BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY

NEW HISTORY OF NAVAL ACTION MAKES WAVES

With the loss of 1,297 lives, it was the third worst Allied mercantile disaster in the Second World War and involved the highest loss of service women – 77 in total.

With Brian Crabb’s father Percival ‘Buster’ Crabb one of the survivors of the attack, the publication sparked two further works. In Harm’s Way, the story of Buster’s earlier ship HMS Kenya, and The Forgotten Tragedy, about the sinking of HMT Lancastria, established Brian as a foremost author of recent maritime history.

His fourth offering, Beyond the Call of Duty, published this month, returns to the harrowing and little-known history of female involvement in war and chronicles the loss at sea of all British and Commonwealth service and mercantile women during World War Two.

Their vulnerability is highlighted by the sinking of the SS Athenia less than nine hours after war was declared, with four stewardesses among the casualties.

Superbly researched and lavishly illustrated, Beyond the Call of Duty is a veritable wealth of detail.

Each incident is recorded meticulously with personal details, ship history and even the U-boat involved, the captain’s name and his success record.

But far from being merely a catalogue of dry facts, the brutal sinkings, personal suffering and heroism together with horrifying Japanese atrocities are described with extensive on-the-spot testimony, making the book as exciting and emotional a read as a fictional blockbuster.

With the 320-page hardback carrying a hefty £24 price tag, one is entitled to expect something a bit special.

This top quality, superbly constructed production is just that - a book which must soon feature in all maritime reference libraries and in the collections of sea lovers everywhere.

Brian Crabb, who owns a garage in Clifton, lives in Brampton Court. He deserves the highest accolade for the latest in his quartet of immaculate chronicles, in which he offsets the horrors of war with the dedication and bravery of so many hitherto unknown men and women.

Beyond the Call of Duty by Brian James Crabb is published by Shaun Tyas, Donington, ISBN 1 900289 66 0.

Review by Pat Derrick

Clevedon Mercury

7 September 2006

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