A Midshipman's War
A Midshipman's War

Author: Frank Wade

Publisher: Trafford Publishing

Published: 2005-12-21

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1412239362

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"Frank Wade was born in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada in October 1921. He was sent to England to train for the navy in the schoolship HMS Conway in Liverpool and the Dartmouth (Devon) Royal Navy College from 1936 to December 1940. Then in May 1941 he was appointed to the staff of the Commander-in Chief of the Mediterranean fleet, Admiral A.B. Cunningham, doing most secret cipher messages. At this time the navy had evacuated the British army from Greece and Crete with great losses from German bombers- we had no air coverage. Two cruisers were lost with a 1.000 men drowned or killed. Another cruiser was severely damaged with 250 killed. Other smaller ships were also lost. Our desert army had been driven back to the Egyptian border but Tobruk had not been taken. It was under siege for 9 months from April to December 1941 putting more strain on our fleet. Wade was in battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth when the battleship HMS Barham was sunk by U331 on 25 November 1941 with 862 men lost and 495 saved. A strange attack was made on Alexandria Harbour on the night of 15 December 1941 by Italian frog men; severely damaging two battleships. These two ships were given light repairs and sent to the USA for long refits. The cruiser HMS Neptune leading a squadron from Malta to attack an enemy convoy ran into an unknown mine field and was sunk with only one survivor out of 750. The island of Malta located in the middle of the Mediterranean was never taken by the enemy and it played a vital part in winning the naval war. It was under siege for nearly three years from June 1940 to May 1943. Thirty convoys were sent from Gibraltar and Alexandria. These convoys were hard-fought with many of our merchant ships and warships being sunk. One fully loaded merchant ship was needed by the island every month to prevent starvation. Malta was the most bombed place anywhere. The islanders were awarded the George Cross and a special citation awarded by the US president to Buz Buerling, the Canadian air ace who shot down 26 enemy planes over Malta. The Canadian motor torpedo and gun boats fought many sea battles and were awarded bravery medals. The turning point of the Middle East war came when a renewed 8th Army under General Montgomery achieved a stunning land victory at El Alamein 60 miles west of Alexandria on 4th November 1942. Tunis was taken in May 1943 and landings in Sicily took place on the night of 9/10 July 1943 and Messina fell on 14 August.

Possessing the Pacific
Possessing the Pacific

Author: Stuart Banner

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-06-30

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0674020529

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During the nineteenth century, British and American settlers acquired a vast amount of land from indigenous people throughout the Pacific, but in no two places did they acquire it the same way. Stuart Banner tells the story of colonial settlement in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. Today, indigenous people own much more land in some of these places than in others. And certain indigenous peoples benefit from treaty rights, while others do not. These variations are traceable to choices made more than a century ago--choices about whether indigenous people were the owners of their land and how that land was to be transferred to whites. Banner argues that these differences were not due to any deliberate land policy created in London or Washington. Rather, the decisions were made locally by settlers and colonial officials and were based on factors peculiar to each colony, such as whether the local indigenous people were agriculturalists and what level of political organization they had attained. These differences loom very large now, perhaps even larger than they did in the nineteenth century, because they continue to influence the course of litigation and political struggle between indigenous people and whites over claims to land and other resources. "Possessing the Pacific" is an original and broadly conceived study of how colonial struggles over land still shape the relations between whites and indigenous people throughout much of the world.

USS Constitution A Midshipman's Pocket Manual 1814
USS Constitution A Midshipman's Pocket Manual 1814

Author: Eric L. Clements

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-10-19

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 1472827910

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This manual collates authentic period sources including design notes and information for sailors to provide a unique guide to this famous warship. Launched in 1797, USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She is renowned for her actions during the War of 1812 against the Britain, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships. The battle with HMS Guerriere earned her the nickname 'Old Ironsides' and a longstanding public adoration that has repeatedly saved her from scrapping. She continued to serve as flagship in the Mediterranean and African squadrons, and circled the world in the 1840s. Retired from active service in 1881, Constitution served as a receiving ship until designated a museum ship in 1907. Comprising a series of documents and illustrations that give information on the building of the ship, her wartime service history and life on board ship during the years of her service, this fascinating book tells the story of Old Ironsides

Pacific Glory
Pacific Glory

Author: P. T. Deutermann

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2011-03-15

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 1429968036

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A thrilling, multi-layered World War II adventure following two men and an unforgettable woman, from Pearl Harbor through the most dramatic air and sea battles of the war Marsh, Mick, and Tommy were inseparable friends during their naval academy years, each man desperately in love with the beautiful, unattainable Glory Hawthorne. Graduation set them on separate paths into the military, but they were all forever changed during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. Glory, now Tommy's widow, is a tough Navy nurse still grieving her loss while trying to save lives. Marsh, a surface ship officer, finds himself in the thick of terrifying sea combat from Guadalcanal through Midway to a climactic showdown at Leyte Gulf. And Mick, a hotshot fighter pilot with a drinking problem and a chip on his shoulder, seeks redemption after a series of failures leaves him grounded. Filled with wide-screen action, romance, and heroism tinged with the brutal reality of war, Pacific Glory is a dynamic new direction for an acclaimed thriller writer. One of Library Journal's Best Historical Fiction Books of 2011