Geoffrey Brooke

Alarm Starboard!, by Geoffrey Brooke, tells us of his experiences as a member of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Brooke’s story reads like a history of the war itself as his first posting aboard HMS Nelson was followed by service aboard HMS Prince of Wales during her brief but intense battle with the German battleship Bismarck, and later, when she was sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Pacific.

After an amazing fight for survival after the sinking – that could have been a book in itself – Brooke finds himself assigned to the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, where he tells us of the final battles at sea during the war.
As others have said, this book is a must have for the naval historian. Brooke goes into incredible detail of his adventures, and misadventures, during the period. I took my time reading is as I wanted to delve into a few of the topics outside of the book, and the author is dead on regarding the history and events.

Sadly, Geoffrey left us on January 6th, 2009. I would have liked to thank him for leaving us with this rich history.

Review by Daniel L Little, November 30, 2017 – www.daniellittle.com… (mer)

This is the extraordinary true story of the author's 8 years in the Royal Navy before and during W II. Some of the highlights are his assignment to the battleship Prince of Wales immediately after she was built. After a very short "working up", the Prince of Wales along with the Battleship Hood went to sea to take on the Bismarck and Prinz Eugene. Hood was destroyed almost immediately and Prince of Wales badly damaged but not before she damaged the Bismarck so critically that the German battleship had to flee the scene.

Brooke was at this famous battle and then went to Singapore on the Prince of Wales where she along with Repulse were destroyed by Japanese air power. Broke was rescued and sent back to Singapore where he was involved in battle plans to foil the Japanese plans for conquest. When it became obvious that Singapore would fall, he fled to Sumatra where he kept he and his men on step ahead of the Japanese.

Eventually he joined a group of naval officers who sailed a beat up 45 foot sailing ship, the Sederhana Djohanis, across the Indian Ocean to Ceylon battling weather and Japanese aircraft along the way. He later served in the European Theatre for awhile but returned to the Pacific in early 1945 and eventually was assigned to the aircraft carrier Indomitable where he experience Kamikaze attacks and again escaped death by inches or unusual circumstances.

His experiences during the war make for an amazing adventure story and it is not fiction. To be in two of the more famous naval battles of the war plus the Kamikazi period in the Pacific and have survived is amazing in itself.… (mer)

People today know of the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk as it is documented well and lives on in the public’s mind. The last days before Singapore fell on 15 February 1942, is less well known, yet it can be said to be a far greater story of human suffering, resilience and endeavour. I feel the title is a little erroneous, as the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk was a very different event to the flight of women, men and children, troops and civilians, of several different nationalities from Singapore in February 1942. However, the title has impact and draws the reader to the book.

The author is one who did escape, and is written from personal experience, as well as primary sources such as diaries and journals written by others. As such, I found it emotional to read this book remembering how we are reading about real people faced with chaos and extreme hardship. One comment in the introduction I feel says it all, ‘How invisible are the fine threads of fate’.

The book reads well and is written in an easy to read style. I admit to generally reading books in bit-sized chunks, but this one I became engrossed in and could not put down. The narrative is very personal and absorbing as it details many of the escape attempts by people on board various ships, boats and rafts. Some of the stories are harrowing, but this is due to the honesty of the author in his writing. There are some pictures included in the centre of the book. There is a map included in the front of this book.

It was published originally in 1989, reprinted in 2003 and again in 2014. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Second World War in general, and the war in South-East Asia in particular. In addition, for real stories about how a comfortable life disintegrated so rapidly for so many in early 1942, just seventy-two years ago, this book is indispensable.… (mer)