Entries

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon. World War II Sea War. Volume 2: France Falls, Britain Stands Alone. 527p. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2011. ISBN: 9781937470005.

Volume 2 covers the period from April to September 1940, breaking down events by month and geographical area, then by date and time. Information is included for both military and civilian vessels, from both combatant and neutral nations.

• Reference Works

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon. World War II Sea War. Volume 3: The Royal Navy is Bloodied in the Mediterranean. 560p. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2012. ISBN: 9781937470012.

Day-to-day naval actions from October 1940 to May 1941. Provides detailed information on movements of all identifiable vessels of Allied, Axis, and neutral countries, plus convoy movements and minefields.

• Reference Works

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon. World War II Sea War. Volume 5: Air Raid Pearl Harbor. This Is Not a Drill. 540p. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2013. ISBN: 9781937470050.

In Volume 5, the United States officially enters the war. Highlights of this volume include: minute detail of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; Wake Island, Luzon, Hong Kong, Malaya, Burma, etc., early attacks by US Navy submarines in the Pacific; Russian Black Sea Fleet landing troops in the Crimea; the continuing naval struggle in the Mediterranean; German U-boat attacks along the US Atlantic coast; Japanese attacks on the US Pacific coast; the ABDA Command battling the superior forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy; and the Battle of the Java Sea and the Battle of Sunda Strait.

• Reference Works

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon. World War II Sea War. Volume 6: The Allies Halt the Axis Advance. 584p. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2014. ISBN: 9781937470098.

Covers actions from April to August 1942 including the Japanese attack on Ceylon, the Doolittle Raid on Japan, the battle of the Coral Sea, the battle of Midway Island, the US landing on Guadalcanal, the battle of Savo Island, and the battle of the eastern Solomon Islands. Arctic actions include the battle for convoy PQ.17. In the Mediterranean, the RN interdicts Axis supply lines along the Libyan and Egyptian coasts. In the Atlantic, the U.S. implements convoys along the East Coast.

• Reference Works

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon. World War II Sea War, Volume 7: The Allies Strike Back. 442p. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2014. ISBN: 9781937470111.

From September to November 1942, the Allies defeated the Axis forces on all active fronts. On land, the British defeated Rommel in Operation SUPERCHARGE, the US Marines defeated the Japanese on Guadalcanal, and the Russians trapped the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad and disrupted the entire Axis southern front in Russia. At sea, the Royal Navy landed desperately needed supplies on Malta in Operations PEDESTAL and STONEAGE; the USN defended the US Marines on Guadalcanal from a Japanese attack in the Battle of Cape Esperance; the Allies landed troops at Morocco and Algeria in Operation TORCH; USN cruisers sank a Japanese battleship in the 1st Battle of Savo Island; the 2nd Battle of Savo Island was the only battleship-to-battleship engagement of the war in the Pacific; the Battle of the North Atlantic increased in intensity; and the Germans tried to capture the French Fleet at Toulon, France, in Operation ANTON, only to arrive as the ships sank beneath the sea.

• Reference Works

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon. World War II Sea War, Volume 8: Guadalcanal Secured. 448p. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2015. ISBN: 9781937470135.

Volume 8 documents the swing of battle from the Axis to the Allies from December 1942 to February 1943 as naval actions forced the Japanese to begin their retreat and their efforts to forestall the inevitable. Meanwhile, naval actions slowly strangled the Axis nations in Europe Specific events include: the last naval battles for Guadalcanal; the IJN’s secret evacuation of the Japanese Army from Guadalcanal; the Russian encirclement and destruction of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad; the German counterattacks against the much larger Russian Army in the Ukraine; the Battle in the North Atlantic between Allied convoy escorts and German U-boats; the Allies’ advance to trap German and Italian troops in Tunisia; intense actions in the Arctic Ocean as the German surface fleet tried to destroy the Arctic Convoys; increased attacks by USN submarines on Japanese shipping.

• Reference Works

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon.. World War II Sea War, Volume 9: Wolfpacks Muzzled. 562p. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2016. ISBN: 9781937470166.

This volume covers day-to-day naval actions during March-June 1943. The Allies attacked German U-boats day and night, forcing their withdrawal from the vital North Atlantic convoy routes, clearing the way for the eventual invasion of Europe from Britain. In the Bismarck Sea, Allied aircraft destroyed an entire Japanese troop convoy bound for New Guinea. In the Komandorski Islands, the US Navy engaged a superior Japanese force and outfought them. The Allies isolated the German and Italian troops fighting in Tunisia with an air and sea blockade. Without support from Italy, Tunisia fell. US aircraft ambushed Admiral Yamamoto while he was en route to an inspection visit in the Solomon Islands. The US 7th Infantry Division liberated Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands.

• Reference Works

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon. World War II Sea War, Volume 10: Il Duce Deposed. 476p. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2016. ISBN: 9781937470173.

A comprehensive list of day-to-day naval actions from July 1943 to September 1943. Major events include the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy, plus continued action in the Solomon and New Guinea Islands, and the US liberation of Kiska Island.

• Reference Works

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon.. World War II Sea War, Volume 11: Bougainville, Tarawa and Cape Gloucester. 472p. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2017. ISBN: 9781937470210.

This volume contains day-to-day naval and merchant actions for October to December 1943, sorted by month, location, date, and time. Vessels of all countries involved in World War II are included, including merchantmen. Major actions include: British attempt to seize Italian-held Aegean Islands; Royal Navy's return to Ceylon; US landing on Bougainville Island; the arrival of new USN Essex-class aircraft carriers, enabling the occupation of the Gilbert Islands; the sinking of the Scharnhorst; and the evacuation of Sevastopol.

