Reviews

An insightful firsthand account of life in the British Merchant Navy and RAF during the second world war. Through vivid diary entries, the diarist captures the danger of Atlantic convoys, the devastation of Tobruk, and the daily grind of rough conditions—told with striking honesty and without complaint. Enhanced by his son Chris’s contextual notes, this book offers fresh insight into the resilience, duty, and humanity of wartime service.



This book offers a compelling firsthand account of life in the British Merchant Navy during the war years, told through Chris’s father’s diaries. Beginning his career as an engineer on an oil tanker, he captures the daily realities of shipboard life—the food, the camaraderie, and the weight of decisions made as convoys crossed the Atlantic, through Britain, and into the Mediterranean to Turkey, delivering vital fuel supplies. His reflections bring to life the constant tension of traveling without the sophisticated navigation and communication tools we take for granted today. Surrounded by the ever-present danger of torpedoes and mines, he describes anti-mine sweeps and the haunting reality of ships lost nearby.

Later, his service with the RAF takes him on an overland journey from Iraq to Tobruk via Palestine and Egypt. His descriptions of Tobruk, devastated after repeated invasions, are both vivid and sobering. The hardships he endured—scarce food, makeshift sleeping quarters, etc., are relayed without complaint, only with matter-of-fact honesty. Even as he longed for his wife and young daughter back in England, there was never a suggestion of abandoning duty; such a thought simply didn’t exist.

What makes these diaries especially rich is the inclusion of Chris’s detailed notes, which situate the personal narrative within the broader sweep of world events, drawing on military records to give context and depth. The result is a fascinating, human perspective on wartime service—both the danger and the resilience it demanded.

TK, Vancouver

I’ve been reading Chris Wrens book where he publishes his father’s daily accounts of events that took place during WWII. It’s a fascinating insight into what it was like to be working on a ship, carrying fuel from and to all sorts of interesting places and knowing that it’s only the luck of the draw that you aren’t the next one to be sent to the deep.

Louis Wren tells what it’s like to be living at that time. He has a great grasp of what is going on all around him. Which ships were sunk whether they were friend or foe and his feelings for the people who were on those ships who were living through the same difficulties that he was experiencing.

I like the way he describes the greater events of the time with the everyday challenges of keeping his ship working. I also liked how he described his feelings about being away from home and worrying about his family.

A great day by day account during a very difficult time in world history. It’s wonderful that Chris has taken the time to honour his Dad by publishing his diaries and thoroughly researching and adding to his Dad’s story. It helps me reflect on my own families life history and helps me imagine what it was like to live through those times.

Thank you Chris and Louis Wren.

If you are a fan of history The War Diaries Of Lewis E. Wren make for a fascinating read. Author Christopher Wren has obviously done extensive research to bring us this new perspective of the second world war from the personal diary of his father’s logs. Christopher seamlessly contextualizes his father’s entries by providing brief summaries of the main events of the war years as his fathers mentions them happening. When his father writes about hearing a Churchill speech on the wireless, Christopher reveals more of the mood and experience of his father by providing summaries and quotes from the speech his dad had just heard while many miles away from home serving on a ship in the Merchant Marine. Then we discover how the miles away from home create a sense of anxiety and despair as his dad worries about Christopher’s mom and older sister who face imminent invasion. It is a captivating tale made all the more poignant and meaningful for us when told through the eyes of an individual and his family who were living it at the time.

Finished your book a few days ago. Enjoyed it very much. Like the format. Your dad’s diary with added explanations and historical background. Made me appreciate many aspects of the war I had no knowledge of.

Louis E. Wren served in the British Merchant Marines and, later, the RAF as Fitter II. These roles have seldom been considered as “heroic”. These journals tell another tale.

WAR II, lasted for 6 years, for some, these 6 years consisted of coping with the constant threat of death, absence from loved ones and great physical hardship.

Louis E. Wren wrote about his daily tasks with a down to earth, matter-of-fact tone that must have belied a level of anxiety I hope to never know.

The LEW Diaries take us from the high seas, being hunted by the infamous Wolf Packs of the Germany Reich, to the deserts of the North African.

Chris Wren, the author and my good friend, narrates his father’s war journals, supplying important historical notes that help us to understand the importance of such entries as “According to the reports the Gruf Von Spree is come out of Montevideo…”

“The War Diaries of Louis E. Wren” is not just an very interesting tale of the hardships of war, it is an outstanding Tribute to a Father expertly written by a loving Son.