Category: The Royal Navy

The Secretary of the Allied Forces Mascot Club lists the strange variety of birds and beasts to have served in action. There is a section on naval mascots.

An autobiography, half of which covers the war. The author specialised in bomb and mine disposal.

A detailed account of the class of small minesweepers, built for the RN in the USA, known as BYMSs - British Yard Minesweepers, covering the ships, the men who served on them (mainly members of the Royal Naval Patrol Service), builders, experiences of the men on operations in all theatres plus a complete BYMS listing.

A brief but useful survey of her building and career, not least at war.

Fourteen brief memoirs of service on minesweepers in all theaters and from BYMS to Algerines.

An autobiography. Called up in 1941, he served for most of the rest of the war in Motor Minesweeper 172 in the Bristol Channel, off the coasts of Sardinia, Corsica and western Italy and in mine clearance of the Italian ports. An interesting little tale.

About one-third of the book covers the neglected topic of the destroyer minelayers of the 20th Flotilla in Home Waters and the work done in the Far East.

How two Australian RANVR officers became skilled at rendering bombs and mines safe in over 140 operations in the UK. Some of their exploits are reconstructed.

An autobiography. It concentrates on the war where he had a number of mine clearance roles. He served in trawlers in Home Waters, as an instructor, briefly in Walney as she charged the boom in Oran, then in staff appointments , often afloat, for the Mediterranean invasions, then was involved in mine clearance.

A participant gives an account of the success of the staff of HMS Vernon in tackling and beating the German campaign of mine warfare.

An excellent operational history of each of the nine flotillas plus an account of their postwar roles.

A sort of operational ragbag arranged by class and with much useful information.

Wilson was a local tradesman when war began. He quickly volunteered and trained for the Controlled Mine Watch Service. After a period of service on the Clyde, in January 1942 he sailed for Mauritius. This was idyllic if boring and, late in 1943, he was shuffled round the Indian Ocean, ending up in Colombo. In April 1944 they were drafted home and spent the last part of the war surveying and clearing ports.

Celebrates the design, development and deployment of the 105-foot wooden Motor Minesweeper.

A general history of naval signals, which covers several major actions of WWII through their signals at Narvik, the Bismarck chase, PQ17, Force K, the sinking of the cruiser Haguro - plus a selection of the Navy's famous wit. Reprinted by Douglas Boyd in 1994.

The wartime memories of a yachtswoman who was involved in running the tenders for seaplanes arriving in the Menai Straits.

Not really relevant to the story of the war, but the book is a mine of information. Aimed in part at "temporary sons of the sea."

A transcript of eight BBC broadcasts and a lecture given at the University of Oxford, all made by the Chief of Naval Information, Rear Admiral Dickson. Although the war was almost over, they are notably bland and intended to inspire rather than inform.

In 1942 the RN began to receive small craft from the US for harbour duties. Volunteer ferry crews were raised from the Small Vessels Pool set up for the Dunkirk evacuation. This is the story of the long voyage of HM Fleet Tender 22 from New York to Malta via the South Atlantic, in late 1943, under the captaincy of Temporary Lieutenant (RNVR) Admiral the Honourable Sir Herbert Meade Featherstonhaugh, GCVO, CB, DSO. A splendid tale.

Botlea was fitted out as a decoy ship. She later converted to an AMC.

In reality a history of the men from the Humber who served on the C Class cruisers and Armed Merchant Cruisers. Illustrated profusely and well.

Over thirty pages on their technical work in WWII.

This review of the postmarks and cancellation stamps of the Royal Navy is one of the more esoteric of naval byways.

An engaging account of her childhood, which usefully complements her father's memoirs. Only the final pages cover the war.

An anecdotal history of the Royal Naval Patrol Service. It used converted trawlers to tackle the myriad inshore tasks deemed suitable for minor vessels, yet they faced the same hazards as any fleet unit.

A popular account of the work of the minesweeping forces.

A German perspective on the role of Enigma, and the U-boats and weather ships which provided Enigma machines or related intelligence. Also speculates on half a dozen other boarded U-boats where information might have been gained. Excellent illustrations.

One of those involved gives an account of the role of photo reconnaissance and interpretation. Some mention is made of its naval value.

Tennant was officially the British Press Attaché in Stockholm throughout the war. But he was one of SOE's men and this is a lively tale of black propaganda, blockade running, and sabotage.

An important book assessing the impact of ULTRA. It reviews various campaigns and actions with a quite new eye in the light of what is now known of this intelligence.

He was called up in 1940 and served on HMS Jersey until he was selected for a commission in 1941. He specialised as a bomb disposal officer, serving in the Middle East, Greece, and Singapore.

The story of the minesweeping trawlers, by an author who served with them. Fullest in its account of the earlier years of the war.

Memoirs of a naval bomb and mine disposal officer. He volunteered in 1941 and trained as a bomb disposal officer. The book is arranged as a whole series of anecdotes.

A very well illustrated account of how the White Funnel Line ferries were taken up for war service as minesweepers.

A history of British mine warfare, with some 50 pages on WWII.

In 1943 the three "tiffies," slang for artificers or engineers, stood by the Algerines Aries and later Clinton, building in Canada. After an enjoyable time in North America, they sailed for the UK in December and were based in Granton. In mid-1944 one of the three was drafted to Portsmouth for an officer training course but was killed in an air raid on Southsea. Clinton moved to the Mediterranean in July for Operation Dragoon then was based at Malta, from which the second of the three was drafted in September after the two friends had fallen out. The 5th Minesweeping Flotilla, then moved to Piraeus, where Clinton was seriously damaged by a mine and after temporary repairs went to Taranto.

More sketches of the everyday round of life on the auxiliary minesweeper "HMT Sea Mystery," giving a decidedly rose-coloured view of the war at sea.

The fictitious trawler "HMT Sea Mystery" and her crew are described going about their minesweeping duties. The author, serving on such a vessel, presents a composite picture of his own and others' experience. Some of the stories first appeared in the Daily Mirror.

Gives an account of the dummy warships used in both world wars to deceive the enemy. Much of the book concerns the WWII career of Centurion which was disguised as Anson for part of the war. Reprinted by White Lion in 1977.

A history of mine warfare. Best on WWII, during which the author served, winning the George Medal for his work in defusing mines.

A history of the "P" Parties which helped open the ports of Europe by disarming mines underwater.

A poorly written but fact-rich account of the role of the minesweepers in the war at sea. Concentrates on home waters.

War memoirs of a George Medallist. He was posted to Vernon in 1939 and his gallantry in bomb disposal is described engagingly but modestly. In autumn 1942 he joined Abdiel as Torpedo Lieutenant and served until her sinking in Taranto Harbour in September 1943. After a series of brief appointments he had a staff appointment for D-Day, but by the end of the year had joined Apollo where he served until after VE-Day, then rejoining the staff of Vernon as a lecturer.

RN personnel were heavily involved in this work. An excellent account by an expert.

An autobiography. He served on Rosario in the Mediterranean. An earlier book covers his service on Illustrious in 1940-43.

A history of mine warfare. About half concerns British and German offensive and defensive use of the mine in WWII.

Mainly concerned with WWII. A good detailed account of operations in all theaters.

The authors use the reminiscences of numerous ex-crewmen to give a good account of this thankless and often forgotten area of the Royal Navy's work.

He joined up at the start of the war, failed flying training with the FAA, then took officer training and went to minesweepers. He joined Bude, sweeping in the Channel, then worked up Brixham which moved to the Mediterranean for Torch and the later invasions in Sicily and Italy and then work in Greek waters before returning to the UK in December 1944. He next joined Medway Queen in the Training Squadron at Granton as First Lieutenant. A nostalgic account of a "good war."

Maher joined up aged 18 in 1943. After training he joined Jason as a midshipman and on 1 May 1944 was promoted Sublieutenant on ML 137, equipped for minesweeping, which she did off Sword Beach. ML 137 took part in the clearance of Cherbourg and Brest. In June 1945 he was injured in a minesweeping accident in the Netherlands and was hospitalised, completing treatment early in 1947, when he was discharged.

The story of the Hall in Cumbria which was used as an Officers POW camp. Tells, the story, prints documents, has oral history and accounts of such famous escape attempts as Von Werra's.

An alphabetical nominal register by service and country. A facsimile reprint of a 1945 government listing.

Anderson was a CPO on Exeter when she was sunk. He was moved from his first camp at Macassar to Nagasaki where he worked in a shipyard for three years and survived the atomic bomb attack on the city. This account is largely based on a contemporary diary which he managed to keep in shorthand throughout his captivity.

The author was one of the 229 survivors of Perth who returned home in 1945. A very personal account.

This story told by a survivor from HMAS Perth gives a real idea of the adventures and sufferings of a group of POW's in the hands of the Japanese. Able-Seaman Bancroft was a POW in Japanese hands from March1942 to September 1944.

Of the 4500 of the Hong Kong garrison who died during the war some one thousand died directly or indirectly when their transport to Japan was sunk by USS Grouper in late 1942. A detailed account.

This is the first work that documents the experiences of Hong Kong's prisoners of war and civilian internees from their capture by the Japanese in December 1941, to liberation, rescue, and repatriation. While the prisoner-of-war main camps in Hong Kong itself have been mentioned in many other works, there has so far been no definitive chronology of their operation. Where the camps in Japan (to which many of the Hong Kong POWs were sent in six main drafts) have been mentioned, coverage has been superficial and limited in scope, and many camps have been entirely overlooked. This book includes them all, and the movements between them, using only primary sources and only - as far as possible - the words of those involved.

The author was one of the survivors of the sinking of HMAS Perth. Her loss is graphically described, but most of the book concerns his POW experiences.

Bird was captured by Komet when m.v. Australind was sunk. This autobiographical work is a full account of the workings of the Milag Nord prison camp for merchant seamen. He escaped in 1943.

The story of a rating who served in Oswald in the Mediterranean until her sinking, then spent five years in Italian camps.

Broom joined the Royal Naval Patrol Service in 1940 and served for two years on HMT Norse in the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1943 he moved to Special Services and was captured at Leros. Although he survived the war he died aged 58 and his letters and diaries are published here by his widow.

Cooper was a Lieutenant Commander on Exeter when she was lost. He spent almost four years as a prisoner in the East Indies and this is movingly described. Originally published by Hale in 1963 as Ordeal in the Sun.

The author's wartime experiences. As a young signalman, he was sunk on the Voltaire by a German raider. Rescued by the raider, he spent four years in POW camps and it is with this grim story that the book is mainly concerned.

Only two volumes were published and were arranged alphabetically covering Abdiel to Buzzard.

Includes brief details of the fate of the Athabaskan and Dieppe survivors.

He was captured in the North Sea in 1943 when his MGB was sunk. He soon bluffed his way from prison camp to Stockholm, disguised as a Bulgarian officer called I. Bagarov and then home. Reprinted by Hollis & Carter in 1954. US title: Escaper's Progress. Republished with that title by Pen & Sword in 2008 (ISBN: 1844158438).

The first third of the book covers the wartime career of the Exeter up to her sinking and the remainder the harrowing tale of a Japanese prison camp. Reprinted in 1990 by Allen (ISBN: 1852271515).

These almost 50 brief tales are taken mainly from POW WOW, the Newsletter of the Scottish Far East Prisoner of War Association. There are a few from merchant seamen and a few on the sea transports used to move the POWs.

Flying a recce from Warspite in his Walrus in 1940 he was shot down over Italy. In September 1943 while being moved from an Italian to a German prison camp following the armistice, he escaped and made it to the Allied lines. He was then based as an instructor in the UK but was killed in a plane crash in August 1944. This is the story of his home run, reconstructed from his own notes by his partner in the escape, Major Frank Simms.

The untold story of prisoner of war exchanges. Few of them happened but the tale of tortuous negotiations and dangerous journeys is well told.

Morgan was captured by the Germans in a partisan fishing boat off the Dalmatian Island of Lussin in 1943. His capture is briefly described, but the book concentrates on his term of imprisonment. US title: POW

An account of the loss of the Peterel at Shanghai in 1941, but more concerned with the fate of British POWs in Shanghai.

A continuation of Out of the Smoke. The story of some captured survivors of Perth, who suffered terribly at the hands of the Japanese when working to build the infamous railway. The author was a survivor and one of Perth's crew.

There is a graphic description of the sinking of Gloucester off Crete, but the bulk of the book describes his trials and adventures in prison camps in Greece, Austria, and Germany.

Three dozen brief reminiscences, some of naval relevance.

A second volume of technical essays.

The brief account of the nomadic wartime travels of a well-connected naval wife who traversed the globe from Malta to the United States following her husband.

A Chief Petty Officer in the Supply Branch gives his memoirs of service from 1925 to 1947. In 1939 he was in Liverpool in the Indian Ocean, Far East, and Mediterranean. After a short spell at Chatham he joined Heythrop in Northern waters. The rest of the war was spent in shore jobs in London, Trinidad, Grimsby, and Ceylon.

Despite bad eyesight, he got an engineer's berth aboard an A/S yacht. When put in for a commission, he was failed because of his eyesight and this process is graphically described. In a final chapter he tells of his return to sea with the Admiralty Ferry Service.

A noble attempt to make a technical subject accessible. Developments are related to naval actions, which makes the whole more comprehensible.

A yacht of the Auxiliary Patrol Service with a veteran RNVR crew, mined with only two survivors in June 1940. She caught the public imagination following a Times leader.

The autobiography of a young civilian girl in war. Much of the book concerns the end of the war in Falmouth when she was courting a volunteer naval officer serving on an LCT. Captures the spirit of the time.

This book covers all nonflying personnel from WAAF's to Air-Sea Rescue. The approach is chronological from the formation of the RFC until WWII, then tends to look at them by group rather than chronologically. There is some minimal naval information.

The strange story of a largely Free French manned Q-ship which was eventually sunk in the Atlantic in December 1942. Originally published in France in 1956.

A full history, half of which is devoted to WWII. Fairly general.

A dozen radio broadcasts on the work of the RN, giving personal impressions of incidents covering the whole range of the war at sea.

A series of detailed technical essays by those associated with the development of naval radar.

A campaigning local journalist tells the story both of the action when Petard captured the Enigma codes from U-559 and of his campaign to highlight the bravery of a local man, Colin Grazier, one of three men who boarded the submarine, losing his life in the process.

The mysterious story of the Q-ship HMS Fidelity. The author's obsession with her led to years of research and discussions with two of the ten survivors, as a means of piecing together her strange tale. A second edition was published in 1999, a third in 2000 and a fourth in 2010.

The autobiography of the daughter of Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton. She was first married to an officer in the Devons based in Malta from 1939-42 and tells an engaging tale of the siege, cipher work and marmalade making for submarine crews. Evacuated to the UK, she worked for Admiralty Intelligence thereafter.

A biography of Claude Péri and Madeleine Bayard which tells of their remarkable wartime adventures, work in SOE and eventual death when he captained Fidelity. An interesting new perspective on the murky tale.

Although there are only twenty or so pages on WW2, this is a fascinating and almost by definition beautifully illustrated work.

Admiral Morris was Hydrographer of the Navy in 1985–90 and brings a deep understanding to the subject, which is fully and effectively covered.

Tells of her lifetime travelling the world as the wife of a Surgeon Rear Admiral from the 1920's through to the 1950's. Includes two episodes where the family stayed in Simonstown

Memoirs of a naval chaplain, with 40 pages on WWII, mainly based at Simonstown.

A sketch of the life of a promising young Englishman killed in the war. A budding film-maker and head of the Admiralty's Educational Film Unit, he was killed in a plane crash.

From the lewd to the maudlin, these songs catalogue Jack's work and play in peace and war.

A general history with full coverage of WWII. Sixteen chaplains died in action and each one is noted. There is also good coverage of the monotony of life, even for a chaplain, on an AMC.

Thomson was recently retired when recalled to act as censor. He describes the unenviable tightrope between informing the public and helping the enemy.

He joined the FAA in 1939. He volunteered for CAM ships but soon transferred to 807 Squadron on Ark Royal. After her sinking, the squadron moved to Argus and campaigned in the Mediterranean before returning to the UK to re-equip with Seafires. In 1944 he was part of the Naval Mission to the US. Most of the book is concerned with his record breaking flights in the Fairey Delta in 1952. Reprinted by Grub Street in 2000 (ISBN: 1902304438).

In July 1940 he joined the RCN and immediately moved to England for training, but by December volunteered for the FAA and by September 1941 had won his wings. 1942 and 1943 were spent moving round various African bases, but in 1944 he moved to a frontline squadron and joined 1841 Squadron on Formidable based in northern waters. He saw action againstTirpitz. By early September they were ordered to the Far East, but did not leave until January 1945. As part of the BPF they saw hard action and he was awarded a posthumous VC for an attack on Japanese ships on August 9th 1945. A no doubt accurate account which gives little sense of the man.

Spencer was called up in 1942 and joined the FAA. Trained in the United States he joined the new 853 Squadron at the end of 1943. In the spring of 1944 they joined Arbiter at Vancouver. She returned to the UK in the summer and after time at Machrahanish the squadron joined Tracker and that autumn began to support Arctic convoys. After one round trip they transferred to Queen operating against Norwegian targets. The squadron was disbanded at the end of May 1945 and the crews dispersed.

An extensively illustrated brief account.

A massively comprehensive reference work covering the squadrons, planes, helicopters, commanding officers, bases, codes, trophies, carriers, and equipment of the FAA throughout its 60 years.

A well-illustrated and well-researched operational history of the much loved Stringbag, including particulars of each plane. A revised second edition was published in 2000 (ISBN:0304357111).

A fascinating mine of data, listing the history and fate of each FAA plane, but also listing pilot fatalities in training. Comprehensive and exhaustive.

An engaging and picaresque autobiography with a full account of his active wartime career as he volunteered in 1939 and slowly moved from TAG to pilot.

A short general narrative history of British naval aviation is followed by comprehensive details of all aircraft types which have served with the RNAS or the FAA. An essential reference tool with many later editions, entitled British Naval Aircraft Since 1912.

An excellent and well illustrated brief account of the aces of the Fleet Air Arm.

The first proper history of the Fleet Air Arm, in which a professional historian uses recently declassified material to argue that the RN's adjustment to air power was not as poor as is often supposed.

Over 2,000 Corsairs were delivered to the FAA from 1943 onward and their employment over Norway and the Pacific is briefly described in a book mainly concerned with American exploits.

An expansion of letters to his parents covering a training period overseas in 1942–43.

He joined up as an Air Mechanic and spent an enjoyably recalled war at a series of bases in the UK.

A good general survey.

Wallace joined the FAA in 1940 and after training joined 831 Squadron with Indomitable in September 1941. After action against the Japanese and a brief spell in Kenya she went to the Mediterranean but was damaged in the Pedestal convoy action. The author returned to the UK and joined 18 Squadron of the RAF, which promptly moved to Algiers. He was badly wounded in December 1942 and returned to the UK. After a period as an instructor he joined 812 Squadron flying Barracudas in June 1944. The Squadron operated from Vengeance, which was based in the Mediterranean.

Wellham joined the RAF in 1936 and transferred to the FAA in 1939. He was appointed to 824 Squadron in Eagle and served on the China Station and in the Mediterranean, memorably taking part in the attack on Taranto. He left her for a series of temporary appointments before becoming Commander (Flying) on Biter in the North Atlantic. In August 1944 he transferred to Empress in the same role. He saw out the war with her in the Pacific.

Wilson was on Glorious in 1939 then helped cover the BEF withdrawal. In 1941 he joined 804 Squadron working on CAM ships and successively survived the sinking of Patia, Michael E., and Springbank. In 1942 he took over as CO of 834 Squadron on Archer. He next worked on developing MAC ship tactics and after sailing with them joined the staff of FO Carrier Training at Largs.

A general account, profusely illustrated.

An enjoyable if slight history of "the great headline stories," much of it recalled through the memories of participants.

The author had an active career, serving in Ark Royal in 1940–41, including the Bismarck hunt; in Victorious and Formidable in 1941–42, in Icelandic waters and with the Eastern Fleet respectively. In 1942–43 he served on liaison and training duties in the Mediterranean and took part in the Salerno landings. After a spell in India he returned to the UK as a squadron commander. An enjoyable gossipy book which reads like a letter to an old friend.

Aims to be a comprehensive review. Starting with a brief history, it continues with a full war diary of all of the major operations. Looks at the food, accommodation, training, activities and uniform as well as the mens' character. Gives a view of the aircraft, squadrons, naval air stations and aircraft carriers, battleships and cruisers involved. The book ends with a review of what is available at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton.

First-hand accounts of flying the FAA's most famous World War II aeroplane.

A long overdue biography of the naval ace who flew with Bader in the Battle of Britain. Later he joined 880 Squadron and operated against Norway and in WS convoy support from Furious. In late 1941 the squadron joined Indomitable, working up in the Clyde and West Indies before joining the Eastern Fleet for the attack on Madagascar, then taking part in the Pedestal convoy. He next returned to Yeovilton as a flying instructor. In late 1943 he was posted to 15th Fighter Wing as Wing Leader based on Illustrious, which joined the Eastern Fleet. He was killed in a tragiclanding accident at China Bay in Ceylon in April 1944. The book questions the blame officially attached to him.

A biographical dictionary which usefully records the careers of the little known handful of FAA pilots who were loaned to Fighter Command for the Battle of Britain. A supplementary volume was published in 1992 (ISBN: 0947893253).

He was sunk on Courageous, served in the Admiralty, was at Dakar and Madagascar, commanded RNAS stations including the infamous Twatt, served in Ceylon and ended the war in command of Trouncer.

He joined the RN in 1938 as a Midshipman and trained as an Observer in the FAA. He joined 815 Sqdn and flew minelaying operations off the Dutch coast before joining Illustrious as she commissioned. He fought throughout her Mediterranean campaign, including Matapan and Taranto. After she was damaged he fought in the Western Desert, Greece and Crete. From late 1942 he spent a spell in the UK on night shipping strikes in the Channel with 841 Sqdn and the following year moved to be Air Staff Officer on MAC ships, but then saw out the war on a Signals course. His was an action-packed and much decorated wartime career.

This improbable looking aircraft saw gallant service in many roles throughout the war, most notably in the early years, and this is engagingly described.

Five brief biographies. They include Frederick Rice. "Ben" Rice sank U 64 from his Swordfish at the Second Battle of Narvik. He was based on Warspite and went with her to the Mediterranean and the Matapan and other actions. In 1942 he returned to the UK as a communications pilot.

Accounts of the major carrier actions are interspersed with a lively series of reminiscences.

An autobiography. He joined the FAA in 1943 and trained in Canada then flew Seafires in the Pacific.

An autobiography covering his service with 888 and 1850 Squadrons.

The rambling reminiscences of a Swordfish pilot, known as Uncle because of his age. He volunteered in 1939, served in the UK until 1941, when his squadron went to Ark Royal. After her sinking he went to the replacement pool in Ceylon where he was shot down by a Japanese fighter. This was followed by a spell in the Naval Air Repair Yard in Nairobi, Army cooperation in Madagascar, and then in 1944 a posting to the Air Accident Prevention Section at the Admiralty.

A brief 80-page history is followed by a selection of photographs.

A biographical guide.

He learned to fly in 1928 then went to Canada. He joined the FAA in 1939 and after service in the Trials Unit joined 807 Squadron flying Fulmars. In December 1942 he joined 809 Squadron on Victorious. In 1943 he went to Boscombe Down as a test pilot. He was finally seconded to Supermarines where he worked on the development of the Seafire.

The autobiography of a professional pilot. After a chequered youth, he joined the FAA in 1939 and by 1940 was in fighters. He joined the newly formed 807 Squadron and took a flight to join Pegasus in Belfast. She sailed as a kind of Q ship against Condors with several convoys in 1941 and with some success. He was soon back at Yeovilton but was posted to Duxford to join the Naval Air Fighter Development Unit. In December 1941 he joined 809 Squadron at Hatston and served with them on Victorious, covering Russian convoys. He returned to Vickers Armstrong to help in the development of the Seafire and after nine months there moved to Boscombe Down as a test pilot. The book finishes at the end of the war. A helpful but slightly vague account. First published in 1984 by Blandford as Those Magnificent Flying Machines

An autobiography..

Publishes in chronological order the official lists and citations of all those receiving honours for service or gallantry at sea, in the first fifteen months of the war.

A readable memoir. The author volunteered in 1941, aged 17. After training in the UK and Canada he flew Seafires to cover the D-Day landings, then sailed for the Far East in Ruler. He next served with the British Pacific Fleet in 1844 Squadron, flying PRU Hellcats from Indomitable and later Formidable.

