Jo Hook

Historia

Jo’s father served during WWII with the Royal Engineers as a cartographer (he drew very fine maps of the Western Desert – something which had never properly been mapped before) . Jo’s grandfather served during WW1 and she therefore grew up avidly listening to her father’s tales of the Second World War and thus a passion in military history was born.  In 1986 Jo spent 3 years working with the Ministry of Defence in Hong Kong which allowed her to widen her interest in military history.  In 1994 she joined the Territorial Army (Royal Signals) and it was here that Jo had the opportunity to arrange battlefield tours.  In 1995 she spent time on Operations in Bosnia.  A subsequent move to Germany allowed Jo to concentrate on guiding German based British Military Groups specifically to study Operation Market Garden. At the same time Jo also returned to the UK to accompany UK based groups to both WW1 and WWII battlefields.   Jo has also worked closely with the Normandy Veterans Association accompanying many of the veterans back to Normandy for the 6 June commemoration weekends as well as returning with Arnhem Veterans back to the battlefields of Holland.   Having served both on operations and having experienced life as an Army wife with a husband on operations Jo understands the perspective of soldiers on the battlefield and the viewpoint of families at home as well as gaining an insight to the comparison between latter day soldiers and the life of the soldier on the modern day battlefield.   Jo joined the Guild of Battlefield Guides in 2006 and attained badged status (Badge Number 48) in October 2010 and at the same time took over the role as Events Co-ordinator for the Guild.  When time permits she also undertakes book reviews for Soldier Magazine and has been involved in typing up memoirs for the Paradata Archive.  She is also in the middle of trying to attain a History Degree through the Open University – something she will one day finish! In 2010 Jo took part in the Help for Heroes Bridge Too Far Bike Ride as one of the battlefield guides and is also currently involved with the Wenches in the Trenches sponsored walk project in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund.  This year Jo has also started working for Anglia Battlefield Tours predominantly with school tours something which she enjoys very much and finds extremely satisfying. Her main passion in life is ensuring that the story of the soldier and the sacrifices made by those who fought throughout history should not be forgotten.  Her ambition is to try to track down the maps her father (an accomplished artist) drew in the Second World War and maybe one day to try and write a book.   

Películas

Operation Market Garden: Arnhem - Battle for the Oosterbeek Perimeter
Operation Market Garden: Arnhem - Battle for the Oosterbeek Perimeter
Presenter
With 2 Para isolated at the Arnhem Bridge and both 1 and 4 Para Brigades thwarted in their attempts to fight their way into Arnhem and falling back, what became the Oosterbeek Perimeter started to form around Divisional HQ at the Hartenstein Hotel. Beaten but not defeated, the remnants of 1st Airborne Division fought a grim battle with the SS supported by reinforcements and armour rushed to Oosterbeek from all over the West. Veterans and experienced battlefield guides vividly relate their experiences and take the viewer to the scene of the action. The seven days of grim and bloody fighting in the Oosterbeek Perimeter was amongst the hardest fought of all the battles in the West. It was one that the SS veterans of the Eastern Front in the Hohenstaufen Division christened the Hexenkessel or “Witches Cauldron”. All the while the the airborne soldiers were waiting for XXX Corps to arrive from the south, with the enemy pressing ever closer.
Operation Market Garden: Nijmegen
Operation Market Garden: Nijmegen
Presenter
Following on from the story of Hell's Highway, the series reaches the battle to seize the great Bridges over two of Europe's largest water ways; the Maas and the Waal at Nijmegen. Here the 82nd US airborne were, as elsewhere, denied coup de main attacks to seize the bridges by the air commanders. While the Grave Bridge was captured, confusion in US orders meant that the barely defended bridge in Nijmegen was only attacked when the Germans had taken the opportunity to reinforce the garrison. The resulting battle to regain control of the situation is an epic of Anglo-American military history. This programme tells the story of the amazing courage of the American and British soldiers who won this battle against desperate odds.
Operation Market Garden: Arnhem - Battle of the Woods
Operation Market Garden: Arnhem - Battle of the Woods
Presenter
Jumping in to Drop Zones eight to ten miles from Arnhem on the second day of Operation Market Garden was always going to be difficult for Brigadier “Shan” Hackett's 4th British Parachute Brigade. With little information on how 1 Para Brigade's battle went the day before or what faced them on the ground the stage was set for an epic battle. John Waddy, v company commander in 156 Para Battalion and a team of Arnhem experts cover the ground where 4 Para Brigade fought with 9 SS Pz Div in the woods to the west of Arnhem in what was to be an unequal but heroic battle; the result of a flawed concept and plan.Driven back the Brigade was withdrawing across LZ P when the Polish heavy lift gliders swept in to cause. Captain Quirepel was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his action in helping stem the enemy advance long enough for the Paratroopers to escape across the railway embankment by nightfall.
Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges - Part 1
Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges - Part 1
Presenter
The Battle of Arnhem, fought in the early autumn of 1944, remains without a doubt the most hotly debated battle of the North West European Campaign, both then and now. From its inception in the sixteen cancelled airborne operations during August, we will chart the problems, many of which were ignored by men desperate to get into battle, the compromises and mistakes that pitched lightly armed and ill equipped paratroopers and glider infantry into an unequal struggle against an SS panzer troops. We follow the eight mile route that 2 Para took to reach the bridge at Arnhem, slipping through the German defences.In Part 2, a separate film we look at their epic battle.