In Which They Served: The Royal Navy Officer Experience in the Second World War

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1844860701 ISBN 13: 9781844860708

Publisher: Conway Maritime Press, 2008

During World War II, Britain's Royal Navy has to expand more than sevenfold, in the faces of the threat of invasion, enemy bombing and the need to carry out campaigns all around the world. To find officers for this force it had to move well outside its normal supply of boys trained from the age of 13. It started by recruiting yachtsmen and giving them a smattering of naval discipline before sending them to sea. Then it sent possible officers into action as ordinary seamen, to live a hard and dangerous life in destroyers. Selected men were then given their officer training in three months in an improved seaside base at Brighton.They sailed as officers in all kinds of ships, but especially in the new landing craft which would invade North Africa, Italy and Normandy. Those appointed to escort vessels in the Battle of the Atlantic came under the fearsome gaze of Commodore Stephenson, the 'Terror of Tobermory' before being sent out on convoy escort.This book looks at the social background of naval recruits, the training methods, the personal experiences of those involved (including the actor Alec Guinness) and what they had to learn to become an officer of the watch on the bridge of a warship, or even the captain of a landing craft or frigate. It has much to say on seamanship, naval technology, leadership and organisation which is still relevant today.

About the Author:

Brian Lavery is one of Britain's leading naval historians and a prolific author. His most recent publication is Churchill Goes to War: Winston's Wartime Journeys. He is also the author of the highly successful Churchill's Navy (2006) (ISBN 9781844860357) and best-selling Nelson's Navy (1988)(ISBN 9780851775210). Brian lives in Greenwich, London.