Customer Reviews

Boarding Party: The Last Action of the Calcutta Light Horse (Bluejacket Books)

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As a previous reviewer has also stated, I was introduced to this book by the movie Sea Wolves. The book is better than the movie. The movie starred David Niven and Roger Moore, and the producers gave Roger a woman to pursue in romance. The reality of the situation was three German and one Italian ship were interned in Portuguese Goa for the duration of the war. The largest and newest of the German ships had a radio transmitter sending signals to several U-Boats in the Indian Ocean. These U-Boats sank thousands of tons of Allied shipping due to the Germans breaking the neutrality of Goa. Some amatuer middle aged British businessmen set out to capture these vessels under the guidance of British authorities. When they board one vessel, the crews of all four think they are about to be captured and scuttle their own ships. The radio transmitter is silenced and the U-Boats are left to find their own victims.

The book reads like a novel, which it isn't. It is a great read for someone interested in some of the lesser sideshows of World War II.

This story centers around the destruction of an Axis radio located on a German merchant ship interned in neutral Goa during 1943. The raiders were auxillary force (part-time) members of the Calcutta Light Horse and Calcutta Scottish. With few exceptions they were British businessmen that volunteered to conduct this mission without recognition. The German radio was being used to direct U-Boats operating in the Indian Ocean. The raider traveled across India by rail joining their ship, a dredging barge, at Calicut. The traveled north to Goa overnight and in the early morning attacked the German ship. Three other Axis merchant ships also interned were scuttled by their crews. The raiders continued to Bombay and returned home to Calcutta. Officially the ships were destroyed by their crews which had mutinied.

I was introduced to this book I'm sad to say by a movie based on it ("The Sea Wolves"). I much preferred the book as usual when comparing novels with their movie counterparts.