The Radio Officer's War - Ships, Storms & Submarines An Exciting First-Hand Account of the Dangers Faced by the Sailors of the British Merchant Navy, Seen Through the Eyes of Ian Robert Hendry Waddell, a Seagoing Radio Officer During World War II, Taken from His Journals, Letters and Photographs.

Ian Robert Hendry Waddell was a bright and gifted 19 year old who joined the Merchant Navy in 1940 after qualifying as a Seagoing Radio Officer. He crossed the North Atlantic Ocean 14 times during which German U-boats were sinking a huge amount of Allied shipping. He wrote a series of journals, and wonderfully amusing letters, describing his life and work as a ship's Radio Officer. He captured on film the dramatic events as his ship was bombed during the Allied landings in Norway, and he describes the harrowing scenes he and his shipmates witnessed, and the danger they faced, when rescuing the crew of a Royal Navy ship sunk by a German U-boat. Extracts from the journals written by U-boat Captains are included in the book. They give a fascinating insight into the tactics employed by the U-boats as they stalked Allied convoys. One U-boat Captain records his thoughts, and his fears, as his crew fight to save their boat after it is severely damaged by depth charges. Ian Waddell's gripping story is told in the main by reproducing his journals, letters and photographs, as none could tell it any better.