Category: The Eastern Fleet Holds the Line

MILLER, David. Special Operations South-East Asia 1942-1945: Minerva, Baldhead & Longshanks Creek. xx, 220p., bibliog., illus., index.  Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2015. ISBN: 9781783400638.

The first detailed accounts of raids on Sumatra , the Andamans and Goa carried out in 1942-43 by Special Forces.

MACE, Martin & GREHAN, John. Disaster in the Far East 1940-1942: The Defence of Malaya, Japanese Capture of Hong Kong and the Fall of Singapore.  xii, 516p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2015. ISBN: 1783462094.

Reprints four despatches from the London Gazette with a brief introduction, namely 38183, The Defence of Malaya; 38190, Operations in Hong Kong; 38183, the Fall of Singapore; 38216, air operations during the campaigns in Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies.

A Bibliography of Japanese Books on the Burma Campaign: War in Burma 1942-1945. xv, 112p. Tokyo: All Burma Veterans Association of Japan, 2000.

A comprehensive guide covering everything from official histories to personal accounts. Although most of the text is in Japanese, titles and many details are also given in English. There is some peripheral material on naval matters.

STEPHENSON, Charles. The Eastern Fleet and the Indian Ocean 1942-1944: The Fleet That Had To Hide. Ix, 320p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2020. ISBN: 9781526783615.

 A well written and absorbing account of the role played by this important but neglected force.

LEASOR, James. The Marine from Mandalay. [ix],146p., bibliog., map. London: Cooper, 1988. ISBN: 0850524423.

The epic escape story of Marine William Doyle. He was landed from Enterprise just in time to join Force Viper and cover the retreat through Burma. Although badly wounded in the legs while fighting the Japanese he managed to escape north and eventually reached Calcutta and rejoined his ship. Reprinted as a paperback in 2008 by House of Stratus (ISBN: 0755100433) and then as a print on demand book from 2015 (ISBN: 190829132X). 

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.

FOSTER, R. W. Tally Ho! From the Battle of Britain to the Defence of Darwin by Wing Commander R W Foster DFC AE with Norman Franks. viii, 216p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Grub Street, 2008. ISBN:9781906502263.

An entertaining collection of stories and reminiscences brought together by the well-known historian Norman Franks. A member of the RAFVR, Foster was called up in September 1939. By September 1940 he was in the thick of the fighting over southern England. After a spell as an instructor his squadron went to Darwin and took part in its defence throughout 1943, flying the first Spitfire to down a Japanese aircraft. He returned to the UK in 1944 and served in a RAF public relations unit and administrative posts until his demob in 1947.

MURRAY, Allan A. HMAS Nepal: the Chameleon, 1939-43 (Men and Ships at War, Book 3). vii, 54p., illus. [n.p.], Family Murray Trust, 2017. ISBN: 9781521904572.

Describes the service in early World War II of the Australian-crewed destroyer Nepal when the author’s great uncle, Bobby Forbes, was a crew member. The ship started life intended for the Royal Navy as the Norseman, but was commissioned into the RAN. Soon after commissioning, she played the role of the fictional HMS Torrin in the 1942 film 'In Which We Serve'. She served mainly in the Indian Ocean.

BOYD, Andrew. The Royal Navy in Eastern Waters: Linchpin of Victory 1935-1942. xxi,  538p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2017. ISBN: 9781473892484.

An excellent study which is both well researched and well written. It links the war in the Middle East with the Pacific War and focuses on the undervalued importance of the Indian Ocean. It is supportive of Churchill and argues that a coherent rather than reactive strategy was in place.

A Corporal Meteorological Observer who served with the Catalina Squadrons in East Africa from 1945 describes the anti submarine war in the area. Full of personal reminiscences and anecdotal rather than analytical.

PEARSE, Anthony. From Stormy Seas to Calmer Waters: Sailor At Sea, Salesman Ashore. 68p., illus. Studley: Brewin, 2008. ISBN: 1858584272.

Brief memoir by a seaman officer who after Pangbourne served in Warspite as a midshipman which he joined on the west coast of Canada before she proceeded via Australia to join the Eastern Fleet.  He was with her at Salerno when she was struck by a German glider bomb.  After a navigation course at Dryad he served in Bermuda and West Africa before being sent home for his sub's courses.  As a Lieutenant he joined the Battle Class destroyer Gravelines, building at Cammell Laird's in Greenock.

More a scrap-book than a log-book, celebrating Australia's part in the first real defeat for Japan. A mix of recycled information and some useful primary source material.

Churchill thought the most dangerous moment of the war to be when a Japanese fleet moved into the Indian Ocean and against Ceylon in April 1942. This account examines the period in general and the attacks on Ceylon in particular. Naval events are unsympathetically treated as a backdrop to a detailed examination of the air warfare.

A straightforward factual account of the war on Australia's northern frontier.

This battle brought the first real check to Japanese southward expansion. TF44 with two Australian cruisers played a covering role on the outer fringe of the engagement.

The story of three South African members of the RNVR, drafted to serve on Dragon, thinly disguised as "HMS Westbrook." The book covers 1941-42, is highly compressed and often inaccurate, but does convey a real sense of period. Published in the UK in paperback in 1956 as Action Pacific.

The story of the little-known episode of the sinking of the German merchant ship Ehrenfels in Goa harbour, by the Calcutta Light Horse. Published in paperback as The Sea Wolves.

During this period he was Senior Naval Officer Persian Gulf and these letters record his daily round. In early 1942, on his relief, he was briefly, hastily and successfully moved to Burma to manage the naval side of the difficult retreat to India.