| ID | Description | Categories | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4386 | HAARR, Geirr H. The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 - April 1940. 560p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2012. ISBN: 1848321406. The main part of the book describes the actions at sea starting with the fall of Poland. A complex, intertwined narrative follows. The sinking of Courageous, the German mining of the British East Coast, the Northern Patrol, the sinking of Rawalpindi, small ship operations in the North Sea and German Bight, the Altmark incident are all covered. Further afield the author deals with the German surface raiders and looks at the early stages of the submarine war in the Atlantic. |
view | |
| 4387 | HARDING, Duncan. Tug of War. London: Futura, 1975. ISBN: 0860070611. |
view | |
| 4388 | HARDY, Clare. SS Ceramic: The Untold Story: Includes the rescue of sole survivor Eric Munday. 572p., bibliog., illus., index. [n.p.], 2006. ISBN: 1904908640. Detached from ON149 in December 1942, the ss Ceramic was torpedoed and sunk west of the Azores by U-515. 20-year old Eric Munday, a Sapper in the Royal Engineers, was the only survivor of 656 passengers and crew. One of the casualties was the author's grandfather. Munday tells his story in full, and the surviving crew of U-515 give their own accounts of the sinking, ranked the 23rd worst wartime shipping disaster of any nation or period. |
view | |
| 4389 | HARDY, Clive & HARRIS, Paul. Tyneside at War: A Pictorial Account 1939-1945. 128p., illus. Newcastle: Archive Publications, 1988. ISBN: 0948946075. Contemporary photographs with good sections on the shipyards. |
view | |
| 4390 | HARRIS, Richard & WILLIAMS, Barrie. Goodhart: The Life of Rear Admiral Nicholas Goodhart, CB, Legion of Merit, FRAeS, RN (1919 - 2011). 180p., illus. Bognor Regis: Woodfield, 2012. ISBN: 1846831466. Goodhart entered the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in the Hawke Term in 1933. He then attended the Royal Naval Engineering College at Keyham, He served as an engineering lieutenant, and saw action in the evacuation of Crete in 1941 on Formidable He then served on Dido escorting convoys to Malta and the assaults on Italy over the next two years. He undertook pilot training in Canada in 1944 and joined the Fleet Air Arm and served in the Pacific Fleet. He had a distinguished career as a Test Pilot after the war and retired as a Rear Admiral. |
view | |
| 4391 | HART-DAVIS, Duff. Man of War: The Secret Life of Captain Alan Hilgarth, Officer, Adventurer, Agent. xii, 433p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Century, 2012. ISBN: 9781846059711. An extraordinary life of adventure. He fought at Gallipoli, went gold hunting in Bolivia and wrote thrillers. He was an intelligence officer in Spain and a key player in Operation Mincemeat and later Chief of Intelligence for the Eastern Fleet. |
view | |
| 4392 | HASTINGS, Max. All Hell Let Loose: The World At War 1939-1945. 748p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Harpercollins, 2012. ISBN: 9780007450725 One of the best single volume histories of the war. He cleverly interweaves an overview of the war with innumerable eyewitness accounts. There is limited but positive mention of the role of the RN. |
view | |
| 4393 | HAYES, Syd. A Signalman’s War. [vi], 133p. Canberra: Fellowship of Australian Writers, [c.2000]. ISBN: 1876409177. A fictionalised autobiography. He joined the RN in 1942 aged eighteen as a signalman. After a short spell in Saladin, he joined the First Minelaying Squadron in Home Waters. In 1943 he volunteered for submarines and served in Home Waters then the Far East. |
view | |
| 4395 | HEATON, P. M. Welsh Shipping Forgotten Fleets. 91p., illus. Abergavenny: author, 1989. ISBN: 1872006000. A reference guide to the ships of five Welsh shipping companies which gives details of their war service and fates. |
view | |
| 4396 | HELLWINKEL, Lars. Hitler’s Gateway to the Atlantic: German Naval Bases in France 1940-1945. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2014. ISBN: 9781848321991. A comprehensively illustrated and detailed account of the occupation, creation of bases and Allied attacks. |
