Dead Eagles

Raiding Forces #2

by Phil Ward

In this sequel to Those Who Dare, U.S.Major John Randal, Commander of Strategic Raiding Forces is back, leading a crew of British Commandos, Royal Marines and Royal Navy raiders on bigger and bolder missions to foil Hitler's Third Reich. Off the Gold Coast colony in Africa, the Germans are operating a naval intelligence ring that gathers information about British convoys in the southern sea-lane. Couriers carry the data to nearby Rio Bonita, a tiny Portuguese island protectorate, whence they are broadcast to Nazi U-boats and surface raiders from a clandestine radio station onboard one of three interned enemy ships. As a result, British convoys vital to the war effort are ravaged. Major Randal and the Raiding Forces mission is to invade neutral Rio Bonita and spirit away the three ships. Failure means either imprisonment or hanging for piracy-and that Portugal will declare war on its oldest ally. Peopling Dead Eagles are colorful characters new and old. There is Wild West showman Captain "Geronimo Joe" McKoy, the stunning Special Operations Executive operator Lady Jane Seaborn, who adopts the Raiding Forces as her own pet project; and Lady Jane's bombshell of a driver, Pamala Plum-Martin. Even Commander Ian Fleming puts in an appearance, submitting a plan for "Operation Ruthless", the goal of which is to board a Luftwaffe bomber and crash it into the English Channel in order to capture an Enigma coding device from a Nazi air-sea rescue craft. This action packed adventure story features Lovat Scout Snipers, the take down of the Vichy French fleet in English ports, daring Commando raids, an epic sea battle, beautiful spies and culminates in a deadly shoot-out in a crowed bar in Occupied France.

Genres: War, Military Fiction, Historical Fiction, Collections

318 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 27, 2011

About the author

Phil Ward is a decorated combat veteran commissioned at age nineteen. A former instructor at the Army Ranger School, he has had a lifelong interest in small unit tactics and special operations. He lives in Texas on a mountain overlooking Lake Austin.

Reviews

[William Kepford · Rating 2 out of 5]

The liaison for SOE and MI-6 and the RAF gets upset and takes her boy-toy boyfriend along with her aunt and an assistant so sweet sugar won’t melt in her mouth, on an excursion to shoot up a Nazi bar full of pilots.

Between her and his intelligence knowledge it could have doomed the entire war effort if caught. They know things like all British subterfuge and propaganda efforts against the Germans. Where British secret training bases are. Let alone that her Aunt is married to a high ranking military officer. Oh yes and one secret mission they went on was to capture an enigma machine something the brass wouldn’t want the Germans to know about.

I may give the next book a pass 1/3 of the way in to it if this silliness continues.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely enjoyable read. Lots of heroic WWII action.

[dennis barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dead Eagles. Phil Ward

Major Randal , is the highly respected leader of a highly secretive commando or guerilla fighting unit which is in a class all of their own. Major Randal is an American combat veteran, formerly Lieutenant John Randal, a veteran of the U.S. 26th Cavalry Regiment. He learned his guerrilla fighting tactics in the Phillippian jungles. He now commands a team of hardcore Brits. All of there missions are classified as highly secret, never to be discussed. If captured they are on their own. There missions are filled with actual historical people of high recognition. They are dispatched off the Gold Coast of Africa. British convoys are being sunk at an alarming rate. Information is being broadcast to German U- boats from an interned Nazi ship. What ensues is a seat of the pants mind boggling series of events leading to a successful mission.. Another excellent read in this series. Enjoyed immensely!!!

[Ed Raner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second in the series that I've read. The same things that said in my first review apply here. Way too much time is spent in referring to each character with their full title. "Captain The Lady Jane Seaborn" could be called Jane, she's the only one in the story. Her title is quite short compared to some of the other alphabet soup titles of other characters. We know that the Commodore is the father of "Hornblower" so we don't need the full titles of each character every time they're mentioned. I've learned to skip read through a lot of this meaningless tripe. Look for the quotation marks and follow the dialog; you'll get the complete story without all the redundancy. This story built up to a big raid at the end of the book, but once the ship and its radio were confiscated, that story just ends. John gets shot, but there's not much more about that until he goes off to dinner with Jane. ????? Lots of tripe and lots of things left out.

[Steve Edelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 2 In The ‘Raiding Forces’ Another Masterfully Told Tale

This is the second book in the “Raiding Forces” series. Like the first, Phil Ward has created an amazing look into the world of WW II English Commandos in the days before the United State’s entry into the war.

Major John Randal and his company of Raiding Force soldiers tackles another seemingly-impossible mission. This time it’s on the Gold Coast of Africa. Joining the Major on this mission will be Royal Marines Captains The Lady Jane & Pamela.

An engrossing and entertaining cat-and-mouse game ensues as the English Commandoes, et.al. Continue to wage war against the Third Reich.

