Gregory Smith's war started on the destroyer Jaguar and he saw action off Norway and in the North Sea. During the Dunkirk evacuation, when loaded with soldiers, many drunk, Jaguar was hit by enemy aircraft and 25 men killed. Command of the new escort destroyer HMS Eridge followed (he was her only Captain) and they deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean, and so began a grueling 18 months of Malta Convoys. The Germans controlled the air. ?Red Tobruk' was the name for the enemy aircraft warning that the Tobruk radar station put out. All sailors dreaded a ?Red Tobruk' as it meant an attack was imminent. Eridge survived countless air attacks and saw many fine ships sunk and lives lost. Under Gregory Smith's command she fought in the famous Battle of Sirte when the powerful Italian fleet was seen off. She has to pick up survivors, take stricken ships in tow, and once had only blanks to fire at attacking enemy aircraft. She sank U-568 in May 1942. Eridge's and the author's luck ran out in August 1942 when she was hit by a torpedo from an Italian MTB. Despite constant air attack, Eridge was towed to Alexandria but was irreparable. Five crew were killed. Exhausted and dispirited by the loss, Gregory Smith returned to Britain, having been awarded 2 DSOs and 2 DSCs. All this and much more is told in the most graphic and moving words in this exceptional memoir. AUTHOR: Frank Gregory Smith was made a D-Day planner on the Joint Staff. He was Principal Beachmaster on Gold Beach landing in the first wave on 6 June 1944. He retired from the Royal Navy in 1960. He married the girl he met at the beginning of the War. SELLING POINTS: The author was Captain of HMS Eridge from late 1940 until she was sunk in August 1942. A superb account of action and drama at sea, written by one who experienced constant danger during the Malta convoys. Reads like that classic naval novel The Cruel Sea. The much decorated author is alive, aged 98. 16 pages of b/w plates.