• Reference Works

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon.. World War II Sea War, Volume 12: Anzio, Kwajalein, Eniwetok and the Admiralty Islands. 455p. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2018. ISBN: 9781937470234.

Volume 12 covers all naval engagements during the first three months of 1944. In the Pacific, US Operation Cartwheel successfully isolates the strong Japanese force at Rabaul. US and Australian forces advance along the New Guinea coast toward the Philippines. The US Navy wages the air attack on Truk, then captures the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. Meanwhile in Europe, the Allies invade Italy at Anzio and prepare for their landing at Normandy,

• Reference Works

BERTKE, Donald A., KINDELL, Don & SMITH, Gordon. World War II Sea War, Volume 13: New Guinea, Normandy, and Saipan. 478p. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications, 2018. ISBN: 9781937470258.

Covers the second quarter of 1944, In April, May and June 1944, there were three major areas of naval conflict: in New Guinea: US and Australian forces landed at Aitape and Hollandia, then at Arare, Wakde and Biak Island. The German navy attacked what they thought was an Allied convoy along the English southwestern coast. They had actually stumbled upon Operation TIGER, the Allied training exercise for the upcoming Normandy landing. This culminated in the Allied landing in Normandy in Operation OVERLORD. In the Pacific: The US landed on Saipan, considered Japanese territory, in Operation FORAGER, which caused the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

• Reference Works

COLEMAN, Arthur & NEEL, Hildy. Great Stories of World War II: An Annotated Bibliography of Eyewitness War-Related Books Written and Published Between 1940 and 1946. viii, 133p., bibliog. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780810850491.

The first personal narrative about World War II was published two months after America formally entered the war in 1941. Between then and 1946, over 500 of these books were published. These eyewitness accounts, written by war correspondents, service men and women, home front civilians, and defence workers, were very different from the stark military dispatches printed in the daily press. Each entry includes citations for any reviews the work received in any of six major American reviewing journals. Although an American work there is some relevant naval material.

• Reference Works
• Bibliographies

ELLIS, John. One Day in a Very Long War: Wednesday 25th October 1944. xiv, 593p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Jonathon Cape, 1998. ISBN: 0224042440.

A sweeping overview of one day of war, covering actions from the North Sea to the China Sea. Mostly describes the war on land, but there is a good range of material of naval interest.

• The War at Sea

JONES, Ben. The Fleet Air Arm in the Second World War: Volume II - 1942-1943, The Fleet Air Arm in Transition – The Mediterranean, Battle of the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. (Publications of the Navy Record Society, Vol. 165). xxix, 618p., bibliog., illus., index. Abingdon: Routledge for the Navy Records Society, 2018. ISBN: 9780815355076.

An excellent set of essays accompanies each section of well-chosen and edited documents. This volume focuses as much on policy and planning as on action.

• Reference Works
• Fleet Air Arm

GIMBLETT, Richard H. & HADLEY, Michael L. (eds.) Citizen Sailors: Chronicles of Canada’s Naval Reserve 1910-2010. xx, 249p., bibliog., illus., index. Toronto: Dundurn, 2010. ISBN: 9781554888672.

A chronologically arranged series of commemorative essays. WW2 is well if briefly covered with an interesting overview and some emphasis on the role of the WRCNS.

• Royal Canadian Navy

DEIGHTON, Len. Blood, tears and folly: in the darkest hour of the Second World War. xvii, 653p., bibliog., illus., index. London, Cape, 1993. ISBN: 022403135X.

A fascinating and perceptive revisionist history, with substantial naval content. Reprinted many times.

• The War at Sea

KITCHINGHAM, William J. Bluenoses, Bears and Bandits: Sea Service to Commandos. An Account of Some Events in the Service Life of the Author. (Royal Marines Historical Society Special Publication No 43). [3], 125p., illus. Southsea: Royal Marines Historical Society, 2015. ISBN: 9781908123121.

Aged 17 he enlisted in the Marines in 1941. After training, in 1943 he was posted to a special detachment acting as orderlies for the Prime Minister and Chiefs of Staff. He visited Canada and the USA with Churchill. Now a Corporal he joined Jamaica at the start of 1944 and served on Arctic convoys. After almost a year he left the ship when she went to refit. Early in 1945 he formed part of the Marine detachment which accompanied and guarded Churchill at the Yalta Conference. In March he joined Duke of York and sailed with her for service in the Pacific. After the war he moved to the Royal Marine Commandos where he served out his active and happy career.

• Autobiography
• The Arctic Convoys
• Royal Marines

ROBERTSHAW, James. The D-Day War Diaries. Gold Beach: British 50th Northumberland Infantry Division Deployments. 52p., illus. [Witney: author], 2016. ISBN: 9781326753054.

The fourth volume in a series of eight giving a detailed listing of all units engaged in the landings and a brief account of the first seven days of action. Produced for military charities.

• D-Day

ROBERTSHAW, James. The D-Day War Diaries. Juno Beach: Canadian 3rd Army Division Deployments. 52p., illus. [Witney: author], 2016. ISBN: 9781326352837.

The third volume in a series of eight giving a detailed listing of all units engaged in the landings and a brief account of the first seven days of action. Produced for military charities. Sadly it is poorly proofread and the lists of naval vessels are full of errors and wrong classification of ships.

• D-Day

ROBERTSHAW, James. The D-Day War Diaries. Sword Beach: British Third Army Division Deployments. 156p., illus. [Witney: author], 2016. ISBN: 9781326116088.

Gives a detailed listing of all units engaged in the landings and a brief account of the first seven days of action. Produced for military charities.      

• D-Day