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REVELY, HENRY: : THE CONVOY THAT NEARLY DIED - The Story of ONS 154

LONDON.WILLIAM KIMBER & cO. LIMITED,1979.

ISBN 0718304063.

UK,8vo HB+protected dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn. NFINE/NFINE.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj - absence of publisher's price - these are generally believed to be export edns, released before the trade issue or its distribution in the country of its origin. Bright,crisp,clean,matt,wrap-around,colour pictorial artwork illustrated dw/dj with capitalised,white-lettered part-title and other white-lettered sub-title and author's name to front panel; spine/backstrip with white-lettered title and capitalised author's name and capitalised,white-lettered publisher's name to foot of same,rear panel with continuation of illustration and without any text. Negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners – one  upward approx. 1.5cm closed tear,at front panel's foot of spine/backstrip's front-facing gutter's fold/crease - but no other major nicks, tears or splits present - miniscule rubbing to top,two corners' tips.Top+fore-edges clean without foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips, appears unread,other than my own collation. Publisher's bright,crisp,clean - except for one small indeterminate fluid stain to front board's middle lower edge - sharp-cornered,original plain navy blue cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt lettered spine/backstrip,and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+ dw/dj,1st edn,12-222pp [paginated] includes Acknowledgements,author's Introduction,a John Masefield poem's verse with blank reverse,XIV (14) chapters,8pp contemporary b/w photographs in 4 blocks of 2pp apiece interspersed throughout the text and the book,an Epilogue, Abbreviations used in the text,a Glossary of nautical terms,a Bibliography,Apendices (A-F) and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+ title pages,a dedication,separate Contents+ Illustrations lists/tables,the latter with a List of Maps+Diagrams to its reverse.            Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and particularly internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its 40+-year-old age.It is only the minimal exterior and described faults that prevents a slightly higher overall grading.Despite them,it really is an exceptional,exemplary copy for its cleanliness,brightness,lack of detracting faults and also its scarcity.                           The first-hand account and story of a WW2 45-ship convoy attacked from 27th-30th Dec,1942. Thirteen ships were lost,the last victim was HMS Fidelity,originally a French ship,whose Captain refused to surrender her to the Vichy Government and had offered her,together with her crew, (incl. the Gunnery Officer: Mlle. Madeleine Barclay) to the British. In June 1940 Le Rhin was seized Lieutenant de Vaisseau Claude Andre Michel Peri at Marseilles and sailed for Gibraltar.Peri and his crew wished to continue the fight after the Fall of France and Le Rhin was turned over to the Royal Navy at Barry,Wales.The ship was converted into an auxiliary warship,and was commissioned on 24th September 1940,as HMS Fidelity (D57) under the command of Lieutenant Peri,serving as Lieutenant Commander Jack Langlais RNVR.Her officers included Lt-Cmdr. Albert Guarisse serving as Patrick Albert O'Leary RNVR,and First Officer Madeleine Bayard serving as Madeleine Barclay WRNS.Because they had families in occupied Europe crew members were serving under pseudonyms.Bayard was Peri's mistress and one of very few women to be a commissioned officer on a Royal Navy ship.                                  HMS Fidelity was classified as a Special Service Vessel,a catch-all designation for vessels that don't fit easily into any other group.In 1941 Fidelity operated off the coast of Southern France as a clandestine transport under the direction of the Special Operations Executive (SOE),landing agents and picking up escaped prisoners,disguised as Spanish or Portuguese freighters.She also took part in small-scale sabotage operations.In 1942 Fidelity was refitted to operate as a commando carrier for operations in south-east Asia.She was armed with four 4-inch guns,four 21-inch torpedo tubes,and carried two OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes,the motor torpedo boat MTB-105,and the landing craft HMS LCV-752 and LCV-754. In December 1942 Fidelity,with T Company, 40 Cmdo aboard,joined Convoy ON 154.The convoy was attacked by U-boats from 27 December while north of the Azores.On 29 December Fidelity,suffering from engine problems,fell out of the convoy She launched her aircraft as an anti-submarine patrol while repairs took place.During this time her aircraft reported lifeboats to the southwest and her landing craft was sent to pick them up. These were the 44 men from Empire Shackleton,the convoy commodore's ship.During the night Fidelity was making 5 knots towards the Azores, but came under attack twice.She was fired on by U-225,and later by U-615.Both U-boats were driven off when Fidelity fired back.On 30th December she was found by U-435,under the command of Siegfried Strelow and was torpedoed twice.Strelow observed the sinking,and estimated about 300 survivors in the water, but when he made his report later he was asked "whether their destruction in the prevailing weather can be counted on".This was some months after the infamous Laconia Order,instructing U-boat commanders not to assist survivors in any way, and was regarded at the Nuremberg Trialsmas a tacit encouragement to ensure there were none.    At the time of her sinking Fidelity had on board some 369 souls (274 crew,51 Marines and 44 survivors from Empire Shackleton): All were lost.The only survivors were the eight crew of the motor torpedo boat,detached on anti-submarine patrol,who were later picked up by HMCS Woodstock (K238),and two crewmen of a seaplane that had crashed on take off on 28th December and been picked up by HMCS St. Laurent (H83).                                            To this day 40 Commando has never reused T as a company designation in memory of the loss. Guaisse was not aboard when Fidelity sank,having earlier been stranded in France.He became the namesake of the 'Pat O'Leary' escape line which helped Allied soldiers and downed airmen escape occupied France.                               William Kimber himself,worked for Hutchinson for about 17 years before founding "William Kimber & Co" in 1950.It specialized in aviation, war memoirs,autobiographies and motor-racing titles until 1973 when "Haunted Cornwall" took off and the Ghost Stories became another specialty. The company was bought by Thorsons in 1988,and therefore ceased publishing under that name. This title is believed to the only one published in this year,1959,by KIMBER.   William Kimber was purchased by Thorsons in 1988 and therefore ceased publishing under that name.Thorsons was purchased by William Collins in 1989.William Collins became wholly owned by News Corporation in 1990, and was then incorporated into HarperCollins Publishers.The name of William Kimber has not been used for publishing since that,making all previously published titles by them, out-of-print,under that name.                                        Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!                                                         N.B. ALL buyers please note,that stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch, especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.                                   ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of any inexpensive book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **                                               

UK,8vo HB+protected dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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