Note on Sources

by Gordon Smith

I was recently asked about the accuracy of the research on www.naval-history.net by a representative of an online encyclopaedia as some of their editors felt unable to quote Naval-History.Net as a reliable source.

Excerpts from my reply follow:

"...... there is a difference between a site like yours which has tens of thousands of contributors, few of whom will be known by the editors, and sites like Naval-History.Net with few contributors, but who have built-up some sort of reputation over the years for using reliable sources and for their accuracy and attention to detail.

..... all of Don Kindell's casualty, RN Day by Day and convoy information is either from primary government sources or from such well-known researchers as Arnold Hague, a personal friend. He worked closely for many years with the Naval History Branch of the MOD, and his casualty books have prefaces by the recently-retired head of the Branch. I have copied this email to him so he can comment on sources. His work is highly regarded and used by such organisations as the Imperial War Museum, National Maritime Museum, MOD, Commonwealth War Graves etc. Also one of his first casualty volumes has been shortlisted for the 2010 Mountbatten Literary Award of the Maritime Foundation.

I think it is fair to say that Don (an ex-policeman) .... in his private studies over the years, never considered having to prove his accuracy to the public and so would not have thought to necessary to add their sources.

To convert Naval-History.Net into articles with every fact justified would be a totally impossible task, and really against our ethos of trust. However I hope my comments plus any others from Don would confirm that we take every effort to ensure accuracy to an academic standard."

And from Don Kindell:

"..... my histories are all primary source documents; whether Admiralty Ledgers, Reports of Proceedings, War Diaries, Official Summaries, etc, etc.

I have worked the last 20 years with the Naval Historical Branch, late of London, now of Portsmouth.  Researching very closely with David Brown, Head of Branch until his health forced retirement and death, and his successor, Christopher Page.  Both were very demanding, but extremely nurturing and supportive.  I cannot omit Arnold Hague, who as a close, dear friend, did so much to mentor and guide me and develop my various projects.  David Brown, Chris Page, and Arnold Hague are all well known and respected naval historians and authors of many books.

At one time when David Brown and Arnold Hague were still alive, a bibliography and footnote sections were discussed for my Royal Navy Day by Day.  We were soon convinced such an undertaking was going to produce a tome exceeding the size of the original document.

If any fact is questioned, I can supply the reference as to its source.  The Rosyth War Diary, Home Fleet War Diary, and Home Fleet Destroyer Home Diary were essential for the early part of the war.  The Rosyth War Diary was not begun until the end of the first week of November 1939 and the Home Fleet and Home Fleet Destroyers not until the beginning of March 1940.  For any information prior to the beginning of the War Diaries mentioned, Admiralty War Diaries, Reports of Proceedings, Ledgers, and Narratives were used.

There were also War Diaries for all other commands as well:  Northern Patrol, Western Approaches, Dover, North Atlantic (Gibraltar), Malta, Alexandria, Far East, Indian Ocean, etc, etc. 

One terrible tripping block is the destruction of WW II destroyer logs in the 1980s for the sake of space.  A fall back here is the "Movement Books", an Admiralty Ledger of some 35 volumes of ledger size paper.  This gives the arrival and departure of all warships.

Finally, touching on Arnold Hague's convoy work, he also used exclusively Admiralty records and supplemented them with Lloyds Shipping Record cards, maintained by Lloyds. 

I am always available and eager to give further specific information."

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revised 13/3/12