The Battle of the River Plate in the South Atlantic on December 13, 1939 was the first significant naval battle of the Second World War. The German pocket battleship the Graf Spee, engaged in ambushing merchant ships en route for Britain, was attacked by three cruisers, the Ajax, the Achilles and the Exeter. However, prior to this battle, 300 British seaman, already taken prisoner by the Graf Spee, were transferred to the Altmark, a German fleet tanker. The men should have been released into Norwegian custody when the Altmark sailed past Bergen, but in direct contravention of international law the prisoners were hidden below decks in storage lockers. Despite two searches by Norwegian officials, the whereabouts of the men was only detected when prisoners released from the scuttled Graf Spee informed the British government. Among those on board HMS Cossack engaged in a daring raid to rescue the prisoners was a Swindon man, Edward Albert Head, the son of Francis ...