SEA, WAR AND BARBED WIRE

Captain Stanley Algar was an oil tanker master of a Shell Oil tanker and he spent four years in a German prison of war camp; captured in the Atlantic, he and his colleagues spent four years behind barbed wire. The book is based partly on his diaries which were hidden from the Germans which tell how the prisoners survived, confronted starvation, and reacted to camp life and German propaganda. A graphic account of their liberation written as it happened is included, and the role of the U-boats and the merchant raider vessels and their commanders is also discussed. Many other aspects of the war including the role of the BBC, the German attempt to persuade some prisoners to change sides and enemy propaganda are considered. 'Their tales remind us of the cruelty meted out to ordinary men, plunged into extraordinary times. Above all, it is hope that this book, dedicated to the Merchant Navy, does something to help an understanding of the mainly anonymous men who ensured an Allied victory.' How did the prisoners know what was going on in the War and why was their information so accurate? What was their relationship with the guards? What correspondence with home was allowed? All of this is investigated plus a discussion of the Nuremberg Trials and the appalling cost of the War. Finally there are many pen portraits of international leaders and 'ordinary' men, and the factors that led to the Second World War starting with the disastrous peace treaty after the 1914-18 conflict, the rise of Hitler and the economic depression. 224 pages, archive photos and drawings of camp activities, the Milag POW camp tower and the MV Kormoran among them. Substantial information has been added to the original diaries some of which first appeared in Goodbye Old Chap.