Featured battle : Vitoria

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 21 June 1813

The French were continuing their long retreat largely unaware of whereabouts of the main strength of Wellington's army. The halt of the French at Vitoria 19th June to 21st June was to allow baggage to come up and hopefully for Clausel with 25,000 men to join him. The British surprised the French both by the timing of the attack and the direction of the main force attack. The defeat became a rout in which the French lost all but 2 of their guns, almost all their baggage, the military chest and the baggage of King Joseph and his court. Their losses would have been greater but for the slowness in the divisions assigned to close the trap.

Churchill's Arctic Convoys

William Smith
A destroyer came across a lifeboat from a cargo ship which had been sunk about a week before. Nine men managed to get into it but when found eight had died from exposure and the ninth just barely survived. Part of the gritty truth about the Arctic convoys with similar repeats throughout the book. Every convoy and many single voyages are described some meriting more detail than others.
The reference in the title to Churchill highlights the political nature of the enterprise. This led to some quite foolhardy risks which without the political drive would not have been taken. Losses in naval and civilian ships and men were significant some to air attack some to submarines but most tragically some to the Arctic weather. One fact which I read with surprise was of a Russian ship crewed entirely by women.
There are two useful maps, a super set of photographs and eighteen tables making a lot of information clearly available for analysis.
The Arctic convoys tend to lie on the periphery of general reading about the Second World war William Smith’s book deserves to be front and centre if only to honour the men and women whose story he has told.
We highly recommend this book.

Pen & Sword Maritime, 2022