Published in the UK by the Ministry of Information as Fleet Air Arm.

He joined up in February 1941. After training as a pilot in the UK and Canada he joined 833 Squadron as supernumerary at Machrahanish early in 1942, then joined 835 Squadron at Lee on Solent. The squadron went to Hatston and late in the year joined Activity - but almost at once were returned to Machrahanish. More short moves followed until December 1943 when the squadron joined Nairana. He saw active service with her for a year, but late in 1944 went to a monoplane conversion course then became a flying instructor until demobbed. A good account of a war filled with much danger, much flying but little action.

An oral anecdotal set of memories from Torpedo Air Gunners.

The short tragic career of Brownrigg, who died in a crash-landing in 1944, aged 20. A popular and Christian lad, this is a moving witness to his short life.

The autobiography of a pilot and test pilot in the FAA during WW2 and post war. He joined up in 1942 and trained in the USA. There are accounts of his time with various RN units including 879 squadron on board Attacker in the Mediterranean, as a POW and as Deck Landing Control Officer on Chaser in the BPF.

A first brief attempt to record the mainly wartime history of this group of men.

He joined up in 1939 and after training served mainly in the Mediterranean. The book contains much information on the exploits of other TAGs.

Biographies of seven pilots, one from each of the major combatants. The British, Italian, and Japanese choices have naval relevance.

The RAF comes in for much criticism in this account. Best known for the sinking of the cruiser Köningsberg in Norway, this lovingly recreates the Skua's design and career – albeit with a number of factual errors.

A pictorial outline which presents the salient facts and describes the various aircraft.

A particularly well-illustrated account, with much material of naval relevance.

A disappointing and scrappy account of an important wartime post. Fills out the picture of operations in Northern waters.

Essentially a study of espionage in the Far East between the wars based on official intelligence material released in the 1980s. Issues explored include Britain's appeasement policy towards Japan, and the conspiracy theories which claim Churchill and Roosevelt had prior knowledge of the attack on Pearl Harbour.

An account of the early 1943 convoy battles, focusing on the use of intelligence.

An overview of the battle which reassesses ULTRA and puts it in its context as a useful and very occasionally crucial tool, but ultimately only one facet in a complicated campaign with many dimensions.

A set of US Army War College Conference papers, which includes a notable paper by Beesly on PQ17.

Seven lengthy essays, by various contributors, with an emphasis on the invasion of Europe.

An account of Petard's immensely important capture of U 559. A detailed account which would have made an excellent journal article is turned into a very padded book.

A dry and unemotional work, as befits its purpose, with naval intelligence well covered. The final volume was written by Sir Michael Howard. A one volume abridged edition with the same title was published in 1994. (ISBN: 0116309563).

Sir William Stephenson considered her the greatest unsung heroine of the war. Her daring exploits included the acquisition of the Italian naval cypher, which is claimed to have affected the battle of Matapan, while the acquisition of the Vichy French cyphers affected beneficially the North African Torch landings.

The best and fullest account of the influence of ULTRA on naval operations.

At the strategic core of the Allied naval effort in the Battle of the Atlantic were Commander Rodger Winn of the Admiralty Operational Intelligence Centre and US Navy Commander Kenneth Knowles of their F-21 Atlantic Section. Together, Winn and Knowles influenced the most pivotal decisions and operations in the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and other naval theaters as well. They fostered an atmosphere of Anglo-American cooperation that was described by Patrick Beesly as "probably closer than between any other British and American organizations in any service and in any theatre."

First published in Poland in 1979. This is one of the early works on ULTRA decryption and has a good section on the war at sea.

The highlights of WWII are disposed of in 50 pages, with an eye to the controversial and some brisk judgments.

A scholarly account of the intelligence war which had only recently come to public knowledge. Has some background on the naval value of the material.

A useful life, with almost sixty pages on his wartime career.

A good account of a neglected area with much naval relevance.

A full account, interesting but incomplete, for example in its omission of any discussion of the value of ULTRA, which was still considered secret in 1968.

The author served in Section 17-M of the Naval Intelligence Division. He was responsible for all nonoperational intelligence, including ULTRA decodes, for deception using double agents and liaison with other intelligence services. An enjoyable if coy account of a recently declassified area. US title: Beyond Top Secret ULTRA.

An account by one of its organisers of Operation Mincemeat, in which an attempt was made to fool German Intelligence about the forthcoming landings in Sicily by allowing them to find a dead body with false documents. The body was washed ashore in Spain, having been "planted" at sea by Seraph.

A very detailed and well illustrated account.

Sir Alan Peacock served with the Y Service, which intercepted enemy signals at sea. He was called up in 1942 from university and was drafted for Intelligence work because of his knowledge of German. He served on Woolston on East Coast convoys before going to King Alfred for officer training. Assigned to the staff of Captain (D) Plymouth, he was almost immediately wounded on Limbourne in a disastrous Tunnel operation in the Channel. After survivor's leave he was posted to work with Arctic convoys and finally to the occupying forces in Germany.

Fleming's wartime service as personal assistant to Admiral Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence, is covered in under fifty pages. It was a mixture of painstaking hard work and madcap exploits.

A participant describes the role of photo-interpretation.

An excellent account of the fight for the naval Enigma code covering the codebreaking, traitors and heroic cutting out and captures of U-boats and weather ships.

An alphabetical list of those honoured containing name, rank, ship, date of award, and citation. A limited edition of 500 copies.

A roll call of bravery. Arranged by conflict, with an alphabetical listing and a brief citation.

The first attempt to list all of the George Cross recipients with some account of the reasons for the award. Incomplete, but a good try.

A straightforward listing arranged by award, with bare personal details.

Lists 19 WWI and 31 WWII VCs, giving a brief biography and account of how the medal was won. Covers FAA and Coastal Command as well as attacks on shipping. A second edition published by Grub Street in 1992.

The Commandos of course won many such awards.

The pseudonymous author has transcribed the Naval Secretary's Honours and Awards card index after his retirement from the RN in 1986. This has been linked to the MoWT weekly supplements to the London Gazette. The computer has then been used to sort these into groups. This list is arranged by ship followed by a small section of miscellaneous awards. There is full indexing and some limited information on the reasons for the awards and the fate of the ships.

The DSM was awarded to petty officers or those of similar rank serving at sea. This is a chronological list of the WWII awards, with brief details of the reason for the award and a reference to the appropriate issue of the London Gazette.

Covers WWII. Primarily a civilian award, it was won by many merchant seamen and by some naval bomb disposal crew. Gives details of the awards and references to the London Gazette.

Tales of VCs of WWII, including Wanklyn, Ryder, Warburton-Lee, Sherbrooke, Fraser, and Magennis from the RN.

Nine of the 14 submarine VCs were won in WWII. Most of the stories are well-known.

Selected exploits of some of the 523 people awarded Lloyd's War Medal for bravery at sea in WWII.

He was called up in 1940 and by the end of the year joined Encounter at Gibraltar. In December 1941 he transferred to the shore signal station at Singapore. In February 1942 he escaped in a small minesweeper which was captured near Palembang. Most of the book concerns three-and-a-half grim years then spent as a POW in Sumatra.

Arranged alphabetically by ship. There is a very short description of the action, a list of awards to crew, and a citation regarding the award of the war medal.

An account of the actions in which 24 VCs were won by naval personnel in WWII. Aimed at younger readers.

A list of honours and the ships that bear them, with such information as can be squeezed into the confines of a small handbook.

Describes all 124 VCs won at sea by the Royal and Dominion Navies, FAA, and Coastal Command, including the 28 won in WWII. The awards are listed in chronological order with brief notes of a page or two on the recipient and the action.

Colonel Bassett joined the Marines in 1907 and served with them for over fifty years. Early in WWII he was attached to Naval Intelligence to set up the Inter-Services Topographical Unit, where he served throughout the war.

A good account which helpfully explores the role of politics as a brake on such cooperation.

More than half the book is concerned with his distinguished wartime career. He was Director of Naval Intelligence from 1939 to 1942, but was removed after disagreements on the Joint Intelligence Committee. He then commanded the Indian Navy for the rest of the war.

A good general account with a generous amount of space given to naval matters, notably the Battle of the Atlantic.

Mainly a military history, but with some mention of naval concerns.

Few memories not very well told.

The story of a hunt for "the man who never was." Seraph dropped the body of a "Major Martin" off the Spanish coast. It carried fake documents aimed at distracting the Axis from the planned invasion of Sicily.

COURTNEY, G. B. SBS in World War II: The Story of the Original Special Boat Section of the Army Commandos. xxi, 242p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Hale, 1983. ISBN: 0709012918.

The brother of the founder of the SBS writes authoritatively on their wartime career prior to absorption by the Royal Marines. The book concentrates on the Mediterranean but has sections on the rest of Europe and the Far East. Founded in 1940, they never numbered more than 100 men and specialised in reconnaissance and sabotage.

BRAND, Stanley. Achtung! Swordfish!  Merchant Aircraft Carriers. 220p., illus. Leeds: AMS Educational, 2009. ISBN: 1860298052.

An autobiographical account of life as a Swordfish pilot on MAC ships. His war was full of danger if not action.

CAMERON, Ian. Wings of the Morning: The Story of the Fleet Air Arm in the Second World War. 288p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1962; New York: Morrow, 1963.

A good account of the major wartime actions of the service. Reprinted by White Lion in 1972 (ISBN:  0856176850).         

DAVIES, Richard Bell. Sailor in the Air: The Memoirs of Vice Admiral Richard Bell Davies. x, 245p., illus., index. London: Davies, 1967.

He joined the RN in 1901 and retired in 1941. Only the last eight pages are then concerned with Admiral Davies’ varied career in WWII. Although he retired in 1941, he almost immediately returned to service as a Convoy Commodore before being appointed to command the escort carrier Dasher.  After taking part in the TORCH landings he became Captain of the trials escort carrier Pretoria Castle and retired for the second time in October 1944. Reprinted by Seaforth in 2008.                               

DOE, Mervyn Spencer. A Rough Passage. viii, 199p. Durham, Pentland, 1999. ISBN: 1858217288.

Memoir of man who started life in an orphanage aged 4. He joined the RN and was recruited as a cook, serving in RNB Chatham before being drafted to HMS Cumberland, in which he served in the South Atlantic during the early part of the war. She was involved in the Graf Spee operation) and the abortive Dakar operation when Cumberland was hit (12 killed). He transferred to the FAA as an Engine Mechanic.  He was drafted to 776 Squadron, HMS Blackcap at Speke Airport, Liverpool and later to the staff of Max Horton ( C-in-C Western Approaches) to maintain personal aircraft..  Later 776 Squadron moved to HMS Ringtail Woodvale where he was advanced to Leading Air Mechanic.  After VE Day he was drafted to HMS Waxwing Dunfermline for HMS Colossus which was fitting out at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead for service in the British Pacific Fleet.  After the atom bombs were dropped his draft to Colossus was cancelled and he was sent to HMS Merlin, Donibristle i/c the maintenance of Fireflies and Corsairs.  He was demobbed in 1946.

JACKSON, Robert. Strike from the Sea: A Survey of British Naval Air Operations 1909–69. [x], 234p., illus., index. London:  Barker, 1970. ISBN: 0213001586.

A general account with about half devoted to WWII.

POPHAM, Hugh. Sea Flight: A Fleet Air Arm Pilot’s Story. 200p. London: Kimber, 1954.   

After training, the author joined Indomitable in late 1941. A work-up in the West Indies was followed by a move to the Indian Ocean, the invasion of Madagascar and the PEDESTAL convoy in the Mediterranean. A mid-air collision then led to a period in plaster. In July 1943 he joined Illustrious for the invasion of Italy; this was followed by training as a deck landing officer and spells on Campania and Striker before moving to the Admiralty. A very well written account.

POPHAM, Hugh. Into Wind: A History of British Naval Flying. xvi, 307p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Hamilton, 1969. ISBN: 0241017718.

Over one-third of this excellently produced history outlines the role of the FAA in WWII.

SPENCER, Alan. The Great Adventure: A Contemporary Account of a Naval Pilot's Training in World War II. viii, 104p., illus. Woking, author, 1991. ISBN: 0946771839.

An autobiographical account. He volunteered in 1941 and this is a record of his training using a lightly edited diary kept at the time.

BEESLY, Patrick. Very Special Intelligence: The Story of the Admiralty’s Opera-tional Intelligence Centre 1939–1945. xv, 271p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Hamilton, 1977; New York: Doubleday, 1978. ISBN: 0241896061.

The author served in OIC from 1940 and describes its war against Germany, but excluding the Mediterranean theatre. Complements Maclachlan’s book and benefits from the relaxation of security restrictions and the release of some secret files to the public domain, as well as personal knowledge. It presents a clearer picture than previously possible of how intelligence affected the war at sea.

BREUER, William B. The Secret War with Germany: Deception, Espionage and Dirty Tricks 1939–1945. 328p., bibliog., illus., index. Novato, Calif.: Presidio, 1988; Shrewsbury: Airlife, 1991. ISBN: 1853100374.

Much relevant naval material.

BROOKES, Andrew J. Photo Reconnaissance. 247p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Ian Allan, 1975. ISBN: 0711005702.

A general history which concentrates on WWII. It was useful to the navy and this is touched on briefly. 

PUGH, Marshall. Commander Crabb. ix, 165p., illus. London: Macmillan; New York: Scribner, 1956.

Crabb gained notoriety when he disappeared in Portsmouth Harbour in 1956 in mysterious circumstances. This biography also describes his wartime exploits fighting the Italian 10th Light Flotilla from Gibraltar then clearance diving in northern Italy. US title: Frogman.

BOYD, George. Boyd’s War: the Story of a Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve fighter during the Second World War. 127p., illus., index. Newtonards: Colourpoint, 2002. ISBN: 1898392064.

After his pilot training in Canada and Scotland, Boyd served as a naval gun spotter on D-Day and later served in the Pacific. He was present in Tokyo Bay when McArthur took the Japanese surrender. Well produced but rather bland.

MORTIMER, Gavin. The SBS in World War II: An Illustrated History. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Osprey, 2013. ISBN: 9781782001898.

A well illustrated introduction to their activities

BROOME, Jack. Make Another Signal. [v], 255p., illus. London: Kimber, 1973. ISBN: 0718301935.  

An anthology of signals from the Glorious First of June onward, but concentrating on WWII. Really a second edition of his earlier book Make a Signal. Illustrated with the author’s own drawings.

JAMES, Tony. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary 1905–1985. 144p., illus., index. Liskeard: Maritime Books, 1985. ISBN: 0907771211.

A class list with leading details of each vessel plus brief notes on service and many illustrations.

SIGWART, E. E. Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Its Ancestry and Affiliations 1600–1968. [iix], 221p., illus., index. London: Coles, 1969. ISBN: 0229985815.

A description of each ship and of its career, with a short introductory essay on the service.

SMITH, Peter C. Royal Navy Ships’ Badges. 96p., bibliog.,  illus., index. St Ives: Balfour, 1974. ISBN: 0859440117.

A representative sample of forty badges, with histories of the ships which bore them.  

STUBBS, Pam. Unsung Heroes of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines: The Far East Prisoners of War 1941-1945. 144p. Lincoln: Tucann, 2011. ISBN: 9781907516115.

A Roll gives the full name and service number of each of these Far East Prisoners of War (FEPOW's) and the countries in which they were held. Included for those who did not survive is the place and date of death and where buried - or, for those with no known grave, the memorial where commemorated.

FOOT, M. R. D., & LANGLEY, J. M. MI9: The British Secret Service that Fostered Escape and Evasion 1939–1945 and Its American Counterpart. 365p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Bodley Head, 1979. ISBN: 0370300866.

Describes inter alia how some sailors escaped from captivity and how the RN was sometimes involved in aiding escape.

EDGE, Spence, & HENDERSON, Jim. No Honour, No Glory. 192p., illus. Auckland: Collins, 1983. ISBN: 0002172089.  

The little-known tragedies of the Italian merchantmen Jason, sunk by Porpoise in December 1941, and the Nino Bixio, sunk by Turbulent, both off Greece and with the loss of hundreds of British and Dominion POWs. Edge was one of the New Zealand survivors.

GALLEGOS, Adrian. And Who Are You? 406p., illus. London: Adelphi, 1992. ISBN: 1856540669.

An autobiography, which is in effect a substantially expanded second edition of his earlier book From Capri into Oblivion, the tale of a young RNVR officer captured and made a POW in Italy.

TRENOWDEN, Ian. Operations Most Secret. SOE: The Malayan Theatre. 231p., bib-liog., illus., index. London: Kimber, 1978. ISBN: 071830036X. 

Force 136 (Group B)'s exploits are recorded. They mounted special operations from Ceylon between January 1943 and the end of the war. They were landed by air and submarine. Reprinted in a revised edition by Crecy Books in 1994 (ISBN: 0947554432).

HARDING, Gil. HMS Caledonia: the Apprentices' Story 1937-1985. Memories of ex-Apprentices and Staff of Caledonia. 288p., illus. [n.p.], Old Caledonia Artificer Apprentices' Association, [2003].

Gives good coverage of training in World War 2.

HICHENS, Antony. Gunboat Command: The Life of ‘Hitch’ Lieutenant Commander Robert Hichens. DSO*, DSC** RNVR 1909-1943. xvii, 348p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2007. ISBN: 1844156567.

A member of RNVR, he was called up in October 1939 and after training joined the minesweeper Halcyon. In April 1940 he moved to Niger, but after Dunkirk switched to Coastal Forces. It was here that he built a towering reputation for fresh thinking and innovation as well as great gallantry until his death in 1943. Written by his son and based on his diaries.

OWEN, Charles. Plain Yarns from the Fleet. x, 212p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Sutton, 1997. ISBN: 0750907703.

A largely social history of the RN in the twentieth century, amplified by well-chosen tales from those who served. These are from a mix of published and archival sources.  Reprinted by Wrens Park in 1999.    

POOLMAN, Kenneth. Experiences of War: The British Sailor. vii, 180p., illus., index. London: Arms & Armour, 1989. ISBN: 085368992X.

Over seventy tales from diaries, letters and interviews are used to try and describe what it was like to be a common sailor. A huge range of material is deployed and linked with skill. Republished in paperback in 2000 by Cassell for Past Times and entitled Anchors Aweigh! Recollections of World War II Sailors (ISBN: 0304356328).

WELLS, John. The Royal Navy: An Illustrated Social History 1870–1982. x, 306p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Sutton, 1994. ISBN: 0750905247.

An excellent history which shows fully the RN’s change from a relatively small professional service to one capable of dealing with a mass global war.  

GILBERT, Martin. The Churchill War Papers. Volume I: At the Admiralty September 1939–May 1940. xx, 1370p., index. London: Heinemann; New York: Norton, 1993. ISBN: 0393035220.

From single-sentence instructions to voluminous reports, Churchill’s prodigious output is carefully documented and annotated.

AUSTIN, John, with CARTER, Nick. The Man Who Hit the Scharnhorst: The Ordeal of Leading Seaman Nick Carter. 189p., illus. London: Seeley Service, 1973. ISBN: 0854220119.

Carter fired the torpedo from Acasta which hit the Scharnhorst, while the destroyer was making a vain attempt to protect Glorious as she left Norway. Acasta was sunk and he was the sole survivor. Carter later served on Manchester and Howe.

BULLEY, Hugh. A Boy at Sea. [x], 461p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Velvet Hoof, 2005. ISBN: 0954604512.

He grew up as a prep school headmaster's son and went to Dartmouth aged thirteen in 1938. In 1942 he left to join Queen Elizabeth in Alexandria as a snotty. He moved to the a/s auxiliary Cocker to get sea time but soon moved to Eridge and was with her when she was badly damaged by air attack. He then moved to Javelin and then on to Orion. For a busy part of the Mediterranean war. In mid-1943 he returned to the UK for further training at Excellent followed by an appointment to Nith, refitting in Glasgow as a headquarters ship and in which he served off the Normandy coast until her damage from air attack in late June. At the start of 1945 he joined Tyrian refitting for the Eastern then Pacific Fleets, reaching Sydney just before war's end. A full and anecdotal autobiography enriched with the author's own paintings.

CURTIS, Stanley B. Happy in My Hammock. 130p., illus. Shrewsbury, author, 1992.

An autobiography covering a happy life. It describes the inevitable highs and lows of life in the Royal Navy between October 1935 and March 1948 including his survival following the sinking of Hermes.

DE CHAIR, Henry Graham. Let Go Aft: The Indiscretions of a Salthorse. [iv], 195p., illus. Tunbridge Wells: Parapress, 1993. ISBN: 1898594023.

About one-third of the book covers WWII. In 1939 he was Captain of Thracian in Hong Kong and served there until January 1941 when he returned to the UK. In May he took over Vimy, mainly on the Gibraltar run and then in the South Atlantic. In the spring of 1943 he became First Lieutenant and Training Officer at King Alfred. In early 1944 he moved to Mountbatten’s staff in SEAC. This was soon followed by command of Venus in late 1944 and she soon sailed to join the East Indies Fleet and take part in the sinking of the Haguro and the ending of the war in the Far East. A rather patchy account.                      

DUFF, Douglas V. On Swallowing the Anchor. 224p., illus. London: Long, 1954.   

Covers the same ground as May the Winds Blow!, but his unorthodox war is again recorded in engaging style.      

FOX, Hubert. Letters from Sea. 67p., illus. Torquay: Goss Albion, 1985.

In 1939 he was First Lieutenant on Boadicea and in 1940 moved to command an MTB flotilla. In the spring of 1942 he joined to the staff of Admiral Pegram in Freetown and after 12 months there returned to the UK. In early 1944 he became Staff Officer Operations to a D-Day Assault Group and that autumn moved to the Mediterranean to undertake a similar job in the Adriatic. Finally he was an Operations Officer for the projected invasion of Malaya. These are literally letters and show the usual wartime caution and censorship. Another edition was published by Merlin Books in 1996. (ISBN: 086303750X).

GRANT, Donald. A Working Holiday 1940-1945. viii, 247p. Gisborne: Allen & Hodden, 1992. ISBN: 0959796584.

A New Zealander who volunteered in 1940, he joined Pytchley after training. The 21DF mainly covered East Coast convoys. On promotion to Leading Telegraphist he joined Onslow. She was based at Scapa for Arctic convoys, the Vaagso Raid, the Harpoon convoy and the Battle of the Barents Sea. Then came D-Day and more Arctic work. By war’s end he was a CPO. An enjoyable account of life on the lower deck.

HARVEY-JONES, Sir John. Getting It Together. 378p., illus., index. London: Heinemann, 1991. ISBN: 0434313777.

At 13 he entered Dartmouth and in 1940 went straight into action. Torpedoed twice in the next two years he gravitated to submarines. In 1945 he was sent to learn Russian and on leaving the service rose to become chairman of ICI.

MIDDLETON, Judy. HMS King Alfred 1939–1945. 86p., bibliog., illus. [Brighton: author], 1986.

A history of the famous wartime training school for officers, which also considers RN recruitment policy for officers.  Reprinted by Hove Council in 1989.     

HICKLING, Harold. Sailor at Sea. 224p., illus. London: Kimber, 1965.   

The enjoyable but guarded memoirs of a seaman. Hickling served in both world wars and, saw action at the 1914 Battle of the Falklands. In WW2 he commanded the dummy ships of Force W then the cruiser Glasgow and later the Normandy Mulberry harbours, retiring as an admiral in 1947.

JERRAM, F. R. Tales From the Middle Watch. vii, 103p., illus. Sherborne, author, 2003. ISBN: 1858453429.

Entertaining if somewhat disconnected reminiscences.  He joined Dartmouth at 13 and went to sea in January 1940.  He served initially in HMS Southampton (18 months), then Warspite (6 months), was involved in the landings in French North Africa in November 1942.  This was followed by a spell in Pytchley.

JONES, Tristan. Heart of Oak. 283p. London: Bodley Head, 1983; New York: St. Martin’s, 1984. ISBN: 1853109665.

A bawdy but enjoyable autobiography from the lower deck by a teller of tales who claims to have been in many of the major actions of the war, from training at Ganges to the sinking of Comorin, from Arctic convoys and PQ17 to the sinking of the Hood. Subsequently proved to be the fictitious work of a born storyteller who did not join the RN until 1946.        

KERSLAKE, S. A. Coxswain on the Northern Convoys. ix, 191p., illus., index. London: Kimber, 1994. ISBN: 0718305086.

A prewar trawlerman, he saw very active service in northern waters on the Northern Gem, notably in Norway and with Arctic convoys. In 1943 he joined the African Coastal Flotilla, initially at Algiers and saw service in the Mediterranean.  A good read.

