Shipwreck!

The wind, driving storm-scattered ships, blew gale-force during the night. John Killen lay in his swinging bunk, unable to sleep. Through a thin canvas bulkhead he heard horses bang about the hold, struggling to keep on their feet as the transport pitched deep into the troughs between waves.

Major Cavendish proved accommodating to his unexpected guest but not to the extent of allowing Killen a share of the cramped officers’ cabin in the bows. Instead, an extra hammock was hung in the hold alongside the remainder of the major’s squadron, men of the 7th Hussars who had sailed, full of hope, with Lord Paget and now found themselves facing an ignominious repatriation.

When it came, the tearing, grinding cacophony as the transport struck rocks took Killen by surprise. The ship heeled over, sending horses crashing around the hold in pitch darkness. One animal off its legs lashed through the bulkhead into the makeshift sleeping quarters, splintering timbers. Water cascaded through cracked planks.

Those men not thrown from their bunks when the ship foundered clambered out. Killen dragged on boots and coat while from around him hussars dashed at the broken bulkhead, one screaming as the still flailing horse smashed his leg with a single blow. Killen forced his way past, men behind pushing at his back in growing panic. He hugged the ship’s side until he touched the nearest companionway, hooking his hands over each worn tread to claw his way out of the fast-flooding hold.

On deck he found chaos. Any escape at the stern meant climbing over the fallen mizzen mast, still tethered to the hull by a tangle of ropes and sailcloth.

“Captain!”

 Killen turned. The farrier, Ravel, was shouting at him, windblown hair a black halo round his face.

 “This way, sir.” Taking Killen’s arm he walked purposefully amidships. “We’ll have to jump for it! She’s fast starting to break up!”

Killen looked over the bulwarks, at inky-black waves tearing the transport to pieces, “What about boats?”

“No time! They’d be swamped in this sea, if they’ve not been smashed already!” He pulled Killen closer, shouting over the wind, “You need to go now, sir!”

Killen put a foot over the side and felt Ravel’s shove. He plunged deep into raging water, kicking frantically until his head broke the surface. He must get further away: falling masts might crush him or rigging drag his body under.

from "Leopardkill" by Jonathan Hopkins

Buy your copy at Amazon or a bookshop

 

Book Description

Publication Date: 19 Sep 2013

A thrilling war novel set against the dramatic backdrop of the Peninsular War that saw a small British force pitched against Napoleon's Grande Armee. It is Autumn 1808. The French army is gone from Portugal...except for one man. And what he has stolen is deadly secret. Sergeant Joshua Lock and Captain the Honourable John Killen pursue the spy deep into Spain ahead of Sir John Moore's British army - a force now ordered to fight the French alongside native troops. But instead of helping their new allies, the Spaniards seem to have turned against them. Their quarry still free, Killen's discovery of Lock's affair with a fellow officer's wife drives the childhood friends apart as savage winter storms grip the Galician mountains. With discipline breaking down, and Spain's armies in disarray, every man must decide for himself - who is friend and who is foe? Should the outnumbered, starving British stand and fight, or run for the sea, and home? Whilst unbeknown to the bickering allies, Bonaparte himself is storming through Spain with but a single purpose...to destroy every 'mangy English leopard.' Meticulously researched to be historically and militarily accurate, this dashing novel of cavalrymen at war is written by an expert horseman.

Book Description

Publication Date: 19 Sep 2013

A thrilling war novel set against the dramatic backdrop of the Peninsular War that saw a small British force pitched against Napoleon's Grande Armee. It is Autumn 1808. The French army is gone from Portugal...except for one man. And what he has stolen is deadly secret. Sergeant Joshua Lock and Captain the Honourable John Killen pursue the spy deep into Spain ahead of Sir John Moore's British army - a force now ordered to fight the French alongside native troops. But instead of helping their new allies, the Spaniards seem to have turned against them. Their quarry still free, Killen's discovery of Lock's affair with a fellow officer's wife drives the childhood friends apart as savage winter storms grip the Galician mountains. With discipline breaking down, and Spain's armies in disarray, every man must decide for himself - who is friend and who is foe? Should the outnumbered, starving British stand and fight, or run for the sea, and home? Whilst unbeknown to the bickering allies, Bonaparte himself is storming through Spain with but a single purpose...to destroy every 'mangy English leopard.' Meticulously researched to be historically and militarily accurate, this dashing novel of cavalrymen at war is written by an expert horseman.

NEW BOOK - The V2 Offensive on London

Buy your copy HERE

Product Description

Author: Andrew May

Key note: In September 1944 Hitler unleashed on London his ultimate Vengeance Weapon - the V-2, a ballistic missile that arrived without warning, demolished entire streets and against which there was no defence.

