Download or read book War Under the Red Ensign 1914 1918 written by Bernard Edwards and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2010-08-19 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: he Kaisers determination to starve Britain into surrender and the development of his Navy and the U-boats in particular meant that Britains merchant navy was in the front line throughout the Great War.This book charts the progress of the war at sea which began with the sinking of the oil tanker San Wilfrido off Cuxhaven only eight hours after the official declaration of war. The merchantman Glitra was the first victim of a German U-boat (U–17) on 20 October 1914 she was to be joined by many, many more. As the war on land intensified so the naval struggle grew ever more bitter. As vividly described there were many incidents of atrocious behavior, amounting to war crimes, by the attackers against their hapless victims; sinking of lifeboats, machine-gunning of survivors, attacks without any warning designed to cause maximum casualties.We learn of instances where the weak gallantly fought back such as the duel between Captain Bissett-Smiths Otaki (with one gun) and the heavily armed German surface raider Mwe. Although he went down with his ship, Captain Smith was posthumously awarded the VC, and remains the only merchant seaman so honored.War under the Red Ensign contains many inspiring and shocking accounts of war at sea and is a gripping read.
Download or read book Pyramids and Fleshpots written by Stuart Hadaway and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-10-01 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Personnel serving in Egypt in the Great War often complained that the popular impression of the campaigns, still widely held, was that it was a sideshow, with troops enjoying a holiday among the pyramids and the ‘fleshpots’ of Cairo. Actually they faced appalling heat, abrasive sand, poor rations and water shortages. In the desolation of the Western Desert they fought the Senussi, an Islamic sect supported by the Ottomans in a reversal of Lawrence’s later work with the Arabs, while in the Sinai Desert they countered German-backed moves to dominate this strategically important area. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy fought to keep the supply lines to Gallipoli open, and keep men and material flowing to France from India, Australia and New Zealand. This book will tell the true story of their experiences and achievements in fighting a determined enemy to protect the Suez Canal – the lifeline of the Empire.
Download or read book Armed Forces written by and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 854 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Churchill s Thin Grey Line written by Bernard Edwards and published by Grub Street Publishers. This book was released on 2017-11-30 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The naval historian and retired merchant navy captain recounts the contributions of Britain’s civilian ships during WWII in this “cracking read” (The Bridgend & Porthcawl Gem). The first British casualties of the Second World War were not members of the Royal Navy, the army, or the Royal Air Force. They were British merchant seamen on the transatlantic passenger liner SS Athenia, torpedoed by a German U-30 submarine on September 3, 1939. For the duration of the war, Britain’s merchant fleet performed a vital role, carrying the essential supplies that kept the country running during the darkest days and made victory possible. Their achievements came at a terrible cost with 2,535 British oceangoing merchant ships being sunk and, of the 185,000 men and women serving in the British Merchant Navy at the time, 36,749 sacrificed their lives. Another 4,707 were wounded and 5,720 ended up as prisoners of war. Their casualty rate of twenty-five percent was second only to RAF Bomber Command’s. Thoroughly researched and full of fascinating true accounts, Bernard Edwards’s Churchill’s Thin Grey Line tells the inspiring story of those brave civilian volunteers who fought so gallantly to defend their ships, cargo, and country. “A cracking read which brings home to the reader how much we in [England] owe to the Merchant Navy . . . Bernard Edwards has done them proud.” —The Bridgend & Porthcawl Gem
Download or read book From Hunter to Hunted written by Bernard Edwards and published by Pen and Sword Maritime. This book was released on 2020-03-30 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of Churchill’s Thin Grey Line shares case histories from World War II’s Battle of the Atlantic featuring the German U-boat. In the early stages of World War II, Donitz’s U-boats generally adhered to Prize rules, surfacing before attacking and making every effort to preserve the lives of their victims’ crews. But, with the arming of merchantmen and greater risk of damage or worse, they increasingly attacked without warning. So successful was the U-boat campaign that Churchill saw it as the gravest threat the nation faced. The low point was the March 1943 attack on convoys SC122 and HX229 when 44 U-boats sank 22 loaded ships. The pendulum miraculously swung with improved tactics and technology. In May, 1943, out of a force of over 50 U-boats that challenged ONS5, eight were sunk and 18 were damaged, some seriously. Such losses were unsustainable, and, with allied yards turning out ships at ever increasing rates, Donitz withdrew his wolf packs from the North Atlantic. Expert naval author and historian Bernard Edwards traces the course of the battle of the Atlantic through a series of thrilling engagement case studies. Praise for From Hunter to Hunted “Expertly written, it portrayed the perils and dramas of warfare in the North Atlantic between the convoys and German U boats . . . Reading [Edwards’s] accounts made me feel as though I was present. A cracking and informative read— I will definitely read more by Captain Edwards and I highly commend it.” —Adrian Greaves, author of The Zulus at War
Download or read book The Quiet Heroes written by Bernard Edwards and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2010-08-19 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The men of Britain's Merchant Navy, although unarmed civilians going about their lawful business were the first to be involved with the enemy in the Second World War. Less than nine hours after the declaration of war on 3 September 1939, the Donaldson liner Athenia was sunk without warning by a German U-boat off the west coast of Ireland. From that moment onwards, British merchant seamen were constantly in the front line in all quarters of the globe. For almost six years they faced, without flinching, their own private hell of torpedoes, bombs, shells and mines, all the while fending off their old arch-enemy, the sea. Sorely pressed, and often tired near to death, they kept open Britain's tenuous lifelines, bringing millions of tons of raw materials, food, oil, arms and ammunition, without which the country could not have survived. As always, their spirit was indomitable, their professionalism unchallenged. The price they paid for their bravery and dedication was horrendous: 2,246 ships lost, 29,180 men killed, and countless hundreds maimed and wounded. This book tells the story of just a few of these quiet heroes.
