Torpedoes Tea And Medals

Author : Chris O'Flaherty
Publisher : Casemate
ISBN 13 : 1636241417
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.18/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Torpedoes, Tea, and Medals written by Chris O'Flaherty and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2022-03-24 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A biography chronicling one man’s service during World War II as a Royal Navy commander and his career before & after in the tea business. Jake Wright’s initiation to war was on the beach at Dunkirk, helping evacuate stragglers. Then volunteering for Motor Torpedo Boats, he served with valor throughout World War II, becoming one of only forty-four officers in WWII to receive a DSC with two Bars . . . Derek Wright learned about small boats from his father, who tragically died when Derek was just fourteen years old. Sent away from his family to finish his education, he left school at sixteen to join the global tea trade. Soon after he finished his training with Brooke Bond, famous for their “Dividend” tea, Hitler invaded Poland and Britain was at war. By then known to his friends as “Jake,” he was one of the first Volunteer Reserves to be called up to fight for his country. Plucked from his naval training in HMS King Alfred, his warfighting initiation was on the beach at Dunkirk, helping evacuate stragglers after Operation DYNAMO. He then volunteered for Motor Torpedo Boats, where he served with valor and distinction. While Hitler’s U-Boats were torpedoing shipments of tea bound for Great Britain, Jake Wright reciprocated by torpedoing Axis coastal shipping off Europe. His first Command was MTB 331, trained for a daredevil mission to puncture German boom defenses protecting their battleships. In his next Command, MTB 32, he was wounded in action whilst torpedoing a German convoy, but kept his small ship fighting against the odds to win the action and sink his enemy; for his bravery he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Further acts of gallantry in action, combined with tactical innovation, saw him earn two bars to his DSC as well as a Mention in Despatches; he became one of only forty-four officers in the Second World War to receive a DSC with two Bars. After demobilization he returned to the tea trade, rising to become one of Brooke Bond’s senior directors supplying Britain’s beloved beverage. He even helped refine how to make the perfect cup of tea. This is the life story of a determined, brave, innovative, and decorated officer who has earned a place in the hearts of our nation. It is the story of Derek “Jake” Wright, DSC**. Praise for Torpedoes, Tea, and Medals “A must read . . . an enthralling look at motor torpedo boat operations off the coast of France and Belgium during World War II.” —Naval Historical Foundation “Wright clearly had a really action-packed war and this book skillfully combines his coastal forces experiences with his influential role in the tea business.” —Captain Andrew Welch, FNI, Royal Navy Retired

Author : Chris O'Flaherty
Publisher : Casemate
ISBN 13 : 9781636241401
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.09/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Torpedoes, Tea, and Medals written by Chris O'Flaherty and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2022-04-30 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The biography of Jake Wright, a highly decorated Coastal Forces hero who served throughout World War II.

Author : Sir George Elliot Armstrong
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.70/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Torpedoes and Torpedo-vessels written by Sir George Elliot Armstrong and published by . This book was released on 1901 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : G. E. ARMSTRONG
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781033622971
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.74/5 ( download)

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Download or read book TORPEDOES AND TORPEDO-VESSELS written by G. E. ARMSTRONG and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Gordon L. Rottman
Publisher : Osprey Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9781846032271
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.7X/5 ( download)

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Download or read book US Patrol Torpedo Boats written by Gordon L. Rottman and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2008-09-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Motor torpedo boat development began in the early 1900s and the vessels were first put into active service during World War I. However, it was not until the late 1930s that the US Navy commenced the development of their Patrol Torpedo or PT boat program. The PT boat, or the "mosquito boat" as they were sometimes known, was originally envisioned for attacking larger warships with torpedoes using its "stealth" ability, high-speed, and small size to launch and survive these attacks. However, they were actually employed more frequently in a wide variety of other missions, many which were unforeseen by developers and planners, including rescuing General MacArthur and his entourage from the Philippines. Often taking on larger and better armed enemies these craft became famous for punching above their weight and were firmly thrust into the limelight by John F. Kennedy who while serving as a lieutenant on a PT-109 in the Pacific Theater heroically saved his fellow crew members winning him the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. This book examines the design and development of these unique craft, very few of which survive today and goes on to examine their role and combat deployment in both World Wars.

