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© Copyright 1999
Tristan da Cunha : Wartime Invasion
Allan B Crawford MBE
Book cover
This is a unique study of the life, times and heritage of the inhabitants of Tristan da Cunha during the early 1940s, as observed by the author during his posting there during the Second World War. From 1816 until 1942 the few hundred inhabitants of Tristan da Cunha had led a self-sufficient existence on their isolated island in the middle of the south Atlantic Ocean. In 1942, the Royal Navy made a peaceful invasion of the island to establish a listening post and weather station, as part of the war effort. This invasion and sustained stay by ‘outsiders’ heralded change that was to turn the islanders’ way of life topsy-turvy and alter it for ever.
One of the ‘outsiders’, Allan Crawford, having surveyed and mapped the island a few years previously, realised that his second visit presented a unique opportunity to record the islanders’ way of life before change took hold. Allan’s first-hand account is richly illustrated in words and pictures. Customs, farming, craft skills and the islanders’ heritage are meticulously recorded revealing the character, humour and resilience of the islanders in their constant struggle for survival against the relentless elements enveloping them.
Publisher: George Mann Publications / April 2004
ISBN: 0954629914
Style: Paperback / 160 pages / 60 photographs and line drawings
Price: UK £9.50 per copy
Postage: UK: £1.50 per copy / Outside UK: £2.50 per copy, surface mail
To order: Mail order from George Mann Publications, 6 Malthouse Close, Easton, Winchester, Hampshire SO21 1ES. Payment in UK pounds sterling.
Delivery: Please allow 28 days for delivery in the UK and up to six weeks elsewhere