The Cunningham Papers, Volume II, 1942-1946 / Navy Records Society Publications Bd.150 (PDF)

This book will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and to those interested in the Naval History of the Second World War, particularly after the USA's entry. Also of interest is the late Prince Philip's introduction in which he says "This volume of his papers shows just what an important contribution he made to the national war effort." The Triumph of Allied Sea Power, 1942-46 in the second volume printed on The Cunningham Papers. Following America's entry into World War Two, there was a necessity for the Royal Navy to strengthen co-operation with the United States Navy. Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham's brief term as head of the British Admiralty Delegation in Washington was to endear him to the Americans so much so that they proposed him as Allied Naval Commander of the Expeditionary Force which was to invade North Africa in November 1942. In October 1943, Cunningham was summoned to replace the dying Pound as First Sea Lord, a position he held until his retirement from active service in June 1946. In that time he presided over the invasion of Normandy, operations in the Mediterranean, the sinking of the Scharnhorst and Tirpitz, the defeat of the late surge of U-boat activity, the British Pacific Fleet, and the problems of manpower, the futures of the Royal Marines and the Fleet Air Arm, and the conversion of the Royal Navy from its swollen wartime strength to a much-reduced peacetime cadre.