It is with great sorrow I report the passing of Douglas Reeman:
Douglas Edward Reeman, (15 October 1924 – 23 January 2017) was a British author who has written many
historical fiction books on the
Royal Navy, mainly set during either
World War II or the
Napoleonic Wars. Reeman died on 23 January 2017 according to a press release from his wife.
[1]
Reeman joined the
Royal Navy in 1940, at the age of 16, and served during World War II and the
Korean War. He eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant. In addition to being an author, Reeman has also taught the art of
navigation for
yachting and served as a technical advisor for films. Douglas married Canadian Kimberley Jordan in 1985.
Reeman's
debut novel,
A Prayer for the Ship was published in 1958. His pseudonym
Alexander Kent was the name of a friend and naval officer who died during the Second World War.
[2] Reeman is most famous for his series of
Napoleonic naval stories, whose central character is
Richard Bolitho, and, later, his nephew, Adam. He also wrote a series of novels about several generations of the Blackwood family who served in the
Royal Marines from the 1850s to the 1970s, and a non-fiction account of his World War II experiences,
D-Day: A Personal Reminiscence (1984).
His works have brought me thousands of hours of enjoyment since 1958.