Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook249 pages3 hours
Stand by for Action: The Memoirs of a Small Ship Commander in World War II
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The author of this compelling memoir proved himself one of the most successful small ship commanders during the Norwegian campaign in 1940, and then served at sea continuously throughout the rest of the War.
In Norway, as second-in-command of a Black Swan sloop, he experienced the suspense and nervous strain of operating in the narrow waters of a twisting fjord under heavy air attack, but his humour was never far away. 'I don't want to appear fussy, but are we going to be greeted by cheers and kisses from Norwegian blondes, or a hail of gunfire from invisible Huns?' he remarked to his officers on approaching the small town of Andalsnes.
His next task - in command first of a corvette and then a destroyer - was escorting East Coast convoys, and his experiences reflect the danger of this work against the menaces of E-boats, enemy aircraft and mines. He then took part in the landings at Anzio and the Normandy landings in 1944; finally, he rescued internees from the Japanese prison camp on Stanley, Hong Kong. His career was much helped by his highly developed sixth sense for danger, the deep affection of his crews and his affinity with cats which he believed brought him luck.
This record of varied and almost incessant action ranks among the most thrilling personal stories of the war at sea.
Unavailable
Related to Stand by for Action
Related ebooks
Stand By for Action: The Memoirs of a Small Ship Commander in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Threat: Mines and Minesweeping Reserve in WWI Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPen Pictures of British Battles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsU-Boats Beyond Biscay: Dönitz Looks to New Horizons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wolf Packs Gather: Mayhem in the Western Approaches 1940 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlying the Red Duster: A Merchant Seaman's First Voyage into the Battle of the Atlantic 1940 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Running the Gauntlet: Cargo Liners Under Fire 1939–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDönitz and the Wolf Packs Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Invasion '44: The Full Story of D-Day Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Japans Blitzkrieg: The Allied Collapse in the East, 1941–42 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDIG WWII: Rediscovering the great wartime battles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Royal Navy in Action: Art from Dreadnought to Vengeance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWar Under the Red Ensign, 1914–1918 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHurricanes in Action Worldwide! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Decoys: A Tale of Three Atlantic Convoys, 1942 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Torpedo Junction: U-Boat War Off America's East Coast, 1942 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I Seek My Prey In The Waters: The Coastal Command At War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sea Warriors: Fighting Captains and Frigate Warfare in the Age of Nelson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Hunter to Hunted: The U-Boat War in the Atlantic, 1939–1943 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Survivors of Enemy Action: Experiences of Merchant Seamen, 1939–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDunkirk Operation Dynamo: 26th May - 4th June 1940 An Epic of Gallantry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Standard History Of The War - Volume 4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe U-Boat War, 1914–1918 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunters and the Hunted: The Elimination of German Surface Warships around the World 1914-15 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Quiet Heroes: British Merchant Seamen at War, 1939–1945 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Capture: U-110 and the Enigma Story Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Force Mulberry - The Planning and Installation of Artificial Harbor Off U.S. Normandy Beaches in World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecuring the Narrow Sea: The Dover Patrol, 1914–1918 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Service Most Silent: The Navy's Fight Against Enemy Mines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grey Wolf, Grey Sea: Aboard the German Submarine U-124 in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Wars & Military For You
Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mein Kampf: The Original, Accurate, and Complete English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"The Good War": An Oral History of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Stand by for Action
Rating: 3.3333333333333335 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
3 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5William Donald had claims to be a hero of fiction. As a WWII Royal Naval officer, he moved from being first officer of an anti-submarine Sloop (Black Swan) to commanding a Corvette, and then an escort Destroyer , and finally a fleet destroyer, and a hospital ship evacuating POWS from the Japanese camps. He did it all, and had close calls and dealt brilliant strokes to the Axis. A good description of an excellent officer's war.