Category: The Loss of Force Z

A short technical account, with many detailed appendices.

A clear account of the background to the war with Japan, the despatch of Force Z and its final destruction. The book is harshly critical of government policy.

A full account of the tragedy.

The author repeats the technique of using eyewitness accounts of events. The book concentrates on the actual sinkings.

A Georgetown lawyer uses his forensic skills to produce a meticulously researched and argued account which is implicitly supportive of Phillips. Gives a detailed account of all the events leading up to the tragic loss of the ships.

ASH, Bernard. Someone Had Blundered: The Story of the Repulse and the Prince of Wales. 267p., illus. London: Joseph; Garden City: Doubleday, 1960.

The story of Force Z. A less than objective account

FORRESTER-BROWN, Glennys E. A Diver's Escapades: The Early Life and Wartime Experiences of Joe Forrester - A Lad from the Potteries Who Served in the Royal Navy During World War II. 126p., illus. Bognor Regis: Woodfield, 2012. ISBN: 184683127X.

A biography by his daughter but based on contemporary notes. He joined the Royal Navy in 1926, at the age of 17, and was with Emerald in Ceylon in 1939. He was sunk in Curlew in Norwegian waters in 1940. Later, as a gunner on Prince of Wales, he was involved in the Bismarck action and was sunk with her in the Japanese air attack. He escaped hidden on a native ship and made it to Ceylon. Here he was involved in salvage work as a diver on the salvage vessel Salviking for the next two years. He was aboard when she was torpedoed and sunk near the Maldives. Once again, he was fortunate to survive.

MACDONALD, Rod. Force Z Shipwrecks of the South China Sea: HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse. xx, 156p., bibliog., illus. Dunbeath: Whittles, 2013. ISBN: 9781849950954.

Competent condensed descriptions of the ships and the fall of Singapore followed by a section on the state of the wrecks.

PIKE, John G. Bamboo Years. 208p., illus. Grantham: Barny Books, 2009. ISBN: 1906542139.

He was a young midshipman who joined  Prince of Wales in May 1941. He served with her through the sinking of Hood to her own sinking in the Far East. He briefly joined Exeter until her sinking and was a POW for the rest of the war. A good tale simply but well told.

MATTHEWS, Alan. Sailors' Tales: Life Onboard H.M.S. Repulse During World War II. 221, [xxi]p., bibliog., illus. Wrexham: author, 1997. ISBN: 0953121704.

Six seamen and marines recall their war service, linked by being on Repulse. The book is dominated by the sinking and the subsequent fate of these survivors.

STEPHEN, Martin. Scapegoat: The Death of Prince of Wales and Repulse. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2014. ISBN: 9781783831784.

A revisionist history which concludes that Admiral Phillips has been unfairly made the scapegoat for failures by the Admiralty, Churchill, intelligence and even ship design

CLARKE, Bob. War and Peacey.  [224p]., illus. [n.p., author], 2018. ISBN: 9780992760113.

Aged 15, Chris Peacey joined the RN on the outbreak of war as a boy seaman. His first ship was Prince of Wales, where he served through the Bismarck hunt and on until her sinking in the Far East. He was quickly transferred to Danae and spent some time with her in the Indian Ocean before returning to the UK. He then went to the USA where he joined the newly acquired LST 163, nicknamed Rose Marie by her crew. With her he took part in allied assault landings in North Africa, Sicily, Anzio, Normandy and Malaysia. Also describes his post-war career in submarines. A fascinating and very personal tale as told to the author.

Loss of HM Ships Prince of Wales and Repulse. Supplement to the London Gazette of Friday, 20 November 1948, Number 38214, pp.1237–1244.

A despatch submitted by Admiral Layton, C-in-C Eastern Fleet, with reports from Captain Tennant of Repulse and Lt. Commander Skipwith of Prince of Wales. Also includes a report from Flt. Lt. Vigors of 453 Squadron, whose aircraft was the first to reach the scene of the sinking, forwarded by Air Vice Marshal Pulford. Reprinted in 2014 in the compilation by Martin Mace and John Grehan, Capital Ships at War 1939-1945 (ISBN 1783462043).