Wing Commander Bill Harsker is sent by the Air Ministry to the British Protectorate of Iraq. Ordered by the League of Nations to keep the peace, he has just a handful of aeroplanes to control the skies over Mesopotamia. Attacked by rebellious Kurds and then an invading Turkish army, the Royal Air Force is hard pressed to keep the peace. When an old nemesis from Bill’s past emerges, he finds himself fighting for not only peace but his life. Based on true events this is a fast-moving novel about the early days of the Royal Air Force.
This is the last book in the British Ace series. I like to make my books as realistic as possible and to have as much action in them as I can get. After the war against the rebels and Turkey in the 1920s the R.A.F was engaged in very small actions. If you enjoy the character then he reappears in the Combined Operations series and his son, Tom, still has to go to Korea!
Excerpt
I spied the castle of Kirkuk. It was on high ground in the centre of the town. Nearby I saw the Union Flag which marked the British military presence. It was the Residency. The castle was just a ruin but I suppose it could be defended if it had to be. We deliberately flew low over the town. I wanted them to know that we were here. The huge Napier Lion engines would terrify the natives. I spied huge swathes of open ground to the east of the town but they looked to have too many outcrops of rock. In contrast, the land just to the west looked flat. There was not as much open land but it looked like it would do. I was tempted to try to land. Then I realised that would be a mistake. I had a squadron to lead.
We circled the town and then headed home. As we cleared Kirkuk I spied a dust cloud to the east. I signalled the rest of the squadron to return to Baghdad. I would investigate. I saw that the Vickers Vernon still lumbered south. I would be interested in what Squadron Leader Harris thought of my proposed site. The dust was slightly further away than I had expected. I was contemplating turning around when I saw that the dust was the result of horses. There were forty or fifty of them and they were circling what looked like a lorry. I recognised the solar helmets of the soldiers. They were British. I could not hear much over the sound of my engine but I knew that they were firing for I saw the flashes of their Lee Enfields.
I had no idea why they were not moving but I cocked my twin Vickers. I had some serious firepower. I banked as I passed the lorry. I saw faces looking up. I knew they would be wondering why I had not fired. I did not want to hit friendlies. Having located where the lorry was I dropped to fifty feet and zoomed at a hundred and five miles an hour towards the horsemen. I had been an air gunner and knew how to fire in short bursts. I opened fire with both guns. I fired for four seconds with a two second break. I had no idea of the effect I was having because of the dust. I banked to the left and flew up the other side of the road. There was less dust and I saw a handful of riders. They raised their rifles to fire at me. I gave them a four second burst. Sixty cartridges sped towards the enemy every four seconds. As I banked I saw that I had destroyed the riders and their mounts. I saw the dust departing towards the east. The survivors had had enough.
I knew I had to leave or risk running out of fuel. I banked again to fly over the road. I saw the soldiers waving at me. I saw that they had a wheel off. They had a puncture. I waggled my wings and turned south.
