The Jail that Went to Sea: An Untold Story of the Battle of the Atlantic, 1941 42

by Peter Haining

In 1941 the British people had their backs to the wall in their lone fight against the might of Hitler’s Germany. America was neutral, at least until the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Glasgow became the starting point for one of the most amazing and, until now, untold episodes of the war. Government officials desperate for men to sail merchant ships across the Atlantic to collect vital equipment and supplies from North America devised a plan to enlist convicts from Barlinnie Prison and use them as crew for a 25,000-ton merchantman, the George Washington. Quite simply a choice of death or glory, this book relates the extraordinary story of those men through the accounts of two survivors, the log and memories of Captain David Bone, and Glasgow police records and documents.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Monty Milne · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the height of the Battle of the Atlantic, numbers of violent alcoholic Glaswegian yobs were released early from prison if they agreed to go to sea. Some of them formed the crew of an old rustbucket of a ship with complex and obsolete coal boilers which were not fit for purpose. Despite the efforts of the ship’s dogged and dour captain, the ship never really becomes seaworthy, nor does much interesting happen to it. The ex convicts get into a variety of scrapes or go missing altogether when they desert on shore. The author makes an heroically imaginative effort to develop their characters, but we can feel the stretch of his imagination trying to compensate for the thinness of the source material.

I did learn quite a lot about law enforcement in Glasgow in the 1940’s, and a lot about the technical difficulties of coal powered ships’ boilers. The undeniable skill of the author means that he is able to develop a narrative which is not without interest. Ultimately, however, I think there is not quite enough here for a compelling story.

[Rose]

The blurb for this book reads:

As the U-boats picked off merchant shipping in the Atlantic, severing the essential supply lines with North America, desperate government officials devised a plan to enlist convicts from Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison as crew for the 25,000-ton merchantman, the George Washington...This is a story that combines the violent and dangerous underworld of Glasgow over half a century ago with the bravery of those who sailed on merchant ships during the bloody Battle of the Atlantic.

Sounds quite interesting, right?

In actuality, there were only 5 convicts involved, out of a crew of over 500 men, and they had already been released from prison. The ship sailed pretty much nowhere and they just hung around in various North American cities, drinking and stealing stuff. Somehow, this is stretched out to fill an entire book.

[BARRY SMITH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, steady read not one of the best. A bit short of storyline