
Once a Hussar
A Memoir of Battle, Capture, and Escape in World War II
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Narrated by:
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Derek Perkins
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By:
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Ray Ellis
About this listen
Once a Hussar is a vivid account of the wartime experiences of Ray Ellis, a gunner who in later life recorded this well-written, candid, and perceptive memoir of the conflict he knew as a young man seventy years ago.
As an impressionable teenager, filled with national pride, he was eager to join the army and fight for his country. He enlisted in the South Notts Hussars at the beginning of the Second World War and started a journey that would take him through fierce fighting in the Western Desert, the deprivation suffered in an Italian prisoner-of-war camp and a daring escape to join the partisan forces in the Appenines.
His story is an honest and moving memoir that relays graphic eyewitness accounts of the horrors of warfare, but it also reveals the surprising triumphs of the human spirit in times of great hardship. Ellis's self-deprecating humor skillfully counters the harsh realities related in a personal recollection of a war that claimed so many young lives. Once a Hussar is a compelling and deftly told account of one soldier's life in the Second World War.
©2009, 2014 Ray Ellis (P)2014 Audible Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Prisoner of War Tale
- By Lynn on 03-20-11
By: Larry Colton
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Crack! and Thump: With a Combat Infantry Officer in World War II
- By: Charles Scheffel, Barry Basden
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Captain Charles Scheffel is one of 12 persons whose war experiences were featured in the History Channel production, WWII IN HD, a 10-hour color series narrated by Gary Sinise. CRACK! AND THUMP is Scheffel's chilling account of ground combat of a young company-grade officer who fought with the 9th Infantry Division in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. Scheffel vividly recalls the terror, mind-numbing fatigue, raw emotions, and horrific conditions fighting men endured to achieve victory in World War II.
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The horrible AI voice
- By Daniel on 04-08-25
By: Charles Scheffel, and others
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Alamo in the Ardennes
- The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: John Glouchevitch
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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At last, here is a book that tells the full story of the turning point in World War II's Battle of the Bulge - the story of five crucial days in which small groups of American soldiers, some outnumbered 10 to 1, slowed the German advance and allowed the Belgian town of Bastogne to be reinforced. Alamo in the Ardennes provides a compelling, day-by-day account of this pivotal moment in America's greatest war.
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hard to listen to this great story
- By Justine Reis on 07-20-18
By: John C. McManus
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The Dead and Those About to Die
- D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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A white-knuckle account of the First Infantry Division’s harrowing D-Day assault on the eastern sector of Omaha Beach - acclaimed historian John C. McManus has written a gripping history that will stand as the last word on this titanic battle. Nicknamed the Big Red One, First Division had fought from North Africa to Sicily, earning a reputation as stalwart warriors on the front lines and rabble-rousers in the rear. Yet on D-Day, these jaded combat veterans melded with fresh-faced replacements to accomplish one of the most challenging and deadly missions ever.
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Detailed Account of D-Day
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 07-04-14
By: John C. McManus
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Long Way Back to the River Kwai
- A Harrowing True Story of Survival in World War II
- By: Loet Velmans
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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The astounding memoir of a World War II veteran who spent three and a half years in the slave-labor camps made famous by The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Loet Velmans was 17 when the Germans invaded Holland. He and his family fled to London on the Dutch Coast Guard cutter Seaman’s Hope and then sailed to the Dutch East Indies - now Indonesia - where he joined the Dutch army. In March 1942, the Japanese invaded the archipelago and made prisoners of the Dutch soldiers. For the next three and a half years Velmans and his fellow POWs toiled in slave-labor camps.
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Tellement bien rédigé et poignant
- By Aline Tucker on 03-06-25
By: Loet Velmans
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The Gods of War
- Vietnam Tet 1968
- By: Ben Speed
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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This book is an unvarnished look at the life of a helicopter pilot and his year in Vietnam. He arrived at the beginning of the great Tet Offensive in 1968. Some stories are humorous, some are not. It's an honest inside look at that war.
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Whisper sync me no more
- By Tranchen on 04-03-25
By: Ben Speed
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Russia's War
- A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945
- By: Richard Overy PhD
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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The Russian war effort to defeat invading Axis powers, an effort that assembled the largest military force in recorded history and that cost the lives of more than twenty-five million Soviet soldiers and civilians, was the decisive factor for securing an Allied victory. Now with access to the wealth of film archives and interview material from Russia used to produce the ten-hour television documentary Russia's War, Richard Overy tackles the many persuasive questions surrounding this conflict.
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A gripping tale of incredible, consuming tragedy
- By Rodney W. Schmisseur on 06-09-24
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A Foot Soldier for Patton
- The Story of a "Red Diamond" Infantryman with the US Third Army
- By: Michael C. Bilder, James Bilder
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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A rarely frank account of the US infantry experience in northern Europe, A Foot Soldier for Patton takes the listener from the beaches of Normandy through the giddy drive across France to the brutal battles on the Westwall, in the Ardennes, and finally to the conquest of Germany itself. Patton's army is best known for dashing armored attacks; its commander combining the firepower of tanks with their historic lineage as cavalry. But when the Germans stood firm, the greatest fighting was done by Patton's long undersung infantry.
