Category: Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

An autobiography. No copy seen.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mainly concerned with the war in the Far East.

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.

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.

A revisionist history of reputations with Ramsay emerging as the author's hero. The feats of all the major admirals are reconsidered.

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.

The author's service aboard Rodney in early 1941.

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.

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

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.

An excellent modern biography, whose sympathies are obvious.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Substantial pieces of biography separate a very good selection of edited and annotated documents. Covers the period 1936–1945.

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.

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'.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A tribute written by the historian Stephen Roskill, this memoir is fullest on their joint service in Leander.

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.

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.

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.

WINGFIELD, Mervyn. Wingfield at War (The British Navy at War and Peace, Volume 1). xi, 179p., illus., index. Dunbeath: Whittles, 2012. ISBN: 9781849950640.

The autobiography of a heroic but little known officer, originally written in 1982-3 for his family. About half covers his very active wartime career. He began the war in the Indian Ocean, returned to the UK to successfully take his Perisher course, then served in Umpire, Sturgeon and Taurus in the North Sea, Arctic, Mediterranean and was the first submariner to sink a Japanese submarine. An excellent tale well told.

THOMAS, Leona J. Through Ice and Fire: A Russian Arctic Convoy Diary 1942. 216p., illus. Stroud: Fonthill, 2015. ISBN: 9781781554401.

A short history taken from her father’s papers. It records his service on Ulster Queen  in 1942 when she took part in PQ15 and PQ18 as well as QP12 and covers time spent in Archangel.

JAMES, William. The Sky Was Always Blue. xiii, 271p., illus., index. London: Methuen, 1951.

The enjoyable autobiography of an important figure, with a distinguished career, notably at the start of World War II.

DOWLING, Tom. Journal of a Midshipman 1941-1943.  315p., illus. Leeds: Propagator Press, 2010. ISBN: 1860298176.

He trained at Dartmouth and had an active war as a midshipman, serving on Queen Elizabeth, Beaufort and Uganda, mainly in the Mediterranean. This is his beautifully illustrated midshipman’s  journal, with later annotations and explanations. A second revised edition was published in 2011 (ISBN: 1908037180).

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.

GUINNESS, Alec. Blessings in Disguise. xii, 238p., illus., index. London: Hamilton, 1985; New York: Knopf, 1986. ISBN: 0241116813.

He trained in tank landing craft then went to the US to collect LCI(L) 124, which he brought to the Mediterranean. He took part in the Sicily landings then sank in an Adriatic storm. Moving to LCI(L) 272 he next took part in the Elba Invasion and finally spent the rest of his service in the Adriatic. The war occupies 40 pages of engaging reminiscence. See also the autobiography of fellow-actor Peter Bull, who served with him.

SLATER, Susan. Dear James: Letters From a Wren in World War II (Once Upon A Wartime, IV). iii,117p., illus. Grantham: Barny Books, [2005]. ISBN: 0948204664.

Anna Tyler joined the WRNS Supply Branch in 1940. These letters were sent to a badly wounded fighter pilot recovering on her father’s Yorkshire estate. They simply and tellingly describe a wartime life of duty and pleasure.

GREGSON, Paddy. Ten Degrees below Seaweed. [vii], 131p., illus. Braunton: Merlin Books, 1993. ISBN: 0863036600.

The wartime life and loves of one of the elite Boats’ Crew Wrens. A light hearted account of service mainly in Devonport and Middlesbrough.

CURTIS-WILLSON, Rosemary. c/o GPO London: With the Women’s Royal Naval Service Overseas. viii, 191p., frontis. London:  Hutchinson, [1949].

Charming autobiographical account of service in the Wrens in World War II though somewhat overburdened in places with travelogue.  The author joined in 1941 as a young girl and served mainly overseas, in the Middle East, Quebec (briefly) and Ceylon (Katukurunda), ending the war as a Third Officer.  She was also involved for a while in the planning for D-Day at Fort Southwick.

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.

WORT, Stanley. Prisoner of the Rising Sun. ix, 178p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2009. ISBN: 1848840039.

He joined up in 1940 and after training was sent to Hong Kong, where he was captured by the Japanese. The book focuses on his POW experiences.

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.

WILSON, Alastair. A Biographical Dictionary of the Twentieth-Century Royal Navy. Volume 1 - Admirals of the Fleet and Admirals. 96p., Barnsley: Seaforth, 2013. ISBN: 9781848320888.

The book comes with a CD which contains the service histories and careers of the 336 most senior admirals on the Navy List from 1900 onwards. A treasure trove of information.

