Valor

by D.A. Rayner

Commander D. A. Rayner, whose novels of the sea have become classics of suspense and drama, now adds a unique tour de force to the annals of courage. His latest triumph, VALOR, is a tense, twice-told tale of mechanized war.This time the action is on land — a tank battle between mythical Allied and Central Powers which rages for hours in heavy mist “somewhere in Western Europe.” Battle plans for the Allies are carefully drawn up by Brigadier Crockford and his staff. By cold military logic, a command decision is reached. A single squadron must remain in an exposed position. It is lost to the last man. The enemy is repulsed, however, and Brigadier Crockford gains a strategic victory. Without nobility, without afterglow, Crockford’s victory leaves little but the taste of defeat.Then, in a spiral of dramatic suspense, Commander Rayner retells the story — as it might have happened — had a young officer, Lieutenant Campion, followed his human impulse to valor and self-sacrifice by defying strategy and logic. It is in this heroic engagement that the tale surges to a glorious climax.Superbly plotted, tautly paced, VALOR is a bold and virile tale with a special core of meaning for our Man is still greater than the machines he serves, and, on occasion, valor alone will have its say.About the Denys Arthur Rayner was a Royal Navy officer who fought throughout the Battle of the Atlantic. After intensive war service at sea, Rayner became a writer, a farmer, and a successful designer and builder of small sailing craft.

148 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 11, 2015

About the author

Denys Arthur Rayner DSC & Bar, VRD, RNVR (9 February 1908 – 4 January 1967) was a Royal Navy officer who fought throughout the Battle of the Atlantic. After intensive war service at sea, Rayner became a writer, a farmer, and a successful designer and builder of small sailing craft - his first being the Westcoaster; his most successful being the glass fibre gunter or Bermudian rigged twin keel Westerly 22 from which evolved similar "small ships" able to cross oceans while respecting the expectations, in terms of comfort, safety and cost, of a burgeoning family market keen to get to sea. Before his death in 1967, Rayner had founded, and via his pioneering GRP designs, secured the future expansion of Westerly Marine Construction Ltd - up until the late 1980s, one of Britain's most successful yacht builders.