"Harrison Dale" was the pen name of an author and journalist born in London in February 1898. This, the first of his six published books was autobiographical, the scarce 'Vanishing Trails: Ten Years of a Wanderers Life' (1926), in which the author described being the wireless operator on a steamer ship sunk in May 1918 by a U-86 submarine, from which three men were taken by the Germans as prisoners of war. From these details, research reveals that this was the British steamer Medora, sunk on 2 May 1918, and the radio operator who was captured was one Maurice James McGrath. Other sources have confirmed his identity as "Harrison Dale." Preface & contents to front.