Command

by J.E. Macdonnell

Overview

In recognition of his bravery in piloting a midget submarine into a harbour thick with the Japanese, and sending one of their largest battleships to the bottom of the sea, Peter Bentley was given command of H.M.A.S Wind Rode. It should have been a proud moment for the young lieutenant-commander … but Wind Rode was a sorry-looking destroyer. Everything about her had been allowed to slide.
Peter had his work cut out for him, bringing her up to the standards he’d grown used to aboard his old ship, the Scimitar. And it was a job he couldn’t do alone.
His old commander, Bruce Sainsbury V.C., recognized this and acted at once. He sent Bentley a new Number One, Bob Randall. And of course the one and only Hooky Walker as his buffer. With their support, Bentley was going to bring Wind Rode up to scratch, or the merciless enemy was going to send them down to Davy Jones’ locker …

Product Details

BN ID:	2940165930737
Publisher:	Piccadilly Books, Limited
Publication date:	12/01/2022
Series:	J.E. Macdonnell's Royal Australian Navy World War II Fiction
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	359 KB

About the Author

JAMES EDMOND MACDONNELL was born in 1917 in Mackay, Queensland and became one of Australia’s most prolific writers. As a boy, he became determined to go to sea and read every seafaring book he could find. At age 13, while his family was still asleep, he took his brother’s bike and rode eighty miles from his home town to Brisbane in an attempt to see ships and the sea. Fortunately, he was found and returned to his family. He attended the Toowoomba Grammar School from 1931 to 1932. He served in the Royal Australian Navy for fourteen years, joining at age 17, advancing through all lower deck ranks and reaching the rank of commissioned gunnery officer. He began writing books while still in active service.

Macdonnell wrote stories for The Bulletin under the pseudonym “Macnell” and from 1948 to 1956 he was a member of The Bulletin staff. His first book, Fleet Destroyer – a collection of stories about life on the small ships – was published by The Book Depot, Melbourne, in 1945. Macdonnell began writing full-time for Horwitz in 1956, writing an average of a dozen books a year.

After leaving the navy, Macdonnell lived in St. Ives, Sydney and pursued his writing career. In 1988, he retired to Buderim on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. He died peacefully in his sleep at a Buderim hospital in 2002. He is survived by his children Beth, Jane and Peter.

Macdonnell’s naval stories feature several recurring characters – Captain “Dutchy” Holland, D.S.O., Captain Peter Bentley, V.C., Captain Bruce Sainsbury, V.C., Jim Brady, and Lieutenant Commander Robert Randall.