Masters at War Volume 2: 1920 to 1970

My latest book – MASTERS AT WAR VOLUME 2: 1920 TO 1970 – has been through the proof reading process and proof copies of the hardback and paperback editions have been printed and checked ... with the result that they have now been released for publication.

The text covers the stories of thirty members of the Hertfordshire Masters' Lodge No.4090 who served in military and non-military (e.g. Civil Defence, Police, and Auxiliary Fire Service) roles during the Second World War. Two of them – Lieutenant Stanley William Lowe RNVR and Lieutenant Ronald George Walker (Royal Engineers) – were awarded the George Medal for work disarming bombs. The former dealt with eight parachute mines and seven bombs that had been dropped on Barrow-in-Furness over the space of seven nights in September 1941.

Other notable entry deals with the career of Lieutenant Commander Reginald Howard Palmer OBE, RNVR. He commanded an anti-submarine trawler during the Great War and was the assistant to the commander of the Western Approaches Anti-submarine School (HMS Western Isles) at Tobermory from September 1940 onwards.

HMS Western Isles was the former passenger/cargo ship Batavier IV. The ship was built in 1902, and taken over by the Royal Navy in September 1940. She was initially named HMS Eastern Isles, but was renamed HMS Western Isles in March 1941. In 1946 she was sold to the Koninklijke Marine (Royal Netherlands Navy), who renamed her HNLMS Zeearend (A 892) and converted her into a submarine warfare training ship. She was decommissioned in October 1970 and sold for scrapping in November 1972.

Lieutenant Commander R H Palmer OBE, RNVR playing with Peebles, the ship's cat, on board HMS Western Isles, Tobermory, Mull. According to the original caption to this photograph, Peebles was very clever and shook the hands of strangers when they entered the wardroom. As can be seen here, Lieutenant Commander Palmer taught Peebles to jump through a hoop made by his arms.

The School was commanded by Vice Admiral Sir Gilbert Owen Stephenson KBE, who was known as 'The Terror of Tobermory' and had a reputation for his ruthless – and sometimes unconventional – training methods. The School ran 1,132 anti-submarine courses during the war, and 911 ships undertook training there.

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The books are published by Eglinton Book and currently on sale at Lulu.com. The hardback (ISBN 978 0 244 46496 7) costs £15.00 and the paperback (ISBN 978 0 244 76496 8) costs £5.00.