The Sacrifice: Of Family and Empire ? An Expendable Brother - Paperback

by Kevin Annett (Author)

The Sacrifice is a heartfelt remembrance of a lost brother and uncle, and the hidden story of how he really died.Written collaboratively by Kevin Annett and his father Bill, this book describes the sinking of the destroyer HMCS Athabaskan just prior to D Day in April, 1944; and of how Sub. Lt. Robert Annett and ninety other Canadian sailors were left to drown in the English Channel by the British Admiralty. Drawing on navy and archival sources, the Annetts explore recent evidence that suggest it was "friendly fire" by a British Motor Torpedo boat, and not the Germans, that dealt the death blow to the already-crippled Athabaskan.The Sacrifice also delves into the broader British colonial history of crime and cover up, and of how those who fight for the Empire can end up being immolated by it. Combined with personal accounts of the impact of war on one family and of Robert Annett's self-sacrificial death for a wounded sailor, this work is a moving tribute to human courage amidst the stupidity of war.