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Wonderful book
- By Dr. Z on 09-16-21
By: Michael C. Bilder, and others
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All Expenses Paid 2.0
- By: John Launer
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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John Launer served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. All Expenses Paid 2.0 summarizes All Expenses Paid as how to become a Combat Infantryman, then continues with the second half of his military experience. It covers the human aspect of the war, through the Winning Hearts and Minds program; spending time with the South Vietnamese people, especially the children; his R&R to Sydney, Australia; and finally returning home. Launer also documents the lasting physical and psychological effects on himself and all veterans who served there. Containing a glossary of military ...
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The accuracy of day-to-day life for the trooper
- By Amazon Customer on 05-10-25
By: John Launer
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Born Under a Lucky Star
- A Red Army Soldier's Recollections of the Eastern Front of World War II
- By: Ivan Philippovich Makarov, Anastasia Walker - foreword and translator
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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As a Russian recruit in World War II, Ivan Makarov witnessed General Chuikov pull out his pistol and shoot their regimental commander as a traitor. That was on his first day at the front. Thrown into an open field to face German tanks and artillery fire, with only rifles and machine guns to defend themselves with, almost 2,000 men of his regiment were wiped out in only six days at the Eastern Front. At this rate, Ivan struggled to comprehend how he would survive the hundreds of battles that lay before him, with death seeming to be the only certainty.
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Great story horrible reading
- By Jarvin Nightwind on 08-26-23
By: Ivan Philippovich Makarov, and others
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Warfighter
- The Story of an American Fighting Man
- By: Col. Jesse L. Johnson, Alex Holstein
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In Warfighter, Colonel Jesse L. Johnson, one of the most decorated living American veterans, recounts the action-packed true-life tale of a man who stood and fought at the crossroads of history. Spanning forty years of conflict, from the jungles of Vietnam to the deserts of Iran and Iraq, never has a modern military memoir covered such a vast landscape of all-out warfare.
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Ain"t I Great!
- By RJW on 04-02-24
By: Col. Jesse L. Johnson, and others
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The Paratrooper Generals
- Matthew Ridgway, Maxwell Taylor, and the American Airborne from D-Day Through Normandy
- By: Mitchell Yockelson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Generals during World War II usually stayed to the rear, but not Matthew Ridgway and Maxwell Taylor. During D-Day and the Normandy campaign, these commanders of the 82nd "All-American" and the 101st "Screaming Eagle" Airborne Divisions refused to remain behind the lines and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their paratroopers in the thick of combat. Jumping into Normandy during the early hours of D-Day, Ridgway and Taylor fought on the ground for six weeks of combat that cost the airborne divisions more than 40 percent casualties.
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Evan's Review
- By Evan on 07-16-22
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Panzer Ace
- The Memoirs of an Iron Cross Panzer Commander from Barbarossa to Normandy
- By: Richard Freiherr von Rosen, Robert Forczyk
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Richard Freiherr von Rosen was a highly decorated Wehrmacht soldier and outstanding panzer commander. After serving as a gunlayer on a Pz.Mk.III during Barbarossa, he led a company of Tigers at Kursk. Later he led a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944 commanded a battle group (12 King Tigers and a flak company) against the Russians in Hungary in the rank of junior, later senior lieutenant (from November 1944, his final rank). Only 489 of these King Tiger tanks were ever built.
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Not what I expected
- By Gabriel on 01-04-19
By: Richard Freiherr von Rosen, and others
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Left for Dead at Nijmegen
- The True Story of an American Paratrooper in World War II
- By: Marcus A. Nannini
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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When Metcalfe boarded the C-47 which would drop him at Groesbeek Heights, just outside of Nijmegen, Holland, he was handed a box of twelve dozen condoms by an overconfident British lieutenant. He was to be among the first to jump into what should have been a picture-book meadow, free of German troops. Instead, it was defended by three German antiaircraft cannon emplacements. As he jumped into a hail of bullets and exploding shells, he watched his plane roll over and plummet into the ground.
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Great Story
- By Woodster on 02-07-20
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Reluctant Warrior
- A Marine's True Story of Duty and Heroism in Vietnam
- By: Michael C. Hodgins
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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By the spring of 1970, American troops were ordered to pull out of Vietnam. The Marines of First Reconnaissance Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel "Wild Bill" Drumright, were assigned to cover the withdrawal of First Marine Division. The Marines of First RECON Bn operated in teams of six or seven men. Heavily armed, the teams fought a multitude of bitter engagements with a numerically superior and increasingly aggressive enemy. Michael C. Hodgins served in Company C, First RECON Bn (Rein), as a platoon leader. In powerful, graphic prose, he chronicles his experience.
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Gem hidden in plain sight
- By LEE on 01-02-19
Very well written personal memoir.
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