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Naval History
My first deep research was into the work of the destroyer service in World War II, and in particular to one small ship that seemed to epitomise the many unsung and unrecorded actions those little vessels conducted daily throughout six years of war, H.M.S. Faulknor. The telling of that story caught the public imagination as hitherto little research into the archives had been conducted, or indeed, was permitted, and this handicap was to continue (in the UK at least) for many years. Proper investigation was openly opposed and indeed actively discouraged by the Admiralty and Ministry of Defence but I was nothing if not persistent. A like-minded group of frustrated historians formed the Warships Record Club, and many went on to become recognised authorities on naval history, H. T. "Trevor" Lenton, J J "Jim" College, A J "Anthony" Watts, Edwin R. Walker and myself among them.
My probing led down many byways and into neglected archives and I talked to many famous naval officers whose stories and opinions had been ignored in general history books of the time. Just as importantly subjects that had been badly misrepresented in book after book, as for example the role of the British battleship in World War II, were objectively probed and given a more unbiased treatment for posterity. Many actions that are unrecorded elsewhere are recorded in the pages of these volumes. Many of these books with the viewpoints of both sides of the actions, were favourably received abroad and published world-wide.