Category: The War against the Italians

The Battle of Sirte of 22nd March 1942. Supplement to the London Gazette of Tuesday, 16 September 1947, Number 38073, pp.4371–4380.

A despatch from Admiral Harwood with an enclosure describing the action from Admiral Vian, commanding the 15th Cruiser Squadron. Includes a track chart. Reprinted in 2014 in a collection of nine despatches edited by John Grehan as  The War at Sea in the Mediterranean 1940-1944  and published by Pen & Sword Maritime (ISBN: 1783462221).

CARNE, W.P. The Making of a Royal Naval Officer. 350p., illus., index. London: Uniform, 2021. ISBN: 9781913491598.

The story of a distinguished career, compiled by his grandson, from letters, diaries, memoirs and official documents, many of which are reproduced. Born in 1898, he joined the Navy in 1914 and served for over fifty years. He had an active First World War including the battle of Jutland and rose steadily in rank. By 1940 he was Fleet Torpedo Officer of the Mediterranean Fleet and it is on his service in the Mediterranean that the book largely then focusses. There are full accounts of the Battle of Calabria, the bombardment of Bardia, the battle of Matapan and the attack on Taranto and the capture of Tobruk. In May 1941 he was appointed Captain of the cruiser Coventry. Within ten days he saw dramatic action in the evacuation of Crete, including the rescue of many of the crew from Calcutta. The rest of his career is then briefly summarised. He left Coventry a few months later, served on the Admiralty Delegation in Washington for a year, then in mid-1943 took command of the escort carrier Striker serving in the Arctic then moving on to the Pacific.

MACE, Martin & GREHAN, John. The War at Sea in the Mediterranean 1940-1944. xvi, 256p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2014. ISBN: 1783462221.

Reprints nine despatches from the London Gazette with a brief introduction, namely 38273, the Action off Calabria; 38023, the attack on Taranto; 38281, the Battle of Cape Spartivento; 38031, the Battle of Matapan; 38287, action against an Italian convoy in April 1941; 38377, the major Malta convoys of 1941-42; 38073, the Battle of Sirte; 38432, Coastal Force Actions in the Levant in 1942-3; 38426, Actions in the Aegean in late 1943.

CULL, Brian & GALEA, Frederick. 806 Naval Air Squadron: The FAA’s Top-Scoring Fighter Squadron of the Second World War. 216p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Fonthill Media, 2019. ISBN: 9781781557501.

Formed in early 1940 and equipped with Skuas and Rocs it say service in Norway and at Dunkirk. Re-equipped with Fulmars the squadron then served in the Mediterranean on Illustrious with great success.

HOBBS, David. Taranto and Naval Air Warfare in the Mediterranean, 1940-1945. 456p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2020. ISBN: 9781526793836.

A comprehensive account of the Mediterranean sea war as seen from a Fleet Air Arm perspective. An excellent account from this expert in the subject.

ST CLAIR, Adrian. Mediterranean Minefield: Disaster of HMS Neptune, The Sinking of HM Ships Neptune and Kandahar. The Fifth Worst Loss of Life in a Royal Navy Ship in WWII. The Mediterranean Force K, Inclusive of HM Ships Aurora, Penelope, Lance, Lively, Havock. December 19th and 20th 1941. A Pictorial Tribute. 96p., bibliog., illus. [n.p.]: Neptune Association, 2005.

Largely consists of pictures and one or two sentence accounts of the eight hundred and thirty-six officers and men lost in the sinkings. An enlarged second edition was published in 2010 (ISBN: 0955038715). This includes a separate photographic supplement.

PEARCE, M. J.  Confronting Italy: Mediterranean Surface Actions in 1940. Exploding the Myth of Mussolini’s ‘Mare Nostrum (Britannia Naval Histories of World War II). 192p., illus. Plymouth: University of Plymouth Press, 2019. ISBN: 1841024392.

This volume contains three previously classified Naval Staff Histories describing major naval surface actions of 1940, supported by a modern introduction setting them in context and also illustrates warships involved, using WW2 US Navy Intelligence Department documents. Two Official Despatches are also included. The Staff Histories are: No. 2, The Battle of Calabria; No. 8. The Battle of Spartivento; No. 9, The Battle of Cape Spada. The Despatches are no. 38273, The Battle off Calabria and no. 38281, The Battle of Cape Spartivento.