MCGEOCH, Ian. The Princely Sailor: Mountbatten of Burma. xiv, 285p., bibliog., illus., index. London:  Brassey’s, 1996. ISBN: 1857531612.

A supportive and exculpatory account by a loyal supporter of this charismatic figure. Republished by Sparkford in 2009 as Mountbatten of Burma: Captain of War, Guardian of Peace  (ISBN: 1844256863).                                

MELLY, George. Rum Bum and Concertina. iii, 183p. London: Wei-denfeld & Nicolson, 1977. ISBN: 0297773410.

A riotously funny account of Melly’s anarchic naval career as an ordinary seaman. From his conscription in 1944 he spent the next four years as a misfit, homosexual, jazz enthusiast, dilettante, surrealist, and journalist. A very different view of shore training establishments and the base ship Argus at the end of the war.

PACKER, Joy. Deep as the Sea. x, 246p., illus. London: Eyre Methuen, 1975. ISBN: 041332690X.

A biography of her husband, Admiral H. A. Packer. Most of the material covering WWII also appears in Grey Mistress.            

PAWLE, Gerald. The War and Colonel Warden: Based on the Recollections of Commander C. R. Thompson, CMG OBE RN (ret.), Personal Assistant to the Prime Minister 1940-45. [4], 427p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Harrap; New York: Knopf, 1963.

Colonel Warden was Churchill’s cover name when travelling. Thus this is an account of his and his assistant’s travels during the war years. Reprinted by White Lion in 1974 (ISBN: 0856176370).  

RADFORD, J. Pilot Aboard. viii, 319p., illus. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1966. ISBN: 0851580211.

The author first went to sea in the merchant service in 1916 and served in a number of ships until 1935 when he joined the Pilotage Service at Southampton. In 1939 he was called up and served in Carnarvon Castle for six months, mainly in the South Atlantic. He was next appointed to Dunluce Castle, an accommodation ship at Scapa, where he stayed until 1944, latterly acting as Fleet Compass Officer. He returned south in 1944 to use his pilotage skills in the run-up to the invasion of Europe.   

ROBERTSON, I. G. Renegade Signalman RN. 96p., illus. Plean: [author], 1987. ISBN: 0904475344.  

The author began his war in Curlew, until her sinking in Norway, then moved briefly to the new Combined Operations HQ before going to the Middle East with Laycock’s Commando. He quickly became involved in organising the naval liaison for the evacuations of Greece and Crete. He was wounded in the latter campaign, which is described at length. After recuperation and a visit to the US, he took command of the Combined Operations Signal School at Troon in 1942. The following year he moved to the staff of SEAC. After a brief spell with the Pacific Fleet he returned to the Combined Operations HQ in London. A beautifully produced and illustrated limited edition of 250 copies. 

SIMMONS, John R. Campaign Ribbons. 188p., illus., index.   Kansas: Sunflower UP, 1990. ISBN: 9780897451321.

The autobiography of a junior paymaster. He began the war as a purser in Empress of Australia, notably in the Norwegian Campaign. Next came service on  Hilary and later Keren for the assault on Madagascar and for the Torch and Husky landings. He moved on to Portland to stand by Trouncer and stayed there until the end of the war.

SHAW, Frank H. Stirring Deeds of Britain's Naval Might. 255p., illus. London: Harrap, 1940.

A rapidly produced account of naval actions in the first six months of the war. Graf Spee, Rawalpindi, and the cutting out of the Altmark are the main events recorded.

LINCOLN, F. Ashe. Secret Naval Investigator. 207p., illus. London: Kimber, 1961.

The story of the RN's Department of Torpedoes and Mines Investigation Section. He was a member of the RNV(S)R and a barrister, whose legal training was of value in sifting evidence of new German mine weapons. Describes how the German threat was neutralised. A new edition was published by Frontline in 2017, ISBN: 9781526701190.

GREAT BRITAIN. Ministry of Information. Fleet Air Arm. 128p., illus. London: HMSO, 1943.

A popular account of the role of the Fleet Air Arm in WWII from Norway to Torch. US title: The British Navy's Air Arm. A facsimile reprint was published by Uncovered Editions in 2001 (ISBN: 0117025399).  

BUCKLE, Norman. I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II. 90p., [n.p.], C. Murray, 2012. ISBN: 9781519046123.

This short, annotated diary, edited by his daughter, records his extraordinary experiences and the on-going banalities of everyday life on a naval air-base in Sierra Leone..

MILLS, N. H. Fleet Air Arm memories: Tales of the Brummagem Bastard. 114p., illus. [n.p.], R.S. Pyne, 2017. ISBN: 978152024767.

Norman Harry Mills did not suffer fools gladly. Nicknamed the Brummagem Bastard, he was a fanatical Ockers (Ludo) player as well as a Communist. His memoirs include the Pedestal Convoy, Operation Torch when he was attached to the naval battalion with the first army in North Africa (1943); the Sicily and Italian campaign of 1944 and dealing with kamikazes in May 1945. Edited by his grandson.

SCHOFIELD, B.B. With the Royal Navy in War and Peace: O’er the Deep Blue Sea. xviii, 270p. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2018. ISBN: 9781526736475.

An excellent memoir, edited by his daughter. After serving as a midshipman in the First World War, Schofield qualified as a navigator and interpreter in French and Italian. At the outbreak of WW2 he was Naval Attache in The Hague and Brussels before becoming Director of Trade Division (Convoys) during 1941-1943. While commanding King George V he witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in August 1945. After the war he wrote several notable works on WW2 RN actions.

JENKINS, Roy. Churchill. xxi, 1002p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Macmillan, 2001. ISBN: 0333782909.

Although this major biography has only limited coverage of his period at the Admiralty it is included as one of the finest pieces of historical writing of the last fifty years.

BUCKINGHAM, Fred F. The Strife is O'er: Trials and Tribulations in the Long and Varied Career of a Royal Navy Sparker. 224p., illus., index. Minster Lovell: Bookmarque, 1993. ISBN: 1870519205.

He joined the Navy in 1929 and was a PO Telegraphist in Havock in the South Atlantic when war broke out. She moved north for the Norwegian campaign, then back for the evacuation of Holland. After a year in Iceland he went to submarines in mid-1941, and after training joined P 35 at Scapa. By year's end she was in Malta. After a hard 14 months P 35 (now Umbra) returned to the UK. She recommissioned as an A/S training submarine based at Campbeltown. In mid-1944 he moved to the depot ship Adamant at Trincomalee and later Fremantle and Hong Kong. An interesting and unusual perspective from a strong character. Published in a limited edition in hardback.

ROBERTS, John. Destroyer Cossack: Detailed in Original Builder’s Plans. 128p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2020. ISBN: 9781526777065.

Using the original plans as the centrepiece of this book, an acknowledged expert gives a full description of the design and construction and service of the famous destroyer. Profusely illustrated.

The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Roll of Honour 1939-1945. 224p. London: Wave Heritage Trust, 2001.

An alphabetical list of all the Empire volunteer reservists who gave their lives. Bare personal details are given including age, date of death. Compiled by  Paula Vokes of the Trust.

The Navy in Action: A Collection of Thrilling Photographs. 40p., illus. Glasgow: Navy League, 1946.

A fund-raising pamphlet with pictures mainly from the last two years of the war.

OSBORN, Reg. Trust Me…I'm an Old Sailor, Volume One. 295p., illus. London: Banyan Books, 2006. ISBN: 095415651X.

A whole series of tales and personal reminiscences about the Royal Navy through the images and notably in WW2.

SHAW, Frank H. Epic Naval Fights. 280p., illus. London: Laurie, 1955.

Some of the major wartime actions are recalled, the sinking of Rawalpindi and Jervis Bay, the Plate battle and its aftermath, the Altmark incident, destroyers at Narvik, MTBs in the Channel, X-craft raids, and Russian convoys.

PHILLIPS, Lawrie. The Royal Navy Day by Day. 4th ed. xi, 853p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Spellmount, 2011. ISBN: 970752461779.

A fourth edition of the indispensable reference work previously edited by Shrubb then Sainsbury (qv). A much revised fifth edition was published in 2018 (ISBN: 9780750982665).

LOEWENHEIM, Francis L., LANGLEY, Harold D., & JONAS, Manfred. Roosevelt and Churchill: Their Secret Wartime Correspondence. 807p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Barrie & Jenkins; New York: Saturday Review Press, 1975. ISBN: 0841503346.

Over 500 documents are annotated and a scholarly introduction to the relationship given.

JONES, Ben. The Fleet Air Arm in the Second World War: Volume 1- 1939-1941, Norway, the Mediterranean and the Bismarck (Publications of the Navy Records Society, Volume 159).  xxix, 593p., bibliog., illus., index. Aldershot: Ashgate for the Navy Records Society, 2012. ISBN: 1409452573.

 An excellent set of essays accompanies each section of well chosen and edited documents.

MILLS, Charles J. It's a Dog's Life: a Biography. 83, [5]p., illus. Cobham; Tee-line, 2006. ISBN: 0955326109.

An understated story of life in the Fleet Air Arm.

MACINTYRE, Ben. Operation Mincemeat: The True Spy Story That Changed The Course of World War II. xiii, 400p., bibliog, illus., index. London: Bloomsbury, 2010. ISBN: 0747598681.

Offers a mass of new detail, and enchanting pen portraits of the British, Spanish and German participants.

BLAIR, Joan, & BLAIR, Clay. Return from the River Kwai. 338p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Macdonald & Jane's; New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979. ISBN: 0354044176.

One of the little known tragedies of the war. When the survivors of the building of the Burma-Siam railway were being moved to Japan in 1944, many of them died when their transports were sunk by American submarines. Some of them had already survived the sinking of the Australian cruiser Perth. Based on survivors accounts.

OAKLEY, Derek. Bagged in World War 2: Two Tales of Royal Marines Prisoners Of War - The Jim Fallace Story And The Diary Of Benjamin Knapton. (Royal Marines Historical Society Special Publication No. 24).  103p., illus. Royal Marines Historical Society, 2001.

Fallace was captured in Hong Kong when it fell. He was sunk in the Lisbon Maru en route to Japan and was one of only half a dozen to escape ashore in China and then managed to reach India where he joined the RINVR for the rest of the war. Knapton was born in 1899 and joined the Marines in 1917 and served for twenty-one years. He was recalled to service in 1939 and served in DEMS. He was on s.s. Natia when she was sunk in the South Atlantic by the German raider Thor (listed as Ver in his diary) in October 1940. Rescued by her, he then spent four years in German POW camps. This pamphlet includes his contemporary diary.

REES, Quentin. Cockleshell Heroes: The Final Witness. 320p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Amberley, 2010. ISBN: 184868861X.

Claims to be the definitive account of the mission. Republished in 2013 by Amberley to mark the 75th anniversary of the raid with the new sub-title, The Definitive History (ISBN: 9781445616898).

CUNNINGHAM, A. B. A Sailor's Odyssey: The Autobiography of Admiral of the Fleet, Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope. [4], 715p., illus., index. London: Hutchinson; New York: Dutton, 1951.

A full autobiography, factual rather than critical, of one of Britain’s greatest admirals. He is perhaps best remembered for his total domination of the Mediterranean. A new edition was published by Seaforth in 2022, ISBN: 9781399092951.

HODGES, Peter. Royal Navy Warship Camouflage 1939–1945. 80p., illus. London: Almark Publishing, 1973.

A brief well-illustrated account.

STOCKER, Jeremy. The Postwar Fleet. Volume 1, 1944-1950 (Navy Records Society, Vol. 171). xx, 600p., bibliog., index. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer for the Navy Records Society, 2024. ISBN: 9781739296414.

A classic Navy Records Society volume full of official documents and records. Although it covers the post-war fleet, it opens with the so-called Blue List which summarises the huge 1942 and 1943 new construction programmes and then examines planning in 1944 and beyond.

WEBB, Adrian James. Churchill’s Secret Chart Makers: The Road to D-Day and Beyond in Somerset 1939-45. xii, 252p., bibliog., illus., index. Taunton: Harry Galloway Publishing, 2024. ISBN: 9781862410527.

The untold story of the RN Hydrographic Department based in Taunton, Bath, Exeter and Froome.  During the war they produced over thirty million charts and navigational products distributed to almost 5000 allied vessels. A fascinatingly detailed account.

COCKER, M.P. Mine Warfare Vessels of the Royal Navy 1908 To Date. 223p., illus., index. Shrewsbury: Airlife, 1993. ISBN: 1853103284.

A basic but comprehensive list by class, with leading details, and appendices covering losses. Includes vessels requisitioned, chartered and purchased. Over 200 illustrations.

BADEN-POWELL, Dorothy. They Also Serve: An SOE Agent in the WRNS. 192p., illus. London: Robert Hale, 2004. ISBN: 0709077157.

She worked in the Scandinavian Section of the SOE, but after eighteen months there was sent to try and infiltrate an enemy spy ring based in Plymouth. An entertaining tale.

WOODLAND, Derek R. A History of the Bincleaves Site. 112p., bibliog., illus. Weymouth: Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, [2001].

        This thorough and comprehensive history records the history of the naval  research establishment associated particularly with the development of torpedoes  from its creation in the nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth century.

REDFORD, Duncan. A History of the Royal Navy: World War II. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. London: I. B. Tauris, 2014. ISBN: 1780765460.

A well received general history.

LINCOLN, F. Ashe. Odyssey of a Jewish Sailor. 78p. London: Minerva, 1995. ISBN: 1858636000.

A fairly bland account of his naval service, up to and including the formation of the Israeli Navy. A lawyer and a member of the naval reserve he was called up in 1939 and specialised in mine clearance.  He later served with 30 Commando in the Mediterranean examining German naval stores and late in the war went to Washington to work on captured Japanese torpedoes.

RAVEN, Alan. Warship Perspectives, Camouflage Royal Navy.  4 vols., illus. Lynbrook, N.Y.: WR Press, 2000-2003.

The volumes are arranged chronologically.

CRITCHLEY, Mike. The Royal Navy in Focus 1930–39. 110p., illus., index. Liskeard: Maritime Books, [1982]. ISBN: 0907771041.

A series of captioned photographs in A–Z order by ship name, mainly from the immediate pre-war period and all from the collection of Messrs Wright and Logan of Portsmouth

MELLIS, D. B. N. Mostly from the Bridge. v, 275 p., illus. Isle of Mull : CCC Design, 2003.. ISBN: 0954119215.

An autobiography it was first privately published in 2002.  His naval career began in 1929. He served throughout the war and notably took the destroyer Malcolm to Dunkirk eight times to evacuate troops. This book describes that action and events before and after it in many parts of the world.

MOORE, George. Building for Victory: The Warship Building Programmes of the Royal Navy 1939-1945. 196p., illus. World Ship Society, 2003. ISBN: 095433101X.

Covers all the formal conversations and meetings which took place discussing the Royal Navy's building programmes of World War II. But it goes a little further than that and includes some very basic details of major warships which were seriously considered for construction that in the end never were. It also has lengthy appendices containing details on building capacity, industrial strength etc.

BRODHURST, Robin. Churchill's Anchor: Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound OM, GCB, GCVO. xv, 320p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Cooper, 2000. ISBN: 0850527651.

The first biography of this central figure is a well researched and sympathetic one which looks kindly on his actions. Reprinted by Pen & Sword Naval in 2015, ISBN: 9781473841833.

BAKER, Richard. Dry Ginger: The Biography of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Michael Le Fanu, GCB, DSC. 254p., bibliog., illus., index. London: W. H. Allen, 1977. ISBN: 049101788X.

Le Fanu was to rise to become First Sea Lord. During the war he served on Aurora, at Whale Island, on Howe, and as liaison officer with the American 3rd and 5th Fleets.             

Admiral Gilbert “Monkey” Stephenson was an unorthodox, unpredictable and colourful personality who ran the training base HMS Western Isles at Tobermory with a unique style which earned him the eponymous title. Over 1000 escort vessels worked up there. Some seventy pages of this biography are devoted to his wartime career.  

BONNETT, Stanley. The Price of Admiralty: An Indictment of the Royal Navy 1805–1966. 272p., bibliog., illus., index. Lon-don: Hale, 1968. ISBN: 0709104065.

A social history which views the treatment of the lower deck as consistently shameful. En route he savages Churchill, battleship design, Pound, and officers. Two chapters on WWII.

POLAND, E. N. The Torpedomen: HMS Vernon's Story 1872–1986. 415p., bibliog., illus., index. [n.p.: author], 1993. ISBN: 0859373967.

Rear Admiral Poland led the team which compiled this full history of the achievements of not only Vernon but of "her people" and the weapons they designed. A densely packed and sometimes densely written book, which will prove a definitive work.

COCKER, Maurice. Destroyers of the Royal Navy 1893-1981. 136p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Ian Allan, 1981. ISBN: 0711010757.

A brief guide arranged by class, with leading details and some note of losses. A revised edition entitled Royal Navy Destroyers 1893 to the Present Day (ISBN: 0752461591) was published by Seaforth in 2011.

STURMA, Michael. Fremantle's Submarines : How Allied Submariners and Western Australians Helped to Win the War in the Pacific. ix, 236p., bibliog., illus., index. Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press, 2015. ISBN: 9781612518602.

This book by an Australian academic lovingly captures the spirit of the Allied base and the arduous work of the flotillas based there.

KENT, Barrie. Signal! A History of Signalling in the Royal Navy. xi, 371p., bibliog., illus., index. Clanfield: Hyden House, 1993. ISBN: 1856230066.

A gently informative and ruminating history, much of it relating to the problems of expanding both numbers and technology in WWII. A second edition was published in 2004.     

LINDOP, J. B. AB RP3: AB Lindop, J. B., His Life and Times. 113p., illus. [n.p.: author, 1995].

A hearty self-published account of his service. He joined up late in 1944 and after training at Royal Arthur specialised in Fighter Direction, joining Fighter Direction Tender 13.  He served on after war’s end. It was first published privately in 1989 and a revised edition was published in 1995. It was then republished in 2015 by Mercianotes as A Sailor’s Tale: The Wartime Reminiscences of AB. RP3. D/JX 540875, Lindop, J.B.  ISBN: 1514802139.      

HAMILTON, Duncan. Touch Wood. ix, 229p., illus. London: Barrie & Rockcliff, 1960.

He joined the FAA in 1939 and after training was sent to Norway. His ship was sunk en route but he was rescued by Curlew and promptly sunk again. On reaching Norway he was soon wounded in action and returned to the UK for five months convalescence. Once recovered he went to 771 Squadron for communications and ferrying duties, followed by a base job at Hatston as Senior Air Engineering Officer for the Home Fleet. He later went to Port Reitz near Mombasa in a similar role. He tells an engaging tale of his incident-packed war, despite the backroom role. He went on to become a racing driver. Reprinted by Duncan Hamilton in 1990, with fuller retelling of his adventures. (ISBN: 0951694502.

WALDRON,T. J., & GLEESON, James. The Frogmen: The Story of the Wartime Underwater Operators. 191p., illus. London: Evans, 1950.

The first account of the wartime role of frogmen, chariots, X-Craft and P-Parties. Reprinted by the Elmfield Press in 1975, ISBN:  0705700461. Republished in 2014 by Fonthill as Naval Frogmen: Wartime Underwater Operators, ISBN: 9781781551721.

GROVES, Robert E. Book of Warships of the British Empire. 40p., illus. London: Rolls House, 1941.

“An artist’s impressions of the Great Fleet which guards the shores of the Empire,” giving some details of the various classes.         

MASTERMAN, Brian. HMS Honeysuckle: The Ship that Goole Bought. iv,66p., illus. Goole: [author], 2000.

In 1942 Goole adopted the corvette after a fundraising drive which gathered over £320,000. Although there is an account of the corvette’s career and its interaction with the town, the focus is on how Warship Week raised large sums in Goole and the surrounding areas.

LEE, David, Beachhead Assault: The Story of the Royal Naval Commandos in World War II. 272p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Greenhill, 2004. ISBN: 1853676195.

The first account of the RN's own commandos, formed in 1941 and led by Beachmasters, who secured the beaches on the way in, and were prepared to defend them on the way out. Largely concerned with the major landings in the Mediterranean and D-Day. Reprinted several times.

LODWICK, John. The Filibusters: The Story of the Special Boat Service. vi, 189p., illus. London: Methuen, 1947.

This small but effective raiding unit operated in the Eastern Mediterranean performing various covert operations. Reprinted by Greenhill in 1990 as Raiders from the Sea (ISBN: 1853670685), with a new foreword by Lord Jellicoe who commanded SBS for almost two years. Reprinted again by Greenhill in 2018, ISBN: 9781784383459.        

An army autobiography. For a time he served with an irregular unit which was involved in an abortive raid on an airbase in Sicily. This meant extensive cooperation with the Navy.

30 Assault Unit was the brain child of Ian Fleming. It was a mixed service unit whose role was to land with the assault forces and to press ahead to capture scientific and military intelligence. The editor was a member of the unit and collects the reminiscences of a cross-section of survivors. A revised second edition was published in 2003 (ISBN: 0952625725) .

A solid account of the operations of these special forces.

An engaging and well written account of the unit which specialised in acquiring documents from the enemy.

Over 4000 canoes were made and the contribution they made to the war was immense, but has remained untold until now. The author tells the story of the development and use of these canoes, from Combined Operations to SOE.

Effectively an official history. A full, detailed, and scholarly account. Republished by Routledge in two volumes in 2004.

Leif Larsen escaped from Norway in 1941 in a fishing smack and from then on fought ceaselessly to free his homeland. In 52 trips across the North Sea and back he laid mines, attacked the Tirpitz, fought seaplanes, and conveyed agents, arms, and refugees. A stirring tale.

Covers all WWII forces from Commandos to COPP and the Special Boat Section. Also 50 pages on postwar special forces.

His career began in the Royal Navy, surviving the Portsmouth Blitz and an attack by sharks off Reunion, both vividly described, before he joined the SOE. His role as off-shore navigational lead marker was crucial to the Anzio operation's success.

A popular account of the work of the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties, who operated in advance of the Allied invasions in Europe and the Southeast Asia Command area.

The modest but engaging memoirs of a founding member of the WWII raiding forces. As a young subaltern in the Black Watch he took part in the retreat to Dunkirk. He swiftly joined the Commandos then the SAS and SBS and played an active and daring part in their Eastern Mediterranean Operations.

Excellent original research on clandestine operations. Strong on SBS activities and the war in the Aegean and Adriatic.

Relying heavily on unpublished, oral and official material, this is an authoritative and readable account of all COPP operations.

A personal memoir from a member of Number 5 Combined Operations Pilotage Party, who took passage in submarine and canoe to survey possible landing beaches.

Jellicoe's war, mostly in the SAS and SBS, could hardly have been more out of the ordinary, exciting or, for the reader, stirring. His is an enviable record of behind-the-lines action against the King's enemies, epitomised by winning a DSO as a 24-year-old lieutenant — a rare distinction indeed for one so junior.

The seventieth anniversary of the raid is marked with yet another definitive account. In this case Lord Ashdown is a former member of the SBS and writes fluently and using new sources.

The story of the raid intermingled with the authors attempts to retrace the journey of the raiders by canoe.

From a respected historian this claims to be the first full account of the raid for fifty years.

The story of Operation Frankton, the raid on enemy shipping in Bordeaux Harbour by a small party of Royal Marines in 1942.

There is a brief account of the famous raid on Bordeaux, including an appendix giving a contemporary German view of the raid. However the bulk of the book is made up of his memoirs of service with the SBS in the Aegean and his post-war career in the Malayan police and in retirement. A lively memoir. Reprinted by Seaforth in 2009.

Sparks joined the Marines in 1939 and spent two years on Renown. After a spell of illness and the death of his brother on Naiad he joined the Commandos. He was in the cockle with the leader of the raid on Bordeaux Harbour, Major Hasler. The raid and their escape to Spain are described.

Includes 30 pages on his war service, mainly in training establishments.

Daedalus II specialised in air engineering training for the Fleet Air Arm.

A slight general work with some useful material on the major Skegness training base, HMS Royal Arthur. A new edition was published in 1998. (ISBN: 0902662899).

The training of an ordinary seaman, catching graphically the transition from civilian to sailor. Continued in Lower Deck.

Describes three irregular naval units. They were concerned with the landing of agents in and out of occupied Europe; Marines undertaking special operations from cockles - including the "Cockleshell Heroes"; and an Intelligence Assault Unit which aimed to capture enemy documents while moving with or ahead of assault troops.

