Book List & Links Pt 1

This section of the site comprises a very selective listing of some of the books, museum and Internet resources that are relevant to the study of the 16th DLI.

Books

The History of the Sixteenth Battalion The Durham Light Infantry by Major Laurence E Stringer, published by the Battalion.

Based on the War Diary and published in Austria in 1946 just as the Battalion disbanded, this is the crucial starting point for any detailed enquiry into the Battalion. The book was reprinted by the 16th DLI Old Comrades' Association in 1991, but in either edition it is now both very rare and very pricey. A copy is held by the Imperial War Museum Library and can be consulted in their reading room in London and the Durham County Record Office should also have one. See below.

The Story of the 46th Division, no author credited.

Also published in Austria, this gives the bigger divisional picture of all of the Battalion's battles and travels. Now also very hard to find and very expensive.

The DLI at War The History of the Durham Light Infantry 1939-46, by David Rissik, published by the Regiment in 1952.

An excellent history of all the DLI Battalions engaged in World War Two. Coverage of the 16th Battalion is contained in one concise, detailed and very readable chapter. Highly recommended, the book isn't nearly as rare as the 16th DLI History and copies are usually be found for sale on the Internet, see below. Recently reprinted.

The Heat of Battle by Peter Hart (Pen and Sword Books, 1999).

The wartime past brought back in immediate eyewitness detail, this is a fine oral history of the 16th DLI during the Italian Campaign. The book is based on the extensive collection of 16th DLI interviews held by the Imperial War Museum Sound Archive. I compiled the Roll of Honour for the book, which, in retrospect, was the starting point for this website! Reprinted in in 2010, see the cover image at right, with the new title Voices from the Front: The 16th DLI in Italy 1943-45.

Footsloggers by Peter Hart (Frontline, 2023)

Footsloggers draws further and at much greater length on the IWM’s extensive16 DLI interview collection, including several conducted by yours truly in 1999-2004. Not quite the last word on 16 DLI (I’m still writing that!) but very well writtten and researched and very welcome.

Museums

The Imperial War Museum, London, visit their site at: www.iwm.org.uk

The Sound Archive of the IWM holds a collection of some 50-plus long interviews with 16th DLI veterans. Many of these can now be freely listened to online. See my Eyewitness Memories index page for further details.

A very small sample from this collection can also be listened to over the web at the DLI Museum website.

However, all regimental archive documents, photographs

and records relating to the DLI are now held at the Durham County Record Office in Durham City rather than at the DLI Museum. The Record Office also has a digitised version of the full IWM Sound Archive DLI Collection,

The former DLI Museum Medal Collection can be accessed and searched by surname from this page

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has a searchable database of all of the Commonwealth War Dead of both World Wars. The Roll of Honour for the 16th DLI on this site owes a massive amount to the information held by the CWGC. Visit their site at: www.cwgc.org

The British Light Infantry Regiments website contains information all the British Light Infantry Regiments. No longer updated, this web antique from 1996 is even older that this site, but it is also well worth exploring.

WW2talk.com does exactly what it says and has very active sub forum devoted to the DLI. An excellent place to begin your DLI research. This is the direct link to their DLI section.

The Middlesborough Evening Gazette

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/

The Newcastle Evening Chronicle www.icnewcastle.co.uk

The Sunderland Echo www.sunderland-echo.co.uk

The Shields Gazette www.southtynesidetoday.co.uk

These local newspapers published many photographs of 16th DLI casualties and POWs in 1943-45 and I am most grateful to the editors of all four publications for their kind and prompt permission for me to use copies of these small dot portrait photographs on this site.

For more information on Thornley Colliery visit my companion site www.oldthornley.com Wheatley Hill is a neighbouring village with close ties to Thornley: www.wheatley-hill.org.uk is the site of the Wheatley Hill History Club, a thriving local history group. Also well worth visiting is www.wheatleyhill.com which has some excellent photographs of Thornley Colliery in its prime.

http://www.northirishhorse.net was a truly excellent site devoted to the North Irish Horse, a unit which played a very significant role in the Battle of Sedjenane. Sadly he site has now vanished. Dead link

In July 2007 I created a Wikipedia article on Sedjenane. and hopefully others will gradually expand on this.

The superb Commando Veterans’ Association website has a wealth of information and photographs relating to to No 1 Army Commando. This is the direct link to the No 1 Commando photograph galleries page..

www.abebooks.com is a very efficient and easy way of obtaining rare second hand books via the Internet.