A thoroughly enjoyable read, “Dead Eagles” will be difficult to put down.

[john trester · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read if you can suspend your belief system a little. Plausible adventures. As for the writing, Mr Ward has a tendency to repeat some paragraphs over a few times in different sections, almost like he was writing a series with each chapter to be read one a week. Take out the redundancies and excessive descriptions of weapons and you will have a book only half the length. It is a lot like reading Doc Savage novels. In the navy, I would read one Doc Savage novel on each night shift. It's kinda like that. Enjoyable, but repetitive men's fiction. Which means hollow, stereotypical characters auditioning for the Justice league.

[Duane Hyatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok story. Second in a series about British commandos led by an American officer in WWII. A little too predictable. All the missions are carried off with almost no difficulty. Unrealistic scene in which the main character and three women (two who have some military training) decide to launch a raid across the English Channel on a moments notice. Surprisingly, with no planning or rehearsals, it is carried off with no casualties. Three stars may be too many.

[Richard Cowart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great historical fiction series

This the second book in the series, follows the escapades of British special forces into France and Africa and through the halls of British politics during the bombing of London. I enjoyed the mix of action, romance and political intrigue and intend to continue reading the series.

[Thomas D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loads of action & History Too

2nd book may be better than 1st, but both are great. And their is much more to go in the series. Very well written with great imaginaton to build on history. Wonderful Characters + British Traditions & Special Operations & Spies. Even the real IAN FLEMMING in real life. Before James Bond.

[Jpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novel is an exciting read but the reference to the Huks in the Philippines appear to be inaccurate. As presented in the novel, the lead character experienced fighting the Huks prior to his arrival at the European theater at the onset of WWII but the HUKBALAHAP (Huks) in the Philippines was organized only in 1942 during the Japanese occupation.

[Barry Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second book of a long series. So far.....excellent!!
Hopefully they are all as good as these first two.
Author is very knowledgeable of weaponry and military tactics.
Also served as army Ranger.....thank you for your service. Great stories told without the profanity that many writers feel necessary to use.
Thank you for good clean reading not distracted by profanity and cursing.

[Robert Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice follow up.

It was very well written until you get the later chapters. In the middle of sentence Mr Ward just seems to forget what the soliders are doing and ends with the., and never picked up again what that group was doing.

[Morton Friedlander]

Actionl packed with a little budding romance. If the remaining books in the Phil Ward series are like the first two books, you may want to skip them. Lots of repetition. Same people. Continuous list of similar exploits. Fun for the military buffs.

[RICHARD W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, readable historical account of WW II bravery and ingenuity.

One of the best stories I have read in my 79 years. Clean language. Military men (and women) acting with bravery and honor.

[Leo R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phil Ward the new W.E.B Griffin

Tells a great story and explained like Griffin, I'm a retired paratrooper so early Airborne operations always keep me captivated. Will keep reading his series and enjoying the historical data.

[Dennis E. Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

fast and crazy action

A great read, shows how crazy war really is. I know it is fiction but in the 32 years I spent in the USN and the USAF with Vet Man and I hate under my belt, I have seen things just as crazy and the men just as dedicated .

[Jan Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't stop Reading

I found the author to be excellent writer who can hold the readers attention. He wrote a historically correct record the rings true about the gallantry of the heros of World War II.

[Daniel Fedko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

I'm amazed that this author can write so many fantastic novels, I hope that he never stops writing. His books are some of the best Entertainment I have read and worth the time to read them. Thank you for a very fun entertaining read.

[Peter Hendrycks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just as good as the first! The level of research Mr Ward puts into his books is incredible, as well as his ability to weave this info into a very intense story! The reader feels like they are there, during all the action. Im happy I came across this series!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

Very well written story. A typo or two her or there, but very well done. The characters are top notch with excellent details.

[Alan Lomax · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good account of a little known aspect of WW2 ... how did the special forces come about?

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entire series is GREAT want more

[William]

Exciting

Second great story in the series. Loads of fun knocking off lots of Nazis. Well portrayed. Good research done. Very talented author.

[Kenneth Holbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read as soon as I finished reading it went an found blood wings the next book in the series

[Jack Battaglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of action

Good follow to previous book. Action packed and very entertaining. Easy read with fun character development. Nice to follow along as the good guys win.

[Leo Vidal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. A great story and much better than most of the other books I read.

[Bob Plowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another really good book by Phil Ward.

I really enjoy these series of WW II. I enjoy all the characters in these stories. Ill be starting the 3rd book today.

[Raymond Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Ward does a great job of mixing history with fiction.!!

I feel that a writer who mixes history into his stories needs to faithful to it when he mixes in his stories.

[Clio Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just keep reading…

It’s a new world for me, so much detail about things I have never thought of. Each book could be a movie .

[David Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great series

This book was a great continuation to the series. The characters are continuing to develop and the story along with individual actions make for very good reading.