Rifleman
A Front-Line Life from Alamein and Dresden to the Fall of the Berlin Wall
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Rifleman
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Narrated by:
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David John
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Victor Gregg
About this listen
Born into a working-class family in London in 1919, Victor Gregg enlisted in the Rifle Brigade at nineteen, was sent to the Middle East and saw action in Palestine. Following service in the western desert and at the battle of Alamein, he joined the Parachute Regiment and in September 1944 found himself at the battle of Arnhem. When the paratroopers were forced to withdraw, Gregg was captured. He attempted to escape, but was caught and became a prisoner of war; sentenced to death in Dresden for attempting to escape and burning down a factory, only the allies' infamous raid on the city the night before his execution saved his life.
Gregg's fascinating story, told in a voice that is good-natured and completely original, continues after the end of the war. In the fifties he became chauffeur to the Chairman of the Moscow Norodny bank in London, involved in shady dealings and strange meetings with MI5, MI6 and the KGB. His adventures, though, were not over – in 1989, on one of his many motorbike expeditions into Eastern Europe, he found himself at a rally of 700 people in a field in Sopron at a fence that formed part of the barrier between the Soviet Union and the West. Vic cut the wire, and a few weeks later the Berlin Wall itself was destroyed – a truly unexpected coda to an incredible life lived to the full.
This is the story of a true survivor.©2011 Victor Gregg (P)2019 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Terri
- 21-03-20
Brilliant Epic
Amazing honest story not only of war but of humanity...Its such a shame we are losing this generation
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- M. McGuirk
- 08-05-22
Above beyond and follow through
This was an amazing book. I’ve heard it said that the army allows ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and this is definitely the case with this old soldier.
I picked this book because as an old soldier I was intrigued to here how a rifleman from an infantry regiment transitioned to the airborne force. I was not disappointed, he recorded his career in detail and full candour. Victor is unusual in that he was present in all theatres of combat except the Far East. In my youth I met an old boy who had been in the Royal Marines in WW1 and then went to Vladivostok to aide the White Russians. He was very slow to come forward, but these accounts need to be recorded so we can understand the true impact of war, on those killed and those doing the killing.
We went into WW2 to protect the Poles, but after the war we abandoned them to the Russians, Vic followed through and on his motorcycle behind the Warsaw Pact saw the Communist regime fall and those behind the iron curtain gain freedom. He would turn in his grave to see what Putin is doing now.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- michael
- 31-07-20
Wow!!!
Truly worth a listen, what a life this man led!! It’s amazing he survived one of the chapters in his life let alone all of them!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 27-01-22
You'll not want to put it down.
A fantastic book about a humble man and his incredible story!
From start to finish your sucked into his life and you feel part of him as a pose to along for the ride.
100% recommend
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- D. G. Marsden
- 11-08-20
Incredible life story
A truly amazing life, honest and humbling. Your story is well read and gripping. After the war I wondered what was going to be left for you to do but wow Victor it is all set for a film.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 28-01-22
not a story, a remarkable life.
Really don't know where to start. A real life that was interwoven intimately with the events from the start of WWII to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Told with passion, emotion, and truth beyond argument. Truly incredible, hats off to you Victor.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Nautilus
- 20-07-21
The best book I have ever listened to.....
Victor Gregg is the sort of bloke I would love to sit down with over a beer and listen to him tell the story of his life although I suppose you would first have to gain his trust, the book does not glorify his exploits or the things he did after the war it just tells the story of a man permanently changed by the horrors he witnessed...lest we forget.
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- MR A YATES
- 16-09-20
Eye opening account of Victors life. Not just a wa
Eye opening account of Victors life. Not just a war story ,but has many more unexpected twists and turns. Well read and easy to listen to.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Stephen Timms
- 20-03-22
Towser T
This is a book that anyone interested in the Second World War should read/listen to. My father, who came off Dunkirk with his two brothers in one of the “little boats” used to talk to me about the typical British Tommy. I think the subject of this book is what he had in mind. Never express an opinion and never volunteer for anything. This is a good narrative about someone who fits that bill. Albeit, he was very antiestablishment before he joined up.
His verbatim accounts of the war, the suffering, the companionship, the fifth, the blood, it is all here.
Mr Gregg, was also typical Jack-the-lad and able to scrounge, beg, borrow and steal when and where necessary.
Rick Stroud pulled the story together in the most attractive manner to make it such a good read.
I always give license to autobiographies, as the truth is usually bent slightly for dramatic effect. Also, when it is one’s own truth, verbatim reports are often modified (read Winston Churchill’s memoirs) to make oneself the star.
Having said this and without spoiling anything, I urge you to listen to a remarkable man and his adventures.
The narrator, David John is first class.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 24-04-20
captivating
a captivating story ,with a no holds barred account of war on the battlefield and the fight afterwards
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2 people found this helpful