RN Officer's Pocket-Book 1944

[Commodore Armiger]

I picked up a copy of this fascinating little book a couple of days ago and recommend it to all those interested in matters naval, but too young to remember WWII and how the Navy had to turn thousands of landlubbers into efficient officers in just 3 months. It will bring back a few memories to old salts too.

It isn't a direct transcript of a WWII document, as no such work was produced. Rather it is a compilation of a number of official pamphlets covering subjects on subjects as varied as ship-handling, battle casualties, etiquette and insubordination.

For anyone interested in obtaining a copy the ISBN is: 978-1-84486-054-6. The publishers are Conway and the price is Pounds 6.99.

[Odin]

Seeing your post reminded me that I had recently picked the companion volume to your pocket book - this is the post war volume of A SEAMAN'S POCKETBOOK 1952. This was actually a BR (BR827) and the 1952 version superseded the 1943 edition. The actual copy I have is a 1958 reprint and came to me when someone was clearing out some old books.

It has basic seamanship information plus important stuff like Tobacco Regulations and Slinging a Hammock. Reading through it shows a Navy far removed from the current service. No doubt there are many of these still around but I particularly like a comment on attitude near the end of the book

Treat your ship as a personal friend - after all, you have to live together.