A detailed work on a very detailed topic, with some naval interest. Volume One covers Singapore and Changi, while Volume Two covers the Dutch East Indies

The author was a stoker who volunteered for submarines in 1940. After training he joined Otway then moved to Sahib as she completed in May 1942. He served with her in the Mediterranean in April 1942. He was taken prisoner but later escaped and much of the book covers this period in Italy. He met the advancing Allies in late 1944 and after repatriation joined Tuna based in Scotland for the rest of the war.

The story of a dog called Judy. She was a pet on the RN river gunboats on the China Station and was sunk with Grasshopper during an attempted escape from Singapore. The bulk of the book is concerned with her prisoner of war experiences, which led to the award of the Dickin Medal, the animal VC.

The biography of one of the first of the raiders, killed in North Africa in 1943 after much active service.

Short reminiscences arranged chronologically. Some limited naval material.

The author has trawled archives and interviewed veterans in order to piece together the history and record of this elusive special forces unit which fought with great distinction and achieved results disproportionate to its size.

Mainly a guide to the insignia, clothing and equipment, with brief accounts of some memorable actions.

The Italian adventures of a young RNVR Lieutenant in Special Forces. Mainly concerned with his capture, escape, and adventures in Italy, Germany, and Austria.

Seven tales of bravery from the war. One of them tells of the Cockleshell Heroes Raid on Bordeaux.

Records the activities of four special service units: MGBs running supplies from Sweden; a converted fishing boat picking up refugees from occupied France; Q Ships; a Royal Marine Force in Burma.

The author describes yet another little known unit, in this case the RN Commandos whose job was to make the beachhead secure and to direct and control the arrival of landing craft.

One-third of this brief history is devoted to a summary of wartime events at the barracks.

Another description of some secret operations. This tells of raiding forces in the Aegean, the Sea Reconnaissance Unit in Burma, the tragedy of a raiding party landed in Norway to attack shipping which was captured by the Germans and later executed in Sachsenhausen and Belsen, and finally the African Coastal Flotilla whose task was to land agents and equipment on the Mediterranean coastline.

The biography of Odd Starheim, who fought with the Norwegian resistance. He seized the s.s. Galtesund, which was taken to Aberdeen, but was killed while trying to repeat the exploit.

The Special Norwegian Naval Unit was based in Shetland. Their aim was to land men and cargo in Norway for the underground and to bring refugees back to the UK. US title: Across to Norway.

An unsuccessful attempt to land Norwegians in Northern Norway in 1943.

The first Norwegian account, by a participant, of the special operations immortalised by Howarth in The Shetland Bus.

A history of the various groups of swimmer-canoeists and shallow- water divers who preceded then formed the SBS. These irregular groups operated from Norway to Singapore during the war. The second half of the book covers the postwar years up to and including the Falklands Conflict.

A good biography of a legendary raider of astonishing bravery, who won the only SAS VC.

Lassen was a Danish merchant seaman who joined British irregular forces and served with great gallantry in the Mediterranean and Aegean, most notably with the Special Boat Section and the SAS.

An American translation of his Norwegian autobiographies. See also the British version entitled Underwater Saboteur.

The author was parachuted into Norway in 1943 and was responsible for sabotage attacks, particularly on shipping.

Minshall spent his life trying to prove that amateurs would always beat professionals - and losing. A well-connected child of the establishment he spent the prewar years cruising round Europe. He joined the RNVR and worked with Ian Fleming, plotting madcap escapes such as blowing up the Iron Gates on the Danube. He was exiled to New Zealand by Admiral Godfrey (a bête noire), but returned to Europe to spend the latter part of the war as naval liaison officer to Tito's partisans. What are intended as humorously self-deprecating memoirs become irritatingly full of blind prejudice.

Henty-Creer's autobiography is accompanied by an examination by his sister and a naval author who set out to prove that X 5 did in fact deliver a successful attack on the Tirpitz.

The author joined the WRNS aged 17 in 1943. After training she spent the rest of the war in the Southampton area. This is a lighthearted account of her service. A second edition was published by Warsash Nautical in 1993 and a third by Catweasel in 2004, subtitled Adventures of a Wren Stoker in World War 2, featuring D-Day in Southampton (ISBN: 0954746708).

The story of women's work in the war, including Wrens, laced with personal details.

The broadcaster was a Wren driver in the northeast of England for the first 18 months of the war, before going to OTC. This is a brief and humorous account of her adventures in those months.

Uses Lee Miller's photographs to provide an extended photo-essay showing the multifarious wartime roles of the WRNS.

The author was a billeting officer who then joined the WRNS, first as a courier and then as a Wren stoker in the pre-invasion south of England. She had fallen in love with an Australian engineer serving with the RAF. He was posted to the Middle East and these extracts from her letters beautifully record the pains of separation and the vagaries of life at the Home Front.

A fragmentary wartime autobiography which covers her service in the Scilly Isles which was used as a base for such diverse groups as air sea rescue launches and special forces.

A frank autobiography. He volunteered under the Y Scheme in January 1942. He did his CW sea time on Cleveland and by Christmas was a Temporary Acting Midshipman. He volunteered for hazardous duty and trained as a charioteer. His frustrating but dangerous war was full of training and one major and successful operation in the Far East.

Describes Operation SOURCE, the X-Craft raid against the Tirpitz in Kaafjord in 1943. US title: The X-Craft Raid.

An exhaustive assembly of information on the development and operation of human chariots.

First published in Norway in 2003, this usefully explores German, British and Norwegian sources to argue that Henty-Creer probably did make an attack in X5. Also describes attempts to find the wreck of the X Craft.

A compelling story largely told through personal reminiscences.

Written by an amateur historian whose father was involved in building X-Craft, this is a collection of personal reminiscences strung together with linking accounts of training and action.

A photo-essay gives a panoramic view of their wartime duties.

A popular account of a small part of the Royal Navy, which operated with great bravery in almost every theatre of operations. US title: The Midget Raiders.

A biography of Lieutenant Godfrey Place who commanded X-7 and was captured in the attack on Tirpitz. He was awarded the VC. He served until 1970.

CHATTERTON, E. Keble. Leaders of the Royal Navy (Leaders of Britain, no. 1). 126, [2]p. London: Hutchinson, [1940].

Potted biographies of Admirals Pound, Forbes, and Cunningham.

OLLARD, Richard. Fisher and Cunningham: A Study of the Personalities of the Churchill Era. 192p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Constable, 1991. ISBN: 0094704902.

A masterly study which makes no attempt to give detailed career histories, but uses the thread of their careers to illustrate the character of two of the greatest admirals of the twentieth century. Their relations with Churchill are examined with some relish.

JONES, John Charles. From the Fo'csle Messdeck to the Wardroom. iv, 120p., illus. Lewes: Book Guild, 1987. ISBN: 0863322050.

Jones served from 1917 to 1953, rising from Boy Seaman to Lieutenant. In WWII he served as "Guns" on Jupiter in the North Sea, then moved to Lively. After she was sunk in the Mediterranean, he became a Bomb Disposal Officer, mainly based in that theatre.

ELLIOTT, Peter. Allied Minesweeping in World War 2. 201p., bibliog., illus., index. Cambridge: PSL; Annapolis: NIP,1979. ISBN: 0850593506.

Describes the mines, sweeping techniques and the work of the minesweepers in the various wartime theaters. Also includes anecdotal material and detailed accounts of particular operations such as the clearing of the Scheldt. Concentrates on the European theatre.

IRVINE, James W. The Waves Are Free: Shetland/Norway Links 1940 to 1945. xiv, 257p., bibliog., illus., index. Lerwick: Shetland Publishing, 1988. ISBN: 0906736102.

Commandos and agents, MTBs, submarines, and fishing boats all played a part in ensuring that, through constant raids, Norway was an operational theatre throughout the war.

DICKSON, Bill Chatterton. Seedie's List of Coastal Forces Awards for World War II. xi, 302p., bibliog., index. Tisbury: Ripley Registers, 1992. ISBN: 095133803X.

This list is arranged by ship then base with appropriate indexing and some limited information on the reasons for the awards.

DICKSON, Bill Chatterton. Seedie's List of Fleet Air Arm Awards 1939–1969. xi, 156p., bibliog., index. Tisbury: Ripley Registers, 1990. ISBN: 0951338021.

This list is arranged by carrier and base, then squadron, then miscellaneous awards with appropriate indexing and some limited information on the reasons for the awards.

DICKSON, Bill Chatterton. Seedie's List of Submarine Awards for World War II. xi, 159p., bibliog., index. Tisbury: Ripley Registers, 1990. ISBN: 0951338013.

This list is arranged by submarine, then flotilla and depot ships with appropriate indexing and some limited information on the reasons for the awards.

DICKSON, Bill Chatterton. Seedie's Roll of Naval Honours and Awards 1939–1959. 832p. Tisbury: Ripley Registers, 1989. ISBN: 0951338005.

A roll of 50,000 names of all those who won awards while serving with or in the Royal Navy, giving name, rank, award, ship or unit, occasion for the award, London Gazette reference, and date of investiture. An exhaustive record.

The profusely illustrated memoirs of a radio mechanic.

The Y scheme was a pre-entry training scheme for underage but aspiring seamen. This pamphlet describes the work of the Navy in wartime and how to volunteer for the scheme. It was written by John Moore.

Uses first-hand accounts and archival research, to describe how nearly two million citizens joined the Royal Navy. Recounts the training methods that transformed these raw recruits into an effective fighting force.

Includes a chapter on WWII in this domestic history.

The book concentrates heavily on WWII and on the personal experience of those who were trained at the various establishments dotted around the UK in WWII and at Ganges at other times. From Jack Cornwall to Class 112 lost in its entirety on Royal Oak, 15- and 16-year-olds trained hard and sometimes paid the supreme sacrifice.

Essentially the story of the training of RN navigators from 1900 to 1977, with substantial mention of WWII.

A history which gives a great deal of its space to the defeat of the German magnetic mine.

The history of the Navy's gunnery school, with 30 pages on the Island in WWII, by a sometime Captain of the School.

A history of the training ship based on diaries, logs and reminiscences. There is a full account of her wartime tribulations.

An enchanting description of a young girl's move from civilian to service life. The story revolves largely round her training and a long period based at Oban in 1943–45.

The record of a trip made in 1944 by the author, visiting various establishments where Wrens were employed, is used as a vehicle for a brief account of their varied wartime duties.

Broome's drawings and cartoons are accompanied by short rhymes describing the pleasures and hazards of wartime life in the Wrens. Reprinted by Kimber in 1974 (ISBN: 0718303733).

Contains 55 captioned photographs in a booklet which accompanied an exhibition in the National Maritime Museum, marking 50 years of naval aviation. Just over half covers WWII.

She served throughout the war, mainly at Plymouth most notably over the D-Day period and latterly at Liverpool and Kyle of Lochalsh. This is a moving account of daily life during the war, including her marriage and widowhood when her childhood sweetheart and husband was wounded and later dies after a training accident.

An anecdotal history.

The author was a former Commandant of the WRNS. This profusely illustrated history is laced with snippets of reminiscences.

A WRNS autobiography. She joined up in 1940 and spent most of her war in the Middle East, and this is fully described. The cover gives her name as Elizabeth Whitelaw-Harvey and the title page as Elizabeth Harvey.

Apparently reconstructed from diaries. She joined up after Dunkirk and served at St Merryn, Machrahanish, Greenock, Candy and Colombo before returning to civilian life at war's end to train as an opera singer. A fresh, lively memoir.

Describes the nicer and more social side of wartime Wren life in the second half of the war with time spent in East Africa and Australia.

She joined up in 1942 as a naïve young girl from Leicester and spent most of the war as a Wireless Telegraphist based at Londonderry. Gives an excellent flavour of what it was like.

A skilfully woven mixture of her own career, joining from a somewhat privileged background, and that of friends and colleagues, often using original letters and diaries.

A pleasantly told tale of one woman's exciting war as a wren signaller, stretching through the miseries of Hull, via the submarine base at Gosport, to work on troopships, at the Yalta Conference and on to occupied Europe.

A thorough if brief account. A new edition was published by Cooper in 1992 entitled Britannia's Daughters (ISBN: 0850522714) .

The wartime director of the WRNS tells its story from her own experience.

A rather slight and disappointing account of his naval career. He joined the RN in 1937 and in September 1939 was a midshipman in Kent on the China Station. In May 1940 he joined Encounter as a sublieutenant and sailed to the Far East. When she was sunk at the Battle of the Java Sea he was captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW in Indonesia. After the war he became a career diplomat.

He joined Renown as a midshipman in 1940, then served in Holderness, Reading and Scorpion, finishing as a Lieutenant having seen service from Kola to Normandy.

The memoirs of a destroyer captain who saw almost incessant action with Black Swan in Norway, with Guillemot and Verdun on the East Coast, and with Ulster in the Mediterranean, Anzio, Biscay, and at D-Day. He then took passage to the Far East in Glengyle. Reprinted by Seaforth in 2009.

The television newsreader includes a brief account of his war service. He volunteered in 1942 and after basic training was taught Russian. He then served as an interpreter/liaison officer first at Murmansk and then in occupied Germany.

His autobiography to 1941, with thin disguises for the names of people and ships. In the chaotic early days of the war, he served on a trawler in Norway, in the small ships of Dunkirk, went to King Alfred and then to a new corvette in the Atlantic. Published under a pseudonym, the author's real name of Harling was used for a later edition. Under that name his service in the Atlantic is also described.

The memoirs and views of Admiral Dreyer, who was recalled to active service in 1939. He then served as commodore of convoys, inspector of merchant ship gunnery, chairman of the U-boat assessment committee, chief of naval air services, and deputy chief of naval air equipment before his final retirement in 1943.

The privately printed autobiography of a senior paymaster. In 1939 he took over various Scottish RAF stations and converted them to Fleet Air Arm bases. Late in 1942 he moved to Warspite and served with her in the Eastern Fleet then later the Mediterranean. In May 1944 he moved ashore to the Naval Control Commission for Germany and latterly was Command Supply Officer Germany before retirement.

Almost half the book covers his war service. He was a member of the RNV(S)R and in 1939 was given command of the armed yacht Grey Mist of the Dover Patrol, before serving on the staff of Admiral Cunningham in the Mediterranean in various capacities. His involvement in all sorts of escapades is recalled with considerable gusto.

Durham entered Dartmouth in 1934 and by 1939 was a midshipman on Barham. He was quickly transferred to be second-in-command of the trawler Beryl, part of the A/S defences at Alexandria, but after a few weeks transferred again to Norfolk returning to join the Home Fleet. A winter on the Northern Patrol was followed by transfer to the destroyer Echo and the Norwegian Campaign. In late summer he joined Renown, which became a mainstay of Force H. At the end of 1940 he returned to Portsmouth for technical training and in mid-1941 then stood by Laforey. She was soon based at Gibraltar as part of 19DF. She took part in the Madagascar campaign then the Pedestal convoy. On her return to the UK to refit he volunteered for submarines. His first patrol was in Graph - the captured U 570 - but in July 1943 he joined Stoic as First Lieutenant. After working up she went to the Eastern Mediterranean and then Trincomalee. Patrol work followed then transfer to Fremantle. In February 1945 she returned to the UK and Durham joined a party preparing for the surrender of U-boats. In May he even sailed U 776 up the Thames to Westminster. As the war ended he took his "Perisher", the submarine commanders' course.

Eadon volunteered in 1942 and after seatime on Berwick in the Arctic and training at King Alfred he joined Formidable at Gibraltar in the cypher office. He saw the attacks on Sicily and Salerno then returned to the Clyde to stand by Indefatigable, as an Air Landing Control Officer. In July 1944 she attacked Tirpitz and in November left to join the Pacific Fleet. Almost two-thirds of the book is devoted to his experiences in the Far East. The work is notably laced with the reminiscences of almost 50 shipmates.

Edwards came from an acting family and took to the boards. He was called up in 1940 and after training at Skegness, where he received RDF instruction, he joined the newly RDF equipped Wren. He survived her sinking and moved to Fernie, escorting Channel convoys. In December he moved to King Alfred, then became an RDF instructor in Holyhead. In April 1942 he joined Eclipse with the Home Fleet. After six months he joined Formidable, which took part in the Torch landings and Mediterranean service. At the end of 1943 he transferred to the Azores and a succession of shore based appointments. After the war he became a leading figure in the City. An engaging view of a wonderfully varied life.

In 1939 he was Governor of the Royal Merchant Navy School but on the declaration of war he was quickly restored to the Active Service List and took command of the new HMS Medina set up on the Isle of Wight for training FAA entries. In 1942 he moved to Glasgow as Chief of Staff to Admiral Troup, Flag Officer Glasgow. In 1944 he moved to Liverpool to command trawler forces and just after VE Day he became Chief of Staff at Liverpool. A rather formal memoir.

Short biographies of Ramsay, the planner of invasions; Agnew, the leader of Force K; Fraser, who sank the Scharnhorst; Murray of the Royal Canadian Navy; Sherbrooke, who won the VC in the Battle of the Barents Sea; Syfret, who held several successful seagoing commands, and Troubridge who commanded forces in the Mediterranean invasions.

A first attempt to describe the twenty-two Americans who were commissioned in the Royal Navy before the United States entered the war. A fascinating tale.

Kerans commanded the Amethyst in her famous 1949 escape from the Yangtse. There is a brief account of his career.

Finch joined as an apprentice in 1928 and in 1939 was on the newly completed Belfast. He served with her prize crews on the Northern Patrol and stood by her while repairing from mine damage until January 1942 when he moved to Excellent for diving experiments. This was followed by a brief spell with Maidstone at Gibraltar then appointment as Warrant Engineer on King George V in 1943, then in the Mediterranean. The following year he transferred to the FAA. A rather stiff account of a little remarked area.

A short autobiography, largely concerned with the role of Warspite at Salerno in 1943.

A happy autobiography. During the war he commanded Wakeful until sunk at Dunkirk. He next joined Pridham-Wippell's staff in the Mediterranean, where he was at Matapan then closely involved in the Greek and Cretan evacuations. After the Second Battle of Sirte there followed a spell setting up port operations as the 8th Army advanced. He then took command of Musketeer in 1943, mainly on Arctic convoys, and helped sink the Scharnhorst. In November 1944 he took four M class destroyers to the Aegean and was soon embroiled in the Greek Civil War. His war ended in the Plans Division of the Admiralty.

An autobiography which includes his wartime service in the RNPS and Coastal Forces. He served on the Tree Class minesweeper Bay from commissioning until late 1941 and gives a good account of the ship in convoy duty off Kent.

Magennis joined up in 1935 and in October 1939 he joined the new Kandahar and served with her until her sinking in 1941. He was then drafted to submarines. After training he volunteered for X-craft and in March 1943 moved to their new base at Loch Striven. He was in the passage crew of X 7 for the attack on the Tirpitz. Early in 1945 they moved to the Far East where Magennis won his VC for his part in the attack on the cruiser Takao in Singapore.

He began the war with the Home Fleet in Fortune. After successful A/S work, she fought in Norway, before moving south to join Force H. He next spent a spell in the Admiralty before standing by Pathfinder in January 1942. She went to the Mediterranean, seeing action first with the Pedestal convoy then at the Torch landings. In January 1943 she returned to the UK and spent five months in the Western Approaches. Then it was back to the Mediterranean for the Sicily, Salerno, and Corsica landings. Forbes spent the rest of the war in shore appointments.

As an RNVR midshipman, he went straight to King Alfred when war was declared. He served first on the drifter Shower based at Loch Ewe, then in late 1940 went to Tynedale which was based at Portsmouth then Plymouth for coastal convoy work. In mid-1941 he was transferred to Coastal Forces and after training took command of ML 292. He transferred to MASB 39 in Essex and spent eight months on air sea rescue work then moved to MGB 9 at Ramsgate and later MGB 118. After heavy action he took over MTB 435, ran her aground and was court-martialled and dismissed his ship. He was promptly appointed as a junior officer on Musketeer and by May 1944 was her gunnery officer on Arctic convoys. At the end of the year he moved to a staff job in Freetown, where he stayed until the end of the war. An interesting memoir from an avowedly difficult character.

A selection from his letters and diaries. He went to Dartmouth in 1925 and by 1939 was First Lieutenant of Delight. He served with her through the Norwegian Campaign until her sinking in the Channel in June 1940. In September he took over the Town Class destroyer Roxborough and spent almost two years with her on Atlantic convoys. In September 1942 he took over Ilex, then refitting in Charleston and served with her for the invasions of Sicily and Italy. Early in 1944 he moved to a staff post in the planning of Neptune and he landed in Normandy on D-Day. He retired in 1961 at the top of the Captains List.

He was called up in mid-1940 and after training joined the collier ss Redriffe as a DEMS gunner on the East Coast. In 1943 he undertook officer training then joined the trawler Breeze engaged in special operations as First Lieutenant, working in the Mediterranean and Adriatic. In June 1944 they returned to the UK to commission the Jacques Morgand working in home waters. In spring 1945 he moved to Prodigal then finally and briefly to the repair ship Berry Head.

The author first served on Montrose and Malcolm, then volunteered to serve in submarines in mid-1941. After training he joined Sahib, which served from the Arctic to the Mediterranean. A further spell of training in H 44 was followed by a transfer to midget submarines in mid-1944. He made an attack on Singapore Harbour in XE 3 for which he won the Victoria Cross.

An autobiography. The author joined the RN in 1929 aged sixteen. At the start of the war he was in Glasgow standing by Kelvin and spent an active period with her, mainly in Home Waters before joining Euryalus in 1942 as Captain's Yeoman and seeing bitter fighting in the Mediterranean, which is graphically described. She moved to the Home Fleet in 1944 and he left her to move on to the Pacific.

Chatfield was First Sea Lord from 1933 to 1938. He was then fairly swiftly called in to the Cabinet as Co-ordinator of Defence, which post he held until retirement in 1940. The latter part of volume 2, entitled "It Might Happen Again," describes this period.

After training, Cdr. Cherry saw active service on HM Ships Winchester, Reading, Evadne, Riou, and Wren, before serving in Germany. His career is very pleasantly recalled.

An autobiography couched in the third person. He joined up in 1943 aged 17. After training he joined Myngs then completing in the Tyne, as a seaman. An Arctic convoy was followed by supporting carriers attacking Tirpitz and this routine continued until VE Day. As a fleet destroyer she was soon off to SEAC but saw no action although at the surrender of Singapore. Most of the book describes his postwar career in diving and bomb and mine disposal.

A disappointing and somewhat self-indulgent book, mainly concerned with postwar sailing adventures. He began the war as First Lieutenant of Punjabi and fought at Narvik. After a brief spell in command of Anthony, he moved to Repulse in which he was sunk. Captured by the Japanese in the aftermath of the fall of Singapore he spent the rest of the war as a POW.

He joined as a cadet Paymaster in May 1939. At the outbreak of war he was posted to Revenge which operated with the Halifax Escort Force. In July 1940 he took part in the "raid" at Plymouth to take Surcouf. Revenge then acted as part of the anti-invasion covering force and eventually moved on to join the Eastern Fleet. In September 1941 he transferred to Emerald as Senior Midshipman. She returned to the UK in June 1942 and he transferred to Carlisle as Captain's Secretary. She had a very long work-up before moving to the Mediterranean in March 1943. In mid-1943 he moved to a base job at Malta but after a year engineered a transfer to one of the Port Parties taking over Italian installations. A blissful period ended with VE Day and he was in transit to the Far East as the war ended. Enjoyable.

He was 19 when war broke out. He volunteered and after training joined the depot ship Hecla. After surviving her sinking he joined the destroyer Anthony.

A very enjoyable chronological view of the war from a very different viewpoint. As much concerned with King's Regulations, punishment warrants, and incipient mutiny, with sippers and messing arrangements as with battles and bravery.

Two generations of naval history covering the period 1905–1963. The son and author went through Dartmouth in the middle of the war and in 1944 joined Valiant in Ceylon. After her drydock accident he joined Queen Elizabeth which promptly had a two month refit in Durban. In February 1945 after his Seamanship Board, he joined the destroyer Norman, which moved to Sydney and in April joined the BPF, often with the replenishment group. She returned to Sydney in June and Corson went back to the UK for his promotion course. The interesting tale continues with battles from Borneo to the Cod War.

The author ran away to sea from Eton, returned, went to Cambridge University but volunteered for the RN as a seaman in late 1941 under the Y Scheme. After training at Ganges, he joined Kent in July 1942 and served in the Arctic. In May 1943 he went to King Alfred but failed the exams and was sent to Puffin on East Coast convoys to improve his signals work. In 1944 he began training as an Electrical Officer and was still in training at war's end. The book also covers his successful post-war career.

