"Victory At Sea: Tales of His Majesty's Costal Forces" (used book)

Victory At Sea: Tales of His Majesty's Costal Forces

by Hal Lawrence

About the Book

Used Book. Hardcover. Dust jacket included. Good Condition.

-- From the dust jacket

Here is the history of the motor torpedo and motor gun boats and the yarns of Canadians who fought in them in the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Mediterranean: deadly slashing battles, criss-crossing tracer, creaming bow wave and pluming wake, as Germans and Canadians (and British and Dutch) fought in the dark of the moon or in the eerie pale light of starshell; the crash of larger guns, the sharp chatter of smaller, the thump thump thump as enemy shell hit out hull. Fires rage, ships blow up, plumes of water from a shore battery’s one-ton shells mount far above the mast.

Then it was back to base with the dawn to land the wounded and dead, fuel, store, reammunition, and sleep a few hours; then, perhaps, a walk down a country lane with a girlfriend, bird song and land smell, or a swim at a beach a jolly few hours and a pint of beer in the local pub. Some had wives who saw them sail (and spent a long night, we imagine), then were at the jetty to welcome them home and count the shell holes in the hull.

This is a story of the small ships, the MTBs and MGBs; of the landing craft and commandos who stormed the beaches of Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France; of the destroyers that swept the enemy off the landing area; and of the long-suffering, plodding merchant ships bringing food and weapons from the New World to the Old.