From Dartmouth to War

Adrian Holloway was only seventeen when he left the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in 1940 and joined HMS Valiant as a Midshipman, sharing a gunroom with Midshipmen Terry Lewin and HRH Prince Philip. He arrived in the Mediterranean in time to witness the darkest days of the Mediterranean Fleet – providing cover for the Fleet Air Arm’s raid on Taranto, fighting at the Battle of Matapan and taking part in the evacuation of Crete – during which time the Royal Navy’s vessels were decimated. He als