The Hazard Mesh

The Hazard Mesh, first published in 1946, is the work of a 28-year-old naval officer who disobeyed wartime regulations by keeping a diary ''in the field'' during the Normandy D-Day landings and subsequent Libération de la France. This was John Antony Crawford Hugill (1916-1987), who had been plucked from Naval Intelligence by Ian Fleming to serve in the front-line commando unit that came to be known as ''30AU.''

''The Hazard Mesh is a fascinating primary source, a vivid, opinionated, first-hand account of the invasion of Europe in 1944 that is still as fresh as paint... an emotional odyssey that catches the nerviness and mood-swings of war, the irritations and exhilarations of danger, the spasms of rage, boredom, fear and longing.'' Nicholas Rankin (from his new Introduction)