Ruth Macnair witnessed the opening shots of the Spanish Civil War. Her husband, Ian Macnair, was in command of a destroyer, HMS Shamrock, and he was ordered by the Admiralty to undertake a number of hazardous missions to rescue refugees from Malaga and Seville. She describes these experiences in 15 letters to her mother in England, alternating the alarms of war with charming domestic details, combined with the fears of a wife for a husband suddenly caught up in an alien conflict.

A talented artist, Ruth’s letters are illustrated with her paintings and photographs of the time.