Dockers' Stories from the Second World War

Book excerpt: Dockers' Stories from the Second World War is a collection of several true stories, drawn from Henry Bradford's time as a Registered Docker in the Port of London. Men were often killed and injured during their every-day work on the docks; nonetheless, never was the bravery of these men so tested as during times of war. Henry heard many stories from dockers in his time working the docks but it was their wartime adventures that seemed most vivid. Henry Bradford's lively stories and colourful characters reveal the bravery of ordinary men in World War Two, from Captain Jim Fryer's ship towage work on Calais roads and Dunkirk beaches, and saving lives of survivors from the bombed hospital ship Paris, for which he was awarded the DSC, to Petty Officer Jack Hicks' quieter but equally memorable posting steering a clinker-built boat on a hush-hush job from the Thames to the north-east, his crew consisting only of an inexperienced co-man and an incredibly efficient WREN. This book is sure to appeal to those whose relatives worked as dockers, and to anyone with an interest in London's East End at war.