The autobiography of a Russophile. His wartime career, including service with the naval mission in Moscow is described in 20 pages, and the book concentrates on his controversial postwar career.

A career naval officer, he went to Dartmouth in 1942. Late that year he joined Duke of York at Scapa as a midshipman and served with her in the Atlantic and Arctic and for the TORCH landings. Late in 1943 he briefly joined the destroyer Venus before taking his Sub-Lieutenants courses. In mid-1943 he stood by Carron and served with her in European waters until war's end when she sailed for the Indian Ocean. The book then describes his later naval career.

A thin lower deck memoir of time spent on Sharpshooter in 1941–43, notably on Arctic convoys and from 1943 to 1945 in Ulster in the Mediterranean and Channel and with the Pacific Fleet where she was hit by a kamikaze.

The autobiography of the much loved Scottish actor-comedian. Born in 1924 he volunteered under the "Y" Scheme in 1941 and joined Ganges in March 1942. After training he joined the new sloop Ibis for sea time, was sunk in her, and after five hours in the water was picked up by Scylla. He then went to King Alfred and after training joined ML 1421 as First Lieutenant. After a gruelling year of work in the Channel, he was invalided out early in 1945.

A happy autobiography of 36 years at sea in everything from minesweepers to Britannia. "Fish" Dalglish went to Dartmouth in 1927. In late August 1939 he joined Kempenfelt in Portsmouth as Gunnery Officer of the 18DF. Less than a month later he was transferred to Excellent and spent four months there before joining Faulknor as Gunnery Officer of the 8DF. An arduous period followed in Norway then with Force H based at Gibraltar covering Mers-el-Kebir, club runs to Malta, the Dakar affair, sinking U 138 and the support ship Alstertor. A refit in the UK followed in late 1941 then came Home Fleet duty and a Russian convoy. In April 1942 he joined the gunnery school at Chatham and in late 1943 stood by the new cruiser Swiftsure. She commissioned in June 1944 and six months later joined the BPF in Sydney and served there until the end of the war. Almost 50 pages cover this period of his life.

As a youth he lived on a small brigantine with his widowed mother, often cruising in Norwegian waters. He was commissioned in 1939 and his knowledge of Norway sent him there in April 1940, where he managed a flotilla of small ships. Although these mainly moved troops, he evacuated the population of Narvik against orders. After a spell on an AMC he was based in the Shetlands to run MTB operations to Norway. In mid-1943 he moved to X-craft and later took a parachute course. He then joined 30th Assault Unit a Naval Intelligence Unit, which tried to capture papers and equipment before they could be destroyed. The unit landed on D+4 and kept up with or ahead of forward elements through France and Germany until VE Day. 30AU worked for Ian Fleming and Dalzel-Job is seen by some as a prototype for James Bond.

He was a bank teller who volunteered as an ordinary seaman in 1939. After training he served on Gloucester in the Mediterranean, then in 1940 returned to the UK as a CW candidate. He moved to Combined Operations and made good progress, eventually leading a beach commando at D-Day.

He was called up in mid-1941 and after training joined Tynwald and stayed with her until her sinking in the Mediterranean in November 1942. He was then posted to a radar station in Fair Isle, Scotland. After a failed attempt to become a CW candidate he was posted to Scourge where he saw action on Russian convoys and at D-Day. He was eventually commissioned in mid-1945 and sailed for the Far East just as the war ended.

Davies joined up in mid-1940. After basic training he volunteered for a course as an antiaircraft gunner, then joined ML 216 for two weeks before joining MGB 320. In 1942, after a refresher course at Whale Island he joined MGB 611 and stayed there until 1943 when he returned to Whale Island and trained as a Gunnery Instructor. The book ends as he arrives in Algiers as a newly fledged GI. Although interesting as a lower deck account of Coastal Forces the book is repetitious and rather self-indulgent.

A witty autobiography with a very few pages on his wartime career mainly helping with Combined Operations training.

Not a life but a battle history. Born in 1871 he revelled in and sought battle. In 1940, aged 70 he wangled his way back to war in combined ops and travelled to the Middle East with the Commandos, but soon switched to the Indian Cavalry to stay in action. He was captured, pistol in hand in action with the Italians. Repatriated he circuitously made his way back to the Mediterranean as Naval Liaison Officer to a commando unit and travelled and fought in Italy and Yugoslavia seeing action as late as age 73. He moved to the retired list in August 1945.

Born in 1900 he followed a naval career and when war began was Second in Command of Newcastle, which began the war on the Northern Patrol. After a refit in spring 1940 and a summer based at Plymouth she went to the Mediterranean and took part in the Battle of Cape Spartivento before joining the South Atlantic Division. In March 1941 he returned to the UK and a year in a staff post at the Air Ministry, followed by command of a large FAA station in the north of Scotland. In late 1944 he returned to London and a staff post at Combined Ops. HQ.

The adventures of the author (a telegraphist) on the Yugoslav submarine HMY Nebojsa and his subsequent escape after Yugoslavia's capitulation in 1941. Following his escape the author was posted to Queen Elizabeth, the submarine Rorqual, and later retrained in signals and posted to land-based units. From 1942 onward the book quickly covers his preparation as a sleeper in Alexandria (waiting for Rommel!), subsequent postings and migration to Australia to work on the Snowy Mountain hydroelectric scheme.

He joined up in September 1939. After training he joined Havelock. In April 1941 he went to King Alfred for training and was then posted to ML 273 as First Officer. In late 1942 she went to the Mediterranean and he soon switched to ML 338. In late 1943 he was given command of ML 134 which undertook a lot of minesweeping before he was appointed to Coastal Forces staff at Malta. In late 1945 he returned to courses and shore posts in the UK before demob in 1946.

Born in 1920, he joined the merchant navy as a cadet and the RNR as a midshipman in 1938. In September 1939 he joined Delhi on the Northern Patrol. When she paid off in January 1940 he joined Keppel at Gibraltar. He was at Oran and the evacuations from the South of France. She was then based at Greenock on North Atlantic convoy work with the odd Mediterranean run. Keppel took part in PQ17 and Pedestal then went for a refit at which point he joined the new destroyer Relentless. After a spell at Scapa she joined the Eastern Fleet at Trincomalee. In 1945 he returned to the UK for a gunnery course then briefly commanded Anthony. An enjoyable but rather vague set of anecdotes.

A rather slight and disappointing work, which covers his service in 20 pages. After call-up he volunteered as a DEMS gunner. Service on the City of Florence led to a transfer to Illustrious as a Fighter Direction Officer. In 1945 he moved to a post in the Admiralty.

The autobiography of a policeman with the Met. In 1943 he was called up and trained as a radar mechanic. His training and shore-based service are briefly described.

The enjoyable autobiography of a warrant officer engineer. He served in the RN from 1925 to 1947. He was on Ark Royal from the start of the war until her sinking. He then stood by Aries, building in Canada and served with her in the Mediterranean.

Of farming stock, he went to Dartmouth in 1924. In September 1939 he was First of Decoy on the China Station. She was immediately transferred to Malta then moved to Gibraltar and finally to join the Fleet at Alexandria. After brisk action and the evacuations of Greece and Crete, he was given command of Hotspur in mid-1941. More action included the sinking of U 79 until in February 1942 she moved to join the Eastern Fleet in Ceylon. In October he was relieved and returned to England to stand by Brecon, which commissioned in December 1942. She spent some time with the Home Fleet then Herrick returned to the Mediterranean for Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio. In February 1944 he returned to England and a spell teaching at Collingwood. In January 1945 he was appointed to and stood by Cockade, then building but not completed before war's end.

The biography of one of Britain's most loved post-war admirals. He joined the navy as a Special Entry Cadet in January 1939. At the start of the war he joined Belfast and after her mining, Valiant. In October 1941 he joined Highlander as a sub lieutenant but within a few weeks contracted diphtheria. On his recovery he was appointed to Ashanti and served on her for three happy years. He saw Arctic convoys, the Pedestal convoy, the Torch landings, and Channel sweeps and earned a DSC and no less than three mentions in despatches while rising to be First Lieutenant. At the end of 1944 he joined the Long Gunnery Course where he was serving at war's end.

A happy autobiography of a regular naval career. He served from battleships to minesweepers during the war and from Norway to D-day as well as a training post at Dryad.

An enjoyable memoir of the RN in the thirties. The last twenty pages describe his war. The autumn of 1939 was spent in Harrier at Dover and at the end of the year he went to Vernon for the Long T Course. His war soon came to an abrupt end in May 1940 when he was wounded with the Ijmuiden demolition parties.

His active war career is touched on in a mere half dozen pages.

He joined Dartmouth in 1936 passing out in summer 1940 and was posted to Valiant in Alexandria where he served through the hard war of the fleet for 18 months. The book is based on his midshipman's diary and ends early in 1942 when he passed his exams to become a sublieutenant. Excellent.

The biography of Bob Oldfield, who spent his war in regular brushes with death: in Ajax at the Battle of the River Plate; in the submarines Narwhal, H 31, Spearfish, Ursula, Splendid, and then in Saracen, in which he was sunk; in Italy and Germany as a POW.

A brief memoir by a survivor of the sinking of Barham, who later served on Kingston in the Mediterranean and in landing craft, where he was disrated. Also concerned with his search for Christianity.

He went from Australia and a reserved occupation in 1941 to the UK. He spent 1942 as a seaman in the new destroyer Panther, working up and then at Colombo, before moving to King Alfred. The next year was spent as a sublieutenant on Intrepid, first based on Iceland and covering Murmansk convoys, then in the Mediterranean. In November 1943 she was sunk in Leros Harbour. He then spent 10 months as a Lieutenant on Terpsichore in the Mediterranean, before returning to Australia to become First Lieutenant of Gascoyne from January 1945.

The first biography of an officer who won his VC in the St Nazaire Raid. Although forever associated with this, his active war included service in Q Ships, Combined Operations, at D-Day and commanding an Arctic convoy's destroyer

Hayes entered Dartmouth in 1926 and the first half of the book addresses the prewar years. In August 1939 he was appointed Navigator of Cairo as the Reserve Fleet mobilised. After three months on the East Coast he spent a year ashore then transferred to Repulse. He was with her for the Bismarck hunt and her journey to Singapore where he survived her sinking. He performed some naval liaison duties in Singapore and was then evacuated to Java in Jupiter then traveled in a Dutch coaster to Colombo. Repatriated to the UK he joined London in Scapa as Staff Officer Operations to Admiral Hamilton. This made him an eyewitness to PQ17. 1944 was then spent, still with Hamilton, ashore in Malta. The last two years of the war are described in only two pages. A final section covers his postwar career.

More Mountbatten than Kelly, the book is rich in personal anecdote and captures the mixture of glamour and ineptitude which characterised his career in destroyers.

A full length biography of Lord Louis, published soon after his tragic assassination. It attempts to be a "warts and all" study. One hundred pages cover his meteoric wartime rise.

One-third of the book records his war. He began as a war correspondent with Richard Dimbleby, but after Dunkirk joined the navy as a second hand at Lowestoft. He spent the winter in small ships off the East Coast, but was soon commissioned and went to Scapa as Flag Lieutenant to Admiral Binney, Flag Officer Scapa. He was with Arethusa on the fringe of the Bismarck chase but then migrated to SOE and support for secret operations in Norway for the rest of the war.

A loving biography of her father. He joined up in 1938 and as war began was serving in Janus. He saw action with her in Norway and the Mediterranean, then after an appendix operation and some trouble with the military police worked with one of the shore parties in the evacuation of Crete. Evacuated in Orion, he moved briefly to Abdiel, but after more fisticuffs was sent to the small coastal whalers patrolling the North African coast. Late in 1941 he joined Neptune and was her sole survivor when she was mined a month later. Picked up by Italian forces, he was eventually repatriated in June 1943, but within three weeks was back in service re-training on Asdic. In April 1944 he was drafted to Mermaid on Arctic convoy duty and in August 1944 to the then building minesweeper Rowena. She served in the Mediterranean but was sent to the Far East at the very end of the war. He later became a professional boxer.

An enjoyable war memoir. Covers Atlantic seatime in Scarborough and Broke and cleaning up after the Plymouth blitz. CW status was followed by training at Ganges and King Alfred. Sea appointments followed in Scylla, notably covering PQ18, then transfer to the carrier Slinger, a long fitting out and operations in the Pacific.

The story of the man who joined the Navy in 1904, served at Gallipoli, was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks, was Controller of the Navy 1939-42, sank the Scharnhorst, and commanded the most powerful British fleet of all time in the Pacific.

As much a study of his influential thinking as a biography.

An autobiography lightly disguised as fiction. He grew up in the Merchant navy as a young officer and as a member of the RNR was called up in 1939. He spent time on the Northern Patrol, notably in Montclare, then moved to Victorious. Finally in 1944 he joined a new sloop as Navigator and served on her at D-Day and in the Bay of Bengal. Really a series of vignettes and tales he recalls in old age.

A list of those lost at sea with no known grave, as recorded on the war memorials at Chatham, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Liverpool, Lowestoft, and Lee-on-Solent. Each entry gives brief detail of date of death, ship and family. An eloquent list of over 45,000 names. A supplement was issued by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 1982.

An Exciseman, he was called up in 1940 and trained as a Telegraphist at Ganges, before joining Aurora in March 1941. He served with her in the Home Fleet and in the Mediterranean. At the end of the year he returned to the UK for officer training at King Alfred, followed by a posting to the minesweeping trawler Bern building in Hull, then based at Milford Haven. In late 1943 he moved to New York then Boston to stand by Tortola. She served mainly on the Gibraltar run. After VE Day he trained as a schoolmaster and served as such until demobbed. His growing Christian faith is the major theme of the book.

Admiral James was C-in-C Portsmouth from 1939 to 1942, then Chief of Naval Information and an MP for Portsmouth. These are effectively his war memoirs and are cast in the form of letters to a friend, recording events in his command and his views on the war.

He joined under the Special Entry scheme in 1941 when he was seventeen

Tells the story of three brothers, Vic, Bill and Eric Foster, and their friends and contemporaries from Thurmaston, Leicestershire. It explains how the three went to war and how one of them, Vic Foster, did not return. He served aboard Volunteer in the Atlantic and Arctic but in 1943 transferred to Combined Operations and joined HMLST418 in the United States before she moved to the Mediterranean. He was lost aboard the ship in February 1944, when she was torpedoed. The book also tells the story of Bill Foster's escape from Singapore and Eric Foster's time in India. Published in 200 copies.

An autobiography. He started his Boy Seaman training at St Vincent in March 1939, and after moving to the Isle of Man completed his training the following March

In 1939 Garrod was at a naval training school and in 1940 he joined up as a Boy Seaman. Training in the Isle of Man was followed by a circuitous journey to join Rodney in mid-1941 to see service with the Home Fleet and Force H. In November 1941 he was transferred for Combined Operations training and in mid 1943 went to the United States to help take over LCI 297. The rest of the war was spent in the Mediterranean with invasions and special operations. A light tale full of drink, sex, and class warfare.

The author served on RHN Adrias for six months in the South Atlantic and Mediterranean, then moved to the gunboat Scarab for the invasions of Sicily and Italy. From October 1943–October 1944 he was based on the stone frigate HMS Nile at Alexandria. He saw out the European war as Base Medical Officer at Piraeus during the liberation and civil war.

The autobiography of two bachelor twin brothers who spent most of their lives working for the community. They were called up in October 1939 and after training were appointed to an MTB flotilla based at Portsmouth. Several months of training and patrolling were followed by a hectic raid in support of the Dutch, and a planned but failed attempt to destroy the North Sea lock gates of the Zuider Zee. Then came night patrols covering the Dunkirk evacuation. Geoffrey alone took part in these events as Trevor was reserve navigator for the flotilla. Nervous exhaustion for Geoffrey and six months shore duty followed for the twins, who were kept together as Divisional Officers of the New Entry Training Staff at the Royal Naval Barracks and later at HMS Royal Arthur in Skegness. Trevor was invalided out and shortly afterward in 1943, Geoffrey was appointed to command the converted A/A paddle steamer HMS Plinlimmon in the Thames. Later that year he was appointed to HMS Armadillo in Glen Finart where beachmasters were trained. After D-Day he was sent to Glasgow University for a course on Japan, but was demobilised in July 1945.

A memoir based on his midshipman's diary. After training at Conway he joined the AMC Canton in 1940. In spring 1941 he joined the new Abdiel. In 1942 he moved to Sheffield and saw action from the Torch landings to the Barents Sea. In 1943 he moved to King George V for Force H and Husky. Early in 1944 he joined Tintagel Castle as a sublieutenant and spent the rest of the war with her.

One of a series for young people describing teenage life. He was called up at Christmas 1943. After training at Collingwood and Whale Island he joined the minesweeper Foam. He soon transferred to Stevenstone and went to the Mediterranean, where he saw the various postwar problems of the Eastern Mediterranean from the Corfu Incident to Palestinian refugees. A thin account of his experiences.

The author's autobiography. He commanded Exeter during her last commission from 1941 until her sinking, and was then a prisoner of the Japanese until the end of the war.

The privately printed memoirs of a career naval officer who retired as Flag Officer, Scotland. Eighty pages record his wartime career as, successively, head of the Signal School, Captain of the cruiser Kent serving with the Home Fleet and on the Murmansk Run, Commodore of the RN Barracks at Chatham, and finally in command of the 10th Cruiser Squadron with his flag in Birmingham. A modestly told but very enjoyable story.

He joined up in 1939 and after training went to Calcutta. Convoy work was followed by the Norwegian campaign and the Channel then the Mediterranean Fleet and its hard campaign in which she was sunk. He transferred to Barham, but the book finishes with a spell of illness in Durban and a return to the UK in late 1941.

The author joined up in 1940 and trained as a signalman. After training he went to the USA to commission Lincoln. At the end of 1941 he was transferred to the East Indies to Scout then the minesweeper Tewera. He returned to the UK to commission the new destroyer Zephyr, where he saw out the war. Strongest on his experience of naval life.

The autobiography of one of Britain's leading admirals. He was in Dover command during Dunkirk, a planner for Torch and a commander during Husky and Neptune.

Describes the naval career of a regular, from the 1930s to the 1950s. During the war he served on Hero in the Mediterranean and South Atlantic, briefly on Fiji while she worked up, on L'Incompromise in Portsmouth, on London and Campbeltown. In late 1942 he went to the US to join Ilex, which was refitting there. She moved to the Mediterranean in 1943 and when she paid off at Malta in 1944 he joined Paladin at Colombo and served in her until the end of the war. An amusing if vague account of life on the lower deck.

A fictionalised autobiography. After training he joined a Tribal and saw service in the Mediterranean at Matapan and Crete, where he was sunk. He joined a damaged cruiser for a US refit then moved to a Town Class destroyer. A brisk Atlantic war was followed by transfer to an LST and the Mediterranean landings. In summer 1944 he moved to a Castle Class corvette in the Arctic, and after her sinking joined a Loch Class Frigate sent to the Far East.

In 1939 as a young journalist he was called up as RN Special Reservist No. 1 and became a stoker. This lively account of his service describes his service in Afridi, notably in the Norwegian campaign. He then had a spell on shore with the Humber Boiler Cleaning Party at Hull. In 1943 he moved to Danae as a leading stoker but six months later was transferred as a Temporary Acting Sub-Lieutenant to the Press Division of the Admiralty. He covered the D-Day landings from an LCT and became Press Liaison Officer for the beachhead then covered the Walcheren assault. He then moved east and covered the landings in Arakan and moved full circle when he was on Tartar on a successful anti-shipping sweep in June 1945. A lively tale.

The author served in the RN from 1914–1947. In 1939 he was on Nelson as staff intelligence officer, a role which gave him a wide perspective reflected in the text. He served on the Home Fleet flagship until 1943 and there are very full accounts of the Norwegian Campaign and the Bismarck chase, before going to SEAC. Although a little irritatingly written in the third person, this is an interesting account from a well-placed and well-connected career officer.

The author joined the RN as an apprentice artificer and after almost five years training joined the battleship Emperor of India. He then served in a variety of cruisers and destroyers and was serving in Ajax when war was declared. He saw service at the Battle of the River Plate, at Crete, and Matapan. In June 1942 he returned to the UK and joined 22 MTB Flotilla as CERA at Lowestoft. He next saw service in the repair ship Greenwich at Iceland, and finally joined Euryalus for service with the Pacific Fleet.

He joined Ganges as a Boy Seaman in 1937 and soon after the war started joined Bedouin as a Torpedoman. A busy war followed; Norway, the Lofoten Raid; Arctic, Atlantic, and Malta convoys, in the last of which she was sunk in June 1942. Picked up by an Italian `hospital ship, the second half of the book describes his experiences as a POW in Italy and Germany.

Admiral Hall had an unusually long career of 41 years, ending as Hydrographer of the Navy. During the war he served in hydrographic ships and the minesweepers Derby and Fraserburgh and notably leading a COPP party in the Far East.

A brief and unoriginal retelling of the Royal Family's connection with the RN from William IV to Prince Philip in WWII.

The autobiography of a quiet war. He volunteered in 1941 from university as a CW rating and did his three months sea time on Carnation on the Liverpool-Gibraltar route. His service on an anonymised but easily identified Easton, which he heartily disliked was in the Mediterranean before he transferred as liaison officer to the French corvette La Moqueuse in 1943. Half of the book concerns his quiet but happy service on her in the Levant and later the South of France. An excellent memoir.

First published in 1944 under the pseudonym Nicholas Drew.

Contains sections on Prince Louis of Battenberg, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. This last is particularly interesting as it gives the best account of his wartime service, which is much less well-recorded than the spectacular rise of his uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten.

Stories of the war at sea as fought by the RN.

Examines nine incidents in which the man on the spot followed Nelson's example at Copenhagen and acted independently in the interpretation of orders, or in ignoring them completely. The WWII cases studied are Cunningham's disarming of the French Fleet at Alexandria, Vian and the Bismarck hunt, Walker's tactics in the escort of convoy HG84, and the submarine Storm on a special mission to Sumatra.

An excellent guide to the organisation and working of the Navy.

A very enjoyable account of how the naval officer corps was expanded sevenfold, rich in fact and anecdote.

The tale of the Engineering Branch of the Royal Navy and how revolutionaries have struggled to ensure the effectiveness of the fleet.

A set of historical essays on famous ships. The later chapters are concerned with some RN ships of WWII.

A strategic and operational history of the Home Fleet. It examines the role of the home fleet in allied strategy and how well the home fleet carried out the missions assigned to it within the framework of that strategy.

Has some anecdotes on WW2 cats.

A brief review of how the Navy works in wartime.

The author has scoured archives and libraries for memoirs which he uses to provide a memorable analysis of lower deck attitudes and habits. Oral histories are used tellingly to make his points.

A collection of essays by a leading naval historian. Almost two–thirds of the book is concerned with two essays. The first describes Churchill at the Admiralty in 1939–40 and his role in strategy and operations. The second is an analysis of the attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir.

A so-called "people's history" which uses personal testimonies to try and capture the experience of everything from action to time on leave.

An account of the RN and Merchant Navy at war.

A photobook in two sections covering loss and damage subarranged by ship type. Cheaply produced but a good selection of pictures, many from the IWM, and well-researched captions.

A single volume history of the RN's war which fails to equal the quality of his three-volume official history. US title: White Ensign.

The official British account. An absolutely basic source and a model of its kind. The final volume was reprinted by the Imperial War Museum in 1996 with source notes.

A much revised and expanded edition of the earlier work by Shrubb. A labour of love which is a standard reference work. Has a notably good bibliography. A third edition was published in 2005.

A chronologically arranged treasure trove of facts and dates, of which WWII is but a part. The second edition by Sainsbury is much expanded.

How the navy is conducting the war, by a war reporter.

A dozen stirring tales of the war at sea, which concludes, a little oddly, with the sinking of the Lusitania.

A good general history of the London Division with a small section on WW2, where they notably manned the C Class cruisers.

A useful guide to the ships, battles, and battle honours of the Royal Navy, full of fascinating detail.

Well-chosen extracts and photographs from the contemporary letters, diaries, and memories of participants save a pedestrian text.

How the Navy is tackling the war.

An adequate account of British successes in the first 18 months of the sea war, aimed at a junior market.

A reprint of the two major reference works published in 1947 by the Admiralty: Ships of the Royal Navy - Statement of Losses during the Second World War; and British Merchant Vessels Lost or Damaged by Enemy Action during the Second World War. An important work of reference. A second revised edition was published in 1983.

