The astounding true story of the ordeal and escape of the British frigate Amethyst from Chinese Communist batteries in the Yangtze River in April 1949.
In the early morning of 20th April 1949, HMS Amethyst was fulfilling orders to travel to Nanking to stand guard for the British Embassy during the height of the Chinese Civil War when she was fired upon by guns from the riverbank.
Shells pounded into the ship, killing the commanding officer and destroyed the bridge before the ship grounded on the bank.
How did the Amethyst escape the battering of Chinese Communist guns?
C. E. Lucas Phillips’s Escape of the Amethyst was written with the full assistance of Commander J. S. Kerans, DSO RN, who took over control of the Amethyst, and utilizes a wealth of Admiralty records, much of which was previously classified as Secret, to provide a vivid account of this extraordinary moment in the history of the Royal Navy.

A vivid account of the famous St Nazaire Raid that demonstrates the sheer bravery of the British Commandos and the Royal Navy. An must-listen for fans of James Holland, Ant Middleton, and Cornelius Ryan.
St Nazaire, 1.22 a.m. 28 March 1942.
HMS Cambeltown, supported by seventeen wooden motor launches, approached the German-held port intending to smash into the lock gates of the largest dock in the world, the Normandie Dock-Operation Chariot was in full swing.
Against vicious Nazi gunfire the commandos stormed the docks and within half an hour succeeded in their chief demolition objectives but in the heat of battle the Royal Navy had lost nearly all of its small vessels intended to carry them back to England. With their route home closed off the men were forced to fight through the town in a bid to escape German forces.
C. E. Lucas Phillips’ The Greatest Raid of All draws upon numerous British, French, and German eyewitness reports to uncover the astounding true story of one of the most daring attacks of World War Two in which no fewer than five Victoria Crosses were awarded.