Category: Anthologies

AGAR, Rodney, & JOHNSTONE, Murray, eds. Hold Fast the Heritage: An Anthology of Experiences Both Afloat and Ashore Spanning Half a Century from 1943 to 1993, by the Term of Naval Officers Who Joined the Royal Naval College Together in September 1943. 327p., illus. Fontwell: Woodfield, 1994. ISBN: 1873203306.

Not strictly in scope, but a good read.  Included for its information on the training of young career officers late in the war. Reminiscences by the term who joined Dartmouth in September 1943.  Covers both their service careers and subsequent experiences and includes an appendix on the regulations for joining the navy at the age of 13.

These collected papers from the 1983 conference include material on espionage and Allied shipping in Latin America, Anglo-American diplomacy and the French Force X interned at Alexandria, and a brief memoir from a US naval communications expert serving on Quickmatch with TF57 in 1945.

Really a new version of Their Finest Hour (below). This volume includes items on the raids on Spitsbergen and the Lofotens.

Personal tales reprinted from Life magazine. They include the sinking of the Scotstoun, impressions of an Atlantic convoy and a successful North Sea patrol by the submarine Sturgeon.

His collected writings about the sea, except The Cruel Sea itself. Includes an article on the sinking of the Lancastria, and extracts from his autobiography covering his service in Campanula.

The author records servicemen's tales of particular actions. These include the raid on St Nazaire, a successful submarine patrol, air-sea rescue, the sinking of Dorsetshire, a convoy conference, and a Coastal Command patrol in the Bay of Biscay.

Heroic deeds of the war, some in the first person and covering both US and British events. These include the Commando raid on Rommel's HQ, St. Nazaire, the Altmark incident, Orzel's escape, escapes from Java, and the tales of various survivors of merchant sinkings who endured on rafts or boats for many days.

Smithies collected oral history up to the time of his death. This selection of reminiscences shows how war touched everyone involved in the war at sea from regulars to dockyard hands.

An anthology of tales from US sources. They include the sinking of a US troop transport in mid-Atlantic, the survival of a seaman on a raft for 46 days, and the Salerno invasion.

This chronologically arranged collection is perhaps the best of the anthologies on the war at sea. The set comprises three volumes, one each for land, sea, and air.

Some thirty oral reminiscences collected over three decades from stories of war in the Trenches to war in the Pacific with a due quota of naval tales.

HOOD, Jean. Submarine: An Anthology of First-Hand Accounts of the War Under the Sea, 1939-1945. 448p., bibliog., index. London: Conway, 2007.

An excellent selection of tales of life, action and danger from all belligerents and all theatres of war.

CHAMBERS, Aidan. War at Sea. iv, 119, [3]p. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1978. ISBN: 0333236130.

An anthology of 14 stories of the war at sea, describing acts of courage and resource by British seamen.

COOK, Graeme. None but the Valiant: Stories of War at Sea. 153p., bibliog., illus. London: Hart-Davis, 1972; New York: Taplinger, 1973. ISBN: 0246105399.

A potpourri of retold stories from both world wars. US subtitle is Exciting True War Stories in the Air and at Sea and is a much larger volume.

COOK, Graeme. Small Boat Raiders. 131p., bibliog. London: Hart-Davis MacGibbon, 1977. ISBN: 024610807X

A series of short accounts retelling old tales. They are the X-Craft attack on the Tirpitz, the defence of Hong Kong, Coastal Forces in the Channel, the raid on St. Nazaire, the Cockleshell Heroes attack on Bordeaux, and X-Craft in the Far East.

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 culled from a vast range of sources.

DOWNES, Michael. Oundle’s War: Memories of a Northamptonshire Town, 1939-45. xiii, 321p., illus. Oundle: Nene Press, 1995. ISBN: 0952671409.

A former teacher from Oundle School has collected wartime reminiscences ranging from the town at war, to the war service of local people to the fate of POWs. This broad approach, including many naval reminiscences, builds a telling picture of how war affected the entire community.

