One Man's War: An actor's life at sea 1940-45

Description

Actor Richard Beale was a young officer in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. In the summer of 2014, he sat down to write a memoir of that time, now more than 70 years ago. The result is an engaging and often humorous account of his wartime service in the Royal Navy, from just prior to joining up until his demobilisation and subsequent return to civilian life. During his naval career, Richard rose from a humble rating to become commander of a series of coastal patrol craft, the last of which was HMS ML 135, sailing one from the UK to Malta and latterly covering the Royal Navy's campaign in Greek and Croatian waters, including minesweeping duties. His story includes accounts of a number of key engagements, including one in which he was badly wounded, and encounters with Greek bandits and British spies. But it is not simply a naval memoir, as he also recalls memories of love affairs, special friendships and the enduring companionship of his beloved spaniel, Simon, who accompanied him in the initial stages of his career.

Born in 1920, Richard Beale joined the Royal Navy aged 20 and served from 1940 until the end of the Second World War. Following his service in the Navy, he worked for his father's print firm for 10 years until worked as an actor until 2005, appearing in hundreds of TV series including such classics as Dr Finlay's Casebook, Z Cars, A Handful of Dust and more recently, Casualty and Teachers. His time in the navy gave him a love of sailing that he has pursued throughout his life, sailing and racing single-handedly until 2010.

Just when you think that everything that could be written about WWII has been, up pops a new book that proves there is still so much to be written and, in the case of autobiographies and biographies, so little time to write it. The author has more than fifty years of acting and taking part in iconic television series. That means that those who know of him are unlikely to think of anything beyond his acting career. This book sets out with charm and humour the story of his wartime career as a skipper commanding an important type of coastal craft and the great adventure that it was for him. Joining the Royal Navy as a humble rating, he rose to commission and command of coastal forces vessels. The story has a good pace, worthy of a novel, with as many twists and turns to keep the reader turning pages to the end. An excellent story, very well told, highly recommended. * Firetrench *