"The Dark Broad Seas: Memoirs of a Sailor" (used book)

The Dark Broad Seas: Memoirs of a Sailor

by Jeffry V. Brock

About the Book

Used Book. Hardcover. Dust jacket included. Good condition. Tears and scuffing to the dust jacket.

-- From the dust jacket

Jeffry V. Brock was one of the most respected and powerful career officers in the Royal Canadian Navy. A Rear Admiral on his retirement in 1964, his controversy with Minister of Defence Paul Hellyer, over the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces, was front-page news.

The Dark Broad Seas is the first volume of “With Many Voices,” Brock’s fascinating and richly anecdotal memoirs, tracing the naval career of a determined young Canadian, which began in 1940 when Brock sailed to England, on loan to the Royal Navy.

With superb narrative skill and lively wit, the author describes his experiences as a commander of escort groups in the U-boat-ridden Atlantic of World War II. Whether transporting explosives, dealing with drunken officers, navigating through hurricanes, or coping with the naval hierarchy, he paints a vivid picture of men and ships on war-time seas. Woven through the high adventure of combat are encounters with colourful political and military figures, and the feisty people of Britain.

In 1950, Brock was appointed to command the Canadian naval forces sent to Korea. His meetings with General MacArthur are frankly recounted and give a unique view of this larger-than-life figure, and his handling of the Korean conflict.

The Dark Broad Seas covers the period from 1939 to the end of the Korea War. It is both a spirited retrospective on a climactic era and an outspoken memoir by a singular Canadian. It sets the stage for the political drama, which was to affect, undermine, and ultimately destroy the traditional foundations upon which the Royal Canadian Navy was built. In Volume II of “With Many Voices,” Admiral Brock will reveal the uncharacteristic role he felt impelled to play in the dispute surrounding the unification of Canada’s Armed Forces.