How the Royal Navy functions - its men, its ships, its customs and its tasks - described for the layman.

This volume was first published by the Admiralty in 1943 and issued to all new ratings. It was and is a mine of information on everything.

A very low level, but well illustrated guide to the role and work of the Royal Navy.

Three-quarters of the book is on WWII. Arthur again uses pieces of oral history to produce anecdotes that illuminate various aspects of the campaigns of the Merchant and Royal Navies.

A series of essays by distinguished naval officers describing how the navy works. Profusely illustrated.

A guide to the Royal Navy, its ships, their classes, armament, function, and losses in the war; by a serving naval officer.

A noted historian at the height of his powers gives perhaps the best one volume account of the RN's war to date.

Fairly anodyne impressions of life in the wartime navy.

The last quarter of the book is a racist polemic against the Germans and a complaint that the government consistently ignores his advice.

A chronological account which is profusely illustrated. A highly selective and patriotic viewpoint of the war is given.

One of the Official Naval Reporters, a sort of serving war correspondent, presents a range of inspiring naval deeds, rather wider than the subtitle suggests.

Published just as war began, this book's interest lies in the way the Navy was presented to the British public late in 1939. A revised edition was published in 1941 and a third edition in 1945. Essentially a propaganda work.

A broad, sweeping panoramic history and a good solid and workmanlike review of a century, which began and ended with trouble in the Balkans.

A cyclostyled day-by-day table of events in highly patriotic vein.

Lists and tabulates the losses and their causes as known at the date of publication.

First drafted during the war and revised later as censorship began to disappear, this is a war history of the RN by a well-qualified author.

A glossy basic guide with a heavily patriotic tone.

The centenary volume of the NRS is arranged chronologically and contains a wealth of twentieth-century material from the text of the 1922 Washington Treaty, to diary entries of convoy actions and reports on centralised messing. A good, varied selection of source documents.

A well-presented history with notably good plans. The sections on the 1930s and the Second World War are by Geoffrey Till and Eric Grove. A good general introduction.

A brief presentation of the salient facts of the period.

"Vignettes of naval activities interspersed with personal reminiscences and a few experiences of navy men of [the author's] wide acquaintance."

A centenary history with two dozen pages on WW2. Although well told, there is an inevitable compression and use of anecdotes and individual tales to illustrate trends and act as examples.

A sort of potted history of the Royal Navy in the twentieth century. Successful British actions of WWII are described in the second half of the work.

A well-illustrated but very basic history of the war at sea, based on secondary sources.

Briggs was a reserve officer based in Hong Kong who watched the fall of the Far East as First Officer of Scout. He quickly moved to a staff job in Bombay, while his family were in captivity. After the war they settled in Australia. A frank and moving account of the impact of the separation of war.

From a naval family, he joined Dartmouth in 1933 and was on his sublieutenant's courses when war began. In January 1940 he joined Jupiter based at Hull. After convoy duties she took part in the Norwegian campaign before being based at Plymouth. In mid-1941 he stood by Middleton which completed at the end of 1941. After six months with the Home Fleet she went to the Mediterranean. After hard action it was back to Scapa and the fringes of PQ17. A spell on the staff at King Alfred was followed by a Signals Long Course, then appointment as Fleet Wireless Officer on Duke of York with the Home Fleet. In November 1944 he joined Swiftsure as flag lieutenant to Admiral Brind, commanding the cruisers of the BPF. He was in Tokyo Bay at war's end. A distinguished career continued after the war when he rose to become Chief of the Defence Staff. A well-told tale. The memoirs were edited by Eric Grove.

A very brief reminiscence, unusually by a chef, with one or two interesting anecdotes. After training he joined the Special Desert Squadron on the Spud Run to Tobruk. He returned to the UK with dental problems in late 1942. After a year ashore he joined Bellona with the Home Fleet and served out the war in her.

He joined Dartmouth in May 1940 and this is in essence his midshipman's diary. In January 1944 he joined Duke of York with the Home Fleet, mainly engaged in covering or attacking Tirpitz. That September he moved to the cruiser Orion based in Athens and involved in the Greek Civil War. In April 1945 he moved to the destroyer Musketeer based on Toulon then theminesweeper Circe based on Genoafor his small ship time. In mid-July 1945 he returned to the UK. An enjoyable if brief reminiscence of lost youth.

Frank Twiss joined Dartmouth in 1924 and rose to become Second Sea Lord despite a terrible ordeal as a Japanese POW. The book is based around interviews taped by Chris Howard Bailey for the Royal Naval Museum. He began the war as a Flotilla Gunnery Officer on Malcolm, then early in 1940 stood by Trinidad. In late summer 1940 he was appointed Gunnery Officer of Exeter. He sailed with her for the Far East and her sinking in the Battle of the Java Sea. His four years as a POW are sympathetically described.

Captain Baillie spent 40 years at sea with the P.&O. line. During the war he served first on Carthage, before returning to the Merchant Marine in the autumn of 1942, where he served for the rest of the war. About 20 and 45 pages respectively are devoted to these two periods.

He joined up as a fifteen year old boy sailor in 1939. After training he joined Ajax in the Mediterranean. When she returned to the UK in mid-1942, he was transferred to landing craft and combined operations. He soon joined LCT 940 as coxswain and the bulk of the book describes her career, culminating in the Normandy landings and his post-war life.

He joined up in September 1939 and trained at Ganges. In 1940 he became a CW candidate and went to the US as one of the crew for the Town Class destroyer Chesterfield. After training at King Alfred, he joined the converted ferry Daffodil in June 1941, based at Loch Fyne in support of Combined Operations. In mid-1942 he joined LCT 6 as First Lieutenant and within weeks took command of LCT 356. After a spell in the training flotilla he took command of LCF 34 then trained for and took part in the invasion of Normandy off Sword beach. Later that year he took over LCG(G) 449 and in December sailed for the Far East and support of operations in Burma. A good tale.

An autobiography with a brief but interesting 20 pages on war service. He volunteered in 1941 and served in Sandwich on Freetown convoys and the Mediterranean. When she paid off he joined the new Affleck in the US. She operated with 1EG in the Atlantic and Biscay until torpedoed. Enjoyable.

His autobiography. He joined as a Special Entry Naval Cadet in 1943 and spent twenty-seven years in the RN. After a quiet period as a midshipman in battleships at Scapa he had an active war running supplies to Cretan guerrillas then serving in the Pacific. An engaging tale.

A privately published memoir describing the career of a young officer who served at Dunkirk and later died an untimely death off Africa in a minesweeper in 1943.

He joined up from school in 1939 and after a spell in Wild Swan, went to King Alfred in 1940. Much of the book then describes his time as the young commander of an MGB in the Channel before his transfer to the destroyer Undaunted for the final part of the war.

The author grew up in a pit village in County Durham and was at College when he was called up in 1940. He was sent to train as a telegraphist at Royal Arthur in Skegness. After training he went to Egret, a sloop initially protecting east coast convoys against and later on convoy work in the Atlantic. He then went as an Officer Cadet to Lancing College and, after further training in Scotland, to Newhaven to serve on a Fairmile RML, serving on ML 1157 and eventually commanding ML 1391 on the South Coast. In 1944 he was sent to Freetown to join HMS Pict an anti-submarine trawler and remained with her until he returned home, finally having been promoted to Lieutenant, in 1945. A wonderful description of life at the sharp end of the war with everything from snakes to shipwrecks.

An enjoyable and pungent account of a varied career. He entered Dartmouth in 1930. By 1939 he was in MTBs and early in 1940 was put in command of the 10th MTB Flotilla based at Haslar. In 1941 they moved to the Eastern Mediterranean where they saw much action. In 1943 he moved to be First Lieutenant of Scarborough in an Atlantic Escort Group. In mid 1944 he took command of Wivern, supporting East Coast convoys. There is an interesting if bitter account of her sinking of U 714 credited to Natal. In mid-1944 she paid off and he took Loch Killisport to the Far East. Also covers his later career.

He began the war as a midshipman on Nelson. He joined Douglas in 1940 at Gibraltar after his Sublieutenant's course. She returned to the UK after Mers-el-Kebir and he then joined Prince of Wales, serving from her commissioning to sinking. After an astonishing escape from Singapore to Ceylon he joined the new Bermuda and took part in Operation Torch. A short spell at the Boys Training School in the Isle of Man was followed by service in Indomitable and Formidable in the Pacific.

He went to Dartmouth in 1930 and by 1939 was a Lieutenant (E) on Valiant then being modernised. Work up in Bermuda was followed by Scapa, Norway, Mers-el-Kebir and Alexandria, including the Matapan action. In mid-1941 he returned to the UK for a gunnery engineering course via the Pacific and North America. After two months as a gunmounting overseer in Newcastle, he joined Nelson at the end of 1943 at Rosyth. She provided fire support for D-Day then went to Philadelphia for a major refit before a gentle peregrination to the Far East, arriving at Trincomalee in July 1945 and after limited action took part in the surrender of Singapore. He went on to serve until 1958 and this too is described. The contented memories of a contented man.

The very readable autobiography of a regular who joined as a Special Entry Cadet in January 1939 and spent the next fifteen years at sea in ships as varied as Ark Royal and Viceroy.

Brundrett was called up in 1944 and served as a Writer in Ceylon. This is reflected in this huge volume which is his lightly annotated contemporary diary. It in turn was full of his training and lecture notes and everything else which he could set down in his omnivorous desire for knowledge of everything from the trivia of cricket scores to the methods of office practice to the morality of the atomic bomb. There is a very full account of training routines and of the tedium of base life in Ceylon, to which he was posted. The book neither records great events nor represents great writing, but it gives a fascinating insight into the growth from gauche teenager to man and an impression of how the necessary but unglamorous management of the Navy was conducted at the lowest level - and could be a useful vade mecum of naval custom and tradition for those of a younger generation.

A frank and often racy autobiography. Training as a merchant Navy cadet in 1939, he was called up as an RNR Midshipman. He was swiftly sunk in Kittiwake, then did a spell in Fitzroy where he was decorated for his work at Dunkirk. In 1941 he joined Oribi, where he spent three happy years, much of it on Arctic convoys before joining Wildgoose at war's end. The book also covers the rest of a successful and happy life

The author was Walker's gunnery officer on Starling and brings the intimacy of reminiscence to this good but hagiographic account.

Captain Bush's autobiography, one-third of which describes his career in WWII. He was with minesweepers at Dunkirk, helped guard the Channel, took command of the new cruiser Euryalus which served in the Mediterranean, then assisted in the staff work for D-Day. Finally he temporarily recommissioned Malaya for bombardment duties before serving in SEAC until the end of the war. A delightful book.

He had a busy war, serving with Birmingham in Norway before moving on to Prince of Wales in which he served during the Bismarck chase and going with her to the Far East. After surviving her sinking he briefly transferred to the then refitting Glasgow. He moved to a spell at the Signals School then to the staff of Force 26 at Plymouth, leading to a period of violent action in sweeps off the French Coast. After this he joined the staff planning the occupation of Germany.

The former Prime Minister describes his war service briefly. He joined up in 1942 and served as a seaman in the Royal Naval Patrol Service trawlers at Lamlash. After a period of illness, he became an "expert" on Japan at the Admiralty. He served a short spell with East Indies Fleet before standing in the 1945 General Election.

Catlow went to the Royal Naval College in 1928. By 1939 he was in submarines and had the unenviable task of breaking to families the news of the loss of Thetis. That September he was Third Hand on Trident and later spare First Lieutenant at Harwich. For the second half of 1940 he was First Lieutenant of Clyde and at the beginning of 1941 did his Perisher. He was appointed spare Captain at Gibraltar and in early 1942 flew as a replacement to Malta. His plane was shot down over Sicily and he was captured. Keen to escape he got out of camp and as far as Denmark as a result of which he spent the rest of the war in Colditz. The book also describes the rest of his career.

A collection of short stories of naval life at war by the well-known poet. First published in 1951, this new edition includes a long autobiographical fragment describing his training and seatime at Skegness and with a Home Fleet destroyer.

A comprehensive technical and organisational history.

A very one-sided review.

Attempts to capture the huge training, procurement and logistics challenges which faced the RN as it expanded throughout the war.

Admiral Gretton writes what is almost a biography of Churchill, whose life was intertwined with the navy for half a century. WWII is covered in 50 pages and the view of his effect on the Navy is one of critical approval. US title: Winston Churchill and the Royal Navy.

An accomplished historian charts the stormy relationship.

The very anodyne memoirs of a successful and senior civil servant. She recalls briefly her wartime service in the accounts department of the Admiralty Secretariat.

A study of the famous relationship which helped define the future course of the war.

A somewhat offbeat theme which gives a fascinating view of the trials and tribulations of wartime travel.

Includes an article by Lord Fraser of North Cape on Churchill and the Navy, directed mainly at events in WWII.

This great historian brings a wealth of knowledge to the discussion of this eventful period.

An excellent piece of research and scholarship. Although covering well-worn ground, the author brings a fresh view to the argument on how far Churchill ignored the advice of his professional advisers both as politician and amateur naval strategist.

The famous novelist served on the Joint Planning Staff in WWII and many of the position papers he wrote are reprinted in this volume.

An Australian, he trained at the Thames Nautical Training College on Worcester at Greenhithe in Kent, where he joined the RNR. He joined the RN in 1939. He then moved up through roles as executive officer on armed trawlers, then corvettes, a sinking, and by mid-1942 was commanding Snowflake. At 25 he was the youngest captain of a major warship in the Royal Navy. By age 29 he commanded a destroyer. Then it was back to the Merchant Navy. He joined Australia's Commonwealth Lighthouse Service whose vessels he commanded for the rest of his eventful career.

Focuses on the later war period and Cold War, when truly submersible boats became capable of continuously submerged operations.

Looks at the interface between scientific research, its operational introduction, and institutional inhibitors of change, taking US antisubmarine warfare and the Battle of the Atlantic along with Admiral King's role, as an example.

Attempts to cover the whole topic from technology to tactics in accessible form.

A full history from early days to the Nimrod of today. A second revised and expanded edition appeared in 1980.

A profusely illustrated account of the development of anti–submarine warfare during the war.

An autobiography. He began the war as A/S specialist in Duncan in Shanghai, but quickly returned to the UK. After a brief spell in the A/S Warfare School he went to Cossack in the summer of 1940 and took part in the Bismarck hunt. He then went to join the staff of C-in-C South Atlantic as Fleet A/S Officer. In early 1943 he took over Wanderer and joined EG B1 in the Atlantic and Arctic and finally served as a D-Day convoy escort. In October 1944 he joined the Anti-U-Boat Division of the Admiralty.

Recalled in 1940 to the Admiralty, in 1942 he set up the Western Approaches Tactical Unit, which devised tactics and passed them on to escort Commanders.

An anonymous biography, although the subject is reputed to have had a large hand in it. Certainly, many of Mountbatten's private photographs are included. There is some coverage of his part in WWII.

Memoirs of a full life. He joined up as a boy sailor in 1938 and after training at Ganges, joined Eagle in the Far East and stayed with her as she moved steadily west. In September 1940 he joined Gloucester in Alexandria. After six months he joined Hasty in February 1941 and served throughout the Crete campaign before transferring to Formidable., from which he swiftly moved first to Tank Landing Craft then back to the UK to join Howe. When she went to the Mediterranean, he was transferred to Le Fantasque. In December 1943 he was rated Yeoman, took a three month course then joined Indomitable and served with her in the Far East until war's end. Interesting but rather rose-tinted.

The autobiography of Captain Agar. The final third of the book concerns World War II, in which he commanded Emerald for nine months, was then with Coastal Forces until mid-1941, when he took command of Dorsetshire, where he stayed until her sinking.

Alliston was a regular and in 1939 was First Lieutenant of the new Kandahar. After a winter in the North Sea, she moved to the Red Sea. In 1941 she moved to the Mediterranean and operations around Crete. Later that year he took command of Decoy again in the Mediterranean. After convalescing from wounds received in Malta he moved to Javelin and took her home to the UK in 1943. Then came a spell in Shropshire in the Pacific with TF74, until he took command of Warramunga in September 1944 and of Urania in May 1945. Enjoyable but slight.

Opens up a little known area with a brief account of RN policy and history on ratings and makes an attempt to list all such pilots. A revised and expanded edition was published in 2009. (ISBN: 0956252400).

An engaging memoir. He entered pilot training in 1941 at Gosport and went on to fighter training at Yeovilton. He joined 890 Squadron that October. They brought Wildcats back on an escort carrier, then joined Illustrious for an Arctic convoy trip followed in mid-1943 by the Mediterranean and support for the Salerno landings. After returning to the UK and leave, they went to Ceylon in London. After training on Unicorn they joined Atheling. After a bout of appendicitis he transferred to 1839 Squadron on Indomitable and a period of intense operations with the Pacific Fleet. In April 1945 he returned to the UK and joined the new Colossus as a Deck Landing Control Officer and flight leader with 1846 Squadron, returning in her to the Far East.

A roll of honour in the form of a spreadsheet with full details of each loss.

Barringer joined the squadron as Adjutant on its formation in 1942 and later became its CO at the ripe old age of 23. The Squadron served briefly in Jamaica and then joined Furious in Virginia for one convoy. Then came a frustrating 18 months of working up in 16 different places with only one convoy aboard Battler. At the end of 1943 the Squadron joined Nairana and spent the rest of the war there covering 19 convoys, many in the worst Arctic weather. An engaging and modest account.

Beattie joined the FAA in 1939 and joined Ark Royal the following June, flying in Swordfishes. He saw action at Oran, Dakar, Cagliari, and on other Force H operations. In 1941 he was posted to Victorious and was killed with his pilot in the night attack on Bismarck off Iceland on May 24.

A hagiographic account concentrating on the Bismarck action and the Channel Dash action, in which he was killed.

The only volume to appear in this projected series is a well-illustrated description of 800, 826, 849, and 899 Squadrons and a description of the two carriers which bore the name Eagle.

A mainly operational history relying heavily on illustrations of British and US experience.

An excellent history of the development and career of this naval version of the Spitfire, which served from 1941–1954 with great success. A new edition, subtitled The Spitfire that Went to Sea, was published by Greenhill in 1989.

The author was at one time Chief Naval Test Pilot at Farnborough. Descriptions of the aircrafts' handling characteristics and war history are enriched by tales of his experiences. There is one chapter on each class of aircraft, most of which were published as individual features in Air International. Reprinted by Airlife in 1987, ISBN: 0906393876 .

The author's autobiography. The first third covers his wartime career. He joined the Fleet Air Arm, and after service in Audacity became a test pilot in 1942. Reprinted in 1978. A fully revised edition was published in 2006 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN: 0297845659.

A review of Bader's career which also follows the exploits of those who flew with him. There are excellent accounts of the FAA pilots who flew with him in the Battle of Britain and of the subsequent careers of "Jimmy" Gardner and Richard Cork, the leading FAA ace.

Describes a 10-day leave spent in Toronto and Iowa after flying training in Kingston, Ontario.

An illustrated history of the last propeller-driven fighter in the FAA. Although usually identified with the US Marine Corps, 2000 served in the FAA from 1943 onward.

Moore joined the FAA on the outbreak of war. After a series of illnesses and accidents he was grounded and joined the Admiralty Press Unit. He became a well-known writer about the rural scene after the war.

A relentlessly technical but fascinating account of the work of the Royal Aircraft Establishment and of the development work of the Catapult Section in particular.

With a private income derived from Walker's whisky, Rob Walker led a life of gilded youth and was already well-known in motor racing circles before the war. It is his love of motor racing that is the main theme of this biography. He volunteered for the FAA in December 1939 and his training and various scrapes and escapades are recalled with relish. In 1941 he was posted to the Middle East and flew from Dekheila in support of Tobruk in most operational types. Next came a variety of postings which are fitfully described, towing drogue targets for the RN at Haifa, as FDO on the cruiser Cleopatra until her sinking and as Hangar Control Officer on the carrier Victorious. He served with her in the Far East until war's end.

He joined the FAA in mid-1940 and trained in the UK and Canada and in mid-1942 was posted to Egypt flying Albacores in the desert.. At the end of the year he moved with 821 Squadron to Malta. After eighteen months he returned to the UK and a bout of poor health, but in mid-1944 began to work up with 814 Squadron Barracudas. They sailed in Venerable to join the BPF arriving as war ended.

Includes an interesting chapter on his nonoperational service career in the FAA.

Crosley joined the FAA in 1940 and became a fighter pilot. After training he joined Eagle and spent a period in the Mediterranean where he was sunk in her during the Pedestal convoy. He joined Biter for Torch and Dasher for JW53. Time in training squadrons was followed by spotting for naval gunfire at the Normandy landings. He joined Furious as CO of 880 squadron, with the Home Fleet. In September 1944 they joined Implacable and in March 1945 sailed for the Far East and the final assault on Japan. A long but enjoyable memoir.

An in-depth account of FAA crew experiences during World War II, with information taken from official records, memoirs and interviews. This volume covers operations in Northern Europe, Norway, the North Sea and the North and South Atlantic.

The story of British naval flying from aircraft carriers, from its conception in World War One to date. It includes the types of aircraft and the men who flew them, the carriers and their design evolution, the theatres where they served and their notable achievements and tragedies

The Seafire was an aircraft adapted initially in haste to fill a large gap in the Fleet Air Arm's fighter inventory. The first Seafires were developed from the early marks of Spitfire, but although the structure was strengthened to absorb some of the landing loads characteristic of carrier operation, the airframe would exhibit some alarming failures; a trait that continued through the life of the type.

The rather dull memoirs of an Air Mechanic. He served ashore in the UK, then on Illustrious during her Mediterranean service. He was injured in the bomb attack which crippled her - and here his account is lively - then was hospitalised and served ashore in Egypt and Malta with 830 Squadron. In 1943 he returned to the UK and after leave and training joined 778, a trials and pilot conversion squadron. In July 1944 he was drafted to 804 Squadron which worked up in South Africa before joining Ameer which was based in Ceylon with the Eastern Fleet until war's end.

Aldergrove was a key Coastal Command Base in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Winn enlisted as an anonymous ordinary seamen after three years as a war correspondent. Tells of his training and service on Cumberland, before he was invalided out.

Admiral Lambe began his career as a midshipman in 1917 and rose to become Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord. About one-quarter of this book is concerned with his war service, which began in command of Dunedin, continued in staff appointments, latterly as Director of Plans, and finished with a year in command of Illustrious.

An authorised and largely uncritical biography. US title: Admiral of the Fleet Cunningham of Hyndhope.

The autobiography of a controversial immigrant to Australia. His war career is covered in 50 pages. After serving on Southdown as an able seaman on East Coastconvoys, he joined Manxman and on her loss, the new destroyer Savage, now as an officer. Three years in Northern waters were followed by his appointment to a staff post in Australia after D-Day.

He trained as a Merchant Navy officer but in 1939 was a management consultant. He soon joined up and after A/S training took command of the Royal Naval Patrol Service manned trawler St. Loman. She saw extensive action in the Norwegian campaign earning three DSCs and six DSMs. A spell of Atlantic convoy work when she was credited with two U-boat sinkings, was followed by transfer to the American Eastern Sea Frontier. An active but enjoyable spell there ended in October 1942 with a transfer to Walvis Bay then Capetown. In September 1943 he returned to the UK to take command of the new frigate Rushen Castle. She operated largely on the Liverpool-Gibraltar Run. The book is to some extent padded with official reports.

MacLean was a very private man and so this biography provides only the sparsest details of his service on Royalist as a Torpedoman in the Arctic, Mediterranean and Far East.

An anecdotal autobiography from the lower deck. He began the war in Zulu, then joined Basilisk at Christmas 1939, was sunk at Dunkirk, joined the new Tynedale for East Coast convoys, became an asdic instructor and finally joined the depot ship Philoctetes at Freetown.

Memoirs of his service in Shearwater (1939–41) and Phoebe (1942–45).

A wholly eccentric and often barely comprehensible autobiography, which mixes diary with poetry, history and stream of consciousness. He joined aged 15 in 1939 and had a very active war, serving on Phoebe in 1940–41 through Greece and Crete, in Tobruk where he was wounded, then in the hard worked Jervis in 1942/3. He then joined Orion which covered the main Mediterranean invasions. When she returned to the UK in 1944 he joined Whimbrel and served in the Arctic. Then late in 1944 he went to Laertes and saw service to the end of the war in Canada, Norway, and Home Waters - by now a 20- year-old Petty Officer!

A fictionalised autobiography. He served in the Fleet Air Arm and in LCTs in Combined Operations.

