The Sea Devils

 The Sea Devils

Reviewed By  Grasshopper2       August 29, 2015

 

Author  Mark Felton

Distributor:     
ISBN:                 9781848319943
Publisher:         Icon Books
Release Date:    

Website:    http://www.allenandunwin.com 

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Mark Felton has written more than twelve books about World War Two.  He also writes regularly for magazines, such as Military History Monthly.  It is noticeable that he has done extensive research for this story.  He has not only accessed Naval Records of the time, but has researched and interviewed some of the main characters.  Much of the information in this story he gleaned first -hand from Naval personnel, and family documents.

The story is quite stunning to read, and quite often, it is with your heart in your mouth.  A select group of eighteen British, Australian and New Zealanders have been trained into an elite underwater team.  Four XE-Craft Midget submarines had been developed to carry out specific missions against the Japanese in July 1945.  At that time, it had been planned that three simultaneous attacks would take place.  The Sea Devils, as the team was known, had to creep behind enemy lines in the Midget submarines.  They had to sink two huge warships by a diver placing a bomb on the side of the ship, and damage two underwater communication cables.

The men realised the importance of these missions, and it was considered that, if they succeeded, the War would end sooner.  Even though these submariners had been superbly trained, they still had to deal with any mechanical faults in the submarines, oxygen poisoning, and, when diving, sharks.  There is no easy way out of this mission.  If they were caught, they would either be tortured, or may have had to resort to taking the cyanide capsules that they carried.

The author has used authentic and actual dialogue where possible, and has stayed true to each character.  One can’t help but admire the courage and bravery of each of these men, and the reader desperately hopes that all goes to plan.  As with all great plans, there is often a hiccup, and lives would be lost.  It is commendable to read such an authentic and well- researched book.  Mark Felton has the knack of finding little known and probably, highly secret missions, and turning them into gripping stories, to entertain and inform us.  The photographs of the submarines and some of the men, who served in them, help us to realise that this is indeed a true story.

Non Fiction