Download or read book Running the Gauntlet written by Bernard Edwards and published by Pen and Sword Maritime. This book was released on 2022-04-21 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The British Merchant Navy dominated the world trade routes in the years leading up to the Second World War. The star players of the fleet were the cargo liners, faster and larger than the tramps and offering limited passenger accommodation. On the outbreak of war these cargo liners became crucial to the nation’s survival using their speed and expertise to evade Nazi warships, raiders and U-boats. Initially operating alone, but increasingly relying on Royal Navy protected convoys, these key elements of the Merchant Navy plied the oceans and seas despite mounting losses, throughout the war years. This superbly researched book describes numerous dramatic incidents. Some ended in disaster such as the New Zealand Shipping Company’s Turakina which was sunk after a running battle with the German raider Orion. Others were triumphs for example Operation Substance when six fast cargo liners succeeded against all the odds in reaching besieged Malta with vital supplies. The common denominations in all these historic voyages were the courage and skilled seamanship of the Merchant Navy crews. As Running The Gauntlet vividly illustrates, their contribution to victory, too long overlooked, cannot be overstated.
Download or read book U Boats Beyond Biscay written by Bernard Edwards and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-05-31 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the outbreak of war in 1939 Admiral Donitzs U-boat flotillas consisted of some thirty U-boats fully operational, with only six to eight at sea at any one time. Their activities were restricted mainly to the North Sea and British coastal waters. When France fell in the summer of 1940, the ports in the Bay of Biscay gave direct access to the Atlantic, and the ability to extend their reach even to. The Royal Navy was unable to escort convoys much beyond the Western Approaches. In a short time, the Allies were losing 500,000 tons of shipping a month, every month. Donitz now looked over the far horizons, Americas Eastern Seaboard, the coasts of Africa, and the Mediterranean, where Allied merchantmen habitually sailed alone and unprotected. There was a rich harvest to be gathered in by the long range U-boats, the silent hunter-killers, mostly operating alone. This book tells their story.
Download or read book The Decoys written by Bernard Edwards and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In November 1942, Britain and America launched Operation TORCH, the ambitious invasion of French North Africa.To convey 70,000 troops and their equipment required 600 merchant ships crossing the U-boat infested North Atlantic. The need for their protection meant withdrawing escorts from the routine convoys. Amongst those left without adequate defence were RB 1 and SC 107, both eastbound from America, and SL 125, northbound from Freetown. All three were at sea at the same time as the TORCH convoys.
Download or read book The Wolf Packs Gather written by Bernard Edwards and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-07-19 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The capture by the German surface raider Atlantis of the British steamer City of Baghdads secret code books in July 1940 enabled the Nazis to de-cypher Admiralty convoy plans with deadly effect. This book describes the resulting appalling Allied losses suffered by four convoys during the Autumn of 1940. Admiral Donetz, aware of the movements of the Allied convoys, marshaled as many of his U-boats as possible. The first convoy, SC2, consisting of 53 merchant men was attacked in early September by four U-boats. Due to poor weather only five ships were lost. Shortly after HX72, with 41 ships, sailing from Nova Scotia, lost eleven ships to five Type VIIC U-boats. Top Aces Otto Kretschremer and Joachim Schepke, who penetrated inside the columns, accounted for nine. No less than nine U-boats attacked SC7 in October 1940. Of 35 merchant men a staggering 20 were lost. HX79 also fared terribly despite being a fast convoy with ten escorts, losing twelve ships. In total forty-eight merchant men were sunk and seven more damaged without any U-boat losses at all. The Wolf Packs Gather is an authoritative account of the darkest hours of the War in the Atlantic. It describes not only the German tactics but the inadequacies of what few escorts there were and the heartbreaking loss of defenseless life.
