Description

The engrossing but tragic history of the Royal Navys worst loss of World War Two

Ideal for fans of Jonathan Dimbleby Max Hastings and Craig L Symonds

On 8th June 1940 the British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and her two destroyer escorts HMS Ardent and Acasta were sighted by the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst and her sister ship Gneisenau In a brutal gun battle that lasted over an hour all British ships were sunk and more than 1500 men lost their lives

Why had Glorious left the main troop convoy to proceed independently Why was she so lightly protected Why did British Intelligence give no warning that the German battlecruisers were close by And why were the survivors left in freezing Arctic waters for three days before being picked up

Official documents do not answer these questions and so John Winton has drawn testimonies from men who served on Glorious in the prewar days as well as her very few survivors to understand how this ship functioned both before and during the war what happened on that fateful day and why is there still so much secrecy surrounding this heartrending event