A thrilling story of the greatest achievement in British military history.
When young Richard Langley salvages, against all odds, the doomed Landing Craft that becomes known as Bloody Norah, little does he realise that in just a year's time both of them will be involved in the greatest combined sea and air assault in history.
Back in Britain, the preparations for Operation Overlord are being finalised. Crucial to the effort will be the dawn landing on Normandy beach, codenamed Sword, and the capture of a fortified chateau under the command of the ruthless Captain Franz Engel.
Success hinges on the contribution of Patrick Ward's gilder units, Langley and Bloody Norah, and the reconnaissance gathered by nurse turned SOE agent Suzi Jones.
The countdown has begun to their appointment with destiny on the 6th June 1944. D-Day.
A stunning, action-packed novel of the end of the Second World War, for fans of Jack Higgins, Philip McCutchan and Douglas Reeman.
Alan Evans was born in 1930 in Sunderland. He is an enthralling writer of First and Second World War adventure thrillers, mainly based on naval battles. Carefully researched, and with his own experience of active service, he skilfully evokes the tension and terror of war. Many of the figures and events are based on real-life models. His best-known character is Commander David Cochrane Smith, a maverick First World War sea captain. The protagonist of six of Evans' novels, he has to battle against the highly sceptical Admiralty as well as seemingly impossible odds in order to triumph. Evans' style is pacey and gripping, and in addition to his popular books for adults, he counts three adventure novels for children amongst his credits.
Compelling story about the little known nautical truckers of WW2 - the thousands of ordinary men thrust into a glamorless role moving war material into the face of peril with an implacable enemy on every beachhead - with just enough romance through the pages to spice the tale.
I really enjoyed the book. The action scenes were described so well, at times I felt I was right there in the thick of things. Perhaps the ending might have been a bit more decisive, but that's a minor niggle. Truly a terrific read.
I have now read the whole series of Alan Evans books on Captain David Smith and am really sad there are only 7 books in the series. Great books - hard to put down any of them