VAREY, Peter. Life On The Edge: Peter Danckwaerts GC, MBE, FRS brave, shy, brilliant. iv, 368p., bibliog., illus., index. Cambridge: PFV Publications, 2012. ISBN: 9780953844012.

The biography of a distinguished chemical engineer and academic. During the war he served in mine and bomb disposal in London and the Mediterranean. After being wounded in Sicily, he was given a role in Combined Operations HQ working on scientific projects and intelligence.

TAYLOR, G. A. Ships and Stars and Isles: A Personal Record of Naval Service During World War II edited and annotated by Mark Taylor. 266p., illus. Bognor Regis, Woodfield, 2009. ISBN: 184683077X.

An enjoyable book derived from an extensive collection of letters written by Taylor whilst he was serving with RNVR.  His letters home vividly describe his wartime life ~ both on and off duty ~ whilst undergoing training and when serving at sea. Transcribed and annotated by his son and written in an informal yet informative style they reveal details of life in the RN. He served on Royal Eagle, Aubrietia, Loch Glendhu and Loch Craggie and was involved in a variety of action, from the Dover Patrol, via the Dunkirk evacuation (where he was awarded the D.S.M.), Atlantic convoys, U-boat encounters, the invasions of both North Africa and France, and ultimately the Japanese surrender in the Far East.

SOARS, Thomas. I Married a Princess: the True Love Story of How an English Naval Sub-lieutenant Came to Marry a Persian Princess During World War II. x, 202p., illus. Bognor Regis: Woodfield, 2009. ISBN: 1846830648.

He was an administrative officer based at HMS Sphinx - a temporary wartime Royal Navy shore base and accommodation camp at Sidi Bishr, just outside Alexandria, where he met and married a grand-daughter of the former Shah of Persia. Describes his day to day life and its tribulations.

SEABRIDGE, Allan, MORGAN, Shirley & CHADWICK, David. High Seas to Home: Daily Despatches from a Frigate at War. 190p., bibliog., illus., index. Derby: Derby Books Publishing Company, 2012. ISBN: 9781780910413.

Cliff Greenwood was a 40-year old journalist called up in 1943. After training as a Coder he served on Byron in Home Waters, the Arctic and the Atlantic until war’s end. He wrote home every day and his letters are printed here enriched with the reminiscences of crewmates and background detail from the authors.

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

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

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

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

MATTIN, W. G. A Sailor’s War. 224p., Ilfracombe: Stockwell, 2012. ISBN: 9780722342015.

He volunteered in 1940 and after training as an asdic operator joined London in the Mediterranean. He moved to Atlantic escorts and finally back to a cruiser in the Pacific. A rather slight tale.

KNOWLES, Sydney. A Diver in the Dark: Experiences of a Pioneer Royal Navy Clearance Diver and former diving partner to Commander Lionel 'Buster' Crabb. xiv, 160p., bibliog., illus., index. Bognor Regis: Woodfield, 2009. ISBN: 1846830826.

He served in the North Atlantic aboard Zulu during the hunt for the Bismarck and on Lookout on Atlantic convoy duty and Operation Pedestal before volunteering to join a small squad of Navy divers known as the Underwater Working Party, based at Gibraltar.

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.

O'CONNOR, Garry. Ralph Richardson: An Actor's Life. 260p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Hodder & Stoughton; New York: Atheneum, 1982. ISBN: 0340270411.

A well-received biography which includes a chapter on his relatively quiet war in the FAA, where he earned the nickname "Pranger." A revised and updated edition was published by Applause in 2000, ISBN: 9781557833006.          

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.

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

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

COPEMAN, Harold. At War at Sea in the Med 1941-44: The Naval Diary of Harold Copeman transcribed and edited by Caroline and Chris Pond. 64p., illus. Loughton: The Alderton Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781905269310.

Published by the family to mark the centenary of his birth. Has some background contextual detail but basically transcribes the diary he kept on the coding sheets he used as a leading coder. Entries are short and sparse, typically a sentence for each day, but give a good picture of daily life on the lower deck. He served principally on the cruiser Cleopatra and Aurora  

MCKAY, John R. Surviving the Arctic Convoys: The Wartime Memoir of Leading Seaman Charlie Erswell. 200p., illus. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2021. ISBN: 9781399013031.

He served from 1941 to 1946 then briefly in the merchant navy. Although he saw action in several theatres it is the tale of life on the Arctic convoys which lies at the heart of this memoir.

KEMP, Ross. Warriors: British Fighting Heroes. viii, 328p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Century, 2010. ISBN: 9781846057991.