The development of the top secret V-2 ballistic missile began almost as soon as Hitler came to power, but frequent problems with technical issues meant that a working prototype did not appear until 1942 and the first V-2 was fired in anger in 1944.

When the V-2 entered service it sent shock waves through the Allied high command. Arriving at speeds faster than the speed of sound, the V-2 arrived without warning, but with enough force to destroy an entire street. The death tolls from V-2 blasts could be horrific, with more than 140 people being killed in an instant.

And against these terror weapons, London had no defence. The parabolic flight path of the V-2 meant they climbed almost to space before falling back down to smash London.

In this book defence analyst Andrew May traces the development of the V-2 from pre-war pipe dreams to horrific reality. He looks at the reasons why Hitler unleashed the fury on London and how the Allies responded - and at the impact the campaign had on ordinary Londoners. A true tale of terror, horror and courage.


Contents
Chapter 1: The War in September 1944
Chapter 2: A New Kind of Weapon
Chapter 3: The V-2 Campaign
Chapter 4: A One-Sided Battle
Chapter 5: Aftermath

About the Author
Andrew May is a former defence scientist with an MA from Cambridge University and a PhD from Manchester University. His thirty year career spanned academia, the civil service and the defence industry. He has worked on advanced technology research in Farnborough, strategic planning in Whitehall and operational analysis for a large defence company. He is now based in the South-West of England where he works as a freelance writer and blogger.

Cavalry on Parade - Leopardkill

The cavalry brigade's new commander rode slowly along the line of horsemen drawn up in the town square. Day-dreaming of Elinor Rapton, Lock watched with disinterest as Lord Henry Paget examined each shivering man’s uniform and equipment.

Killen rode to one side and slightly behind his avowed hero. This was the man who wrote back to Lord Halcombe in terms of regret he had no commission to offer his grandson, so why Killen still seemed in awe of the 7th hussars’ regimental colonel Lock had no idea. But Lord Paget recognised the captain’s name immediately they were introduced and seemed to have already taken Killen under his wing as an additional aide-de-camp. As if Paget did not have enough hangers-on already, Lock thought sourly.

Parades were a damned nuisance, especially in a place like this. Lock scrounged blacking for his boots, still spurless after the accident at Rueda, and found a brush in his valise with which he attempted to smarten his dolman. But his overalls were heavy with dirt from the prison cell in Puente del Miedo and Sexton’s thickening winter coat needed a good scrub. He had no brush for that.

And it was damned chilly. Heavily pregnant snowclouds glowered at the horsemen from low over surrounding hills. Officers on parade wore cloaks, of course, shielding them from the worst of the cold, but such niceties were denied rank and file whose outer garments lay strapped in front of their saddles. Lock brushed ineffectually at the stained braid across his chest; what was once startling white now a muddy grey. His repairs still held, but those apart his best coat showed its age.

Sexton fidgeted sideways, feet sucking at the sloppy ground. Even though he knew the horse was simply fed-up of standing in the cold Lock gave the animal a kick with his right heel to counteract the movement. He needed to find spurs somewhere; Sexton was a tough character but mulish, often needing extra encouragement. Lock hated to kick at him, reasoning that over time such constant thumping must deaden a horse’s sides.

“Sergeant Lock, my lord,” Lock straightened in the saddle at Killen’s introduction, “who rode north as my companion.”

Lock flashed a salute. “I see you still use the old carbine, sergeant,” Lord Paget was regarding him keenly. “Never issued a new one, eh?”

Lock remembered his previous colonel once asking the same question. Then, he had made a disparaging remark about the new, shorter weapon. But here was the gun’s proponent, and a general officer to boot. He hesitated.

“Well?” Paget demanded, “Speak up, man.”

“Er...I can’t get on with it sir,” Lock offered lamely. “Not accurate enough.”

Paget did not look pleased. “It would seem the colonel of the 10th shares your view. You’ll mess with us tonight, captain,” he reminded Killen before turning to canter his horse back up the long line.

Killen watched the general leave. “Did you have to say that?”

“You want me to lie?”

“Of course not, but you might have been more tactful.”

“I thought I was,” Lock said. “Embarrass you, did I?”

