• It is well for a country that she should number among her sons and daughters adventurous and courageous individualists—where, for instance, would the lifeboat service be without them? Such a man was Augustine Courtauld whose biography. The Man on the Ice Cap, has been written by Nicholas Wollaston (Constable, £8.95).

As a young man, August, as he was known, took part in expeditions to Greenland and to the Sahara Desert, but he is undoubtedly best remembered for the part he played in the British Arctic Air Route Expedition to Greenland led by Gino Watkins in 1930 and 1931. For five months of that winter he remained alone on the ice cap, maintaining meteorological observations until the snow became so deep that he was imprisoned in his tent; when relief finally arrived, nothing but a tattered flag was visible above the snow and his three friends, thanking God that all was well, had to dig him out.

August was a fine yachtsman, and for a time enjoyed a sailing partnership in the ex-Bristol Channel pilot cutter Cariad with Frank Carr, later to be director of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. He was also a loyal supporter of the RNLI, becoming a vice-president of the Institution; although in later years confined to a wheelchair, he still attended Committee of Management meetings almost until his death in 1959. When his mother died he presented a new lifeboat named after her to be stationed at Walton and Frinton, the 46ft 9in Watson Edian Courtauld, and the 44ft Waveney now stationed at Poole is named Augustine Courtauld as a memorial to the explorer himself; a substantial gift was made towards her cost by August's brother Mr W. P.

Courtauld, a present member of the Committee of Management.

The war years did not demand as much of August Courtauld as he would have liked. An officer in the Royal Navy, mainly in coastal forces, he was perhaps too much of an individualist to fit easily into service life, and it would seem that the special talents that he had to offer were not fully used.

It was not so for Freddie Spencer Chapman, one of the three men who had dug August out from under the Arctic snow on that memorable day in 1931. During World War II, Spencer Chapman's principal sphere of action was in Malaya as a member of the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

SOE was formed in 1940 to foment and support clandestine resistance to the enemy wherever it could gain a foothold. Forty years have now passed since its formation and this milestone has been marked by the publication of Undercover, a history of its work by one of its members, Patrick Howarth.

Pat, who was public relations officer of the RNLI from 1953 to 1979, had himself served in SOE for almost four years. His book, published by Routledge and Kegan Paul (£7.95), is a veritable picture gallery in words of the international band of gallant men and women who served under SOE's impetus behind enemy lines in the various theatres of war. Each possessed, as well as exceptional self reliance and courage, individual qualifications which fitted them for a special task.

Some were serving officers; others came from more surprising backgrounds: explorers, an archaeological student, writers, a musical comedy star, an actor, a member of a cosmetic firm. All too often the record of their exploits ends with their death in action or in enemy hands. Of those who survived, many have made outstanding contributions in other spheres of life.

There is the story of a telephone line along a secret passage built by the Medicis in Florence which served as a link between Germ SS headquarters and the Allied High Command; of the destruction of the heavy water plant in Norway; and, of particular interest at the moment, the links which were formed with the Moscow-trained revolutionary who was to be Yugoslavia's leader for so many years—Tito.

Speaking of Undercover at its launching, Maurice Buckmaster. who had commanded the SOE section concerned with British involvement in French resistance, summed up the books as 'masterly, accurate and true'.

It is enthralling in itself and, as it includes a full bibliography, it acts as an enticing introduction to an extensive library for further reading.—J.D.

• The Yachtsman's Doctor, the author, Dr R. T. Counter, says, is a first aid book for a totally non-medical sailor 'whether pottering locally or venturing across blue waters'. But it would be unwise to venture far with only the doctoring provided by this book. For example the text recommends no active treatment for travellers' diarrhoea but refers the sailor to Appendix B, where there is none either.

The first aid is carefully thought out for a yachtsman and presented with lavish illustrations so that you can do as the author suggests and read it up when the need arises. But in this he creates the danger that the would-be first aider is himself so reassured that he does not realise that in drowning cases there is no time for reading. This point should have a place in the introduction.

There are inconsistencies and omissions and one 'howler', but in spite of these the book, which is published by Nautical Publishing Company, price £8.50, would be very useful to have on board a yacht cruising around these islands and if carefully revised it could be very good indeed.—G.H.

• Lifeboat VC by Ian Skidmore, which was reviewed in the winter 1978/79 issue of THE LIFEBOAT, is now available in paperback. This biography of Coxswain Richard Evans of Moelfre, a double gold medallist, is now being published by Pan, price £1.

Another book by Ian Skidmore, Anglesey and Lleyn Shipwrecks (Christopher Davies, Swansea, £3.95), also includes among accounts of some of the worst shipwrecks and greatest deed of gallantry round the coasts of North Wales, the stories of the two lifeboat services for which Coxswain Evans was awarded the gold medal.—J.D.