Voices from the Second World War: Witnesses Share Their Stories with the Children of Today. 320p., illus., index. London: Walker Books, 2016. ISBN: 1406360112.

 Aimed at 9-14 year olds this has a due share of “dits” from all parts of the navy, from action on the Arctic convoys to WREN signallers ashore.

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,

RICHARDS, Anthony. Words of War. 320p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Headline Publishing Group, 2021. ISBN: 9781472288110.
        A history of the war shown through eye-witness letters, speeches and diaries held by the Imperial War Museum. Covers many of the major naval actions from the Battle of the River Plate to the Battle of the North Cape. Full of fascinating material and with a wealth of good illustrations.
 

An edited collection of essays from the Naval Review. Covers a huge range of topics with much relevant, mainly background material.

A history of the war told from a largely British perspective through oral history, in a series of anecdotes by dozens of the participants. Some material of naval relevance.

Sketches of naval occasions both fictional and fact, covering the exploits of Orzel, Altmark, minesweepers, and Bismarck from the evacuation at Dunkirk to the Baltic.

A mixture of fact, faction and fiction recording a variety of episodes from the Altmark incident to Dunkirk and the hunt for the Bismarck.

This general collection has over 60 pages on WWII.

A miscellaneous collection of stirring tales of the war at sea taken as excerpts from various published works.

An interesting and sometimes poignant set of contemporary documents, presented in chronological and thematic order.

A variety of tales all loosely centred on the Clyde. The range is enormous and includes, the sinking of U 33 by Gleaner; explosion of Maille Breze at Greenock; the sinking of Curacao; the Clyde and Torch; PQ17; taking the gold reserves to Canada; the X-Craft attack on Tirpitz; repair yards; MI5; rescue ships; bomb disposal; escapes from Hong Kong; antishipping Mosquitoes; the surrender of the U-boats.

Uses excerpts from published sources as a way of giving a history of the war.

A series of essays produced by the historians writing the history of the US Army in WWII, including pieces on the German invasion of Norway, Torch, and merchant shipping shortages.

The 70 best personal tales submitted to a competition organised by The People newspaper. The naval tales include memories of the loss of Repulse, Glorious, and Curlew, the boarding of the Altmark, Marigold's submarine, PQ17 seen from a merchantman, the human torpedoes which sank the Bolzano, 50 days on a raft, a 1941 patrol by Truant, the sole survivor's tale from the sinking of Holbury in 1943, an East Coast convoy in Oxshott, and a merchant ship collision.

A scholarly appraisal of the turning points of the war, including Dunkirk, Crete, the Atlantic, and the invasion of Normandy.

Four sections of reminiscences - Army, Navy, Air Force and Miscellaneous - by former pupils, each a few pages long. The naval section covers the Bismarck chase, a kamikaze attack on Indomitable, Pedestal, the German raid on Bari, Coastal Forces, D-Day, and FAA training.

A book printed for private circulation by the Admiral, which includes previously published journal articles on a variety of topics and extracts from his wartime diary.

Two of the essays honouring this great naval historian concern WWII. One covers Combined Operations policy prior to Dieppe and the other the outlook of the RCN during the war.

Some 26 stories and poems by and about merchant seamen, simply but graphically recounting the trials and tribulations of wartime service, from a "normal" voyage to the horror of a sinking and its consequences.

Some 28 tales of routine and action from all areas of the RNVR contribution to the war at sea.

A whole series of tales and anecdotes, mainly from WWII. Several have FAA or Coastal Command relevance and there is a long analysis of the Channel Dash.

A set of tales of the war at sea, written for the popular market.

Some 19 tales of the war at sea, mainly describing the RAN but with some tales such as the Bismarck hunt included to ensure British sales. A mixture of popularisation and technical fact, all were originally published individually in the Sydney Bulletin.