Just Finished Reading: The Last Gentleman of War – The Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden by R K Lochner (FP: 1979) [303pp] 

In 1914 the war drums, ever louder, could be heard all the way in China. It would only be a matter of time before Germany's Far East fleet was trapped in her home port and either starved into submission or destroyed by the Allies superior numbers. There was only one thing to do – leave port and strike at the superior enemy forces wherever they could be found. In order to do that the commander, Admiral Graf von Spee, wanted to keep his entire force together. One captain, Karl von Muller, asked is his ship Emden could be detached to operate independently. After some musing the Admiral agreed and the historic exploits of that ship began. In the coming months Commander Muller not only managed to evade the sweeps of British, French, Russian and Japanese warships but he also managed to sink thousands of tons of Allied cargo vessels, destroy an oil facility in Madras, raid Penang (an Allied port) sinking both a Russian and a French warship running the Allies a very merry chase for over 3 months without any access to port facilities or the possibility of resupply. What's more, all of the encounters with civilian vessels – both enemy and neutral resulted in not a single death or injury (except maybe to their pride) which was universally praised by all sides. 

But such a run of luck (and skill) cannot last forever. Deciding to attack and destroy an isolated British radio station and cut the international cables which met there, Commander Muller made a fatal mistake. Believing that the nearest Allied warship was at least 250 miles away he sent ashore a party of men to undertake the task at hand. Aware that a message had been sent out of a 'strange ship' in the harbour the German crew knew that they had to work fast. What they didn't realise was just HOW fast they needed to move. Unfortunately for the Emden a heavily escorted Allied troop convoy was only 50 miles away and a fast cruiser – the Australian HMAS Sydney – was dispatched to investigate. Sydney was a more modern, faster and more heavily armed vessel than Emden which quickly found that it was outgunned and could neither stand and fight nor successfully run from her bigger opponent. Within a few hours of the opening salvo Emden lay wrecked, beached on a carol reef surrounded by the dead and dying. It was over – or not... 

The landing party has seen part of the fight and had a decision to make. They could either hide on the island (unlikely) or stand and fight (suicide against a cruiser and any troops sent to follow up any offshore bombardment). Neither option found favour. There was only one alternative – escape and return to Germany, which would mean sailing from North Keeling island (located 1750 miles west of Australia in the Indian ocean) across the Indian ocean, to the Red Sea coastal area, across Arabia to Constantinople and from there, by train, finally to Germany itself. This is exactly what they accomplished with minimal casualties all round. Unsurprisingly they were treated like heroes on their return over a year later. 

I knew the early part of this story having read about Graf von Spee's fleet actions at Coronel and the Falklands (where his command was destroyed much to the relief of the Royal Navy). But I didn't know much detail (or just how heroic) the actions of Emden were. It's an amazing story, well told with lots of detail gleaned from the dairies and reports of those involved on all sides. I was particularly impressed by the logistical nightmare of keeping a ship in action that needed HUNDREDS of tons of coal on a regular basis just to keep going - never mind food and other items. I can definitely see why they shifted to oil ASAP! If you're interested in WW1 away from the mud, shells and gas of the Western Front this is definitely a recommended read for you and worth the effort of tracking down a copy. 

Translated from the German by Thea and Harry Lindauer.  

Happy Birthday: Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 1930 – 9 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who, as well as the series Survivors and Blake's 7.

Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s, such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as "much-loved cult TV classics".

In 1965, he and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Over the next few years, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written by other authors (Whitaker wrote The Power of the Daleks (1966) and The Evil of the Daleks (1967), and Louis Marks wrote Day of the Daleks (1972)).

Following an eight-year absence from the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serials Planet of the Daleks (1973) and Death to the Daleks (1974). Producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks felt that the Dalek script Nation submitted for season 12 was too reminiscent of previous Dalek stories, and suggested that Nation rewrite the script to focus on the Daleks' origin. The resulting serial, Genesis of the Daleks, was voted the greatest Doctor Who story of all time by Doctor Who Magazine readers in 1998. In Genesis, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.

Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two series were produced without Nation's involvement.

The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil "Terran Federation", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth series of Blake's 7.

[Terry Nation played a HUGE part in my teenage years not only in the creation of one of my all-time fave baddies in the Daleks - and as part of one of my all-time favourite TV shows in Dr Who - but also in 2 other series that I loved - Survivors and especially Blakes 7. So, a happy birthday indeed!]

Happy International Cat Day!

NEVER crossed my mind until I saw this..... [lol]

Just Finished Reading: The Last Sunrise by Robert Ryan (FP: 2006) [303pp] 

Singapore, 1948. Lee Crane was finally leaving South-East Asia before it killed him. He'd been offered a job flying cargo into a besieged Berlin and jumped at it. He even entertained the possibility that a certain girl would be there despite her not returning his letters. But fate, it seems, had other ideas along with echoes from his past. He knew what was coming long before Elsa punched him, throwing her entire weight behind it, in front of everyone. He knew that his ex-copilot would show up eventually and that they would use the memory of Kitten to manipulate him to fly somewhere for something illegal that might get them all killed. It was only a matter of time before he was looking down at the jungle again wondering if the airstrip could handle his arrival or whether he had enough fuel to make it over the mountains. Maybe, just maybe, he'd actually get out and leave the god forsaken place. Maybe... 

Although I've had a few books by this author for a while now this is my first time with him. I'm sorry that I waited so long. Overall this reminded me of the thrillers I read in the 70's with characters down on their luck, hoping to make a quick buck and who are still trying to live with the consequences of previous incidents (often war related) that were left hanging and unresolved but still ate away at them. All the elements were there: Lee is a cynical cargo pilot who had ALL of his innocence kicked out of him during the war in Asia first with the Flying Tigers and then as a cargo pilot flying cargo over 'The Hump' for the Nationalist Chinese. Then we have Else, the femme fatal of the piece (I liked her!) who could throw a mean punch and seduce just about anyone. There was even a love story, well told for once, with the mature and somewhat mysterious Kitten who was the focus of the green and very young Lee as he both found his feet and his wings in wartime. The story – full of crosses, double and triple –crosses – friends, enemies, sudden death, espionage, self-dealing and betrayal – was both complex and highly satisfying. The narrative moved at a steady pace and there wasn't a single moment when I found myself even slightly nudged out of the story. It was a good, solid thriller with more than a few nice moments and some great, very well drawn, characters. The only 'slight' niggle I had was with the number of cliff-hangers (some literal) which I thought was somewhat more than necessary. Whilst there's nothing TOO flashy here and the novel didn't exactly knock me on my heels it was still a very entertaining read and I'm looking forward to his other works Recommended. 

WEIRD.....!