• Here are three books which are all available from Mainmasts Books, Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17 I HZ: A Lifeboatman's Days (80p plus 20p post and packing) is the self-told story of the life of Coxswain James Cable of Aldeburgh who between 1880 and 1917 was awarded three silver medals in rescues off the Suffolk coast. His short autobiography, which was first published in 1928, is told in an endearing matter-of-fact style and describes his colourful early adventures as a crew member in ships to the far east and as a farmer in Australia. On his return to Aldeburgh he joined the lifeboat crew and the second half of the book recounts some of the remarkable rescues he carried out.

Hum her Shipping by Michael E.

Ulyatt and Edward W. Paget- Tomlinson (Dalesman Books, £2.25 plus 36p post and packing) catalogues the history and present-day situation of the River Humber ports and their ships. It includes a short chapter on the lifeboat station at Spurn Head and many photographs of ships both ancient and modern.

Shipwrecks of the Ulster Coast by Ian Wilson (Impact-Amergin, £3.50 limpbound, £5.95 hardbound, plus 75p post and packing) is a thorough record of wreck and rescue between Carlingford Lough and Inishowen Head. In the nineteenth century alone it is estimated that 1,200 ships were lost totally on this part of the coast and throughout the book reference is made to the work of Ulster lifeboats in saving crews from stricken vessels around this treacherous shore.—E.W.-W.

• 'Sailing widows' wanting something constructive to do while their husbands enjoy themselves will be interested in Mary Wright's book Cornish Guernseys and Knit-Frocks (Alison Hodge/Ethnographica, £2.95). From conversations with retired seamen who remember their grandmothers knitting furiously in every spare moment, Mary Wright has gathered 30 designs for Guernseys, all of which are fully ex-plained. But Miss Wright does not concentrate wholly on the productive side of knitting but also on the social and economic side which sometimes involved the entire female population of Cornish fishing villages. The book is available through booksellers or by post from Alison Hodge, 5 Chapel Street, Penzance at £3.45 including postage and packing.—s.o.

• A Nautical Almanac for Yachtsmen: Channel West and Solent (Channel Press, £7.95) is a very useful and clear alternative to other almanacs but there is probably still the need for this type of publication with a yearly tidal replacement section coupled with a corrections supplement if needed.

The day shape section has a small error at page 175, but, all in all, this almanac will probably be seen aboard more and more boats because of its special appeal which includes useful pilotage information for both sides of the Channel.—E.J.

• Jeff Morris is well known as the author of a number of booklets about individual lifeboat stations. Now, in Launch the Lifeboat!, he has traced the story of Coventry's financial branch and ladies' guild since their formation nearly 80 years ago. Included in the same booklet is a brief history of Little and Broad Haven, Dyfed, the station to which was allocated the D class inflatable lifeboat funded by Coventry as its contribution to the RNLI's 150th anniversary celebrations in 1974. Thus are station branch and fund raisers drawn together. The booklet, price 50p including post and packing, is available from Coventry branch chairman. Miss G. Hawley, 54 Moseley Avenue, Coventry CV6 1AB.—J.D.

• Fastnet '79: The Story of Ailish III by L. T. Gardner (George Godwin, £4.95) is the story by one man about one boat in what proved to be a historic race. It is, however, a compelling story from which lessons can be learnt.

Enjoyable reading although the sad aspect is not overlooked.—E.J.

• In Looking at Sails (£4.95) Nautical Publishing has produced another of its good informative books. It is written by Bruce Banks, a world class helmsman for more than 30 years and a sailmaker with lofts in several countries, together with Dick Kenny, another racing yachtsman; it is illustrated with photographs by Alastair Black and John Blomfield, among others, and with simple clear diagrams by Peter Campbell.

Its object is stated as being to give every sailor a better understanding of sails and to show how sails should look for maximum performance on any type of sailing boat—and it does just that.—J.D.

• Lloyd's Register of Shipping has published a booklet summarising the services which it can offer yacht owners, builders, moulders and designers.

This booklet is available free of charge from Lloyd's Register of Shipping, 71 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 4BS.

• A good selection of useful sea reference books have been received recently: Glossary of Marine Technology Terms, published in association with the Institute of Marine Engineers (Heinemann, £5.50).

Sea Lawyer: A Guide for Yachtsmen by Brian Calwell (Adlard Coles, £4.95).

Glenans Weather Forecasting: A Manual for Yachtsmen (David and Charles, £5.95).

Buying a Secondhand Boat by Dave Gannaway (Nautical, £4.45)..