Download or read book Convoy Will Scatter written by Bernard Edwards and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2013-06-12 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A naval historian reveals the full story of the HMS Jervis Bay and the merchant ships that valiantly saved lives during the WWII Battle of the Atlantic. On November 5th, 1940, the thirty-eight merchant ships of Convoy HX84 were making their way across the North Atlantic, escorted by the armed cruiser HMS Jervis Bay. In mid-ocean, they were attacked by the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer. Though the Jervis Bay charged at the enemy, she was hopelessly outgunned. Within twenty-two minutes, the ship was destroyed. Meanwhile, the merchantmen scattered under the cover of a smokescreen. But the radar-equipped Admiral Scheer was still capable of picking them off one at a time. Captain Hugh Pettigrew, commanding the highly armed Canadian Pacific cargo liner SS Beaverford, began a desperate game of hide and seek with the Scheer, which continued until the Beaverford was sunk with no survivors. Thanks to this sacrifice, thirty-three merchantmen were able to escape. Later the neutral flag Swedish freighter Stureholm, commanded by Captain Olander, picked up survivors from the Jervis Bay. While Jervis Bay’s Captain Edward Fegen was rightly awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery and sacrifice, the history books only mention the Beaverford and the Stureholm in passing. This thrilling book puts the record straight.
Download or read book Survivors of Enemy Action written by Bernard Edwards and published by Pen and Sword Maritime. This book was released on 2023-07-06 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The war years 1939 – 1945 were the most perilous in the long history of the British Merchant Navy. The figures speak for themselves. With 2,535 ships sunk and 36,749 merchant seamen lost, the proportional casualty rate was higher than any branch of the Armed Forces except for Bomber Command. The danger to the lightly armed merchant ships came from enemy air attacks, surface warships, raiders and, of course submarines. Prisoners were seldom taken so the crews of stricken vessels had to fend for themselves. Those who survived enemy action faced death by drowning, exposure and lack of food and water. Compiled mainly from experiences related direct to the author, this inspiring book draws on first-hand accounts of the lucky few who survived. With extraordinary honesty and modesty their stories describe the events leading up to the enemy attack, the actions and the aftermath. Readers will be struck by the courage and fortitude of these men who often suffered extreme hardship and privation. Too many died before reaching land or being rescued. These men are without doubt the unsung heroes of the Second World War and this fine book is an overdue recognition of their sacrifices and courage.
Download or read book Donitz and the Wolf Packs written by Bernard Edwards and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-07-30 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 17 September 1942 Admiral Karl Donitz, C-in-C U-boats, issued the following directive:??To all Commanders - 'All attempts to rescue members of ships sunk, therefore also fishing out swimmers and putting them into lifeboats, righting capsized lifeboats, handing out provisions and water, have to cease. Rescue contradicts the most fundamental demands of war for the annihilation of enemy ships and crews'.??This order ended what had hitherto been a war in which the opposing factions treated each other with a certain respect, seaman to seaman, showing mercy where mercy was due. It also marked the point at which the Battle of the Atlantic became a dirty war of attrition, with the U-boats hunting in packs snarling and snapping at the heels of the hard-pressed convoys. Ships began to go down like corn before the reaper, men were dying in their hundreds in the cold grey waters of the great ocean. This was a battle without quarter. A battle the U-boats would have won had it not been for the grit and determination of the convoy escorts and the unflagging resilience of the men who manned the vulnerable merchant ships.??This book faithfully records the progress of the Battle of the Atlantic, which began within hours of the declaration of war on 3 September 1939 and continued without let-up until the last torpedo was fired on the night of 7 May 1945, just one hour before Germany surrendered. The story is told from both sides of the periscope.
Download or read book Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918 1945 The war years Sept 4 1939 March 18 1940 written by Germany. Auswärtiges Amt and published by . This book was released on 1954 with total page 1072 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Red Flag and Union Jack written by Paul Ward and published by Boydell & Brewer Ltd. This book was released on 1998 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is generally assumed that the language of patriotism and national identity belongs to the political right, but the emergence of socialism in the 1880s shows clearly that the left also drew on such ideas in its formative years to legitimate a particular form of socialism, one presented as a restoration of an English past lost to industrial capitalism. The First World War dealt a severe blow to this radical patriotism: though the anti-war left continued to use radical patriotic language in the early years, the war degraded patriotism generally, while the Russian Revolution gave internationalism a new focus, and also threatened the dominant concept of British socialism. Moderate Labour sought to prove their fitness to govern, and concentrated on the `national interest' rather than oppositional Englishness, while the left of the movement looked to Soviet Russia rather than the English past for models for a future socialist society. PAUL WARD is lecturer in Modern British History at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Westminster.
Download or read book GWB West Sussex written by West Sussex County Council and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-08-04 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The First World War claimed over 995,000 British lives, and its legacy continues to be remembered today. Great War Britain: West Sussex offers an intimate portrayal of the county and its people living in the shadow of the ’war to end all wars‘. A beautifully illustrated and highly accessible volume, it describes local reaction to the outbreak of war; charts the experience of individuals who enlisted; the changing face of industry; the work of the many hospitals in the area; the effect of the conflict on local families; the women who defied convention to play a vital role on the home front; and concludes with a chapter dedicated to how the county and its people coped with the transition to life in peacetime once more.The Great War story of West Sussex is told through the testimony of those who were there and is vividly illustrated with evocative images from the archives of West Sussex County Council and local museums.
Download or read book Manual of Seamanship written by Great Britain. Admiralty and published by . This book was released on 1951 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
