The Iron Stallions
Page 27
He walked slowly to his command. The wireless antennae moved slightly in the breeze. The men climbing back into their seats moved slowly, as if they were worn down by weariness and by the memories of friends who were no longer with them. He knew what they were thinking. ‘Why us? Why can’t we stay where we are?’ But their faces were blank and unemotional and he found their very lack of emotion was enough to bring him close to tears.
As he climbed to his place, he realised how tired he was. But it was over. As sure as God made little green apples, the war could not go on much longer. Hitler would die somehow – either by his own hand or at the end of a rope – and with him, all the bestial apparatus of Nazism. Somewhere ahead the Russians were surging west as fast as the Western Allies were surging east. Before long they would meet and the only thing that must remain in their thoughts was the end of Nazi Germany. There was only one way to go, only one way to look, only one way to think. The past was dead, like the men who had made it. There was only the future, and that future belonged, after all the suffering, to men like himself, with Louise, the new Joshua Goff, Rosie and Kitty and Braxby.
He picked up the microphone and made himself comfortable. Ackroyd had settled himself in his seat, his hands on his steering sticks. All those old men who had said cavalry was finished had been wildly wrong. Tradition had become confused with reaction. The truth was that, though weapons changed, men did not and in the last analysis it was the men who won the battles. It all came back to the same thing. In the Drosseltal there had been nothing to keep them going but the fact that they were who they were. It mattered to the 19th Lancers that they were the 19th Lancers, as it did to the Hussars and the Yeomanry. It was one of the imponderables that could never be measured.
Beneath him the tank’s engine was rumbling and Ackroyd was singing softly to himself. Josh recognised the words.
‘Wrap me up in my old stable jacket
And say a poor devil lies low
And six of the Lancers shall carry me
To the place where the best soldiers go.’
It was not sung with the usual jaunty air of defiance, but with a heavy beat like a slow march, as a lament for all the men of the regiment who had died and particularly for George Robinson, who had shared their tank with them for what had seemed a lifetime. Slipping on the headphones, Josh drew a deep breath and reached for the microphone. Life had to go on. Like Reeves, Robinson had only been posted away.
‘Okay, Tyas,’ he said. ‘That’ll do.’ He paused and the song died. ‘Right,’ he ordered. ‘Berlin, here we come.’
‘Kelly Maguire’ Titles
(in order of first publication)
These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. The Lion at Sea 1977
2. The Dangerous Years 1978
3. Back to Battle 1979
‘Goff Family’ Titles
(in order of first publication)
These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. Soldier of the Queen 1980
2. Blunted Lance 1981
3. The Iron Stallions 1982
RAF Trilogy
(in order of first publication)
These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. The Bright Blue Sky 1982
2. The Challenging Heights 1983
3. Once More the Hawks 1984
Synopses of Hennessy Titles
Published by House of Stratus
Back to Battle
The third title in the exciting naval trilogy featuring the courageous Kelly Maguire. Commander Kelly Maguire, leader of men in the British Navy, finds himself plunged into blistering attacks at the battle of Dunkirk. From bitter fighting in the Mediterranean, to the landings at Normandy, this action-packed saga takes Maguire through trial to triumph. Against a background of personal tragedy, this is a compelling story of love and adventure.
The Blunted Lance
The second novel in the Goff family trilogy. The Goffs, a family devoted to The Regiment - the Nineteenth Lancers - find themselves charting a history of the world from the Sudan to South Africa, Flanders to Palestine. Charging and retreating on the wide plains of a failing British Empire, Coby Goff rises to the rank of Field Marshal and Dabney is honoured as a hero. But they witness the decline of the beloved cavalry, defeated in the face of pounding artillery, the tank and machine gun.
The Bright Blue Sky
The first in Hennessy’s breathtaking RAF trilogy. The reckless days of early aviation are brought to life in a tale of daring, dashing young pilots waging war, and of the raging struggle between the hearts of two brave men for the heart of a beautiful woman. This is the first story in the trilogy involving Corporal Quinney, an air ace in the RAF; a hero blazing through the skies to dogfight high above the Italian front, confronting deadly foes and challenging a treacherous rival in love and war.
The Challenging Heights
The second in Hennessy’s breathtaking RAF trilogy. Dicken Quinney, a brilliant, heroic character, comes to life in this turbulent action novel. Quinney finds himself flying in the Baltic in a fight against the Bolsheviks. But tragedy mixes with adventure as Quinney loses his lover, Zoe.
The Dangerous Years
The second title in the exciting naval trilogy featuring the courageous Kelly Maguire. There is talk of peace across Europe as the First World War draws to its bloody conclusion and the German naval fleet limps into Scapa Flow for a humiliating surrender. But for Lieutenant Kelly Maguire, new conflicts arise in Russia, the Mediterranean and the Far East. Maguire faces brutal choices and violent action. Rising through the ranks of the Royal Navy he is sent on a mission to the killing-ground of China. For Maguire, dangerous years are ahead.
The Iron Stallions
The third novel in the Goff family trilogy. The Goff family have lived and died for the Nineteenth Lancers for generations but when Josh Goff runs away from school to enlist in the ranks of the cavalry under a false name, he winds up on the beaches of France. It is D-Day and heavy artillery pummels the landscape around him. As he fights, Goff learns that the cavalry is still expected to save the day, or die bravely in the attempt.
The Lion at Sea
The first title in the exciting naval trilogy featuring the courageous Kelly Maguire. Midshipman Kelly Maguire has always had a love affair with the sea. And when war clouds gather over Europe, Maguire is put to the test along with the marine might of the Royal Navy. From the Hellish battles of Gallipoli to the barbarous action at Antwerp, Maguire begins to learn the lessons a sailor must face. Glory and danger abound in this sizzling saga of adventure, blood and guts.
Once More the Hawks
Last in the RAF trilogy, this story charts the exploits of world-class fighter pilot Dicken Quinney. It is the summer of 1939 and when war breaks out, Quinney finds himself flying through the skies of France, shot down over a cemetery and forced to make a breath-taking escape across Nazi Europe, into the hands of his nemesis, General Lee Tse Liu.
Soldier of the Queen
The first novel in the Goff family trilogy. Charting the heroism of a young and talented cavalry officer, Colby Goff, this story takes the reader from Balaclava to the Zulu War. Colby progresses from a raw, wilful soldier to a laudable officer, fighting from continent to continent, engaging in the Franco-Prussian and American civil war and proving himself to be a man of passion and of steel.
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