In the Highest Traditions of the Royal Navy: The Life of Captain John Leach MVO DSO - Hardcover

Wills, Matthew B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0752459929 ISBN 13: 9780752459929

Publisher: The History Press, 2011

Synopsis

On 10 December 1941, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales was sunk by Japanese bombers in the South China Sea. Amongst the several hundred men who went down with her was her Captain, John Leach, who had fought against frightful odds and to the very end made the best of an impossible situation with courage and calmness. He embodied the best of the service, and truly was in 'the highest traditions of the Royal Navy'. Matthew B. Wills tells the story of John Leach, and analyses the influences that shaped him and led him ultimately to his heroic end. He traces his life from his time at Royal Naval College Osborne and Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, his relationship with his loyal wife Evelyn, his baptism of fire in the service when he survived a direct shell hit to the bridge where he was standing, and his time as Captain of the Prince of Wales. He describes Leach's role in command in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, during which the Prince of Wales inflicted damage on the Bismarck that contributed to the latter's ultimate destruction, and later off the coast of Malaya during Prince of Wales's ill-fated attempt to intercept Japanese landings. In the Highest Traditions of the Royal Navy presents an authoritative portrait of one of the service's finest, using new research on how failures in navy intelligence were a major factor in the loss of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, and will be of great interest to the general reader and students of the period.

About this title

About the Author

Matthew B. Wills received a commission in the US Army after graduating from Vanderbilt University in 1954. His time in the service was mostly spent in the UK at RAF Station Mildenhall and RAF Station Upper Heyford, and after release from active duty he graduated from the University of Colorado Law School. He went on to practise in Colorado Springs for 32 years. He is the author of Wartime Missions of Harry L Hopkins, A Diminished President: FDR in 1944 and The Lindbergh Report. He lives in Colorado Springs. Lieutenant Commander Douglas Hadler RN joined the Royal Navy in 1958. He served at sea on the Home, Caribbean, Mediterranean and Far East stations as well as two periods ashore in the Ministry of Defence and two on the Commander-in-Chief's staff at Northwood. He retired from the service in 1980 and took up an administrative job in NATO, during which time he spent six months in Zagreb as Theatre Budget Officer for the whole NATO force during Bosnia operations. He lives in Buckinghamshire. Admiral Sir Jock Slater CGB LVO DL joined the Royal Navy in 1958, and went on to command HMS Jupiter (1972-1973), HMS Kent (1976-1977) and HMS Illustrious (1981-1983). In 1991 he became Commander-in-Chief Fleet and in 1993 Vice Chief of the Defence Staff. He was First Sea Lord from 1995 to 1998. After retiring he has held a variety of posts including Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire, Chairman of the RNLI and Chairman of the Trustees of the Imperial War Museum.

Edition details

• Publisher: The History Press
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0752459929
• ISBN 13: 9780752459929
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192
• Editor: Hadler RN Lieutenant Commander Douglas