Phil Ward

Maj. John Randal is back in Book VI in the Raiding Forces Series. He travels to the RAF Base located at Habbaniya sixty miles south of Bagdad to see Lt. Pamala Plum-Martin be awarded her pilots wings from the flying school located there. RAF Habbaniya is a base that the war has passed by, senior officers at the end of their career are assigned as well as pilots who are not considered good enough for combat flying or pilots who have become combat fatigued from flying combat tours and need a rest. Maj. Randal, the MI-6 senior officer Jim 'Baldie' Taylor and Lt. Penelope Honeycutt-Parker fly into the RAF Base the same day the Iraqi rebels of the Golden Square lay the place to siege by occupying the heights just outside the perimeter wire. They find themselves in a situation that is described to Maj. Randal "in terms an American can understand...this is 1836 and you just checked in to the Hotel Alamo". What happens next is an action packed story of a battle that has been lost to history.

The Royal Hospital Haslar was the first of three hospitals built in the 18th century for sick and wounded sailors and marines and was the last to remain in service. Following submissions to King George II by the Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty, sites were identified at Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Chatham, and building commenced at Haslar farm in 1745. Designed by Theodore Jacobsen FRS in the manner of his Foundling Hospital in London, the hospital, reputed at one time to be the largest red brick building in Europe, was completed in 1762. Haslar was grand in concept, elegant in design and robust of build, and provided medical attention and nursing care to the sick and wounded of both Fleet and Army. This may not have been of the highest order in the early years, but the standards achieved during the Peninsular and Crimean Wars earned the hospital a reputation among military authorities that was unequalled. Sir John Richardson, eminent Arctic explorer and physician at Haslar, even corresponded with Florence Nightingale when the nursing reformer was campaigning for changes in the way casualties of war were treated. Described as the noblest of institutions by Queen Victoria, the Royal Hospital Haslar has provided medical care to the Royal Navy for over 250 years and Sick Berth staff for service in all areas of global conflict. In more recent times it treated patients from all three services and since the 1950s has made the professional and technological expertise contained within its walls accessible to civilian patients. The photographs in this fascinating illustrated history will stir the memory of all those who have entered Haslar, as either staff or patients, and provide a unique record of a singular and celebrated institution.

In this sequel to Dead Eagles, U. S. Major John Randal, commander of Strategic Raiding Forces, returns in Blood Wings, the first book in a trilogy within the Raiding Forces Series about the Abyssinian Campaign. Major Randal parachutes into the middle of Italian East Africa with orders to raise a guerrilla army. Everything that can go wrong does. Blood Wings is a story of unconventional warfare and the ability to improvise, adapt and press on against overwhelming odds. As in the first two Raiding Forces military adventures, Major Randal takes on a long-range independent mission against incredible odds. He proves once again that he is the best unconventional commander that Special Operations Executive can call on in a time of desperate need.

The first in a series of meticulously researched World War II novels about hit-and-run raids against Hitler's war machine by British forces -- under the command of a U. S. soldier -- "Those Who Dare" is sure to appeal to avid military fiction fans. By May 1940, panzer divisions had decimated Belgium and reached Calais. Lieutenant John Randal of the U. S. 26th Cavalry Regiment volunteers his expertise to help slow their advance. What unfolds is a blend of military guerrilla tactics, suspense, humour, cultural and social commentary, and war buddy camaraderie -- plus a little romance between the American GI and the widowed Lady Jane Seaborn. Along the way readers meet such colourful characters as Captain David Niven in MO-9 and Captain "Geronimo Joe" McKoy with his Travelling Wild West Show and Shooting Emporium. The author -- a decorated combat veteran -- covers the details of war extensively, from the five points of contact of a parachute landing fall to descriptions of a British raider's A-5 flinging ferries before the first 12-gauge shell casing hits the floor. As the novel ends, Major Randal's men, fresh from Operation Tomcat in France, learn they will deploy via sea transport within 48 hours on their next mission. The second book, which is already written, tells that tale.