Featured battle : Pearl Harbour

Part of Second World War

Date : 07 December 1941

In a surprise attack, at 07:55 on Sunday 7th December, aircraft from the Japanese First Air Fleet under Adm. Nagumo attacked Oahu Island and the ships of the US Pacific Fleet. The defenders were taken completely unawares (war had not yet been declared, due to 'administrative problems') and as a result 4 US battleships, the Arizona, Oklahoma, West Virginia and California were lost along with 11 other ships while all four remaining battleships were damaged and more than 250 aircraft destroyed or damaged. The Japanese lost 29 of more than 300 attacking aircraft and 5 midget submarines. However, the US carriers were at sea so were not involved, and the dock and harbour facilities were quick to recover, both factors which made a difference to the American response in 1942.

Wellington's Spies

Mary McGrigor
This is a story of three men parts of which, if told as fiction, would be seen as taking things too far. Who would believe that an army officer in uniform and in their right mind, would take a journey of a few hundred miles, behind the enemy lines, accompanied by his servant and with various guides? And another who after capture and being held prisoner in Paris continues to send valuable information back to the commander in the Peninsular? The adventures of the three principals is well told against the background of the Peninsular war. The author, Mary McGrigor, has an easy, readable presentation of the facts and uses lots of extracts from the men’s journals and other official papers to support her words. Here are rich insights into the character of a certain class of men of that period. They don’t all have it easy and they don’t all survive but to say more would be to spoil the story.
This book takes a different, fascinating angle on life in the British army for three men in the Peninsular war. It can be read as a novel but it is so much more than that. We highly recommend it.

Pen & Sword Military, 2020