The perks of online teaching: last week I met my Year 11 students’ cats and dogs. I loved them all but my favourite was Tobo (“like hobo but with a T, Miss”), a tabby point Birman so enormous and so fluffy that, when he was picked up, his human sibling disappeared in all the fur, and all you could see were his fingertips and the top of his hair.

In better news, I often start my posts with “Merci à Dieu et à tous ses anges” but, today, I mean it more sincerely than ever: LOUIS CATORZE’S LILY’S KITCHEN MARVELLOUSLY MATURE ARRIVED BEFORE WE RAN OUT.

No more will I be bullied and intimidated by a screaming, psycho hell-beast. Nor will I have to spend countless hours sifting … although I must admit I had enjoyed singing “Come on, let’s sift again like we did last summer, yeahhh let’s sift…

Under a Blood Red Sun: The Remarkable Story of PT Boats in the Philippines and the Rescue of General MacArthur

By John J. Domagalski

Hardcover in dustjacket, 304 pages, appendices, notes, bibliography, and index

Published by Casemate, October 2016

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1612004075

ISBN-13: 978-1-61200-407-5

Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.2 x 9.1 inches

At the beginning of World War Two the U.S. Navy had three Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRON) deployed in the Pacific.  MTBRON One was assigned to Pearl Harbor, MTBRON Two was assigned to the Panama Canal Zone, and MTBRON Three was assigned to the Philippines.  Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley was the Commanding Officer of Squadron 3’s six Elco 77’ torpedo boats.  The Japanese attacked the Philippines on 08DEC41 local time, destroying much of the U.S. airpower.  U.S. and Philippine forces never recovered from the initial Japanese strikes and fought on the back foot for the next six months…