Hello and welcome to this edition of Between the Lines, the podcast that decifers the handwriting, unfolds faded pages and dips into the details of Diaries, logbooks and letters written during this same week.

There are thereabouts in 1943, some 80 years ago.

Let's start with a quick recap of the situation.

In the far east this week, US forces land on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands.

The island hopping strategy is working well and this sees the start of the New Georgia campaign.

On the eastern front, Operation Citadel is about to get underway.

Over the next few weeks, the German army will try using a massive PINTSA movement to cut off a large bulge in the Russian front, known as the Kursk Salient.

The Soviets will concentrate five army groups to defend the region with more than 2,400,000 men, are whopping 20,000 artillery pieces and 3,600 tanks.

And as we now know, this will be the first time a major German offensive gets stopped before it achieves a significant breakthrough.

An outcome that sits in stark contrast with a pushby pull you drawn out results in North Africa.

However, those all land battles this week in between the lines we're going to start at sea.

HMS Warspite has been refitted, ready for anything she's got to be put through her paces now, and there's a short training exercise coming up off the coast of Norway.

But it's clear she'll soon be heading south to the Mediterranean, where things are warming up from the Allies perspective.

Captain Bertie Packer hasn't received his final orders yet, but he does have an idea where they're going.

Sunday 13th June. Scapper. Vice Admiral Sir Algin on Willis has arrived in the capital ships of the force of assembled.

That's the HMS Nelson Russell, Valiant Ashmore, Rodney, Rivet Karnak, Warspite, that's me, and the Indomitable, that's Grantham.

Algin on Willis is a clear-headed chap but depressing to look at.

He depresses the sailors, which is a pity because he is a master of tactics.

Also, he mumbles because of his false teeth and has a bad habit of asking you a question.

And when you give him the answer, you don't know whether he has hoisted it in or not.

Anyway, the four cues we brought from South Africa will be with us except that asked quality,

who, after ramming me twice when oiling on the way home, has had another collision.

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