Enemy in Sight: J.E. Macdonnell #04

by J.E. Macdonnell

Overview

"That boat back there is a complete submarine - in miniature. About fifty feet long, including propeller, rudder and hydroplanes. That reduces your living space to something nearer thirty-five feet. You have no torpedo tubes, no armaments. You're not meant to be found or to fight a battle. From now on you're a sneaker. Inoffensive - until you release your side cargoes. Each one of those holds four tons of amatol explosive and a time clock. You drop those under that Jap cruiser's bottom and then run for your life.”
Peter Bentley had three weeks to learn to handle the midget submarine - three weeks to accomplish the secret and deadly mission that could be the turning point of the whole war.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940165903908
Publisher:	Piccadilly Books, Limited
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Series:	J.E. Macdonnell's Royal Australian Navy World War II Fiction , #4
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	714 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.