book cover of The Bloodied Hawks
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The Bloodied Hawks

(2015)
A novel by

 
 
1917.

The Royal Flying Corps and French Aviation Militaire are again losing the dominance they had won in late 1916 over the German Military Aviation Service.

The strain of a hard winter’s fighting has eroded both the Allied and enemy airmen; physically, mentally and morally.

For three commanding officers, the stress of the war is taking its toll.

Two and a half years on the Western Front has been draining for Major Edward Buchan, commanding officer of a squadron of Sopwith Pups with the Royal Flying Corps.

He feels guilty over the death of one of his pilots and he misses his fiancé Caroline.

But with the new Sopwith Pup, a more reliable aircraft than the old Lewis, Buchan is hopeful that he might live to see the enemy defeated.

For German Rittmeister von Ahrens, commander of an Albatros Jasta, destroying the enemy does not come easy.

Sickened at the thought of killing, he tries his best to make the slaughter of enemy airmen as merciful as possible.

Von Ahrens is a loving husband and father but being apart from his wife for so long has resulted in sexual frustration.

He also suffers from nightmares and is consumed with the fear of his own death.

Handsome Capitaine Georges Lejeune, commanding officer of a Nieuport Escadrille with the French Aviation Militaire, has seen so many of his fellow pilots shot down that he now confuses their faces and names in his mind.

Infatuated with his beautiful mistress, aspiring actress Denise Vergnette, Lejeune distracts himself with food, drink, and sex.

But Lejeune is not the only man trying to woo Denise and he soon finds himself struggling with feelings of jealousy, especially when a Hollywood producer also sets his sights on her.

Buchan, von Ahrens, and Lejeune are all faced with the same professional and personal stresses.

But their duty will ultimately bring their lives to a final convergence in a surprising and dramatic battle.

Praise for Richard Townshend Bickers:

‘A thrilling page turner’ – Tom Kasey, best-selling author of ‘Trade Off’.

Richard Townsend Bickers volunteered for the RAF on the outbreak of the Second World War and served, with a Permanent Commission, for eighteen years. He wrote a range of military fiction and non-fiction books, including ‘Torpedo Attack’, ‘My Enemy Came Nigh’, ‘Bombing Run’, ‘Fighters Up’ and ‘Summer of No Surrender’.


Genre: Thriller

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