Author Ken Evans remembers his days in the British Royal Navy in the new memoir, ‘A Game of Sailors’ (published by AuthorHouse UK), which explores the danger and excitement of war.

“The book tells the story of the Suez War from a young pilot’s viewpoint, and describes what is happening on a daily basis, taking the reader on his sorties and reporting how he feels about it,” Evans says, adding that he hopes readers take away from the book “some thoughts and ideas of what it is like to be a young flyer confronting danger and carrying out his duties.”

The title, ‘A Game of Sailors’ was taken from a favourite phrase used on the Flight Deck, whilst in action in 1956, perhaps more as a rebellious than amusing statement; but it summed up the jaunty spirit of the men who flew the planes and those who kept them flying. But this story is also about ‘growing up’, and how even the smallest and strangest experiences can leave their mark, and even shape a tiny bit of history!

Suez was the last real engagement by a Royal Navy Fleet, and Concorde project was the realisation of an aviator’s dream; and all the other bits and pieces of service life during the 1950s and ’60s, added together, seems now to have been the most exciting time to be living. Certainly the times were a-changing, they changed us, and they changed the world.

About the author

Ken Evans, who is now in his 70s, believes his time in the navy was perhaps the most formative period of his life, because he learned to fight and survive, even though it was sometimes brutal. After the military, he taught philosophy and sociology. He is author of several other books.