Torpedo! Kiwis at Sea in World War II. Edited by Matthew Wright.

Military recollections from World War Two have had a major revival as those involved get older and wish to record their stories for their grandchildren. The Matthew Wrights of this world are doing stirling work in interviewing, collection and publishing the wartime experiences of New Zealand's vets. Within a very few years these stories will be unable to be told as the key figures will, in all probability, no longer be around.

Young people need to realise that the 84 year old in the comfortable corner chair on Christmas afternoon wasn't born old. They have their own life experience and own story to tell. Wright has collected a very varied range of veterans and so too are their experiences and stories. From the River Plate action against Admiral Graf Spee, through the Arctic convoys, the great Kiwi and Moa sinking of the Japanese submarine I1 to the experiences of carrier-based pilots, this book brings together a wide variety of conflict experiences. Teenagers must read of such experiences to understand that war isn't all glory and medals. "Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori" ISN"T the truth of the matter. Robert Harvey's recollection of being torpedoed in Leander is indicative of the tone of all interviewed:

"...by the time we got back to Auckland later on, quite a few [more bodies] had washed out of the ship.....There were body parts in the boiler room which caused a bit of a shimozzle when we got back to Auckland....[At Tulagi] there was a stench of fuel oil .... It was an unpleasant stench......I think the smell of bodies had mingled with this oil smell and....it was quiet unpleasant."

And the key, clear and obvious common element to them all? Understatement! The matter-of-fact, laconic manner of underplaying the whole experience is most remarkable.

Such material as Wright has collected here is invaluable not only as an historic record but also as a means of enlightening teenage readers to the concept of our "real" history. And the experiences of "old fogies" who put themselves on the line.

Matthew Wright has developed a considerable body of works on New Zealand's involvement in a variety of conflicts. In the same style as Torpedo! he has also edited Escape! Kiwi POWs on the Run in World War 11 (2006).

Escape stories were all the rage in the immediate post-war period with classics such as Colditz, The Wooden Horse and The Great Escape being among the most noticeable. In an area that is characterised by "Boys Own" writing it is refreshing to hear both personalised accounts AND the experiences specific to New Zealanders.

An excellent, personal read enlivening a "dry" subject. Recommended for year 10-13.

Published by Random House

Reviewed by David