The Nazi’s need industrial diamonds to build precision instruments and harden tools. Germany has an eight month supply. The only way the Germans can get more diamonds is for DeBeers Diamond Company to supply them through neutral Switzerland. Raiding Forces has been tasked with shutting down the illicit diamond buying. Meanwhile, Col. John Randal and a party of the 575th PIR aka Rangers make a combat jump on an artillery battery on the flank of Dieppe working in conjunction with Lord Lovat’s 4 Commando. And later, during OPERATON TORCH, Col. Randal leads a party of the 10th Ranger Battalion up a 12 mile river onboard the destroyer USS Dallas to capture the Port Layety airfield in one of the most daring operations of WWII.
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.
As preposterous as the stories are, they are still a good read, I enjoyed them and I'm looking forward to the next one. The only complaint I have is the editing. The books are replete with typos, misspellings, and worst of all are spell checker's "corrections" like "Cypress" for "Cyprus" and "Counsel" for "Consul" among others. A decent editor should have caught them and made the reading much more enjoyable.
Military historical fiction about English and American special operations during WWII.
There is a lot of action in this series with some very interesting characters including John Randal , Lady Jane Seaborn, and Jack Cool. There are also a lot of parachute drops, donkey and jeep patrols and railroad bombing. What I don't like is all the frequent repeating of the characters full names an awards. Once per chapter should be enough.
I cannot imagine how stressed Randal must have been during this timeframe. Being pulled from one crisis to another. There are many well written raids and operationsin this book. The whole beginning to Operation Torch was Fubar. Lack of planning and practice showed. I felt bad for the troops in this situation! I enjoyed reading this book, and am anxious to read more about how Operation Torch continues!
Another great read by Phil Ward. If he put these Raiding Forces out once a month, I still don't think it would be fast enough for me. I love the characters and the writing.
“Strategic Services” is Book 12 in the ‘Raiding Forces’ series and a real cliffhanger. Col. John Randal, in addition to the British and German forces, now has to deal with the American Armed Forces, the OSS, the Cairo Diamond Cartel and the Invasion of France.
Like the rest of the series, there are more twists and turns in “Strategic Services” then you can keep up with. The action is non-stop, the risk are even higher, and the men & women of Raiding Forces are pushed to the limit.
Phil Ward has done another masterful job weaving actual people and events into the excellently written “Strategic Services”. It is a must read for WW II, historical novel and action aficionados!
Hopefully, Mr. Ward will finish the next installment ASAP!
Colonel Randle and his merry men and women are being tasked to do more and the attrition rate increases and becomes a severe detriment to the missions. The raiding forces retest some former applicants for a reserve force. Very good series can hardly wait for next book.
Lt Col Randal and his crew of cutthroat characters are back. The series continues and, it seems, the pace has picked up from the last installment. As usual I devoured this one in a couple days. Write faster, Mr Ward, FASTER!