Tells the story of John Leach, and analyses the influences that shaped him and led him ultimately to his heroic end on Prince of Wales.

The autobiography of an official war artist in both world wars.

Windsor was called up in 1942 and trained as a Telegraphist. The book is largely concerned with the over two years he spent near Freetown at a direction finding station taking bearings on U-boat transmissions. Something of a barrack room lawyer and a gambler he was in regular trouble.

He joined up as an Apprentice in 1941and this autobiography aims to set the record straight on the important role of Air Engineering personnel.

Covers the war years. He is perhaps best known for the account of PQ17 while on Pozarica, but he later served on Cumberland, before being invalided out.

A memorial to his wife. The first part consists of her poems and an account of her war career as a WRNS despatch rider. The larger part recalls his war service and is cast in the form of pseudonymous letters to a sister. He volunteered from Cambridge then, after training, joined Pelican in 1940. In 1941 he was commissioned and joined Vivacious, which took part in the abortive attempt to stop the Channel Dash. In late 1942 he joined the new Haydon, but in mid-1943 volunteered for submarines. In spring 1944 he joined Tantivy at Colombo although she later worked out of Fremantle.In April 1945 she returned to the UK. A rather saccharine account.

Over 30 pages concern King George VI's wartime relations with the fleet and Prince Philip's wartime career.

An excellent modern biography, whose sympathies are obvious.

A retired Lt. Commander, the author was recalled in 1939 and spent some time based at Scapa as captain of the A/S trawler Coventry City. He then moved to the Admiralty as a Naval Observer and recalls various trips: a Malta convoy in Edinburgh, on Somali for a raid on the Lofotens, an aborted Commando raid on Bayonne, on Bleasdale at Dieppe, with convoy KMF1 for TORCH, on the command ship Largs, and finally the fall of Germany.

Recalled from the retired list, Ramsay was responsible for the planning and execution of all the great amphibious operations in European and North African waters, from Dunkirk, through D-Day to Walcheren. He died in an air accident on 2 January 1945.

He joined the RN Supply Branch in 1938 and at the start of the war was serving on Effingham. She saw service in the Atlantic and West Indies before being sunk in the Norwegian Campaign through grounding on an uncharted rock. In June 1940 he stood by Quorn which was to be based at Harwich. Promotion to Leading Hand led to a transfer ashore at Portsmouth then Greenock. Further promotion to Petty Officer led to a posting to the new Racehorse. She had a quiet time in the South Atlantic and South Africa. In August 1943 he was disrated for fiddling the stores and given a shore post in Mombasa. He was rerated in March 1945, drafted home and saw out the war in Lowestoft. A lively and cheeky autobiography.

It was an active war. Worsley joined up as a midshipman in 1939 and was sunk in his first ship, the AMC Laurentic. This was followed by six months on Lancaster in the Atlantic then Wallace on the East Coast. After only two months there he joined Devonshire in the US and sailed to join the East Indies Fleet in spring 1942. She returned to the UK in the summer of 1943 and he was elected a War Artist, the first of only two active service artists. He next joined the staff of C-in-C Mediterranean and followed the action in Sicily and Salerno before being captured in November 1943 during clandestine operations by Coastal Forces in the Adriatic. He continued to work as an artist while a POW including three important portraits of naval VCs. He also created the famous dummy "Albert RN" used for a successful escape from Marlag "O". At the end of the war in Europe he completed his service by painting portraits of several notable VIPs, including Montgomery of Alamein.

A fairly rambling autobiography. During WWII the author was first Fleet Supply Officer on the staff of C-in-C Mediterranean and later Command Supply Officer, Western Approaches.

A critically acclaimed work and probably the most balanced on this controversial figure. A sympathetic but accurate portrait.

A mixture of pictures, text, and photographs with leading details.

Takes selected incidents, mainly well-known, and uses them to illustrate the role of air power at sea. About half concern WWII.

The author joined the FAA in 1939 and after training was posted to Victorious, from which he flew to hunt the Bismarck. He then joined Rodney's Walrus crew and served there for some time, notably in the Pedestal convoy. In September 1942 he transferred to night fighters. In July 1944 he moved on as Air Staff Officer to the escort carrier Thane and finally in January 1945 went to naval headquarters in Ottawa. An enjoyable account.

An excellent piece of nostalgia with beautifully clear reproductions of both ships and planes.

Yet more nostalgia, again with beautifully clear reproductions of both ships and planes.

A well illustrated account of the growth of the "air train" which supported FAA operations in the Pacific. Opens up a neglected area.

An autobiography. He lost both legs in a flying accident early in 1939, but like Bader struggled back to operations. He transferred to the RAF and was briefly a POW after crash-landing in France.

A long and rambling, but lighthearted and amusing, account of war service as a pilot in the FAA, who was almost always on the fringes of the action. He saw service in East Africa, Ceylon, and Burma, ferrying replacements in the Fleet Replacement Pool, and was regularly in and out of scrapes.

An attempt to improve the public image of the FAA. The book explains how it operates and recounts some of its successes.

He volunteered for the FAA in September 1939 and after training and a spell in a second-line squadron soon joined Esmonde's squadron and was almost at once hunting the Bismarck from Victorious. He spent much time on her and Ark Royal with Force H at the "Men's End" of the Mediterranean. A series of tragedies left him in and out of hospital in 1942–43 and he spent the rest of the war as a DLCO training officer. A patchy and spasmodic account.

An early but useful history, one-third of which covers WWII.

A brief laudatory pamphlet on this famous aircraft.

John rose to become First Sea Lord, but his career is inextricably linked with the FAA. In September 1939 he was serving in York in the Western Atlantic and stayed with her at Norway and in the Mediterranean. He left just before she was sunk to take over FAA aircraft design and procurement, involving a lot of time spent in the US. In late 1944 he took command of Pretoria Castle and just before the end of the war moved to the new carrier Ocean.

Recollections of a FAA pilot who served in the desert in Albacores, did further training in the US, then flew Avengers from Illustrious and Victorious with the BPF. A little leaden, but of interest.

He joined up in 1942 and after initial training at Gosport was sent to Canada for further training. Training continued throughout 1943 until he qualified as a fighter pilot. After a few weeks of target towing he joined 808 Sqdn at Lee-on-Solent flying Spitfires then Seafires. His first combat role was gunnery spotting over Normandy, then he moved to be a batsman on the training carrier Argus. He then joined Tracker on Arctic convoy duty followed by Nairana as assistant batsman. Just as the war ended he was posted to the Pacific Fleet in a flying role.

A mixture of history and reminiscence from a close-knit group which served on Indefatigable with the Pacific Fleet.

The author was sunk in Courageous, laid mines and hunted U boats over Northern European waters, harried E-boats off Dunkirk, flew from Illustrious in the Mediterranean including the attack on Taranto, flew antishipping strikes from Greece and Malta, crash-landed in North Africa, and was imprisoned by Vichy. After release and recuperation he joined Implacable only to suffer a further accident on her deck in the Pacific. Most enjoyably told. US Title is To War in a Stringbag. Reissued by Cooper in 1988.

A curiously flat account of an adventurous career. Lithgow joined the FAA in March 1939. After training he joined Ark Royal in June 1940 and took part in the Mers-el-Kebir action and in subsequent Mediterranean actions, including Spartivento, the bombardment of Genoa and the Bismarck chase. The squadron then returned to the UK to re-equip with Albacores then joined Formidable in February 1942. After a spell with the Eastern Fleet she returned home and the author then went to Boscombe Down to test fly the Barracuda. From this he went to the US in 1944 to the Naval Air Test Center and from this grew his subsequent career as a test pilot.

He was called up in 1942 and trained as a Radio Mechanic. He was based first at Carnoustie then in Northern Ireland before joining Trumpeter, followed by Furious and Indefatigable. His squadron then joined Speaker and travelled to the Far East, where he finally served on Indomitable before rejoining the police force in 1946. Really a series of anecdotes each of a page or so in length.

An excellent illustrated guide.

He joined the FAA in 1940 and after training as an Observer joined 827 Squadron, flying Albacores. Almost at once they joined Indomitable serving in the Far East and Mediterranean. After she was damaged in the Pedestal convoy and returned to the UK, he was attached to 114 Squadron RAF as a naval liaison officer. He went to Algeria with them as part of the Torch landings. He then joined Archer flying A/S patrols in the Atlantic. He then volunteered to be an air gunnery officer and after training at Whale Island served at Inskip and Donibristle. In 1945 he returned to Whale Island as an instructor.

Masters sailed for the UK in 1941 as part of a draft for FAA training. This took place in the UK and Canada and in April 1943 he joined 897 Seafire Squadron which soon moved to Unicorn for the Salerno landing. He transferred to 809 Squadron and in March 1944 was nominated for training as a batsman. After training he went to Ceylon and later Australia and joined Indefatigable in early 1945. In July he joined 1845 Corsair Squadron, but was back in New Zealand by September. The final third of the book consists of anecdotes and brief memoirs from other New Zealand FAA pilots.

Despite the title, the engagingly modest memoirs of a pilot who joined the Reserves pre-war. After training he joined Ark Royal and probably fired the torpedo which hit Bismarck's rudder. The rest of his wartime career is very briefly described.

A notably well-illustrated reprint of a work first published in 1982. All the FAA types are described and illustrated.

The achievements of WWII form the bulk of the book.

An autobiography. A New Zealander, he sailed for the UK in 1940 to join the Fleet Air Arm. After training he served in the Arctic, Mediterranean and as a test pilot in the USA. His post war life is also described.

Green volunteered for the FAA in 1939 and served as an Observer. He was sent to 831 Squadron and flew in Albacores. 831 joined Indomitable and served in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean. After she suffered battle damage in the Pedestal convoy she returned to the UK, while Green was appointed naval liaison officer at RAF Bone in Algeria. He served there for almost two years before returning to the UK as an instructor.

BF or Daddy as he was known, started his career at Dartmouth and then spent his early seagoing years in Hong Kong, Nagasaki and Hiroshima. His wartime experiences as a Fleet Air pilot aboard Glorious included the attack on Taranto and the search for the Graf Spee. In May 1940 he was loaned to Coastal Command and attacked German tanks in a biplane, defended Allied troops over Dunkirk and was one of the few naval officers to fight in the Battle of Britain. After a period as a test pilot at Boscombe Down he became one of only four Wing Leaders in the Royal Navy. His successful leadership led to many more successes, not least the crippling of Tirpitz. Tragically he was killed in action in July 1944, one week prior to promotion and a job ashore.

A selection of photographs from the files of the Imperial War Museum. Concentrates on the planes.

Le Page flew with the FAA from 1940 to 1945, mostly in 816 Squadron flying carrier-based Swordfish. He saw action mine-laying off Cherbourg, hunting U-boats, escorting convoys in North Atlantic and in the Arctic and covering D-Day. Much of his early war years were aboard Dasher and he was lucky to be ashore when the carrier mysteriously blew and sank in the Clyde. This decimated 816 Squadron which was eventually re-equipped and then worked up to operational readiness to fly from Tracker.

Reminiscences of the Association and its members' war service.

Focuses on the experience of the Telegraphist Air Gunners, notably in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Recollections of war service from 14 of those Telegraphist Air Gunners who were on 35 Course in 1942.

Although American he joined the FAA from university in 1939. After a year of training he was posted to the Middle East and the Western Desert Fulmars of 805 Squadron. He was then posted to 821 Squadron and antisubmarine patrols and bombing. The squadron transferred to Malta and Foster then returned to the UK early in 1943. He next joined 841 Squadron on antishipping strikes in the Channel but soon went to the US for further training. In 1944 he took command of 849 Squadron and sailed for the Far East to be based in Ceylon and then Victorious. With TF57 he took part in the raids on Sumatra and Palembang then with the Pacific Fleet on Sakishima Gunto. In mid-1945 he was posted to an appointment in the Admiralty. An interesting if understated memoir.

The third volume of the poet's autobiography covers his war service. He joined the FAA as a radar mechanic in 1941. After training he was sent to East Africa. He next returned to the UK as a Petty Officer, was commissioned in 1943 and spent the rest of the war in a junior technical post in the Admiralty.

He began his merchant career in 1933 and was called up from the RNR in 1939. He swiftly gravitated to the FAA and by 1940 was a fighter pilot first on Ark Royal then on Formidable, including action at the Battle of Matapan. He next took over 802 Squadron on Audacity and survived her sinking. He then went to the US to take charge of the British pilot training programme and stayed in the RN for a distinguished postwar career.

An irreverent account of a naval career in the FAA in which the author rose from bluejacket to Lieutenant Commander, flew 67 operational sorties, and met and conquered most of the hazards to which wartime pilots were exposed, notably in MAC conversions and in Nairana on the Murmansk Run.

A short ruminative autobiographical tale, from training in Argus to service with the BPF.

Warner volunteered in 1943 and after training joined Renown late in the year. Early in 1944 he was drafted to Black Prince. He gravitated to a Combined Operations base and at the end of the year joined Frolic. In August 1945 he joined a tank landing craft. His career took him steadily through the ranks. The book is full of the skills required of a steward. His 1949 report said "Honest and hard–working, but outside his duties has the intelligence of a child." The book bears this out.

A history of naval aviation. Only the last 30 pages cover WWII.

A biographic line shoot. After a full and enjoyable account of his training in Canada, Hadley describes his career in 822 Squadron in Tain, India, and Ceylon. After a short spell of active service on Victorious he moved to 831 Squadron again in Ceylon. He was sent back to the UK to train as a Deck Landing Control Officer. In 1945 he served in Queen and briefly in Ocean as the war ended.

Another enjoyable account of service in the Fleet Air Arm, full of anecdote and clear technical explanations. The author describes his career from volunteering in 1940, through training in the US, to service in the Middle East and finally to joining Illustrious, with which he served in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, rising to the eminence of squadron commander.

Describes the history of the Fairey company before describing the design and operation of these two aircraft. Beautifully illustrated.

An extensive photographic review of the legendary Stringbag.

A photographic history of the famous FAA Stringbag.

A detailed design and operational history of this successful all weather strike aircraft which saw service in both Northern waters and the Pacific, and throughout the 1950s.

A semi-autobiographical work of fiction depicting life in a Swordfish squadron in the Mediterranean in 1940-41. A weak story but strong on detail and atmosphere.

A well captioned photographic record with much on WWII.

The author grew up on a farm, served in the volunteer reserve and joined up in 1942 to fly with the FAA. After initial training in the UK he trained as a fighter pilot in the USA. In 1944 his Corsair Squadron joined Atheling for Ceylon. After four months at Minneriya he joined Victorious, still with 1838 Sqdn. But after several operations transferred to 1833 Sqdn on Illustrious in Capetown. And spent the remainder of the war with her and the BPF, although being hospitalised with tuberculosis just as the war ended.

A semi-autobiographical novel. He joined as an engine fitter in the FAA in early 1939 and saw active service from the Arctic to the Mediterranean.

Four extended memoirs, one from early in the century. Bill Dunlevey was a CPO on Exeter when she went down and survived as a POW, although in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb fell there. Morley himself was called up in 1940 and after training joined Verdun on the East Coast. In late 1942 he joined the new Redoubt and served mainly in the Mediterranean and Central and South Atlantic before joining the Eastern Fleet. In June 1944 he joined trawlers minesweeping at Aden. Finally W. P. McGrath was a Royal Marine Commando at Dieppe.

A fictionalised autobiography. The author joined up in 1939 and after training as a Signalman worked on merchantmen on the staff of convoy commodores. He was commissioned early in 1941 and became a Boarding Officer based in the West of Scotland. After further training he joined North Sea escorts briefly (including the Dieppe Raid) and then Penylan (Ramsey in the book) in which he was sunk in December 1942. He then joined another Hunt and served in the Mediterranean through the various invasions. In late 1944 he was given a shore job at a Mediterranean repair base.

The war is covered in 50 pages in which he served and was sunk in Transylvania on the Northern Patrol, then spent three years on the staff of the Royal Naval College Greenwich before taking command of the frigate Cygnet in Arctic waters. This was followed by a spell on the staff of the C-in-C Mediterranean and finally command of a ship in the Fleet Train. US title: The Captain's Bridge.

He joined up in 1940 and after training joined Windsor. He trained as an officer and became liaison officer on Rubis. After a year there he joined Intelligence as a member of a COPP unit, working mainly in the Far East. An enjoyably told tale.

An RNVR autobiography. One man's experiences of WW2 from Ordinary Seaman to Lieutenant in command, from RNPS minesweepers in Home waters, an Antarctic whaler, in the Mediterranean (torpedoed) and landing craft of various types..

Some 44 pages recount his varied wartime career: contraband control at Ramsgate; Dunkirk; assistant navigator of the King George V and the Bismarck chase; the Freetown run in Ibis and finally on the escort carrier Activity from Murmansk to Singapore.

A brief memoir. He joined as a Boy Telegraphist and fought at Jutland. After 24 years service he retired in 1939 as a Chief Yeoman, only to be recalled to the colours that August. He served in various Port Signal Stations at Scapa, Lulworth, Gibraltar, and from mid-1943 on Pretoria Castle. Has little of interest but one or two yarns.

In 25 pages he gives a short account of his career in the Engineering Branch in various smaller craft and depot ships.

He joined the London Division of the RNVR before the war and in September 1939 was sent to Curlew. Service on her forms the bulk of the book. After her sinking in Norwegian waters, he moved around barracks until he volunteered for Coastal Forces as a CW candidate on HMML 147. His career as an officer is covered in two pages.

A solicitor in the City and a member of the RNV(S)R, he was called up as war began. He spent some time shuttling between Malcolm and Wren. The two destroyers worked on training reservists, escorting troops to France, escort and A/S work then Dunkirk. From October 1941 he was based at Derry, briefly in a shore post. Late in 1941 he took a party of signallers on Prince of Wales to cover the Churchill–Roosevelt meeting at Argentia. He next acted as Secretary to Commander (D) on Brighton an escort group for minelayers based at Loch Alsh. He took radar training and was appointed to Queen Elizabeth and the Eastern Fleet based in Ceylon. In January 1945 he was promoted Lieutenant Commander and moved to the depot ship Woolwich, before returning to the UK as an instructor at the radar school in Portsmouth.

Based on his illicit wartime diary. He served first in Dorsetshire joining her in Hong Kong in October 1939 as an RNVR Officer and seeing service in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic, mainly hunting commerce raiders or as convoy escort. After a brief refit in the UK and more of this work he joined the new destroyer Brocklesby as a sublieutenant. She took part in the St. Nazaire and Dieppe Raids as well as convoy work. From November 1942 he spent six months standing by the refitting Griffin, but when she transferred to the RCN he joined Orwell as First Lieutenant. She served with the Home Fleet and in the Atlantic and Russian convoys, notably taking part in the sinking of the Scharnhorst. In April 1944 he took over the new Fitzroy as CO, based at Harwich. In September 1944 he went to Greenwich for the six-month staff course and in March 1945 took over Wolverine and was based at Gibraltar until VE Day. After paying her off he finally took over Holderness in July 1945 shuttling back and forth to Europe

The autobiography of a RNVR officer. He served briefly on the trawler Flanders in Home Waters then was commissioned and posted to work with landing craft in the Mediterranean. He helped in the evacuation of Crete and was captured at the fall of Tobruk. After a spell as a POW in Italy he was repatriated then served as a beachmaster at the Normandy landings.

The actor's autobiography covers the war in 25 pages. A curiously vapid account of a full career as a DEMS gunner in the Jervis Bay convoy, a spell in Liverpool as a training officer, then active service on Aurora in the Mediterranean in 1942–44, before ending the war as a Fighter Direction Officer on the carrier Victorious in the Pacific.

Somerville is best known for his command of Force H and later of the Eastern Fleet. He was one of the major naval figures of the war.

As a member of the RNV(S)R, Muncaster was called up in February 1940. After some brief tribulations in Andania and a spell of illness, he went to the Admiralty, with responsibility for the camouflage of ships at sea. He held this post until invalided out in 1943. This saga is covered in 25 pages of a full biography. There was a separate and numbered limited edition of 100 copies.

The first attempt at a record of Mountbatten's phenomenal career in war and peace.

A very uneven autobiography. After training he joined Barham at Alexandria and was sunk in her. He then joined LCH 185, which was mined off Normandy. Promotion to sub–lieutenant followed and a move to Alacrity which then travelled to the Far East.

He joined the RN in 1935 as a Boy Telegraphist and in September 1939 was serving as a Telegraphist First Class at the St. Angelo base in Malta. A year later he returned to England for foreign service leave then stood by Marigold. She worked mainly in the North Atlantic and early in 1942 he left for a promotion course. As a new PO he joined Bleasdale serving on the East Coast and the Channel, taking part both in the Dieppe Raid and the D-Day landings. After VE Day and a refit she sailed to join the East Indies Fleet. A good tale but compiled as something of a scrapbook.

He was accepted into the Royal Navy Youth Scheme as an officer cadet in 1943 and completed his combined operations training in time for D-Day on a Landing Craft Rocket. This was followed by the Walcheren landing, where his LCR was badly damaged by shellfire. He saw out the war standing by a new LCR building at Middlesbrough.

Oram had a fascinating early career in the sailing Merchant Navy before shifting to the RN and submarines in 1913. Steady promotion was abruptly halted by the tragedy of the Thetis. He was the senior officer on board and one of only four survivors. After this tragedy he was appointed Flag Captain to Admiral Harwood in Hawkins, based in the South Atlantic. After two years of this Hawkins returned to the UK and Oram to a minor job in the Admiralty, although he was influential in the adoption of a new officer selection scheme. He retired from the Navy, still a Captain in 1946.

An enjoyable autobiography full of tall tales. During the war, this RNR Skipper claims to have captained corvettes, been on a motor launch at the raid on St. Nazaire, been a Commando who was on the Tobruk raid, a parachutist into Belgium, Royal Marine Beachmaster at D-Day and in the Far East, been captured by and escaped from the Japanese, shot tigers, and fought crocodiles.

A fair account of arguably Britain's greatest admiral since Nelson.

War memoirs of a naval wife with information on her husband's career, in command of Calcutta, Manchester, the gunnery school Excellent, Warspite, and Chief of Staff to Sir John Cunningham.

During WWII the author was recalled to the RN and served as a Plotting Officer at Plymouth and later as Staff Officer (Escorts) at Liverpool under Admirals Noble and Horton.

A young RNVR officer's wartime diary. He served on Clematis, Exe and Amethyst, mainly on convoy duties, but including action against Hipper. An engaging account.

He joined up in 1939, was trained at Royal Arthur then drafted to Durban based at Singapore early in 1940. He stayed with her through the fall of Singapore, after which shewent to New York for major refit. Next came a gunnery course and after almost a year of shore appointments he trained at King Alfred. He then joined the minesweeper Lioness as gunnery officer in spring 1945, where he stayed until demobbed.

He joined up as a Boy Seaman on the outbreak of war and after training joined Aurora early in 1941 at Scapa. Later in the year she joined Force K at Malta. After six months of hard action she sailed for a UK refit, then more convoy work prior to the Torch landings and a further year in the Mediterranean. He returned to the UK and a year in various shore bases before transfer to the Pacific just as the war ended.

Kane was born in 1897 and joined the navy, seeing service in WWI. On his discharge he joined the reserves and was called up to the destroyer Eclipse in 1939. In 1940 he was posted to the "Q" ship Prunella. It is with her career, her loss to U 28 and Kane's death that his grandson is concerned.

Having initially failed to get into the Fleet Air Arm as a pilot in 1941 he was accepted into the RN as a cadet on the Y-Scheme and trained to become a radar operator. In 1942 he joined the crew of Polyanthus. By a stroke of luck his draft to train at Daedalus, arrived just before Polyanthus set out on her last voyage. He went on to become a pilot in the FAA flying a Barracuda.

A very enjoyable memoir with 90 pages on the war, including a section on his father's death in Rawalpindi. He served for two years on Tartar, including the Bismarck hunt and Russian convoy duty; in Watchman on the North Atlantic run; for a year in Canada as ADC to the Governor of Newfoundland; as Press Liaison Officer in the Admiralty, which included a view of D-Day from Largs; with Zebra in the Home Fleet and, briefly, with Wheatland refitting at Taranto.

A discreet autobiography covering his life at Eton, Oxford, King Alfred, then two years on Tartar, where he saw action in Norway, the Lofotens Raid, and the Bismarck hunt. Also contains a tribute to his father who went down as captain of the Rawalpindi.

