|
Chariots of War by Robert W Hobson
Chariots of War by Robert W Hobson
During this year's TV coverage of the D-Day celebrations, one group of men who were on those beaches long before the rest of the Allied assault troops got little mention.
These were the Royal Navy's 'human torpedoes', the charioteers sent in early 1944 to survey invasion landing points. Working by night, they recorded on their slates the slopes and gradients of beaches and the positions of 'hedgehog' obstructions, pillboxes, minefields, anti-tank ditches and sandbanks. Their reports proved vital in the storming of Fortress Europe.
TV can't cover everything, but Chariots of War by Robert Hobson pays full tribute to both the British and Italian frogmen of World War Two.
Hobson's book got off to a dream start. He was clearing out the family home following his father's death when he found a small suitcase. His father, Lt-Commander RS Hobson, had never mentioned to his son his deep involvement in WW2 naval frogman operations. Documents that spilled from the case were stamped 'TOP SECRET' in red letters.
This was 1990, and the start of years of research. RS Hobson had commanded the combined Italian and British chariot operations after the Italian surrender in 1943. His son tracked down survivors of the British charioteers then tapped the memories of the Italian frogmen - who called their steeds 'pigs' and who, earlier in the war, carried out daring underwater raids against British warships.
In his foreword the Duke of Edinburgh credits the author for 'the fascinating history of this form of underwater warfare and for creating the special exhibition in the Eden Camp Museum near Malton'.
He recalls that he was serving in HMS Valiant as a midshipman only months before the Italian Navy human torpedoes scored 'such a remarkable success in sinking her and HMS Queen Elizabeth in Alexandria Harbour in 1941'.
This heavily pictured and very detailed account of this war under water makes good reading for today's divers, even if most of us will be shocked by their primitive gear and the terrible conditions endured.
Kendall McDonald
|
Chariots of War by Robert W Hobson (Ulric Publishing, ISBN 0954199715). Hardback, 162pp, £29.95
|
|
|
Archive | 
