FORTUNE’S WAR by Bill Bailey
Attempts to solve the mystery surrounding the loss of his destroyer HMS Fortune, along with the complete Royal Navy convoy HXL 267, in September 1943, lead
Commander Bob Garner into even more dangerous waters than those of the North
Atlantic.
Although exonerated of blame, he is dismayed that his superiors do not accept
his report that the convoy was attacked by an exceptionally fast submarine.
There
also seems to be an unwarranted secrecy about the purpose of the defeated
convoy.
Traumatised by the loss of the Fortune and the lack of reaction by his superiors, he finds his personal life in turmoil and wife Melissa unable to cope with his
state of mind; his only solace in the form of Mary Forbes, a sympathetic Wren
officer.
Meanwhile the captured Frigatten Kapitan Hinterberger seems to know about the
sinking of the British convoy, but teases Bob Garner, holding back on any real
information.
As the truth unfolds regarding the loss of convoy HXL 267, the war service of
German Kapitan Hinterberger, the secret of the high speed submarines and the
purpose of
‘Operation Cloudburst’, Commander Bob Garner shares his place on the stage of history with figures
such as General Eisenhower, Adolf Hitler and Gross Admiral Doenitz, who led the
U-boat campaign, together with double agent Garbo and the mysterious Committee
XX.
Bill Bailey
After leaving school in South Wales at fourteen, Bill Bailey worked as a
steelworks laboratory assistant before joining the Royal Navy in which he
served as a diver and, after gaining a commission, served in submarines.
Following his service career, he worked in various industries as a personnel
manager or director and before retiring was a consultant to the then Secretary
of State for the Environment.
With his first three published novels of historic Welsh interest, this novel
draws from his own experiences and knowledge of the navy as well as historical
interest in the Second World War.
