Log Book

Frank Laskier was born 1912 and lived his early years in the suburbs of Liverpool. As a teenager, Frank was an avid reader of Conrad and Masefield and had a romantic view of the “call of the sea”. One day he decided to lie about his age and run away from home aboard a ship destined for Australia. Laskier worked on many ships in the merchant navy and it was his experiences on shipping convoys during the Second World War that brought him to the attention of the BBC. Frank was asked to broadcast a number of talks on his life at sea during that dangerous time. These talks were a great success. Following his experience in radio, Frank went on to write and this book represents his first novel. Although it is the story of “Jack” – the common British sailor – it is clearly autobiographical and recounts the life and adventures of the author. The book reviewer of the New York Herald Tribune described the book as “a work of art so simple and acute, that one often pauses to wonder.” Through this authentic voice of an ordinary man – not a historian, not a politician, not a great admiral – but an ordinary man, we can be reminded of the importance, bravery and sacrifice of the merchant navy in keeping Britain supplied during the Second World War.