An Operational Necessity [Paperback]

Gwyn Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1999

It is January 5, 1945. A French freighter is torpedoed in the South Atlantic. By the laws of war, the shipwrecked survivors should be beyond further attack. But when the U-boat commander orders that they be shot, he justifies it as "an operational necessity." He believes that the safety of his own boat and crew depends on destroying all traces of the sinking. Only later, at an Allied tribunal after V-E Day, are the grim facts fully brought to light in a dramatic confrontation between the sole survivor and the captured German officers. Crisscrossing brilliantly from the agonies of the wounded survivors to the action aboard the hunted submarine, Gwyn Griffin divides the reader's sympathies as he probes incisively into the paradoxes of human nature and of war and its aftermath. Before his early death, Griffin was hailed as a storyteller to surpass his contemporaries Alistair MacLean and Hammond Innes. The proof is here, in a novel that ends with one of the most harrowing courtroom scenes in modern fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Griffin's World War II novel follows the trial of a German submarine commander who violated the rules of war by ordering the crew of a French freighter killed after torpedoing their ship. One man survives to tell the tale and bring the U-boat skipper to justice. This book originally appeared in 1968.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A Griffin novel . . . like a punch on the nose, holds one's complete attention." -- Orville Prescott, The New York Times

"Every novel Gwyn Griffin has written is strikingly original, but this beats them all...Masterful." -- Gilbert Highet

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Harvill Press (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 186046596X
• ISBN-13: 978-1860465963
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,522,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent, suspenseful, thought-provoking, November 12, 2010

By 

C. J. Leach (Midwest, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: An Operational Necessity (Paperback)

An unusually intelligent WWII submarine warfare tale, loosely based on a true story. In this case the action and aftermath involving the U-Boat sinking of a rusty allied steamer and the subsequent machine-gunning of the wreckage (and survivors).

A wonderful read. The author takes the reader all over the place - South Atlantic sea warfare action, trapped in a sunken submarine on the Indian Ocean floor, colonial Tanganyikan Africa, an ancient courtroom in bombed out Germany and a WWII war crimes trial, death-row, the execution field on a bleak windswept moor. The myriad characters are cleverly constructed and consistently true. The action and suspense is sometimes white-knuckle level (be prepared for "keep you up" reading sessions). Love, revenge, suicide, sefishness, selflessness, sacrifice, starvation . . . Griffin examins everything. A long read - the writer did not hurry the tale.

And, as my title alluded to - very intelligently written. Besides being entertained, expanding your vocabulary, receiving a bit of education about WWII history and things maritime, etc. -- expect to sharpen your thoughtfulness on the matters of war, militaries, crime and punishment, and the motivations of governments and those in power. Griffin even manages to improbably squeeze a passable love story into the tale. The description of the death row/execution experience was overwhelming and like may aspects of this book, will stay with one over the years.

Intricate, highly detailed, and well populated with real characters. A superb work and one of the very best in this genre'. This was my first read from the late Gwyn Griffin. There will certainly be more.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fictionalized account of the Peleus Affair, January 6, 2010

By 

ragwing (Mississaga, Ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Operational Necessity (Paperback)

This novel is a slightly fictionalized account of the March 13, 1944 "Peleus Affair", in which U-852 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Heinz Eck sank the S.S. Peleus and then attacked rafts occupied by defenceless survivors with machine guns and grenades. The actions and motivations of the U-boat officers are accurately narrated, and their subsequent trial (which took place October 17-20, 1945) is described.

All things considered, a pretty good read.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A war story and reflection on crimes committed at war, June 8, 1999

By 

Michael Khan - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Operational Necessity (Paperback)

A German submarine's crew sinks a British freight vessel in the waning days of WW-II. In order to prevent detection, the Germans gun down the survivors. Later, after surrendering at a tropical British island colony, the captain and 1st officer are found out, tried and executed. The novel combines a fictious - and quite gripping - account of naval warfare with a not so convincing love affair, and quite some philosophical reflection on what level of atrocity should be accepted in times of war. Typical for Griffin is the anti-British sentiment, which I find somewhat unsettling. However, he refrains from taking sides, leaving the final judgment to the reader. Of course, the logic is somewhat strained in parts ... I for one never understood why the sub sank the ship in the first place, if they were just attempting to lie low and avoid detection.