Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Charles Esme Thornton Warren MBE (1912–1988) was a bestselling

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, a

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

r, and one of the first Allied 'human

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

charioteers', practising methods of clandestine attack upon enemy harbours and ships.

Biography

Born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

on 11 January 1912, "Jim" Warren was educated at

Bedford School Bedford School is a 7–18 Single-sex education, boys Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the county town of Bedford in England. Founded in 1552, it is the oldest of four independent schools in Bedford run by the Harpur Trust. Bed ...

. In 1931 he became the first ex-public schoolboy to join the

as an ordinary stoker. He hoped to achieve a commission through the Selborne-Fisher scheme. He achieved extremely high marks in both the theoretical and practical examinations, but the engineer commander at the Leading Stokers School in

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...

refused to grant him a commission. Instead he was offered a free choice of whichever ship he wanted and chose

s. Between 1934 and 1936 he served aboard HMS ''Rover'' on the

China Station The Commander-in-Chief, China, was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 1 ...

, and then aboard HMS ''Otus'' and HMS ''Osiris''. He served during the

and, in 1940, he took part in an operation intended to block the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

at the

Iron Gates The Iron Gates (; ; ; Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad sense it encompasses a route of ; in the narrow sense it only ...

, on the border between

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, to prevent German access to oil from the

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

oil fields. The plan was discovered and aborted. Warren then became a member of the naval liaison staff attached to No. 50 Commando based at

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, raiding enemy outposts in the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; , ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger and 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. This island group generally define ...

. During the evacuation of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, in 1941, he was Chief Stoker aboard the damaged HMS ''Rover'' as she was towed by the destroyer HMS ''Griffin'' to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. In 1942, he volunteered for the Special Submarine Flotilla, later known as the 12th Submarine Flotilla, which used two man human

es,

chariots A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Ru ...

and

midget submarine A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, from which they are launched an ...

s, to attack enemy targets, including the

German battleship Tirpitz () was the second of two s built for Nazi Germany's (navy) prior to and during the Second World War. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the (Imperial Navy), the ship was laid down at the in Wilhelmshaven in Nove ...

. In 1943, Warren carried out the beach surveys of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

before the Allied landings and, in 1944, he was finally commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant, but was seriously injured when he lost control of a

chariot A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid Propulsion, motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk O ...

and sank to a depth of 100 feet. In 1946 he was commissioned as a

and retired from the

Jim Warren was invested as a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1945. He died in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

on 24 May 1988, aged 76.

Publications

Jim Warren wrote jointly with James Benson and their books included: *''Above Us the Waves'' (1953), about the exploits of the Special Submarine Flotilla, which became an international best seller and a major feature film. *''The Admiralty Regrets'' (1958), about the submarine HMS ''Thetis'', which sank during sea trials on 1 June 1939 with the loss of ninety-nine lives. *''Will Not We Fear'' (1961), an account of the surrender of the submarine HMS ''Seal'' in 1940.

Film adaptations

The 1955

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

Above Us the Waves ''Above Us the Waves'' is a 1955 British war film about human torpedo and midget submarine attacks in Norwegian fjords against the German battleship ''Tirpitz''. Directed by Ralph Thomas, it is based on two true-life attacks by British command ...

'', starring

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

John Gregson Harold Thomas Gregson (15 March 1919 – 8 January 1975), known professionally as John Gregson, was an English actor of stage, television and film, with 40 credited film roles. He was best known for his crime drama and comedy roles. Gregson w ...

and

Donald Sinden Sir Donald Alfred Sinden (9 October 1923 – 12 September 2014) was an English actor. Sinden featured in the film ''Mogambo'' (1953), and achieved early fame as a Rank Organisation film star in the 1950s in films including '' The Cruel Sea'' ( ...

, was based on Jim Warren's 1953 book of the same name.

References

External links

*http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0912765/

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Charles Esme Thornton 1912 births 1988 deaths People educated at Bedford School Royal Navy personnel of World War II Royal Navy submariners Members of the Order of the British Empire British writers