Beyond the Sea by Christian Lamb: book review

Beyond the Sea: A Wren at War (2021) is the memoir of Englishwoman Christian Lamb during the Second World War.

Christian Lamb (1920-) begins writing her memoir – her fifth book – at the age of 101 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

She writes of growing up for two years in Malta in a naval family, and France for a year, before joining the Women’s Royal Naval Service (the Wrens) in 1940 as a coder. Her experience at the ‘wrenery’ in London included the wartime bombing Blitz in 1940-1941 in which 20,000 Londoners died. She quickly moves onto the war in the Atlantic and beyond, and her decoding work at Bletchley Park.

This memoir is the extraordinary life of duty in a secret and vital role in the British wartime radar and operations rooms: the training, the strict security, the incoming traffic, the intercepts, the orders, the codes, the translations of German messages, and Winston Churchill’s secret visits to Bletchley Park to thank the decoding wrens in September 1941. Churchill recognized the extreme importance of the wrens as ‘geese that laid the golden eggs.’ He gave directives to his staff to “make sure that they have all they want. Report to me that this has been done. Extreme priority.”

Christian Lamb writes of off-duty fun, and working with naval officers in Plymouth, and love letters from Lennox. She married John Lamb in 1943 after dating for 10 days.

She writes of John’s war, the importance of weather, and clairvoyant cats. And of her life after the wrens.

This book is a sweeping coverage of her life, so it‘s now time to read her previous four books – and hoping that she is currently writing her sixth book at the age of 102.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

MARTINA NICOLLS

MartinaNicollsWebsite

SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international human rights-based consultant in education, healing and wellbeing, peace and stabilization, foreign aid audits and evaluations, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

Shindi: the Georgian Cornelian cherry

The Cornelian cherry – shindi in Georgian – is a fruit with medicinal and decorative properties. It was grown from ancient times, according to the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). It is also commonly called the European cornel. It is native to southern Europe from France to Ukraine as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. The Cornelian cherry tree ( Cornus mas ) can be grown in orchards, but it is often seen in the forests of Georgia where it grows up to 1,350 metres above sea level. It is a medium to large deciduous tree, growing from 5-12 metres tall. The flowers are small with four yellow petals in clusters, which flower in February and March. The Cornus mas has three botanical varieties: (1) var. typica Sanadze with cylindrical red fruits, (2) var. pyriformis Sanadze with pear-shaped red fruits, and (3) var. flava vest with yellow fruits. The fruits are oblong red drupes about 2 centimetres ...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog