In my latest novel They Have No Graves as Yet I honour the men of the #royalnavy mine disposal units during WW2. As such, I was very interested to read last week that the medals of John Duppa-Miller GC are to be sold by his family and are expected to realise £50,000 at auction. Considering the risks Duppa-Miller took, it seems a small price to pay. A graduate of Hertford College, Oxford, Duppa-Miller originally trained for ordination as a priest, but then chose a career in

Today is Lancashire Day when the people of Lancashire celebrate the anniversary of sending its first members to the Model Parliament of Edward I in 1295. On this day, we toast HM The Queen, the Duke of Lancaster. On such a day it is worth remembering an old hero of Lancashire, Charles Rumney Samson. Samson was one of the first four Royal Navy pilots and a pioneer of naval aviation. He was born in 1883, in a suburb of Manchester, so in his day, he was Lancashire born and br

A continuing theme of my novels is the often unsung heroes and largely unknown activities of the Royal Navy in WW1. My aim is to bring to the fore once again the courageous deeds of great men and highlight that the Royal Navy wasn’t just involved in the Battle of Jutland. In my first novel, The Custom of the Trade, I have focused on the early days of submarine operations. Submarines in those days were in their infancy and extremely dangerous and unreliable. As will often b

I am now about two thirds of the way through the first draft of my latest and fourth WW1 naval thriller, Where the Baltic Ice is Thin. I have decided to include in my tale an embellished version of the true account of German perfidy in the sinking of the submarine HMS E13 in the neutral waters of Denmark. E13, under the command or Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey Layton, was despatched to the Baltic in August 1915 to assist the Russians intercept German shipments of iron ore fr

In June 1913, Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty, persuaded the House of Commons that the Treasury should spend £2.2 million on a 51% stake in Persian oil fields in order to guarantee the supply of fuel oil to the Royal Navy. The House approved the bill within a day, the investment was duly made and a twenty-year contract negotiated. I suspect today’s Sea Lords are jealous of the influence their predecessors once held. In my second novel, Now the Darkness Gath

Today, on 31st May in 1916, 250 British and German ships met in what became known in the Battle of Jutland. The battle was to last until the following day and both sides suffered nearly 10,000 casualties. Fourteen Royal Navy ships and eleven German ships were sunk. Most of the casualties were on the British side. Over 6,000 Royal Navy sailors died. The German ships were not only better armoured, but built with more watertight compartments. Whereas the RN ships were desi

I open my first novel, The Custom of the Trade, with a tragic submarine accident, in September 1911. The inspiration for my story came from a newspaper article of March 1911 reporting the sinking of the German submarine, U3. The submarine sank off Kiel harbour, fortunately in shallow water. The stern was completely submerged, but her bows pointed out of the water. Boats were quickly sent to the scene and the submarine crew released a telephone buoy to communicate news of t

I am delighted to announce that I have just submitted my third novel to my publisher. Part of my For Those in Peril series, this story tells the story of the early days of naval aviation, the early actions of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the activities of the RNAS Armoured Car Squadron and Royal Naval Division. Paul Miller is the third son of William Miller VC, a director of the navy's Intelligence Department who features in both the previous novels. An irresponsi

Yesterday, HM the Queen marked the start of GCHQ's centenary celebrations. In 1919, the Royal Navy's Room 40, of which I write in my second and third novels, became part of what was then known under the cover name of the Government Code and Cypher School. The official date for its formation was 1 November 1919, but of course, Room 40 was established in August 1914. The Queen unveiled a plaque to commemorate the centenary and containing a coded message. I have decoded it an

The current and all past heads of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) are and have been known as 'C', for "Chief", but the first head of SIS was known as 'C' for a different reason. Commander Mansfield Cumming used to sign documents in green ink with the letter C. Cumming had been retired from the Royal Navy on medical grounds due to his chronic sea sickness. As a retired officer, he went on to work on the design and operations of boom defences, based on the River

Today (4th February) in 1915, the German government announced that it would impose a submarine blockade of Great Britain with effect 18th February 1915. It meant that any shipping, including that of neutrals, could be sunk without warning. Until this change in policy, German submarines, as with those of the Allies, had surfaced in the vicinity of merchant ships and given the crews time to take to their boats in safety before sinking the ships. The introduction by Britain o

My new book will be launched in just under two weeks' time. It tells the tale of a young man's reluctant entry into Britain's embryonic Secret Service and his subsequent adventures. Charged with cowardice by his father, a naval war hero, he must overcome his fears to regain his father's love and respect. In the deserts and mountains of Persia in a battle for control of the Admiralty's oil fields, he uncovers a plot by the Germans to incite a holy war in the Near East and I

With just five weeks to go before the publication of my pre-WW1 espionage thriller, Now the Darkness Gathers, here is a taster of what to expect. I will add another chapter nearer the time. I hope you enjoy reading this and will feed tempted to buy the book on publication from Amazon as an e-book or paperback. PROLOGUE September 1898 Sir Herbert Kitchener, Sirdar of the Egyptian Army, seemed pleased to receive the two scruffy Dervishes and had even offered them hospitality

In all my writing, I have three aims; to entertain, to inform and to inspire. To achieve the latter two objectives, I carry out meticulous research to convey real events that I believe will be of interest to my readers and, I hope, get them to learn more about the real history after reading my books. The early part of my second novel, Now the Darkness Gathers (due for publication on 17 December 2018), centres on the early formation of the two security services known today as

I have just sent the final proofs back to my publisher for the next novel in my series about the Miller family in WW1. It was odd to read it again in such a short time and so long after I finished the book. However, I am very pleased with it and even I was moved to tears a few times with a couple of emotionally charged scenes. The new plot is set in the early days of the formation of what became to be known as MI5 and MI6 (more accurately, the SIS) and later, the forerunner o

It is being reported by the Media that the Russians have a ship, the Yantar, capable of severing Britain’s underwater communications cables. There are also concerns that the Russians could use underwater drones to attack the network of cables that carry internet and telephone communications around the world. This all sounds very familiar to students of WW1 naval history. Within hours of the declaration of war on 4 August 1914, British cable ships, including the CS Alert, op

Today, in 1916, Admiral Jellicoe was appointed First Sea Lord. It was not to be a successful office for him. Jellicoe is best known for his appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet during the Battle of Jutland. He was a cautious man and has been criticised for failing to achieve a decisive victory at Jutland. However, with limited intelligence of the German Fleet’s movements, he probably handled the Grand Fleet as well as anybody could have expected. As Church

Eight years ago today, Able Seaman Kate Nesbitt was awarded the Military Cross by HRH Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. She became the first woman in the Royal Navy to be awarded this prestigious decoration for valour in the face of the enemy. Her citation read as follows: “Nesbitt's actions throughout a series of offensive operations were exemplary; under fire and under pressure her commitment and courage were inspirational and made the difference between life and death