YANGTSE RIVER INCIDENT 1949: THE DIARY OF COXSWAIN LESLIE FRANK: HMS Amethyst – Yangtse River 19/4/49 to 31/7/49

Although the event occurred over 50 years ago, and has now passed into history, many will recall the Yangtse Incident and remember that it heralded the lowering of the Bamboo Curtain, isolating Communist China, which is only now being raised. A British frigate, H.M.S. Amethyst, on a supply mission, was shelled and stranded on the Yangtse RIver by Red ChInese forces then completing their takeover of the vast country. After prolonged and futiile negotiations, the Amethyst’s skipper Capt Kerans, decided to make a nocturnal dash for freedom. As related in the film of the event, he dramatically succeeded. Aboard H.M.S. Amethyst, Coxswain Leslie Frank maintained a diary, recording his observations of these historic events, which is a classic record of the event. This copy of his Diary is exact in every detail, incuding photographs and memos that Acting Petty Officer Frank had inserted between the pages of the original.