GREAT BRITAIN. Ministry of Information. East of Malta, West of Suez: The Admiralty Account of the Naval War in the Eastern Mediterranean, September 1939 to March 1941. 63p., illus. London: HMSO, 1943; Boston: Little Brown, 1944.

An official account of the great days of the sea war against Italy, most notably the attack on Taranto and the Battle of Matapan. The US edition is credited to Bartimeus. The US edition is credited to Bartimeus. A new edition was published in 2001 by Uncovered Editions: The War Facsimiles (ISBN:  0117025380).             

HOLLAND, James. Italy’s Sorrow: A Year of War, 1944-1945. Xlv, 606p., bibliog., illus., index. London: HarperPress, 2008. ISBN: 9780007176458.

A further volume of Holland’s excellent series. Has some marginal naval interest.

GREHAN, John & MACE, Martin. The War in East Africa 1939-1943: From the Campaign Against Italy in British Somaliland to Operation Ironclad, the Invasion of Madagascar xiv, 253p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2015. ISBN: 97817834623330.

Reprints four despatches from the London Gazette with a brief introduction, namely 37609, Operations in Somaliland; 37645, Operations in East Africa 1940-41; 37655, Operations in East African Command, 1941-43; 38225, Operations in Madagascar.

A personal view of the war in the Mediterranean in 1941 by a member of the Fleet Air Arm.

Report of an Action against an Italian Convoy on the Night of the 15th/16th April 1941. Supplement to the London Gazette of Tuesday, 11May 1948, Number 38287, pp.2913–2916.

A despatch submitted by Admiral Cunningham, with a Letter of Proceedings from Captain Mack of 14DF, and reports from Commander Ravenhill of Jervis, Commander Tothill of Janus and Commander Eaton of Mohawk. Reprinted in 2014 in a collection of nine despatches edited by John Grehan as  The War at Sea in the Mediterranean 1940-1944  and published by Pen & Sword Maritime (ISBN: 1783462221).

Action Between British and Italian Forces off Cape Spartivento on 27th November 1940. Supplement to the London Gazette of 4 May 1948, Number 38281, pp.2799–2808.

A despatch submitted by Admiral Somerville, FOC Force H, who commanded during the action. Reprinted in 2014 in a collection of nine despatches edited by John Grehan as  The War at Sea in the Mediterranean 1940-1944  and published by Pen & Sword Maritime (ISBN: 1783462221).

GREGORY-SMITH, FRANK. Red Tobruk: Memoirs of a World War II Destroyer Commander. viii, 200p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2008. ISBN: 1844158624.

An autobiography. He went to Dartmouth in 1922 and by 1939 was First Lieutenant of Jaguar. After Norway and Dunkirk he stood by Eridge as her new captain. On completion she moved to the Mediterranean and a hectic war with eighteen months of convoys to Tobruk and Malta. In August 1942 she was torpedoed by an Italian MTB. Under constant air attack, she was towed to Alexandria, but was irreparable. This Mediterranean period forms the heart of the book. A brief coda describes his role as a D-Day Beachmaster.

GREAT BRITAIN. Admiralty. The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean (Whitehall Histories: Naval Staff Histories). 2 vols., illus., index. London: Frank Cass, 2002. ISBN: 0714651796 (V.1); 0714652059 (V.2).

These confidential volumes were prepared by the Naval Historical Branch for internal use in 1952 and are published in facsimile for the first time. Volume 1 covers September 1939 to October 1940 and volume 2 covers November 1940 to December 1941. There is a new introduction by David Brown.

The first year of the Mediterranean sea war.

A detailed review of three actions in the Mediterranean in 1940 and of Churchill’s intervention in each case; the Battle of Calabria; the passage through the Straits by a French cruiser squadron and the Battle of Spartivento. Republished by Seaforth in 2011 as Critical Conflict (ISBN: 9781848845138.)

A description of both battles of Sirte, but mainly the second, where Vian skilfully drove off the stronger Italian Fleet.

The war of the Australian sloop Parramatta and of her captain, Commander J. H. Walker, much of it poignantly told through letters to his wife. The ship’s career lasted little over a year, full of unremitting and unglamorous work in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, before she was sunk off Bardia.

Really the story of the naval war in the Mediterranean from June 1940 until January 1941, as seen by and from Sydney. Published in the UK by Gollancz as Lioness of the Seas and in the US in 1942 by Houghton Mifflin as Action at Sea: The Saga of the Sydney. Reprinted in Australia by Pacific Books in 1971.