The Churchill Commando

by Ted Willis

This is a new novel by the author of Man-Eater —the explosive story of a nationwide vigilante organization led by a mysterious figure known as the General, who believes the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing .A train stops at an abandoned railway station in an isolated spot. Two searchlights pierce the darkness, playing on the vandalized passenger cars and the white faces of the young men who, after a soccer game that afternoon, had rampaged through the streets of a London suburb, spreading terror and destruction.A group of armed men order the mob to leave the train. When they refuse, the armed men fire over the heads of the passengers, who tumble out in panic. They are forced to strip, hosed down, and released after being warned that such activities will no longer go unpunished.This is the shattering opening to the campaign of a private army which calls itself the Churchill Commando, a campaign which, in the words of its communiqué, is designed “to restore order, courtesy and discipline in the home, in the schools, in the factories and offices, on the streets! We shall continue to harass and punish the guilty until this nation finds its way back to sanity.”In the days that follow, the Commando moves in swift succession against murderers, kidnappers, the merchants of porn, muggers, and others. They gain mass support, and photographs of Churchill appear in thousands of windows. The Government itself is threatened by the tidal wave of feeling.Two men stand at the center of these the General—a complex, luminous character who is impelled to transgress the law he has pledged to uphold—and Barr—a tough mercenary soldier, who sees himself as a man of action, but has a contempt for all causes. He too finds that “no man is an island,” that there are questions for which each man must find an answer.From its explosive opening to its tragic ending, this extraordinary story seems to be a documentation of contemporary history. It is the story of a vigilante movement that became too popular—fiction that could become reality.

Genres: Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1977

About the author

Ted Willis (1914-1992) was a British playwright, novelist and screenwriter who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party. He was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most prolific writer for television, and also wrote 34 stage plays and 39 feature films.

Reviews

[Tim Trewartha · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 and a half stars. Unexceptional thriller from the 1970s. Had potential, didn't live up to it.

[John Savage · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remember reading this years ago and I believe it was serialised in possibly the Mail or Express as there were TV adverts featuring the train scene. Read it again and not a great story with a poor ending. I can see certain members of the British public salivating at it until near the end though.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected a poor, tawdry thriller but instead found an enjoyable, tawdry thriller.

[Mark Speed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly dreadful novel about a right-wing unit put together to clamp down by all means necessary on behaviour that Daily Mail readers found upsetting at the time. Note that this was written around about the time of large-scale strikes in the UK, and that Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister just a couple of years after publication.

I believe that this is the Ted Willis who wrote it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Willis
Note that this dreadful novel isn't in his bio.

I found it on my elder brother's shelves.