Ronald Healiss is the author of Arctic Rescue: A Memoir of the Tragic Sinking of HMS Glorious. This memoir is his only work. The book was originally published in 1955 and was republished in 2020. It is the 34th book I completed reading in 2023.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence, I categorize this book as R. On 8 June 1944, the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious encountered the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The devastating surface action left the Glorious sinking. The surviving crew members abandoned the ship, but the icy waters of the Norwegian Sea took a heavy toll. In the end, only 40 men survived the ordeal.

Royal Marine Ronald “Tubby” Healiss was one of the few survivors. His station on the Glorius was with one of the 4.7 guns. His story of survival begins on a wrecked boat, but he ends up on a survival raft.

I enjoyed the 2.5 hours I spent reading this 150-page WWII history. This is another good first-hand account of action in WWII. I like the chosen cover art. I give this book a rating of 4 out of 5.

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A fantastic depiction of a tragedy of which I was not previously aware - and I like to think I have read a lot of books about WWII. The survivor’s perspective is a fascinating one and you can feel the burden which the experience has been on his life. I really encourage people who have an interest in both WWII and real life adventure (for want of a better word) to read this book. It’s a stark reminder of the human cost of war.

This is a very real account of a British mariner caught in the crossfire of the early days of the sea war of World War 2. He begins about life in the day and the hopes and dreams of all mariners away from home and progresses to the dire situation he and his carrier mates faced after being torpedoed off the coast of Norway. I was very unfamiliar with all the British and naval slang, but was still riveted by their tale of impossible survival in the frozen sea.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Sapere Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

117 pages

3 stars

This is a pretty good book. However, I had much trouble with all the jargon and slang.

This book is a chronicle of day-to-day operations aboard a British aircraft carrier during WWII. Their ship gets hit by German guns off the coast of Norway and the order to abandon ship was given. Our narrator winds up in a small boat with twenty or so other men.

With nothing to eat or drink and hoping for rescue, they slowly began to die. Only two men were left in Healiss' boat when they were finally rescued by a Norwegian ship. Only forty men survived the ordeal.

I want to thank NetGalley and Sapere Books for forwarding to me a copy of this interesting and informative book for me to read, enjoy and review.