba » 24 Feb 2017, 13:44

Has anyone ever done a Doctoral Dissertaion on Axis History Forum, its roots, branches, topics, controversies, rules, moderators' roles, and posters' interests and contrabutions? There have been DDs on various elements and formats of the web, social media, internet research, e-commerce, scientidic e-forums and blogs, so why not AHF?

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Re: Advice for dissertation on the Second World War?

#7

Post by Sheldrake » 24 Feb 2017, 15:11

Oliver96 wrote:I have decided that my dissertation will be on the 1st Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment in the Battle of Monte Cassino.

Ultimately, argued are specific points about how the contribution made by 1st Battalion there can be applied to the broader context that the Allies succeeded as a multinational coalition during the Italian campaign.

However, this is liable to change.

I'd be grateful for source suggestions and opinions? :)
What angle are you going to take? What is your research hypothesis? Monte Cassino has been fairly exhaustively studied over the years. Is this a social study of the R Sussex or an excuse to examine their role in battle?

There are excellent memoirs of battlaions on the Cassino massif from officers in the Lancashire Fusiliers (Fred Madjdalaney: The Monestary) and the Cameron Highlanders (Peter Cochrane: Charlie Company) but I don't think I have seen anything comparable about the 1st Battalion Royal Sussex. It was a fine battalion and a modern study of a British battalion in an Indian Infantry brigade potentially fill a gap.

If you can, you MUST interview John Buckeridge. He commanded a forward platoon of 1 R Sussex on Snakehead ridge close to pt593 when the abbey was bombed. He contributed to Sussex War heroes according to this report which says he was living in Cuckfield in 2016. He may be still alive and sentient. http://www.midsussextimes.co.uk/lifesty ... -1-7209427 I have an audio copy of an interview with John Buckridge recorded on pt 593 on a 2002 battlefield study and would be happy to share this with you in the event that he is no longer able to give an interview.

Re sources;-

Visit the National Archives for the war diaries at unit and formation level.

Try the Nation al Army Museum and Imperial war museum archives for l;etters etc and sound recordings

Contact the archivist of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment. If yoyu send me a PM I will introduce you to their regimental secretary. A nice chap who is interested in Regimental history.

I assume that you have read the secondary sources on the campaign Peter Caddick Adams , John Ellis etc?

There is an interesting book called Hero or Coward by Elmer Dintner which uses Cassino as a case study on the pressures on men in combat.

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Re: Advice for dissertation on the Second World War?

#8

Post by Oliver96 » 24 Feb 2017, 20:51

Der Alte Fritz and Sheldrake, I am very thankful for your assistance. :)

My Research Proposal for the dissertation will eventually confirm the exact angle to be taken towards the topic, and I shall notify you accordingly.

Oliver96
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Re: Advice for dissertation on the Second World War?

#9

Post by Oliver96 » 24 Feb 2017, 21:01

Sheldrake wrote:If you can, you MUST interview John Buckeridge. He commanded a forward platoon of 1 R Sussex on Snakehead ridge close to pt593 when the abbey was bombed. He contributed to Sussex War heroes according to this report which says he was living in Cuckfield in 2016. He may be still alive and sentient. http://www.midsussextimes.co.uk/lifesty ... -1-7209427 I have an audio copy of an interview with John Buckridge recorded on pt 593 on a 2002 battlefield study and would be happy to share this with you in the event that he is no longer able to give an interview.
Please could you share the audio copy of that interview with John Buckridge, even without me having yet inquired about one, as it is highly beneficial nonetheless?

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