Mountbatten of Burma

Captain of War, Guardian of Peace

RRP: £19.99
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978 1 84425 686 0

Lord Louis Mountbatten achieved great things, both in war and peace as a military leader and public servant. The First World War and its aftermath shaped his early life, his half-German father Prince Louis of Battenberg had been First Sea Lord, but with the outbreak of war, he was forced to retire, and to change the family name to Mountbatten. In mid-career Mountbatten was a victorious commander in the Second World War, as Chief of Combined Operations (1941-43), his work on beach landings paved the way for D-Day. Then, as Supreme Allied Commander South-East Asia, he led the forces that drove the Japanese out of Burma and hastened victory in the Pacific. When peace came he brought independence to India and Pakistan as the last Viceroy of India. Mountbatten remains a controversial figure, but when his faults are considered in the light of the world-shaking events in which he was involved, they are overwhelmingly outweighed by his achievements. The world was shocked by his murder on 27 August 1979 by the IRA, in an explosion that also killed members of his family and a local Irish boy.

There have been many biographies of Mountbatten, but none by a naval officer, still less by one whose career was broadly contemporary with Mountbatten's. As a naval officer with nearly 40 years of service, Ian McGeoch was able to observe Mountbatten's naval career at close quarters and in 1944-45 served on his staff in the Pacific. This biography, first published in 1996 as The Princely Sailor - Mountbatten of Burma, is the only one to focus almost entirely on Mountbatten's remarkable and historically significant career in the armed services. Mountbatten of Burma - Captain of War, Guardian of Peace analyses and often dismisses the ill-informed criticism of Mountbatten and highlights the remarkable vision and persuasive powers of a man who had to overcome the 'disadvantage' of royal lineage in order to be taken seriously as an officer and defence strategist.

The author, Ian McGeoch, always loved the sea and joined the Royal Navy in 1933 as a midshipman on the battleship Royal Oak. In 1937 he opted for the submarine service and during the Second World War operated mainly in the Mediterranean against Rommel's supply ships, as well as landing agents on enemy territory. He was awarded the DSO and DSC but in April 1943 was commanding HMS Splendid when it was sunk by a German destroyer off Naples. He managed to get most of his crew to safety, but they were taken prisoner. He made several escape attempts and finally got home via Switzerland, occupied France and Spain. Retiring as a Vice-Admiral in 1970, when he was awarded a knighthood, he edited the Naval Review (1972-80) and contributed naval chapters to the bestselling book The Third World War (1978). He was a trustee of the Imperial War Musuem (1977-87) and his war memoir, An Affair of Chances, was published in 1991. Sir Ian McGeoch died in 2007.