Author : Chris Taylor
Publisher : Air World
ISBN 13 : 1399048899
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.97/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Experimental Test Pilot written by Chris Taylor and published by Air World. This book was released on 2023-06-30 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chris Taylor has had a very successful career as a Royal Navy officer, helicopter pilot, test pilot, instructor and as an internationally acclaimed civil certification test pilot. His first book, Test Pilot, concentrates on anecdotes and incidents from the most recent phase of his career. This book is the prequel and is his account of his ten years’ service as an experimental test pilot, from 1994 until 2004, at MoD Boscombe Down, the UK’s tri-Service home of military aircraft testing and evaluation. In this book, Chris explains what led to his passion to be a test pilot and how, with tenacity, he plays the cards he was dealt as well as he could. The story captures the difficulties and challenges associated with being selected for the single annual place at the Empire Test Pilots’ School (ETPS) and the dedication required to then complete the very demanding twelve-month course. Chris was one of only three helicopter experimental test pilots posted to the Experimental Flying Squadron (EFS). It was there that he worked with scientists from the defense Research Agency (DRA) at Bedford and Farnborough on a number of cutting-edge technologies, specializing in ship/helicopter interface testing. In addition to flying the Westland Wessex, Lynx and Sea King, Chris was able to act as an evaluation pilot in the Hunter, Jaguar, Andover, Hawker Siddeley HS748, and the Comet. During his time as an active test pilot, EFS was merged into three platform squadrons which gave Chris the chance to play a full part in conventional ‘release to service’ activities in a wide variety of rotorcraft. Asked to take on the role of a flight test instructor (FTI), Chris served at ETPS where he made sweeping changes to the syllabus, acquired a new helicopter type and had to deal with a number of students who could not cope with the rigors of the course. In his first year he suffered a ‘flame out’ in a Hawk jet, an engine failure during his first flight in the twin-engine Basset and crashed the school’s Westland Scout helicopter– all of which are fully discussed. Following four successful years teaching helicopter flight test, Chris was recruited to manage the ETPS short course portfolio. This required the design, sale and delivery of numerous flight test courses, while also introducing innovative teaching methods and the use of civil registered aircraft. In this new, exciting and rewarding role Chris taught both fixed wing and rotary wing students and the book explains the difficulties of learning the additional skills and flight test techniques required of a fixed wing test pilot. This autobiography explores the military flight test career of an individual who is arguably one of the best qualified and most experienced test pilots working today anywhere in the world.

Author : Richard Duckett
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1786722720
Total Pages : 307 pages
Book Rating : 4.20/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Burma written by Richard Duckett and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-10-30 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the mountains and jungles of occupied Burma during World War II, British special forces launched a series of secret operations, assisted by parts of the Burmese population. The men of the SOE, trained in sabotage and guerrilla warfare, worked in the jungle, deep behind enemy lines, to frustrate the puppet Burmese government of Ba Maw and continue the fight against Hirohito's Japan in a theatre starved of resources. Here, Richard Duckett uses newly declassified documents from the National Archives to reveal for the first time the extent of British special forces' involvement - from the 1941 operations until beyond Burma's independence from the British Empire in 1948. Duckett argues convincingly that `Operation Character' and `Operation Billet' - large SOE missions launched in support of General Slim's XIV Army offensive to liberate Burma - rank among the most militarily significant of the SOE's secret missions. Featuring a wealth of photographs and accompanying material never before published, including direct testimony recorded by veterans of the campaign and maps from the SOE files, The SOE in Burma tells a compelling story of courage and struggle in during World War II

Author : United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Naval Affairs
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 722 pages
Book Rating : 4.05/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Awarding of Medals in the Naval Service, Hearing Before a Subcommittee ..., on S.Res. 285 written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Naval Affairs and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 722 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Antony Hichens
Publisher : Pen and Sword
ISBN 13 : 184468170X
Total Pages : 552 pages
Book Rating : 4.09/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Gunboat Command written by Antony Hichens and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-12-19 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This biography draws heavily on the personal diaries of the subject, Robert Hichens (or Hitch as he was universally known).After a brief description of his early life, time at Oxford, his motor racing achievements (including trophies at Le Mans in his Aston Martin) and RN training, the book focuses on his exceptional wartime experiences. Hitch was the most highly decorated RNVR officer of the war with two DSOs, three DSCs and three Mentions in Despatches. He was recommended for a posthumous VC. We read of his early days in vulnerable minesweepers and the Dunkirk Dynamo operation, (his first DSC).In late 1940 he joined Coastal Forces serving in the very fast MGBs, soon earning his own command and shortly after command of his Flotilla. He was the first to capture an E-Boat. His successful leadership led to many more successes and his reputation as a fearless and dynamic leader remains a legend today.The book contains detailed and graphic accounts of running battles against the more heavily armed E-boats. Tragically he was killed in action in April 1943, having refused promotion and a job ashore.

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 644 pages
Book Rating : 4.44/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Numismatist written by and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: