Being there . . . . for the longest-running campaign of World War II, the Battle of the Atlantic. As
bleak as things were for Great Britain and her Allies in the first year and a half of that Second
World War, the Royal Navy never once doubted it would prevail against Germany’s surface
fleet. In the South Atlantic, heroism comingling with tragedy was almost routine, i.e., the Saga
of the River Plate off Montevideo on December 17, 1939, triggering the initial stage which
didn’t necessarily please the Fuhrer. His 16,000-ton pocket battleship Graf Spee trapped near
Buenos Aires had been scuttled by its own German crew who faced internment throughout the
war. Three nights later, with his beloved ship still ablaze, Captain Hans Langsdorff, who had
sunk 9 British vessels searching for him, took his own life. Hitler told confidants the aging WWI
captain was a coward who should have risked the ship and its 1,000-man crew by blasting out
of port into the Atlantic.
Later, Erich Raeder, Grand Admiral and Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine (German
Navy), clearly knew what all in Hitler’s entourage understood but would dare not mention: the
German fleet surface forces were heavily outnumbered by the Royal Navy. “Our sailors can do
no more than show that they know how to die gallantly.” It seems the Fuhrer knew all along he
had no real Navy other than a battleship or two. Controlling the prized English Channel was
certainly out of the question. Sure, he had an exceptional U-boat fleet, but, by 1942, Allied
advances in underwater detection and advances were sinking more and more of those U-boat
gems. In short, he controlled almost no salt water other than that which rimmed Deutschland
to the North. “So what?”, smiled Churchill. “A short run, skip, and a hop by my RAF will handle
those boats.”
AN ERUDITE AND ELEGANT NEW STUDY ON THE LONGEST CAMPAIGN OF WORLD WAR II HAS
ARRIVED HOT OFF THE CASEMATE PUBLISHERS’ PRESSES JUST IN TIME FOR ADVANC
CHRISTMAS PURCHASE – – THE BATTLE FOR THE ATLANTIC. THE LONG, STILL-CONTINUING
HISTORY OF IT IS YET UNDERWAY, AND SOME CURRENTLY IN PUBLICATION FOR SALE IN
OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER. A FEW WILL EVEN BE MORE LAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED. BUT NO
AUTHOR TODAY CAN MATCH BRIAN E. WALTER’S TOUR DE FORCE, HIS FEAT OF STRENGTH OR
SKILL, HIS ADROIT, INGENIOUS ACCOMPLISHMENT: A HISTORY SO RIVETING AND DEMANDING
THE READER, ALONG WITH ALL FREEDOM-LOVING PEOPLE, HOLD THEIR BREADTH FOR THE
OUTCOME. AFTER ALL, OUR FUTURE, HANGING IN THE BALANCE, WAS AT STAKE. A MUST
READ. ONCE AGAIN, BRITAIN’S MARITIME SERVICES ANSWERED THE CALL OF HISTORY AND
WENT FORTH TO DO THEIR DUTY.
Don DeNevi highly, highly recommends two immediate Christmas gift purchases, one for the
loved person, and the other for the self . . . .
“THE LONGEST CAMPAIGN – – Britain’s Maritime Struggle in the Atlantic and Northwest Europe,
1939 – 1945”, by Brian E. Walter. CASEMATE PUBLISHERS, Havertown, PA 19083: 2020,
reprinted 2024, 332 pages, hardcover, 6 ½” x 9 ¼”, $34.95. Visit, www.casematepublishers.com,
or Email, casemate@casematepublishers.com.
Every day from September 3, 1939, when Britain and her colonies, along with France,
Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany, the British survived as a nation until
Hitler’s suicide on April 30, 1945. That victory was a major victory for us, all of us who are
civilized. Was the winning of the Battle of Atlantic the most important victory of WW? Of
course, it was. And so was winning the skies over Britain, NAY, the whole British Isles, especially
Shetland. Thank God for Brian Walter whose writing is always nonpareil. He lives in Minnesota.
Pull up his honors and learn for yourself. Then, for Heaven’s Sake, thank Casemate for
publishing books like Brian’s, those which provide new angles and unique analyses in the
effectiveness of the British maritime effort and the essential role it played in bringing about the
overall Allied victory so beautifully narrated here.
