Eagles War

HMS Eagle was already old when war was declared in September 1939 and her new Swordfish biplanes were soon flying escort to vital Australian troop convoys in the wastes of the Indian Ocean. When the war moved to the Mediterranean, Eagle’s meagre air group bolstered by a few Sea Gladiator biplanes held the ring with Cunningham’s superb fleet through the dark days of 1940 to 1941. Her aircraft took part in the naval victories of Calabria and Taranto; worked from desert air strips with great success and hounded the Italian Navy out of the Red Sea.

Following further ocean patrols in the South Atlantic, Eagle joined the famous Force ‘H’ at Gibraltar and did more than any other ship to sustain Malta during the islands’ greatest ordeal. Before being lost in action during the greatest of all convoy battles Operation Pedestal, in August 1942.

This almost day-by-day account of her battles and actions as seen through the eyes of its former crew members is a fitting tribute to all who served aboard her or flew from her decks.