Publisher: Davis Weaver

Copies can be purchased directly from Mr. Weaver - please e-mail for details.

This extraordinary book tells the story of one of the Lend-Lease American built escort aircraft carriers supplied to the Royal Navy during World War Two.

A self published work released in December 2004, this is more than a just book; it is presented as a boxed set of materials about HMS Queen. The Set comprises of a 260 glossy page hard back B4 size landscape format book, a DVD film of 853 Royal Naval Air Squadron operating onboard the ship in early 1945 and a CD-Rom which contains an Adobe Acrobat version of the book. The box also contains a set of large-scale deck-by-deck plans of a Ruler class escort carrier.

In addition to telling the story of the ship drawing on official documents and the reminiscences of the crew David delves into the building and modification process which saw HMS Queen, and all but four of her class, transformed from merchant hulls into warships. Unprecedented levels of detail and a wealth of photographs and maps make this a work the definitive account of HMS Queen and her squadrons.

Publisher:

Pen & Sword Books

In his book David Yates recalls his experiences in the Royal Navy as a Leading Catering Accountant aboard HMS Antrim despatched to the South Georgia at the start of the Falklands War. David conveys the humour, spirit and traditions of life in the Royal Navy, vividly describing the daily routines of life aboard ship and what matelots expect when in port.

The author successfully conveys to the reader how the normality of his peacetime navy was thrown into turmoil on Friday April 2nd 1982, as Antrim prepared for war. In particular the description of the traditional ‘crossing the line’ ceremony is well described. You can almost taste the pill that is thrust down each initiates throat, and imagine the terror at being roughly, and repeatedly dunked by the ‘bears’.

The book is easy to read and. while well researched, is not top heavy with facts and figures, this semi-autobiographical work makes for fascinating reading offering a peek at life below decks and off duty as well as in the uncertain days that were the Falklands conflict. The book is well illustrated with a 38 images and has two comprehensive glossaries, one of naval terms and a second devoted to terms specific to naval ‘cooks’, a must for those not familiar with the naval catering branches.

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