Stand by for Action

By William Donald

Book Overview

The author of this compelling memoir proved himself one of the most successful small ship commanders during the Norwegian campaign in 1940, and then served at sea continuously throughout the rest of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0450023281
• ISBN13: 9780450023286
• Release Date: January 1975
• Publisher: New English Library
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Very Readable Glimpse of a Small Segment of World War II at Sea

This is a reprint of a title originally published in 1956. It begins with a view of the Norway campaign from the sloop HMS Black Swan, in which William Donald served as Executive Officer. From there, Mr. Donald became skipper of HMS Guillemot, a prewar corvette escorting East Coast convoys. Later he commanded the old "V and W" class destroyer HMS Verdun, again on East Coast convoy duty. His ultimate wartime command was HMS Ulster, a new "Battle" class destroyer, which he captained in actions along Britain's east coast and in the Mediterranean, including a night surface action in the Bay of Biscay, and action at Anzio and later on D-Day off the coast of Normandy. Commander Donald's account is highly readable. There is a fair amount of human interest about the personalities he worked with, the cat he kept in his skipper's cabin, the social life of duty-weary sailors, and the experience of command. Some of Mr. Donald's more memorable anecdotes talk of the razor-sharp judgments necessary in commanding a ship. His quick instinct enabled his vessel to shoot down a German bomber in the North Sea, while another time he saved a merchant vessel's crew by swinging out a rescue boat in advance when a sixth sense told him it was about to strike a mine. Mr. Donald is nicely candid, and while giving himself credit for a number of fine achievements as captain, he admits to a number of errors including his misjudgment that ran HMS Ulster aground off Normandy. Students of tactics and weapons systems will also find much to mull over, as Mr. Donald conveys his own perspective on everything from AA armament and radar to dealing with E-boats and glider bombs. His account of the Normandy landings is informative, vivid and stirring. This book's only flaw is that, as with many personal accounts, the author saw a small piece of a very big war. If you are looking for grand strategic sweep look elsewhere. But if you are interested in life aboard Royal Navy escort vessels in the Norway campaign, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean during World War II, you will have trouble finding a title that surpasses this one. Stand by for Action is a concise, pleasant read that also manages to be informative and compelling.