633 SQUADRON: OPERATION VALKYRIE by Smith, Frederick E - 1978

London: Cassell, 1978. 235 pp, 8vo (8" H). "It is now February 1944 and Air Commodore Davies and General Staines of the American 8th Air Force have just received one of Churchill's most feared ACTION THIS DAY directives. A young Norwegian officer, Paul Lindstrom, has arrived in England with the news that the Germans are shipping out a large consignment of heavy water in less than two weeks. Once in Germany it will be processed in a bomb-proof installation. The threat is overwhelming: the stocks must be destroyed in transit. Davies is visibly shaken. 633 Squadron's cruel sacrifice the previous spring to kill the heavy water threat has left its mark on him, and the thought of having to send his crews back into Norway subdues his characteristic elan. He and Staines learn that a group of Norwegian freedom fighters led by Captain Haukelid intend trying to sabotage the consignment when it is in transit on the ferryboat 'Hydro'. What Haukelid does not know, however, is that the Germans intend to hedge their bets by sending half the consignment to a cruiser berthed at the head of the Hardanger Fjord. Because of elaborate security precautions, Lindstrom informs S.O.E. that these stocks cannot be sabotaged in transit: the cruiser itself must be sunk when the stocks are aboard. It sounds simple, but for all kinds of cogent reasons it is in fact an insoluble problem for 633 Squadron - until Frank Adams, the squadron's Intelligence Officer, comes up with a bizarre suggestion that will involve Norwegian and American assistance. It will put the squadron in great peril, but with no other option open to Davies, the magnitude of the threat forces him to act. The extraordinary mission that follows, which graphically illustrates the scacrifices and tragedies of war, makes a climax as vivid and compelling as anything the author has yet written about this famous Special Service Unit of Mosquitoes." Light cigarette odour, faint erased pencil marks on front free endpaper, book slightly cracked at title page - pages holding firmly, light browning to pages and edges of text block, slight wrinkling at top/bottom of spine. Dust jacket has minor edgewear, soft creases at top of rear panel, light rubbing, three tiny dints on hinges, light browning at top edge - very light on spine and flap-folds, two small areas of surface paper loss on front panel due to sticker removal.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good/Good.