He joined up in 1935 as a Boy Seaman and in September 1939 was at Malta on Imogen which returned to the UK serving at Plymouth and Scapa until sunk in a collision in mid-1940. He then joined the new cruiser Phoebe and saw service in the Greek and Cretan evacuations. In August 1941 he was drafted to Griffin working with the Fleet and on the Spud Run to Tobruk. In mid-1942 he moved to Resolution and the Eastern Fleet. In May 1943 he returned to the UK on Gambia then undertook his Petty Officer training, then saw out the war at the Scapa base. A lightweight account.

After joining up and extended training in radar he joined Arbiter in Vancouver for her commissioning in late 1943. A lengthy journey eventually took her to the Pacific Fleet Train and she returned to the UK some months after war's end. Enlivened with excellent drawings by the author.

The war memoirs of a reservist who became a naval broadcaster. Extracts from his broadcasts are mixed with accounts of all the major operations in which he took part and of all the famous people he met.

The author was an actor. The last 30 pages of this autobiography record his short wartime naval career, in which he was tragically blinded in the Hood action, while serving on Prince of Wales.

The slightly disjointed autobiography of a RN officer. He returned from the Far East in Folkestone in 1939, then served in Orion in the Mediterranean in 1940–41, going to the US with her after damage off Crete. He next served in Howe in 1942–43 then became involved in the logistic support for D-Day and the Mulberry project. Before war's end he went to Australia to set up a damage control training unit.

Only a dozen pages on his wartime career, but containing some original reminiscences from colleagues.

A tribute to Mountbatten from an especially strongly linked group of men, bound together by the sinking of Kelly off Crete.

Covers his career from 1937 to 1955. At the outbreak of war he was a midshipman on Mohawk in the Mediterranean. He transferred to Barham and shortly after to Hood then Warspite and the Northern Patrol. In mid-1940 he did his Gunnery Course and joined Lydd at Grimsby then Birmingham and the Home Fleet at the end of the year. She led a busy life in the South Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian Ocean. He then transferred to the Dutch cruiser Heemskerck as Liaison Officer based at Sydney. In March 1943 he returned to the UK and joined Viscount as First Lieutenant in the Liverpool Escort Force. In June 1944 he joined the training cruiser Dauntless then went on his long Gunnery Course toward war's end.

An autobiography which focuses on these two events.

Born in 1901 he joined the Merchant Service in 1917 to train as a deck officer. After the postwar contraction of shipping he trained as a teacher and in 1923 joined the RN as a "schoolie." In late 1939 he joined Aurora and saw service through the Norwegian campaign. He then joined Naiad and saw six months' hard service in the eastern Mediterranean, notably at Crete. Posted home in January 1942 he took a shore post in Edinburgh and toured the country lecturing. Several shore posts took him to discharge in 1946. His war service occupies only some 50 pages.

Leach joined as a Cadet in 1937 and retired as First Sea Lord and an Admiral of the Fleet in 1982. This is an anecdotal rather than analytic biography with notable gaps and an avowed reluctance to criticise. There are 50 pages on WWII. Most of this time was spent at sea, first in Mauritius (and a poignant last meeting in Singapore with his father before he sailed for the last time with Prince of Wales), then in Walpole followed by Duke of York in 1943–1944, including the sinking of the Scharnhorst. He saw out the war in a mutinous Javelin preparing for service in the Far East.

Admiral Le Bailly went to Dartmouth in 1929. In 1939 he was serving in Hood, but at the end of the year joined the then building Naiad. She spent the second half of 1940 based at Scapa, then after a refit moved to the Mediterranean, where she was damaged in the evacuation of Crete and finally sunk in March 1942 on a Malta convoy. He spent the next two years as Professor of Marine Engineering at Keyham and at the beginning of 1945 joined Duke of York, which was bound for the Pacific Fleet and attended the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. The final third of the book describes his postwar career.

Lewis joined the RNVR in mid-1939 and was called up in September as a Stores Assistant at Devonport. He soon moved to the submarine depot ship Forth in Scotland. In mid-1940 came Norfolk and the Northern Patrol. In January 1941 he became an officer cadet and trained at King Alfred before appointment in March 1941 to Coastal Forces as spare officer of the 3rd MGB Flotilla based at Fowey then the 7th ML Flotilla at Dartmouth. In March 1942 he joined the 19th Flotilla as First Lieutenant of MTB 336. The flotilla immediately moved to the West Indies for escort and rescue duties. After a year he and other officers helped ship a flotilla of LCTs to Gibraltar from the Chesapeake Bay then returned to the UK. He next commissioned MTB 705 at Southampton which joined the 59th MTB Flotilla at Dover in late 1943, undertaking 110 operational patrols in the next six months up to and including D-Day. In August he joined the new MTB 766 but was hospitalised after an accident and returned to command the older MTB 612. After more action in the Channel he moved as a Training Officer to the Coastal Forces Base in Anglesey in March 1945.

The autobiography of a career officer. He was First Lieutenant of Whitshed in 1939–40 until she was seriously damaged in the Fall of France. He then served as First on Southdown, before taking command of Guillemot in mid-1941 with Nicholas Monsarrat as his First Lieutenant. After East Coast convoy work he stood by Rockwood before she served in the Mediterranean and Aegean. He brought her home damaged in early 1944 and the book ends as he goes to Staff College. A good tale.

The only son of an Irish father and an English mother, at the age of seven he left India with his mother, who had decided to return to England following the death of his father. He entered the Royal Navy, in which he served as a signalman on trawlers in the North Sea and the Channel. He was commissioned and transferred to landing craft. He saw action in Sicily, Italy then Normandy. Drafted to the Far East, he eventually left the Navy and became a tea planter in Assam. Some years after that, he and some friends migrated to Australia, to eventually settle in Western Australia, where he became a pioneer farmer.

Love joined up in 1936 and by 1939 was in Inglefield which joined the Home Fleet soon after the start of the war. She served in the Norwegian Campaign and on Operation Menace. In 1942 he transferred briefly to USS Sterett before returning to Inglefield and the Arctic. In 1943 he did a spell in several troopships. Early in 1945 he joined Palomares and soon headed for the Pacific, but had got no further than Ceylon by war's end. Not the liveliest of tales.

A fascinating insight into the mind of one of the great admirals as the invasion of Europe unfolded from conception to success.

In September 1939 he was serving on Skipjack as navigator. She was sunk at Dunkirk. He next went to Bridlington as First Lieutenant, then in June 1941 he joined Mendip. Next came a complete change when he became the Signals Officer in Charge on Largs. In April 1943, she arrived in North Africa and he spent eighteen months working in the Mediterranean theatre. In January 1945 he joined Tartar as Staff Signals Officer, 8th DF. They were bound for the Far East and in Trincomalee at war's end.

A brief account, in his own words, linked by the author.

He joined the London RNVR in June 1939. After training he was sent to Singapore, but by March 1940 had joined Kent patrolling in the Indian Ocean. She soon joined the Mediterranean Fleet, suffered bomb damage, and returned to the UK. After shore time and now technically in the FAA, he joined Shropshire, supporting her Walrus crew and headed first for Simonstown then attachment to the Home Fleet at Scapa in mid-1941. That October she went to Chatham for a major refit then in March moved to Simonstown. When she returned to the UK six months later he had a spell ashore before joining Asturias in March 1943. She was torpedoed but not sunk later in the year and he moved back to the UK as an instructor at Daedalus. A good story which rather fizzles out.

He joined up in 1942 as an OD and CW candidate. He joined Atherstone and served in the Western Mediterranean. After training at King Alfred he joined Vidette in the North Atlantic. In late 1943 he went to New York for the commissioning of Inman and served in her until the end of the war. A rather ordinary account strongest on his North Atlantic service.

Recounts his war service. He was with Ajax at the Battle of the River Plate, but spent most of the war in destroyers in the Atlantic, Arctic and Mediterranean.

A whole series of anecdotes by a good raconteur. They include the sinking of Blean; a drink-induced grounding in Morocco; sinking an Italian submarine; entry into Taranto; painting the flotilla padre's car; the looting of a German supply ship; Torch and the rescue of the trooper Thomas Stone as seen from Wishart; ramming a French submarine in error; liberating stores; dealing with a VD case in a North Atlantic convoy.

The author's service aboard Rodney in early 1941.

He volunteered in 1941 and trained as a CW candidate on Edinburgh and was sunk on her in the Arctic. After training at King Alfred he joined the D.E.M.S unit at Belfast then Bangor. Finally in 1945 he went to India as a Gunnery Instructor.

A revisionist history of reputations with Ramsay emerging as the author's hero. The feats of all the major admirals are reconsidered.

An autobiography. As war broke out he left school and became a cadet in the British India Steam Navigation Company, as a back door route into the Royal Navy. After sixteen months at sea – including the Dakar operation – he was accepted as a Midshipman in late 1941 at Greenwich and by March 1942 had joined Euryalus at Alexandria and was very quickly involved in the Battle of Sirte. He soon transferred to the small minesweeper Lord Irwin based at Beirut. In August he moved to Erica and stayed with her until she was sunk off Benghazi in February 1943. After a brief two weeks on the anti-aircraft control ship Antwerp, he was appointed to Delphinium performing Mediterranean convoy work. In September 1944 he returned to the UK and joined Tavy quickly taking part in an Arctic convoy before being based at Gibraltar. In June 1945 he moved to Cockatrice and was demobbed early in 1946 soon returning to a successful career in the Merchant Navy.

He had an active career and was involved in major actions from Dunkirk to Sicily. A fond account of one of the last survivors of the First World War.

Mainly concerned with the war in the Far East.

Captain Rory O'Conor was an outstanding young officer whose career was tragically cut short when Neptune was sunk in a minefield off Tripoli in 1941. He had begun the war in the Plans Division of the Admiralty and at age 37 was by far the youngest promotion to Captain of his time. This biography by his niece is based on naval records, interviews and his voluminous correspondence.

A career autobiography of a Merchant Mariner. He spent most of the war on his pre-war ship, the private yacht Evadne, converted for the patrol service. Late in the war he went to Germany as Deputy Harbour Master at Kiel. An enjoyable tale.

Substantial pieces of biography separate a very good selection of edited and annotated documents. Covers the period 1936–1945.

An autobiography covering his life from joining the Navy from school during the war. He describes time in Coastal Forces with the 15th Flotilla transporting agents to and from France and Norway.

An autobiography. No copy seen.

He joined as a cadet and Dartmouth and his active wartime service saw him at Salerno, Omaha Beach and sailing on Arctic convoy. This is briefly described but the book concentrates on his post-war career as a senior naval commander and on his career in business.

He joined the RN aged 16 in 1927 and most of the autobiography concerns the prewar Navy. In September 1939 he was a Leading Seaman on Emerald. After some time in the Atlantic she moved to the Persian Gulf. In 1941 as a PO he moved to shore duties in the Gulf then in 1943 returned to the UK and various base duties. In April 1945 he moved to Nelson as Captain of the Top Division and sailed with her for the Far East. An unadventurous telling of anecdotes.

John Donald Merrett was a small time crook, gambler and murderer. He murdered his mother over debts in 1926, although found not proven on a majority verdict. He decamped to Hastings, married and spent more time in jail for fraud, now with the name Ronald Chesney, before inheriting a small fortune aged twenty-one. He soon drifted into smuggling and became familiar with small boats, moving to the Mediterranean for richer pickings. He returned to the UK when war started and was commissioned in the navy in 1940, moving to Alexandria where he commanded a schooner running supplies to Tobruk, accompanied by more black market dealing and some degree of heroism. He was captured, escaped, was recaptured and repatriated due to illness, then commanded small craft in Home waters, finishing the war at Scapa, as a Lt Commander with a fearsome reputation for wine, women and song. After a spell serving in Germany with looting and the black market as his main activities, he was court-martialled for theft. The next ten years were spent in and out of prison until he murdered his wife and subsequently committed suicide. Indeed a bad man.

Born in 1924 of a Jewish textile exporting family he chose a naval career and went to Dartmouth in 1937. He passed out in late 1941 and joined Ajax in the Mediterranean. After three months he transferred to Hasty and after a hectic three months went on to Revenge. Early in 1943 he returned to the UK on the AMC Ranchi having passed for Sublieutenant. After six months on courses he joined Norfolk at Scapa and took part in the sinking of the Scharnhorst. Thanks to action damage most of the crew transferred to Devonshire, again based at Scapa. At the beginning of 1945 he joined the Hunt Class Blackmore, which was to join the Eastern Fleet. An exciting postwar career is also described.

The slightly colourless war memoirs of a seaman who rose to fame during the war, with his exploits in Cossack and later in the Mediterranean and Pacific.

He joined Conway for training in 1936 but in 1939 failed the RN entrance exams. However he managed to join the RCN in mid-1940 and was sent to Dartmouth. In January 1941 he joined Queen Elizabeth. In April she moved to the Mediterranean. He served with her until her "sinking" by Italian underwater craft, apart from a spell ashore on the C-in-C's staff. In May 1942 he moved to Jervis which took part in convoy operations, Spud Runs, the disastrous Tobruk raid and fleet actions. In April 1943 he was appointed to the staff of FO Red Sea in Port Tewfik but very quickly moved to Bulolo as cypher officer in time for the Husky landings. After this he moved to Combined Operations, based at Suez as administrative secretary to the base commander. Rather derivative and fizzles out in late 1943 when he was recalled to the RCN.

Waller joined the Volunteer Reserve in London in March 1939 and was trained on President and Chrysanthemum in the Thames. Called up in September he trained as a signalman at Royal Arthur in Skegness then joined HMT Glen Heather at Milford Haven. In May 1940 he was selected for a commission and trained at King Alfred. He joined HMT Amethyst which was soon mined while sweeping, then acted as relief on the new corvette Primula before an appointment to HMT Tourmaline early in 1941. She was sunk by a Stuka attack and he joined HMT Lady Shirley to be based at Gibraltar where an eventful period saw the sinking of U 111. He then had a shore job on the signals staff at Gibraltar and returned to the UK in mid-1943, followed by appointment to HMT Southern Pride based at Freetown. In June 1944 she ran aground and sank off Liberia. He then moved to LST(2)2 as Navigator and was sailing for the Far East as the war ended. An informative but rather self-righteous tale.

He joined as a Boy Sailor in 1936. Bored, he deserted in January 1939 aged 18. In March 1940 he gave himself up rather than join the infantry. Given a Free Pardon, he took up his career. He began in Foylebank which was soon sunk. After survivor's leave he took an ASDIC course then joined Bulldog in early 1941. Trouble with the police in Liverpool within weeks was followed by a transfer to Windsor and East Coast convoys. After a year he joined the new Acute for TORCH. In late 1943 he moved to the USA to stand by Kingsmill in Charlestown which arrived in the UK in time for D-Day. He finished up in Brissenden where he was rated up to Petty Officer. His post war service in the RN is also described.

He joined up as a seaman in 1936 and at the outbreak of war was at Devonport training in torpedoes At the end of the year he joined Griffin based at Harwich and Scapa and took part in the evacuation of France. She moved in late 1940 to the Eastern Mediterranean and took part in the bruising battles there until she joined the Eastern Fleet in February 1942. At the end of the year she returned to the UK and, now a PO he undertook nine months training before joining Inconstant in January 1944, based at Gourock, first for Arctic convoys then as part of the D-Day forces and latterly in the Western Approaches.

Ross is a well-known poet who joined the RN in 1942 from Oxford University. One hundred pages of his autobiography cover service on Onslow in convoy JW51B (also described in a major poem by him), East Coast convoys on Vivien as a CW candidate, then time on the staff of Captain(D) of 16DF at Harwich.

Autobiography from a career officer who began the war in Nelson, moved to Manchester in 1940, then became a Signals Officer on Medway in Alexandria. He was sunk in Huntley in 1941 then served as a Flag Lieutenant. This was followed by brief service in Renown, Malaya, and Eagle as a staff Signals Officer based at Gibraltar, then time on the staff of the Liverpool Escort Force. Further attachments followed to the Mulberry project then Londonderry before he saw out the war in the East Indies. His soubriquet appears well-earned.

The dust-jacket describes this as a biography of Captain A.W. F. Sutton; the title page lists him as the author, while the copyright statement gives this honour to Richard Pike. Despite this confusion of authorship the book is a focussed account of three episodes as seen by Sutton: the Invergordon Mutiny; Mediterranean Service in a destroyer and the Spanish Civil War; and, finally, after a transfer to the Fleet Air Arm, the attack on Taranto. The rest of his career is thinly filled in between these three major reminiscences

September 1939 found the author as the young chaplain of the 11th Cruiser Squadron on Ceres, where he spent the winter on the Northern Patrol. In February 1940 he sailed to Singapore as Chaplain of the Naval Base, where he stayed until escaping to Ceylon early in 1942. From May 1942 to June 1944 he was Chaplain to the Royal Marine's 2nd MNBDO in England, Egypt, Malta, Sicily, and Scotland before spending the last part of the war at the Marines depot at Deal in Kent. The final third of the book covers his postwar career. The book was first published in 1986, but is more commonly available in this edition.

Kindle], 2012. A scrappy wartime autobiography. Good on his spell as a midshipman on King George V and her hunts for German capital ships. Then progressively weaker on his time in Combined Operations and on destroyers.

Pool joined the RN in 1937. In 1939 he was on Revenge covering North Atlantic convoys. As an Acting Sublieutenant he was at Dunkirk and gives a full description of this. He next joined Repulse, in which he was sunk. He stayed in Malaya until its loss, escaping from Singapore in a small boat, only to be captured by the Japanese after being marooned on a small island for four months.

Poynder entered Dartmouth in 1938 and in 1941 was appointed to Kenya, serving with the Home Fleet in the Arctic and two Malta convoys. In late 1942 he joined London, and after a few months there move to Eggesford and quickly to Musketeer. Much of 1943 was spent in training before joining Unbending, refitting in Devonport. In late 1944 he stood by Scotsman which went to the Far East and was based at Subic at the end of the war.

He went to sea with the British Tanker Company in 1929. In May 1939 he began his RNR long training. He soon joined Revenge in time for her gold carrying trip to Halifax. After sick leave he joined White Bear working with the 2nd Submarine Flotilla on training duties in Scotland, latterly as her CO. In January 1942 he joined Wanderer for a short spell of training and was then posted to Aubretia as First Lieutenant. She was based at Freetown, where he contracted malaria. After treatment and a spell in a shore post in the UK, he took command of Genista in mid-1944 at Aden. She worked between Kilindini and Aden until the end of the war when he sailed her back to Chatham and the Reserve Fleet. His postwar career in the Merchant Navy is also described. Rather thin and in a limited edition of 500 copies.

Richardson was an engineer officer throughout the war but was ordained as a chaplain in 1948. These are jokey anecdotal memoirs. In September 1939 he was standing by Mooltan in Belfast while she was converted to an AMC, but he swiftly moved to Cyclops, depot ship of the 3rd Submarine Flotilla at Harwich. He then moved to Inveraray and Combined Operations. He finally had a series of shore jobs fitting out gun mountings.

The author became Hydrographer of the Navy. In 1939 he was on Franklin, responsible for the Channel Mine Barrage, followed by a diet of Scapa, the Faröes, and wreck surveying off the East Coast. In January 1942 he moved to Endeavour in the Middle East to survey the Great Bitter Lakes then the Mediterranean Coast. He then joined a Mobile Survey Unit, which surveyed ports in Sicily and Italy. By February 1944 he was First Lieutenant of Scott, which worked in support of the D-Day Landings and in surveying the liberated French Ports.

Born in 1917, he went to Eton then joined the RN as a special entry cadet in 1934. By the start of war he was newly in command of MA/SB 3, carrying out anti-submarine patrols at Portland. In early 1940 he and the boat joined the local defence force at Alexandria. She was mined and he was wounded in the Suez Canal. After almost a year recuperating he took command of the new SGB 4 building at Yarrow's. After six months of action in the Channel he moved to King Alfred and then to the staff of RA Coastal Forces. In October 1943 he returned to sea as First Lieutenant of Mackay based at Harwich and the following April took command of Lancaster of the Rosyth Escort Force. In late November 1944 he took over the damaged Wensleydale, but almost immediately moved to Catterick, based at Alexandria. After service mainly in the Aegean, she was heading to South Africa for refit when the war ended. A lively and enjoyable tale which also covers his postwar career.

A tribute written by the historian Stephen Roskill, this memoir is fullest on their joint service in Leander.

A propaganda work on the tasks and successes of the RN.

Some tales of a yachtsman. The last third of the book is devoted to his wartime experiences, first in the drifter, Suilven, patrolling the Tay, then in motor launches based on Stornoway.

Brief biographies of the main allied military and political leaders. Naval figures are Tovey and Cunningham, Corneliussen and Danielsen of Norway and Furstner of the Netherlands. The whole is profusely illustrated with portraits and an excellent selection of general photographs of the war.

The autobiography is determinedly lyrical in its writing. He ran away to sea in the thirties. At the start of the war he was an AB in Southampton, then moved to Eskimo and the Norwegian Campaign where she was badly damaged. In late 1940 he rejoined the refitted and repaired Eskimo but soon moved to the converted merchantman Springbank in which he was sunk. In early 1942 he joined Gambia and a tour to Australia. After further training he joined Melbreak working in the Channel. In mid-1944 he joined Mauritius for the Normandy landings then was based at Scapa. In May 1945 he transferred to Atherstone at Trieste. He ended the war as a Petty Officer.

Trials and travels of the captain of Foxglove, plus some morale- boosting tales. After Dunkirk he went to the Perim Patrol, before returning to the UK.

Happy anecdotal memories of a full war. He began as a midshipman in the AMC Worcestershire on the Northern Patrol. He then joined the corvette Auricula and served at Freetown and in the assault on Madagascar in which she was sunk. Next came the destroyer Griffin serving with the Eastern Fleet, detached to the Mediterranean for convoy duty and then escorting Ramillies to New York. Christmas 1942 was spent at home then came a posting to Moyola and North Atlantic and Gibraltar convoys. Convoy SL139 is described in some detail. In mid-1944 he joined Deveron which joined the Eastern Fleet. Finally he joined the repair ship Gombroon, which also acted as HQ for the Burma Coast Escort Force.

He joined up as a boy in 1936 and by the start of the war was an Ordinary Seaman in Repulse. He was with her when she was sunk and there is a full and lively account of her sinking and of his escape from Singapore to Malacca in the water tender Heather. He then went on to Fremantle in Stronghold and finally and briefly describes two years with the RAN on Wollongong before returning to the RN and the Mediterranean with Teviotbank, then stood by the new destroyer Comet.

Aged 13, he entered Dartmouth in 1939 and this autobiography reflects the careers of his classmates as well as his own. In January 1943 he joined Revenge at Mombasa and spent nine months in south and east African waters before she returned to the UK to refit. After leave he joined Enterprise in Glasgow and after an extensive work-up she was based at Plymouth for Biscay and Channel sweeps, which brought real action. In April 1944 he went to the destroyer Orwell for his small ship time. She was part of the D-Day covering forces. That August he was promoted Acting Sublieutenant and soon joined MTB 476, in which he saw hard action in the winter months covering the Antwerp convoy route. After VE Day he was appointed to Lauderdale, fitting out for the Far East. She was in Walvis Bay at war's end. The book also covers his postwar career and is an enjoyable if slight memoir.

The rather disjointed autobiography of a Cape Town harbour pilot. It includes brief accounts of service on Dragon, Birmingham,and Indomitable, but is strong on naval custom and practice as experienced by a new rating.

Sherwood shoots a very engaging biographic line covering 1902–1945. He was recalled to service in 1939 and refitted King Gruffyd as a Q Ship. He then served in the trawlers Lord Wakefield in the Bristol Channel and Cape Passaro in Norway, where he was sunk. He next took command of Peony and led a group of minesweeping corvettes to the Mediterranean, where he fought hard on the Spud Run, on the evacuations of Greece and Crete, and in the Eastern Mediterranean. When she was sold to Greece, he spent the next 12 months ferrying groups of LCI(L)s from the USA to Gibraltar. His final period of service in Hart and Highlander is covered in desultory fashion.

The usual excellent publication from the NRS, with an extended introductory essay by the editor in volume one. The first volume is sub-titled 'The Mediterranean Fleet 1939–1942' and the second 'The Triumph of Allied Sea Power 1942-1946'.

Cunningham was the best-known and most celebrated British admiral of the Second World War. He held one of the two major fleet commands between 1939 and 1942, and in 1942-43, he was Allied naval commander for the great amphibious operations in the Mediterranean. From 1943 to 1946, he was the First Sea Lord and a participant in the wartime conferences with Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt and the US Chiefs of Staff, deliberating the global strategy for Allied victory. He also led a very active public life for almost 20 years after his retirement in 1946.