The blockade busters

by Ralph Barker

Recounts one of the greatest sea stories of World War II. It is the story of how George Binney, a 39 year-old civilian working in neutral Sweden when Norway was overrun by the Germans in 1940, set about running vital cargoes of Swedish ball-bearings and special steels to Britain through the blockaded Skagerrak, where German air strength was dominant and where the Royal Navy dare not trespass. Despite Admiralty gloom and in the face of political objections that were overcome by Binney's persistence, five ships carrying a year's supply of valuable materials for the expanding British war industries were successfully sailed to Britain in January 1941. A following attempt was not as successful and ended when six ships were sunk or scuttled. But then came the saga of the Little Ships, the motor gunboats flying the Red Duster that operated out of the Humber to and from the Swedish coast in the winter of 1943/44, defying the strengthened German defences and the wrath of severe weather.

Genres: History

224 pages, Unbound

First published April 1, 1977

About the author

Ralph Hammond Cecil Barker was a non-fiction author who wrote several books on the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Air Force (RAF) operations in the First and Second World Wars, and about cricket.

Reviews

[JD · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written and detailed book about the exploits of British blockade running out of Sweden. The book focuses mostly on the man at the helm of all these operations, George Binney, and the battles he fought diplomatically to get very important materials (ball bearings and special alloys) out of Sweden and out of the hands of the Germans through the occupied waters of the Skarregat and Kattegat to Britain. He had to fight British diplomats, Swedish naval staff and German spies to make these operations a success, and was luckily backed by a rich cast of characters who helped him both in Britain and Sweden to pull these missions of successfully.

There were three main operations during the war, the first two of which were ordinary merchant vessels running the German blockade of which the first was a complete success and the second a limited, yet costly success. The third then used specialized small coastal motorboats with merchant crews to run the gauntlet, and even though these operations were plagued by poor performing equipment and atrocious weather, they were in the end very successful. The book is a real tribute to these brave seamen and a very interesting chapter in the naval war as one would usually associate blockade running with the Axis forces. Highly recommended reading.