The War At Sea 1939-45: Freedom's Battle

Freedom's Battle #1

by John Winton

An anthology of personal experience selected and edited by John Winton.The Second World War produced hundreds of actions and incidents at sea which were packed with drama and suspense, and which evoked the greatest heroism. Here is a generous selection of personal experience written by the men and women who were in the British and Commonwealth Navies, the Fleet Air Arm, the Merchant Navy, or ashore. Names which have passed into history - Narvik, Dunkirk, the River Plate, the Bismarck , the Scharnhorst , Crete, Anzio, the Battle of the Atlantic, the Russian convoys - all these and many others are reflected in these gripping eyewitness testimonies.This is the first volume in the unique Freedom's Battle trilogy, which provides intensely vivid accounts of war at sea, in the air and on land. Far better than any single narrative, the extracts build up a complete picture of the War as it was experienced by the men and women who actually fought in it.

Genres: Military Fiction, World War II, History, Anthologies

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

A former officer in the Royal Navy, John Pratt was the author of a variety of fiction and non-fiction works published under the pen name John Winton. Pratt also served for 14 years as an obituarist for The Daily Telegraph.

Reviews

[W]

This is part I of a three part series about the experiences of British servicemen,on sea,on land and in the air during World War II.

Includes some well known naval battles and some lesser known ones as well.A bit hard to read because of the graphic descriptions of ships under attack,horrific injuries and deaths.

Has a chapter regarding a ship,called the "HMS Rawalpindi" which I found of particular interest,as as the ship is named after my hometown,Rawalpindi.

The title "Freedom's Battle" is a bit ironic as Britain herself was colonizing over half the world at the time.

Has a foreword by India's last viceroy,Lord Mountbatten who says that he was himself almost sunk three times during the war.

[Hazel Hewitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed being able to dip in for shorter or longer reads, as this is a compilation of eye-witness accounts. Blown away by many incredible descriptions: eg. fighting to save a half-destroyed, burning ship, and occasionally succeeding against all the odds; struggling to land a Swordfish (biplane!!) on an aircraft carrier, constantly avoiding friendly fire, and fast running out of daylight and fuel; disentangling a midget submarine from mines, and anti-sub netting during attack on enemy ships.
My only reservation: Winton's criteria for inclusion was compelling writing conveying what it was like to be there, but he specifies he did not confirm absolute historical accuracy. I would have liked to know which selections were 'as historically accurate as possible' given the circumstances.
The bleak reality is lightened by the black humour constantly in evidence: eg. cheerful seaman to commanding officer who's just made it to the surface as ship sinks below them both "scum always rises to the surface, doesn't it sir!"

[Alaric · Rating 4 out of 5]

The editor, himself an accomplished writer, has assembled an eclectic mixture of wartime accounts and articles to create an first rate overview of the second world war, as fought by the world's navies.