The Battle of Midway as told by John Keegan and Samuel Eliot Morison

The Battle of Midway as told by John Keegan and Samuel Eliot Morison

06 Aug 24
Posted by: Matthew Wills
11 minutes, 45 seconds read
Message from the Editor

A personal appreciation of the work of two eminent Second World War historians, both of whom recognised the war-turning importance of the Battle of Midway. A 10 minute read.

Prologue My father, Jesse Ely Wills, profoundly influenced my life. He encouraged me to read poetry and naval history. I quickly found that some poetry was incomprehensible. There were, however, poets who appealed to both of us, one of whom was John Masefield, Poet Laureate of England for 37 years. I shall always be moved by the opening lines of his poem, Sea Fever: “I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky / And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.” Many more years passed before I came across another poem by Masefield that also moved me: “In all the wate…

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