view | |
| 4397 | HIGGS, Geoffrey. Frontline and Experimental Flying with the Fleet Air Arm: “Purely By Chance”. 256p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation, 2010. ISBN: 1848842627. Higgs joined the navy at the beginning of 1944 under the 'Y' scheme. After HMS St Vincent, his flying training was in Canada flying the Cornell and Harvard. On return to the UK he was sent to the Fighter School at Yeovilton to fly Corsairs, with a short detachment to the Naval School of Air Warfare at St Merryn. His first operational appointment was to 891 Squadron at Eglinton flying the night fighter version of the Hellcat. With the end of the war in the Far East, a planned embarkation in Ocean was cancelled. Also covers his long and successful post-war career. |
view | |
| 4398 | HODGKINSON, Terry. “Frederick”: The Forgotten Mission. c.45p. [Kindle edition], 2012. Guy Verstraete, code name Vlaminck, was a young officer in the Belgian Merchant Navy who escaped from French internment. He was taken by the submarine Saracen to Corsica in 1943 for MI6 accompanied by two Corsicans. Hidden for two months, in a small shepherd’s house he sent coded radio messages to MI6 in Algiers. But he was eventually caught and condemned to death. Verstraete was the only foreign agent shot by firing squad in Corsica, under the Italian occupation. |
view | |
| 4399 | HOOD, Jean. Carrier: A Century of First-Hand Accounts of Naval Operations in War and Peace. 448p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Conway, 2010. ISBN: 9781844861118. A wide-ranging and enjoyable set of tales from a vast range of sources. |
view | |
| 4400 | HUNTER, Robin. True Stories of the Commandos. [iv], 268p., illus. London: Virgin, 2000. ISBN: 9780753540534. In reality a popular history of the Army Commandos 1940-45. Makes heavy use of personal reminiscences of the actions described. |
view | |
| 4402 | IRELAND, Bernard. The War in the Mediterranean 1940-1943. 224p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Arms & Armour, 1993. ISBN: 1854090704. Examines the course of World War II in the Mediterranean until the allied victory in 1943. The author emphasizes how air and sea battles over the Mediterranean had a direct impact on the outcome of land offensives. Reprinted by Leo Cooper in 2004 (ISBN: 184415047X). |
view | |
| 4403 | JACKSON, Bill. Air Sea Rescue During the Siege of Malta: An Eyewitness Account of Life with HSL107 1941-43. xx, 375p., bibliog., illus., index. Leicester: Matador, 2010. ISBN: 1848764723. An autobiographical tale of life with the Air / Sea Rescue teams based in Malta. Focussing on High Speed Launch (HSL) 107 which rescued close to 100 pilots during the siege of Malta, he captures the spirit and camaraderie of this close knit group. |
view | |
| 4404 | JACOBS, G. F. Prelude to the Monsoon. 247p., map. Cape Town: Purnell, 1965. An autobiography describing the role of five Royal Marines dropped in Sumatra just before war’s end to take control of the island when the Japanese surrendered. |
view | |
| 4405 | JEFFERSON, David. Tobruk: A Raid Too Far. 304p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Robert Hale, 2013. ISBN: 0709092989. Based on eyewitness accounts and previously unpublished interviews with veterans, the book explores the operation in-depth, highlighting appalling errors of judgement and their tragic consequences, as well as the trek of survivors across the desert to reach their front lines. |
view | |
| 4406 | JOHNSON, C. J. A. Hither and Yon: Memoirs of a Naval Officer 1937-1973. 287p., illus. Bristol: Paralalia, 2007. ISBN: 0954811747. The autobiography of a happy and successful career naval officer. He joined as a cadet in 1937 and saw wartime service on Verity on the East Coast and in the Atlantic; on Dauntless in the Indian Ocean; and as First Lieutenant on Melbreak in the Channel and at D-Day where he saw much action. He was standing by Chaplet in 1945 as the war drew to a close. |
view | |
| 4407 | JOHNSTON, Ian & FRENCH, Mick. Battleship Ramillies. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2014. ISBN: 9781848322073. A lovingly crafted ship history created from diaries, records and oral histories. |
view |