RED DUSTER, WHITE ENSIGN - The Story of the Malta Convoys by Cameron, Ian

New York 1960, Doubleday, US first edition, hard bound in dust jacket, 6x9, VG/VG- condition ( dj shows very light wear to extremities & small closed tear), ) 260 pages, end paper maps, 16 illus, appendice, --------------------------------------- This book fills an important gap in the history of the Second World War, for the story of the convoys to Malta has never before been told. It is now accepted by British, German and Italian historians that Malta was the key to the Middle East ; the task of the convoys which fought through with supplies to the " George Cross Island" was therefore of supreme importance.Many of the true stories in this book are epics of the sea—outstanding examples of the courage and fine seamanship of the men of the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy. The author describes not only the thrilling incidents—the story of the Ohio and the Breconshire, for example—in all the principal convoys to Malta, but also the blockade runs made by individual merchantmen, and the attempts to re-provision the island by minelayer and submarine, as well as the aircraft-ferry operations, including those made by the U.S. aircraft-carrier Wasp.-------------------------------------But the fascination of this book is not confined to the accounts of the operations themselves, for the author takes us behind the scenes to disclose some startling differences of opinion over Malta among those responsible for the conduct of the war. While paying tribute to Sir Winston Churchill and many other high-ranking Naval officers, he is outspoken in his criticism of Chiefs of Staff who, as late as 1942, were demanding a withdrawal from " undefendable " Malta which, had it been carried out, could well have lost us the Middle East.This book has been written with full Admiralty approval, and the author has been given access to unpublished and hitherto secret Naval records. He has also interviewed many of those who took part in the convoys; Fleet Air Arm and R.A.F. pilots, Naval officers, merchant seamen and Masters. The result is a full, authoritative and absorbing account of one of the most dangerous and exciting episodes of the war.