Last Ditch: The Battle in the English Channel, 1939-43

by John Wingate

An action-packed World War II adventure! Perfect for fans of Clive Cussler, Douglas Reeman and Duncan Harding.A young sailor is called to serve his country in a hazardous rescue mission…The English Channel, 1940World War II is in full swing. With Hitler’s Panzers closing in on British forces trapped in northern France, Sub-Lieutenant Wally Bruce is called to his country’s aid.Serving aboard the ‘little ships’ of the Royal Navy’s Coastal Forces division, he’s instructed to assist with the Dunkirk evacuation. On this tense mission he almost loses his life to bombing and friendly fire … and his heart to Suzanne Noyce, a beautiful and enigmatic French spy.When France falls and Britain stands alone against Hitler, Wally goes on to serve aboard various vessels over the next two years.And as tensions mount in the build-up to ‘Operation Jubilee’, the devastating 1942 raid on Dieppe, he’s in the thick of the action.But with the odds stacked against the Allies, can they hold out against the enemy? And can Wally survive the war with his life and heart intact?Based on real-life events, LAST DITCH is the third book in the WWII Action Thriller authentic aviation and naval military fiction bringing to life the perilous battles that irrevocably changed the course of World War II.THE WWII ACTION THRILLER BOOK Torpedo StrikeBOOK Never So ProudBOOK Last Ditch

196 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

John Alan Wingate DSC was a successful novelist with some twenty-five books to his credit. Many of these had a naval theme. Frequently involving the submarine service, they gained much authenticity from Wingate’s personal wartime experiences

Reviews

[T.O. Munro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fictionalised story woven around real events of the battles in the English channel during the first half of the Second World War, that holds much of interest but in the end falls between the two stools of its ambition.

The author, experienced in the field and with access to many of the serving participants has a remarkable story to tell. To be honest the historical tale seems to be a series of disasters as leaders at all levels learnt through costly on the job experience. The material cost of the triumph of Dunkirk is one fact laid bare. Small escort boats too slow or underarmed for the job seem to struggle to make a contribution.

I bought this book second hand and wondered if my reading of it as a tale of frequently stupid heroism was right. But in the last section of the book and the disastrous dieppe raid a previous reader has added intemperate annotations relabelling initiative as stupidity and making references to criminal stupidity.

In a way it is a shame the book stops where it does at a nadir where lessons have been learnt but not yet been put fully into practice.

Against this backdrop of historical account, sometimes delivered with the solemnity of a text book, we have an attempt at a human story with an unlikely love interest threading its way through history. Unlike the injection of Rose and Jack into James Cameron's titanic, the wally and Suzanne love story added neither drama nor coherence to the telling of a great human disaster spread over three years. Despite deciding Suzanne is the great love of his life neither she Niebuhr hero are convincing in that role. Twice wally meets her in company with another man and simply fails to recognise her until she speaks to him. I know it was dark in wartime but...

Anyway, I enjoyed it, it was an easily devoured story, but it would have been better as a historical narrative (like Len deighton's Fighter) rather than attempting a fictionalised history (like Len deighton's Bomber)

[John Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the whole book. The beginning was interesting but the last quarter to one-third of the book was, to me, at least, boring. It was like reading a detailed recitation of the officer's names, ranks, and boat names. Everything about the main character was lost because except for a page or two he was never mentioned, again. Quite frankly, it was as if the first two-thirds of the book was by one author, and the last third was written by a computer.

My rating of three stars was generous.

[Chaplain Stanley Chapin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tremendous amount of research, produced a great deal of information. Way more than was necessary, in my estimation. I enjoyed the storyline, however, did not need to know all the names and ranks of all the leaders of various actions.

[Dean · Rating 1 out of 5]

Felt more like a historical account than a historical novel. Lots of jumping around covering lots of ground without context. The main characters seem to get lost. On the positive side, informative with lots of historical information. The author certainly did his homework.

[MR CHRISTOPHER · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action packed

This the third of this set of books keeps the action bouncing along. It is another one of thouse books that is hard to put down, and before you know it, you are hooked.

[D.M. Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Factual war book

There’s a lot of good accurate history in this book. However it is cluttered. We get the full names ranks and medals of the real characters.
That’s fine for a regimental history, but the novel doesn’t glow. The main fictional character is almost an afterthought.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confusing

There were too many boat and character names that it was hard to keep them straight. They were hard to follow from assignment to assignment. It was an incredible story based on history. It is a good book for history buffs.

[Bob Wiseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A seriously great read

John Wingate put together a magnificent work of British naval action in the English Channel. One of the best I have ever read about that important time. Great words from a fellow scribbler.

[Chris O'Flaherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a delightful and personal account of the battles in the English Channel in the period 1939-1943.  John Wingate saw at first hand many of the actions and puts these into context for the reader as well as describing the detail of the action from a first-person perspective.  

[David E McDonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

poor story line

Not sure if this a novel or a documentary, to many names and abbreviations.
Sorry the idea is good but the book does not hold together

[Mark Curless · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good reading

I liked the action and battles as far as my history goes that was the saga of the diep raid, loved it