If one service personifies the military sailor, 'tis Their Britannic Majesties' Royal Navy. Other navies are out there, serving, throughout the centuries, across the globe. Other monarchs are "royal," as are their armed forces...

...but only one is THE Royal Navy, as opposed to the Royal Netherlands Navy and many others....

In World War Two, 'twould be fair to say the Royal Navy saw more "active employment" (action) than any other military force, serving across the globe, continuously, without letup, from (before) the opening day of 1 September, 1939, to well after the surrender of Japan.

Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill spoke of Britain alone in 1940, "...if Britain and her Empire survive for a thousand years, men will look back at this time and say, 'This, was their finest hour.'"

Together with the Armada Campaign and Napoleonic Wars, WW II was the Royal Navy's finest hour...an "hour," six years long.

'First thought upon seeing this title as an Osprey was, "Y' gotta be kidding!" The Royal Navy in WW II...it could be a multi-floor LIBRARY, not a 48-page softbound book! But wait, stop...not everyone "needs" an infinite amount of detail...how is this book as a "primer" for non-children?

Rather acceptable, actually.

Osprey's The Royal Navy 1939-45, by veteran author Ian Sumner focuses, together with a brief chronology of the War, on the men and women who served in King George VI's Royal Navy during those immortal years. Delightfully, a good amount of the book's detail addresses the ladies and Reserves of the WW II RN., as well as a few piccies of ships and airplanes...and some lovely rank and flag signal and "details" inserts.

Illustrator Alix Baker really shows off his skill in this volume, with 8 delicious pages of plates showing more than 20 Royal Navy people in a variety of interesting uniforms, poses and MOS' (military occupation specialties).

The ship and boat modeler knows; the RN of WW II is a truly vast subject. The Mighty Hood, Illustrious, Ark Royal, Sheffield, Ajax, Achilles, Exeter, Belfast, King George V, Repulse, Prince of Wales, Campbeltown, Cossack, Flower Class Corvettes, landing craft, motor torpedo boats.... Not only are hundreds of kit-based watercraft subjects available (in plastic and resin), but conversions and variations in individual ships' configuration and camouflage make the subject veritably inexhaustible (not a Royal Navy ship name).

Aircraft modelers also have a target-rich environment, what with Seafires and Gannets and Martlets and Tarpons and Fireflies and Sea Hurricanes and Sunderlands and Ansons and Hudsons and Catalinas and Liberators and Wellingtons and Whitleys (okay, Coastal Command was not really RN, cut the reviewer some slack) being readily available...though some more exotic subjects, Rocs, Skuas, Albacores...are not "readily obtainable."

Short rant here, please excuse: Figure modelers who wish to do an RN WWII subject face a much tougher sea state. Pathetic few  dedicated RN figures exist! Lose not heart, though! With varying degrees of conversion, literally thousands of RN figures are possible. Admirals and Captains and aviators and gunners and Wrens and tropical gear and  nurses and beachmasters and Northern Waters foul weather gear and oilers and MTB crews and Royal Marines and submariners and signalmen and matrons and batsmen and landing parties and charioteer drivers and...

...but try and find more than a few subjects commercially!

Because figure manufacturers seem constantly obsessed with tooling more SS Panzergrenadiers, because, after all there are only 15,000 on the market...

...so y'best be converting to get yer some Royal Navy subjects, Matey!

This book does provide a goodly number of  inspirations there for. 

In this reviewer's opinion, Osprey's The Royal Navy 1939-45 is, given the subject's vast scope, a well-balanced and tastefully presented 'primer.'

Highly recommended, as a source of uniform information and as a primer on an enormous subject.

Purchased at Prosek's Greenhouse and Military Model Shop, Winfield, Illinois, USA

Reviewed by James Hood

Review copy courtesy of the reviewer's chequebook. 

For Scott Van Aken's Modeling Madness review of James Hood's novel, Adventure--Into The Neverland, go to: http://users3.ev1.net/~bjmonkeyandcj/James_Hood.htm  

April 2005

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