Bøger af Phil Ward

In this sequel to Book XV, The War That Never Was, Col. John Randal reflects on Leros.Leros was a catastrophe. The Germans invaded, overran and captured the island leaving Castelrozzo (ABC) as the last one still in Allied hands. The Luftwaffe now has air superiority over the entire Aegean Theatre of Operations. Neither the U.S. nor Royal Navy will risk capital ships in the AO due to the threat posed by enemy air. The Long Range Desert Group has been reduced to approximately fifty patrolmen. The fabled reconnaissance unit is now attached to Raiding Forces as is the Small Boat Service which also suffered heavy causalities. Middle East Headquarters is paralyzed by the extent of the debacle caused by their bad command decisions which resulted in a total defeat of British Forces in the theatre. On ABC, Col. John Randal sees opportunity. Raiding Forces goes over to the attack.

Book 15 in the Raiding Forces SeriesThe 575th Ranger Task Force, Raiding Forces are conducting a fighting withdrawal back to the Salerno Beachhead following their drop on Benevento, Italy. The jump was widely scattered with one plane load missing the drop zone by in excess of 100 miles. blocking roads by downing trees, cutting rail lines and blowing bridges, an element of Sea Raiders from the Brandenburger Regiment have raided Castelrozzo. Major the Lady Jane Seaborn is MIA. On his return to friendly lines Colonel John Randal takes the first men to arrive back and are immediately flown to Alexandria by Major General Sam Houston Blackwell in two of his Troop Transport Command's C-47s to marshal for a drop on Raiding Forces Advanced Base Castelrozzo (ABC). Meanwhile the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) and the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) are attached to Raiding Forces. The problem is they are on Leros which is being invaded by a combined German amphibious/airborne force. Col. Randal decides to rescue the remnants of the two units even though he has no authority to do so. The mission continues.

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.

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.

The war in the Aegean heats up as Raiding Forces has completed its transition from gun jeeps to small boats. The SAS LRDG and the Greek Sacred Squadron are being transferred to Raiding Forces. A major reorganization is underway. Raiding Forces continues its anti-diamond smuggling activities in the Belgian Congo. The invasion of Salerno runs into trouble. Raiding Forces Ranger Task Force conducts a night drop behind enemy lines at Benevento, Italy. Meanwhile, Nazi Brandenburger Commandos have conducted a raid on Advanced Based Castelrozzo (ABC).

Col. John Randal and Raiding Forces continue the mission in Book XI, Raiding Rommel. OPERATION CRUSADER has had a devastating effect on the Desert Patrol gun jeep patrols due to the constant non-stop pace of operations and being misused by Middle East Command. The new US troops of the 575th Parachute Infantry Regiment (Separate) (Special) aka 'Rangers' are being amalgamated into Raiding Forces after rotating through the British Commando School and completing 'Blood in the Sand' training under Capt. 'Mad Dog' Reupart and Sgt. Maj. 'March or Die' Mikkalis ably assisted by the ex-French Foreign Legion veterans of Blue Patrol. Brandy Seaborn alerts Col. Randal to a SOLID GOLD mission to assassinate Nazi Hauptman Alfred Seebohm, Rommel's Merlin -- the commander of the Afrika Korps signals intelligence unit that has exploited the Eight Army's total lack of radio security. Meanwhile 'Wild Bill' Donovan, the chief of the Office of Strategic Services, invites Col. Randal to become the head of Special Projects.

Lieutenant Colonel Randal has established a clandestine base at Oasis X on the far side of the Great Sand Sea from which to launch hit and run gun jeep raids on isolated enemy positions, airfields and fuel tank farms up to a thousand miles behind the lines with Desert Patrol while his Sea Squadron carry out amphibious pinprick Commando raids off a Landing Craft Tank along the Mediterranean Coastline. Raiding Forces is also tasked with raiding the Italian roadhouses located every fifteen miles along the only blacktopped road Rommel has in Africa, which runs from Tripoli to Tobruk, the Via Balbia. Lieutenant Commander Ian Flemming, RN recruits Raiding Forces to conduct 'pinch operations' targeted against remote Africa Korps weather stations to capture code books, keys and signals devices that can be used by MI6 to penetrate the Ultra Secret German Enigma machines. In addition he has to spring Colonel Dudley Clarke from a Spanish prison and rescue his men being held in two Italian POW camps.

The siege of the RAF base at Habbaniya is lifted after the defenders launch a surprise counter attach followed up by an intense air campaign and assault on Bagdad by Habforce that force marched to their aid. Back in Cairo, Raiding Forces is ordered to interdict the Via Balbia, Rommel's 1500 mile supply route along the Mediterranean coast. Maj. Randal forms Raiding Forces Desert Squadron (RFDS) and Raiding Forces Sea Squadron (RFSS) to conduct gunjeep and amphibious pinprick raids against the Afrika Korps exposed line of communication.

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 Transition is a powerful, true to life story of one man's metamorphosis from truancy to truth, honor, and duty. It is a tale of a life lived to its fullest, filled with anecdotes of adventure, and powerful moral lessons. Written entertainingly, The Transition is the rare autobiography that tells as much about the author as it does about its times and ourselves.About the AuthorPhil Ward, MSGT Combat Control Team, Ret,USAFSPECOPS, and a private investigator. He has a black belt in both Judo and Karate and is a 7th Day Adventist who enjoys time with the grandkids and family.

The siege of the RAF base at Habbaniya is lifted after the defenders launch a surprise counter attach followed up by an intense air campaign and assault on Bagdad by Habforce that force marched to their aid. Back in Cairo, Raiding Forces is ordered to interdict the Via Balbia, Rommel's 1500 mile supply route along the Mediterranean coast. Maj. Randal forms Raiding Forces Desert Squadron (RFDS) and Raiding Forces Sea Squadron (RFSS) to conduct gunjeep and amphibious pinprick raids against the Afrika Korps exposed line of communication.

IN THIS SEQUEL TO DESERT PATROLLT. COL. JOHN RANDAL RETURNS IN PRIVATE ARMYRaiding Forces is undergoing a major reorganization to be better able to carry out smallscale raids against Rommel's only hard topped road, the Via Balbia. It runs along thecoast from Tripoli to Tobruk. The plan is for Raiding Forces to be able to strike from the desert out of the Great Sand Sea with gun jeeps and from the Mediterranean using amphibious DUKW's. While this is taking place, the unit is alerted for the invasion of Persia. US Army personnel who have resigned from the army in order to volunteer for the Middle East contingent of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) arrive and are integrated into the unit.

Fiat have built millions of vehicles since 1899 but the company is perhaps best known for its ability to produce small, economical, characterful cars. 'Great Small Fiats' traces this concept from the birth of the 500A 'Topolino' in the 1930s up the current Panda and a hint of the proposed Nuova 500. Each of the selected models are described in detail from their conception through to current ownership in the hands of collectors and enthusiasts. The chapters include practical information on buying and running a small Fiat and restoration advice for the older cars. Also included are Fiats built under licence outside of Italy and the Fiat-derived 'etceterini' coachbuilt and competition cars.