Code poem written by Leo Marks for SOE agent Violette Szabo, murdered by the Gestapo in Ravensbrűck concentration camp, 1945.
HISTORICAL NOTE
The Me 163 Komet finally became fully operational in 1944 but it was never produced in sufficient numbers to influence the outcome of the war. Like many of Hitler’s much vaunted miracle weapons its impact was too little, too late. Fuel shortages prevented many of the planes from seeing combat and the Germans never did overcome the problems of excess weight and combustible fuel mixtures that so frustrated the fictional Professor Gaerte. Just sixteen confirmed kills were attributed to Komet attacks, all of them Allied bomber planes. It is thought a larger number of Komets were destroyed in crash landings.
Jedburgh teams played an important role in the aftermath of the D-Day landings, with more than ninety teams parachuted into occupied territory, to form a link between the Allies and the Resistance, then cause havoc for the retreating Germans.
Kim Philby was a lecturer at SOE’s training schools before rising through the ranks of MI6 following the war then gaining lasting notoriety in the 1960s as an unmasked KGB mole planted deep into the heart of British Intelligence years earlier.
Ian Fleming worked for Naval Intelligence during World War Two. It is said that Elder Wills, the creator of SOE’s ‘props’, was the model for Fleming’s character Q in the James Bond stories. Vera Atkins is cited as an inspiration for Miss Moneypenny. Elder’s ‘little inventions’ did indeed end up in a glass case somewhere – during an exhibition in the Imperial War Museum.
Emma Stirling’s codename ‘Madeleine’ was actually used by SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan, the first woman wireless operator to be sent into France. She was eventually discovered by the Germans, enduring eleven months of captivity, before being taken to Dachau Concentration Camp. On 12 September 1944, along with three other female agents, she was executed. Their tragic deaths are a reminder of the incredible courage of the men and women of the SOE and the very real danger they faced behind enemy lines.
Sam Cooper’s employers the OSS were the forerunners to today’s CIA. It would be another sixty-one years before Sam’s beloved Boston Red Sox won the World Series again in 2004. I like to think he might have lived just long enough to witness it.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This is my fifth novel with the lovely people at No Exit Press and I would like to thank everyone there for publishing Ungentlemanly Warfare. In particular, a special thank you to Ion Mills for his faith in my writing and for getting me started as an author, a journey that I am still constantly surprised to be on.
I would also like to thank the rest of the guys at No Exit; Claire Watts, Steven Mair, Clare Quinlivan, Clare Holloway, Jayne Lewis and Katherine Sunderland. You are all an absolute pleasure to work with, every single time.
A huge thank you, as always, to ‘Special Agent’ Phil Patterson, who, as well as being my brilliant literary agent, also shares my minor obsession with all things WWII related and, like me, can recite virtually every line from Where Eagles Dare. May he always be there to remind me which side of the square the cathedral is on.
The following people have given me help, support and inspiration during my writing career and continue to do so, every day. Thank you, Adam Pope, Andy Davis, Nikki Selden, Gareth Chennells, Andrew Local, Stuart Britton, David Shapiro, Peter Day, Tony Frobisher, Eva Dolan, Katie Charlton, Gemma Sealey, Peter Hammans, Emad Akhtar, Joel Richardson and Keshini Naidoo.
My lovely wife Alison gets a special thank you for putting up with me and all of this writing. I may be a bit strange but all I can say in my defence is, at least I only kill people on the page. My amazing daughter Erin continues to inspire me every day. She makes me laugh and puts everything neatly in perspective. I’m in awe of her intelligence and constantly cheered by her kind heart. Love you always Erin.
About the author
Howard Linskey is the author of five novels published by No Exit Press, including the David Blake crime series, The Drop, The Damage and The Dead. Harry Potter producer, David Barron optioned a TV adaptation of The Drop, which was voted one of the Top Five Thrillers of the Year by The Times. The Damage was voted one of The Times’ Top Summer Reads. He is also the author of two books set during WW٢. Hunting the Hangman is a historical thriller about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague during WW٢. His new novel Ungentlemanly Warfare features SOE agents Harry Walsh and Emma Stirling, as well as American OSS agent Sam Cooper. Howard is also the author of four books published by Penguin, including No Name Lane, Behind Dead Eyes, The Search and The Chosen Ones in a crime series set in the north east of England, featuring DS Ian Bradshaw, with investigative journalists Tom Carney and Helen Norton. Originally from Ferryhill in County Durham, he now lives in Hertfordshire with his wife Alison and daughter Erin.
Also by Howard Linskey
The Drop
The Dead
The Damage
No Name Lane
Behind Dead Eyes
The Search
The Chosen Ones
Hunting the Hangman
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Copyright
This ebook edition published in 2019
by No Exit Press an imprint of Oldcastle Books
Harpenden, UK
www.noexit.co.uk
All rights reserved
© Howard Linskey, 2019
The right of Howard Linskey to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
This is a work of fiction. N
ames, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBNs
978-0-85730-320-2 (paperback)
978-0-85730-321-9 (epub)
Ebook by Avocet Typeset, Somerton, Somerset, TA11 6RT
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Ungentlemanly Warfare Page 28