By the Editor – I asked members for articles reflecting on the Indo-Pacific hemisphere of the Second World War. Sometimes it is worth reminding ourselves of the human consequences. This is an extract from a letter written by Commander Roy Laird (a distant relative of mine), Staff Officer Intelligence to Admiral Sir Tom Phillips commanding Force Z in HMS Prince of Wales. It was written to his wife Nancie from Singapore following the destruction of Force Z off Kuantan on the east coast of Malaya on 10 December 1941, by Japanese land- based aircraft, and describes his escape from the sinking Prin…