A personal tribute which provides eleven brief biographies of men of courage and their sacrifices. It covers all of the armed services. This includes “Blondie” Haslar from the Royal Marines who led the Cockleshell Heroes, Captain Edward Fegen of the completely outgunned Jervis Bay who saved his convoy when it was attacked by the Admiral Scheer, and Malcolm Wanklyn, the submariner captain of Upholder who was lost in action in the Mediterranean.

PARKER, Johnny. A Smack at the Boche: The World War 2 Diary and Photographs of Leading Seaman Ronald Turner Aboard the British Cruiser HMS Hawkins 1939-1941. [6], 166p., illus. n.p.: author, 2016. ISBN: 9781520145297.

A member of the RNVR he was called up at the outbreak of war. He served on Hawkins in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean. This is a transcript of his illicit wartime diary, with linking material by the author, his nephew.

CROSSLEY, Jim. Churchill’s Admiral In Two World Wars: Admiral of the Fleet Lord Keyes of Zeebrugge and Dover GCB KCVO CMG DSO. xii, 200p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2020. ISBN: 9781526748393.

An engaging biography of a charismatic fighting admiral who saw action from anti-slavery patrols at the end of the nineteenth century to being present at the Leyte landings after his retirement. Has a brief account of his service in WW2, notably in Combined Operations.

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.

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.

LAMBERT, Andrew. Admirals: The Naval Commanders Who Made Britain Great. xx, 492p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Faber, 2008. ISBN: 9780571231560.

A glorious celebration of the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. There are biographies of eleven admirals, including a masterly forty page summary of A. B. Cunningham’s career.

HORE, Peter. Henry Harwood: Hero of the River Plate. xi, 244p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2018. ISBN: 9781526725295.

Harwood is best known for his defeat of the Graf Spee at the Battle of the River Plate. His later career, particularly as C-in-C of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1942-43 has been much denigrated as a failure. This biography sets the record straight with a much more balanced and nuanced account of his career.

PARKER, Charles Joseph. Red Duster to White Ensign: My Life at Sea in Peace and War. xiv, 112p., illus. Spiderwize: Peterborough, 2018. ISBN: 9781912694747.

Written in the 1970’s and as edited by his son in the 1990’s, this is his autobiography. He joined the Merchant Navy in 1921, aged fifteen. In 1940 he transferred to the RN where he served as a Steward. He was first on the minelayer Port Napier until her grounding and sinking that November. In March 1941 he joined the AMC Laconia, but when she was returned to the Merchant Navy as a troopship in September 1941, he joined the A/A ship Alynbank until the end of 1943, first on Arctic convoys and then in the Mediterranean. In May 1944 he joined the carrier Speaker briefly for six months then finally joined the LSI Keren where he served until discharged in 1946.

DENNIS, J. A. J. In Action with Destroyers 1939-1945. The Wartime Memoirs of Commander J. A. J. Dennis, DSC, RN, edited by Anthony Cumming. 208p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books, 2017. ISBN: 9781526718495.

Dennis served in four destroyers; HMS Griffin and Savage initially before commanding Valorous and Tetcott. He was mentioned in Despatches three times (Norway, sinking the Scharnhorst and in the North Sea) and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (Greece 1942). His war service also included the Madagascar operation, the Malta and Arctic convoys and D-Day.

ROBB, J. D. Only Survivors Tell Tales. vii, 167p. New York: Vantage Press, 1990. ISBN: 0533089034.

The story of a young man in Tank Landing Craft in the Royal Navy during the later part of WW2. A humorous tale of escapades, voyages to Australia, India, the East Indies and Japan; of sex and growing-up during wartime. Semi-autobiographical, but inspired by imagination and other's experiences.

DANIEL, R. J. The End of an Era: The Memoirs of a Naval Constructor. 370p., illus. Penzance: Periscope, 2003. ISBN: 1904381189.

The author served in the Eastern and Pacific Fleets during World War Two. At the end of the war, he landed in Japan and prepared a report on the atomic bomb damage to Nagasaki and was seconded to the Manhattan Project for the Bikini A-bomb tests. Also covers his post-war career.

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.      

LEWIN, Terry. He Who Would Valiant Be: the Wartime Diary of Midshipman T. T. Lewin, HMS Valiant, 1940. [c 370p., illus. e-book]; London: Lewin of Greenwich Organisation Limited – Kindle edition, 2016. ISBN: 9781783018680.

An excellent example of such a journal is edited by Tim Lewin, the son of the author.  This journal describes his service as a midshipman aboard Valiant ranging from the bombardment at Mers-el Kebir to deck hockey tournaments. The events are described with some clarity.

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.