In August 1939, five carefree Englishmen set off to the Baltic aboard a motor cruiser from the Norfolk Broads. The crew of Naromis - “Skip”, “Fattie”, Bill, Mike and “Honest George” Jones - drank beer, ogled flaxen-haired girls and caroused the streets of Cuxhaven singing “Horst Wessel” as their German companions bawled out “Land of Hope and Glory”. They also took many photographs of ships, bridges and naval yards which were later passed to Naval Intelligence.

It was the first time 21-year-old George Jones had travelled abroad, and when he returned to England on 2 September 1939 his call-up papers were already waiting. “It was as though I had been conducted through the scene of a great drama and just managed to get off the stage before the curtain went up.” This is a coming-of-age story set against a vivid historical backdrop.

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