Radio Man : iUniverse : 9781663214164 : 1663214166 : 28 Sep 2007 : Radio Man consists of never before published stories and pictures about the British Merchant Marine seen through the eyes of Ship's Radio Officer Alan Patterson. His captivating diaries offer rare 1st- person insight to the harrowing state of the Pacific theatre at the time, taking us from 1938 through to the end of the war. Here is a glimpse of a typical day in Alan's life as the Ship's Radio Man. "We saw no patrol ships at all while at sea, the poor old Merchant Service had to just plug along on its own with no protection and no guns. However, the Navy had put a gun platform on our stern before we left, so we built an imitation of a gun with a mast spar and an empty oil drum. We hoped that if a sub saw it at a distance it might possibly mistake it for a gun and so prevent it surfacing and shelling us. I couldn't help thinking how futile and rather pathetic this was but still while there is life there is hope. We arriv