Blue Water War: The Maritime Struggle in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, 1940-1945

352 pages

Andy Field

I’ve previously reviewed Brian E Walter’s books on the wars in the North Atlantic and the Far East and so was happy to ‘complete the set’ with this one. Unsurprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, finding it equally as well-researched and comprehensive, covering not just the naval, but also the land and air campaigns, to produce a detailed account.

The war in the Mediterranean will, of course, be very familiar to many readers. It resembled a pendulum;  the British gaining the ascendancy, only to lose it once German forces are drawn in. Regain it again and lose it once more. Ships are lost, equipment destroyed and men captured as the war ebbs and flows. Holding on to Malta assumed not just a strategic importance, but also a matter of national pride, whilst the logistical challenges of keeping armies in North Africa supplied assumed great importance for both sides.

Mr Walter regularly reminds his readers that the Mediterranean war was not fought in isolation, but that the North Atlantic and Far Eastern campaigns all affected each other, with ships constantly transferred between theatres, and men, supplies and aircraft sorely needed in the Mediterranean diverted elsewhere. Even so, the Mediterranean remains a key, British priority.

The crucial turning point, in Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s famous, “…. Not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning…” occurred in 1942, when after at first being pushed back almost as far as Suez, British land forces prevailed and Axis forces, at the end of long lines of communication, were pushed back westwards following the battles of El Alamein. The Allies had secured the Suez Canal and with it, the safety of the Persian oil fields, something made more secure by the success of Operation TORCH. They had inflicted a significant defeat on the Axis in both a material and psychological sense as well as gaining practical experience of amphibious landings and giving American forces combat experience.

The invasions of Sicily and mainland Italy followed, and with them, Italy’s surrender. Germany fought on and was only compelled withdraw from northern Italy and southern France in 1944 once Operation OVERLORD commenced and Allied forces began the liberation of north-west Europe.

Thus, the combined efforts of British, Australian, New Zealand, Indian, South African, Canadian, US, Free French, Free Polish, and Greek forces had reduced Italy’s ability to fight and permanently seized the initiative from the Germans, although they continued fighting in the Balkans as well and Italy, only slowly ceding ground.

To Mr Walter the Allied victory in the Mediterranean theatre was dramatic. In his final chapter, ‘The Triumph of British Maritime Power’, he states that the Allied victory in the Mediterranean was primarily a British-led victory. Maritime power had kept Malta supplied and had sustained the armies in Egypt with food, fuel, equipment, munitions and men. British, Commonwealth and allied navies had sacrificed ships and men, evacuating forces from Greece and Crete and had established ascendancy over the Italian Regia Marina, so that Operation TORCH, and the invasions of Sicily, Italy and southern France were uncontested by major surface forces.

Even more impressive was the fact that the Mediterranean was not, the only theatre of war the Royal Navy was engaged in. Alongside the fighting in the Mediterranean, the Royal Navy and its allies were fighting key battles in the North Atlantic as well as in the Far East. Scarce ships and resources were in demand in every theatre and warships were continually being redeployed as well as resources and equipment, vital for the Mediterranean battles, were  diverted from one theatre to another, not always making a difference.

I’ve enjoyed all three of Mr Walter’s books. In my opinion, his skill lies in using his extensive research to build up a detailed, readable and wide-ranging account of the war in each theatre he’s written about. In the case of Blue Water War, he successfully illustrates just why the Mediterranean was a key theatre. As he points out, Britain and its Commonwealth allies were the one Allied power engaged throughout the entire war and was, in his opinion, the cornerstone of the Allied alliance. In fulfilling this role, nothing was more important than Britain’s maritime forces.

As with Brian Walter’s other two books, I have no hesitation in recommending this to members of the NR.