Our Little Hour by Captain B A King
Our Little Hour A book by Capt. B. A. King MN
Hardback, 276 pages ISBN 978-0-9542509-1-1
Published in March 2010, this is the second edition of Captain King’s account of his time in the Merchant Navy. The book was originally intended as a collation of his seafaring father’s written records, but it grew into a family nautical history. Events chronicled include notable incidents such as the sinking of “City of Guildford” by U-593, and celebrating VJ day in the Cocos Islands.
In his graphic recollection of the sinking of the “City of Guildford”, Captain King writes “…the hatchboards of her No.2 hold suddenly flew skywards followed immediately by a great
sheet of flame that leaped hundreds of feet in the air…”
An extract from the Foreword: “I believe that there are sufficient “old sea dogs” still around who will love the book, as I did, but also I believe that it will be of great interest to social historians. For anyone interested in our maritime heritage, and in particular our merchant shipping in the first half of the 20th Century, this book is an essential read.” Captain S.T.Waite, Master of the “Cutty Sark”.
Captain King is enthusiastic about the work of the Federation of Merchant Mariners and is pleased to offer his book at the reduced rate of £15.99 (cover price £18.99) to FMM members, plus £3.25 p&p to any UK address or £6.00 overseas. In addition, for every copy sold, a donation of £2.00 will be made to support the work of the Federation.
To order, please send a cheque (made payable to S. King) to PO Box 280, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0UL. Sales enquiries via email to phsc@phsc.co.uk or tel: 07718 377800.
Captain King proudly accepted his
United Kingdom Merchant Seafarers
Veterans Badge from Sir Robert Crawford CBE
at the House of Commons in March 2010.
Capt B A King as 2nd Mate