Table of Contents

Introduction - organisation and command structure in 1939 · Recruitment and training - personnel categories · Service afloat - organisation of the ship's company · Uniforms - officers, ratings, shore parties, Naval Commandos, Fleet Air Arm · Insignia - ratings' badges · WRNS & QARNNS · Commonwealth and Allied personnel · Miscellaneous organisations.

About the Author

Ian Sumner was born in 1953 in Eccles, near Manchester. He originally trained as a librarian in Newcastle-upon-Tyne but is now a freelance author. His previous work for Osprey includes two Men-at-Arms titles on the French Army 1914-45; he has also written several books on the history of the East Riding of Yorkshire, where he now lives with his wife. Alix Baker, one of Britain's leading military artists with an international reputation, works full time for regiments, museums and on publics and private commissions. She has contributed artwork and maps to many military history books and journals. Her paintings, both military and non-military, have been exhibited in many countries, and historians, silversmiths and sculptors frequently seek her assistance. An organiser of, or exhibitor at, several art exhibitions, she is an active committee member of the Armed Services Art Society. Her mail order site markets her products worldwide (www.alix-baker-militaryart.com). Alix is married with two sons and lives in Hampshire, UK.