Entries

LAVERY, Brian. Two Navies Divided: The British and United States Navies in the Second World War 464p. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2023. ISBN: 9781399047210

Describes and analyses the differences and similarities between the two navies and throws new light on how the naval war was fought. Covers a wide range of themes from ship design to uniforms with details of issues big and small. An excellent work from a leading historian.

• Strategy

HICHENS, Robert Peverell. We Fought Them in Gunboats (HMS Beehive Edition). xxiv, 321p., notes, illus., index. Pleshey: Golden Duck, 2023. ISBN: 9781899262595.

A hugely expanded version of the original autobiography. It contains the full text of the original manuscript as opposed to the heavily censored and Admiralty approved version published in 1944, as well as many documents and details about the naval base HMS Beehive, where Hichens was based. In effect a new work.

• Autobiography

FRIEDMAN, Norman. British Coastal Forces: Two World Wars and After. 432p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2023. ISBN: 9781399018586.

An experienced author, he connects the technical story of the coastal craft and their weapons and other innovations with the way they fought. Also includes an appendix on Air-Sea Rescue craft. Has a notable section on D-Day activities.  

• Small Craft, Trawlers, and Coastal Forces

BAGNASCO, Erminio. Italian Assault Craft, 1940-1945: Human Torpedoes and Other Special Attack Weapons. 232p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2023. ISBN: 9781399056083.

A distinguished author gives the first comprehensive history of these very successful craft.

• Italian Armed Forces

BRESCIA, Maurizio & TORO, Augusto de. Italian Heavy Cruisers: From Trento to Bolzano. 224p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley Seaforth, 2023. ISBN: 9781399098854

 These “Treaty” cruisers saw very active war service and all were sunk. Translated from the Italian, the book serves as a technical history and is thoroughly illustrated with ship and armament plans, detailed drawings and colour camouflage schemes, as well as an excellent collection of photographs

• Italian Armed Forces

KENYON, David. Arctic Convoys: Bletchley Park and the War for the Seas. 336p., bibliog., illus., index. New Haven, CT: Yale U.P., 2023. ISBN: 9780300269444.

A good new account of these important battles which emphasises the role of signals intelligence.

• The Arctic Convoys

O’HARA, Vincent P. & HONE, Trent. Fighting in the Dark: Naval Combat at Night, 1904–1945. 352p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2023. ISBN: 9781399030519.

A series of essays around individual battles and campaigns from the Russo-Japanese War to gunboats in the English Channel demonstrates how all of the major navies adapted to the use of novel technologies which allowed fighting in the dark to be a standard practice.

• Strategy

ANDERSON, Alex. Hunter to Hunted - Surviving Hitler's Wolf Packs: Diaries of a Merchant Navy Radio Officer, 1939-45. 320p., illus. [n.p.: author], 2023. ISBN: 9781805411413.

Aged nineteen he joined the Merchant Navy in 1939 serving on an Antarctic whaler. He spent the next five years on Atlantic convoy duty and four of the seven ships on which he served were sunk. Well-written and very readable.

• The Merchant Navy

WHITMARSH, Andrew. D-Day Landing Craft: How 4,126 ‘Ugly and Unorthodox’ Allied Craft made the Normandy Landings Possible. Cheltenham: The History Press, 2024. ISBN: ‎9781803994451.

Authored by a curator at the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth. Most of the more than 132,000 Allied troops who landed on the beaches on D-Day came ashore from landing craft. The book examines why so many different types of landing craft were used in the operation; how they were built in both the UK and North America, over several years and with many competing war production requirements and operational needs.

• Landing Craft

BOWMAN, Martin W. The Air War at Sea in the Second World War. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation, 2023. ISBN: 9781526746351.

A prolific author focuses on the role of the Fleet Air Arm, Coastal Command and US Naval flyers from Norway to the end of the war in the Pacific. Cleverly combines a broad overview of events with a great deal of personal accounts of the many actions.

• The War at Sea

BOWMAN, Margaret G. The Lost Airfields of Angus. [9], 147p., bibliog., illus., index. Dundee: [author],2021. ISBN: 9781739820008.

A local historian describes the role of Angus airfields in the history of military aviation. Has good coverage of their role in FAA development and training in WW2.

• Ports and Bases - UK

ALDRIDGE, Richard J. Witness to War: Diaries of the Second World War in Europe and the Middle East. xi,720p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Transworld, 2004. ISBN: 0385606788.

A huge selection of diary material with some naval events described,

• Anthologies

EDWARDS, Bernard. Survivors of Enemy Action: Experiences of Merchant Seamen 1939-1945. 188p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2023. ISBN: 9781399042208.

This prolific author again uses personal accounts to demonstrate the courage and bravery of the men of the Merchant Navy.

• The Merchant Navy

KONSTAM, Angus. The Convoy. HG-76: Taking the Fight to Hitler's U-Boats. 320p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Bloomsbury, 2023. ISBN: 9781472857682.

An expert naval historian tells the story of one of the significant convoy victories of the war. An evocative and compelling story

• Individual Convoys

RUST, Eric C. U-boat Commander Oskar Kusch: Anatomy of a Nazi-Era Betrayal and Judicial Murder (Studies in Naval History and Sea Power). 384p., bibliog., illus., index. Annapolis, MD.; Naval Institute Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781682475140.

A well-written and meticulously researched study examines the commander of U 154 who was denounced by his executive officer – a fanatic Nazi – and executed in 1944 for supposedly undermining the will to resist.

• Kriegsmarine: U-Boats

KONSTAM, Angus. Naval Battle of Crete 1941: The Royal Navy at Breaking Point (Campaign 388). 96p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Osprey, 2023. ISBN: 9781472854049.

A good narrative account well illustrated with contemporary photographs and new clear maps by a prolific historian. Describes a dark and difficult period for the Royal Navy as it managed a costly evacuation of the island.

• The Fall of Crete

STILLE, Mark. Java Sea 1942: Japan’s Conquest of the Netherlands East Indies (Campaign 344). 96p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Osprey, 2019. ISBN: 9781472831613.

 A strong account of the campaign.

• The ABDA Command Area

HERDER, Brian Lane. The Naval Siege of Japan 1945: War Plan Orange Triumphant. (Campaign, 348). 96p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Osprey, 2020. ISBN: 9781472840363.

 Another competent account from this series, full of technical detail and giving a good view of the often underestimated role played by the British Pacific Fleet.

• Victory over Japan

MCKAY, John R. Arctic Convoy PQ 18: 25 Days that Changed the Course of the War. 208p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2023. ISBN: 9781399036603.

A solid account of the convoy and its importance with many personal stories from both sides.

• Convoy PQ18

SMITH, William. Allied Convoys to Northern Russia, 1941–1945: Politics, Strategy and Tactics. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2024. ISBN: 9781399054737.

        Explores the not well known and often neglected area of the wider political, diplomatic and military factors which governed the campaign.

• The Arctic Convoys