Today is the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings. Whilst I note that Normandy is hosting a whole host of events today to celebrate the achievement, celebrations in this country seem rather muted. Accordingly, I wish to pay tribute to a gallant group of men of whom few have heard, the Landing Craft Obstacle Clearance Units or LCOCU, known as the Lock-yews. Long before D-Day itself, the planners recognised that Hitler’s formidable Atlantic Wall defences extended beyond t

In October 1914, the Royal Navy despatched the first pair of a flotilla of E-class submarines to make the perilous journey through the shallows of the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden into the Baltic. Their mission was to stop the German import of iron ore from Sweden, so important for the German war effort, and to support the Russian Navy. Over the summer of 1915, four further submarines attempted to penetrate into the Baltic, but HMS E13 ran aground and was illegally s

'I am an ex RE Major who spent 23 years in service. I specialised in diving and am one a few who have used standard kit in Ostend harbour. I was inspector of diving for the Army. I loved your books but your last two have gripped me. The thought of twenty hours diving scares the life out of me. My admiration for the men you portray is unlimited and I thank you most sincerely for it. Very much looking forward to reading the next one. VMT' The above message made my day, especial

One of the first naval officers to be trained to fly in 1910 was Lieutenant Reginald Gregory. On 1 July 1914, the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was formed and, immediately on the outbreak of WW1, it deployed to France and Belgium under the command of Commander Charles Samson. However, Samson initially had too few aircraft at his disposal for his pilots, so he re-tasked those with their own private cars to mount reconnaissance patrols of the Belgian and French countryside,