Killen glanced at the man on Lock’s left. Lock saw it, and though the neighbouring hussar stared straight ahead he had likely heard the exchange. A stupid mistake, carelessly ignoring Killen’s rank for no good reason other than he was still annoyed with his friend.

from Leopardkill by Jonathan Hopkins

A thrilling war novel set against the dramatic backdrop of the Peninsular War that saw a small British force pitched against Napoleon's Grande Armee. It is Autumn 1808. The French army is gone from Portugal...except for one man. And what he has stolen is deadly secret. Sergeant Joshua Lock and Captain the Honourable John Killen pursue the spy deep into Spain ahead of Sir John Moore's British army - a force now ordered to fight the French alongside native troops. But instead of helping their new allies, the Spaniards seem to have turned against them. Their quarry still free, Killen's discovery of Lock's affair with a fellow officer's wife drives the childhood friends apart as savage winter storms grip the Galician mountains. With discipline breaking down, and Spain's armies in disarray, every man must decide for himself - who is friend and who is foe? Should the outnumbered, starving British stand and fight, or run for the sea, and home? Whilst unbeknown to the bickering allies, Bonaparte himself is storming through Spain with but a single purpose...to destroy every 'mangy English leopard.' Meticulously researched to be historically and militarily accurate, this dashing novel of cavalrymen at war is written by an expert horseman.

FREE EBOOK - Little Red Riding Hood

For a limited time only, the ebook Little Red Riding Hood by Grandma Chatterbox (Barbara Hayes) is available as a FREE download.

Follow this LINK.

A retelling of the classic fairy tale for 21st century youngsters by a master storyteller.

We are all familiar with Little Red Riding Hood, of course, but there is a lot more to her than a grandma and a wicked wolf. What about the archery contest or the pet raven? The story as we usually hear it today is a very much shortened version of the original.

Fairy Stories have been told for hundreds and hundreds of years. No one really knows when they started or who first wrote them - or told them I expect. They probably started before many people could read or write.

Anyway they have been told and retold and everyone who tells them alters them a little bit to suit themselves or to please the people listening.
So Grandma Chatterbox when she was younger (which was a long time ago) went round and about and over the hills and far away searching for the oldest versions of Fairy Tales which she could find.

So now Grandma Chatterbox is going to tell you Fairy Stories as close to the oldest versions that she can get. After all it is part of every child’s education to know all the traditional tales.

Little Red Riding Hood was originally a French folk tale, written down by Charles Perrault in 1697.

Grandma Chatterbox just loves the old stories, and simply adores telling them to young children. The vocabularly and grammar in these stories is specially adapted to be suitable to younger children. When your children get a little bit older and start to learn to read you will find that the vocabulary contains words that they will be learning. Increase the type size on your tablet or other device and you can read along with your children.

So, are you ready for a story? Good, then I will begin...

About the Author
Barbara Hayes has been a best selling author of children’s books and comics for more than 40 years. She has been published around the world and in numerous languages. And yes - she really is a Grandma!

Hardship on the Road - Leopardkill

An hour of fruitless searching convinced him the redcoat on the road into Lugo was misinformed. If there were food supplies he found no sign. As he picked his way back through narrow, crowded alleys, distant gunfire turned mens’ heads, though once he got back to the trough Stubbs was asleep, undisturbed by the noise. Killen shook him by the shoulder, “Jack, we’re going.” Even if the rearguard did manage to stop the enemy, the sheer number of men at Bonaparte’s disposal meant but one eventual outcome. They must reach Corunna, and the sooner the better.

More than an hour later Lock inserted his last stitch, biting through the thread so close to the greenjacket’s face the smell of sweat and pus almost made him gag. The wind had risen again, driving sleety knives at exposed skin.

Tucking the tiny needle carefully back in his pouch, Lock got to his feet. He pulled his cloak closer as he strode back to the scattered bodies. Boots; he craved boots. The ox-skin slippers served well enough but had never kept his feet warm. A jacket would help, to replace the dolman he left behind. Even torn and bloodied, scavenged from a corpse. But none of the dead were anywhere near his size. One shirt would do for bandages, though, and he peeled back a red coat to cut strips from the grubby cotton garment beneath.

Framed in white the greenjacket’s swollen face looked a little more human, Lock thought as he surveyed his handiwork. The sergeant obviously felt better: grunted protests greeted Lock’s suggestion he get on the mule. He determined to march, but was so weak he at last saw sense. Lock legged him aboard before taking the mule’s leadrope.

They stopped at nightfall. With the prospect of enemy cavalry close by Lock would have preferred to keep going in darkness, but his companion regularly lolled sideways and there was little point risking the greenjacket further injury if he should fall off. Lock found a sheltered spot and all three huddled together, mule tethered to one side as a makeshift windbreak. The bread would not go far between two men and Lock’s mouth was too parched to think of trying it. Crawling away from the bivouac he came across a puddle, frozen solid in a rock crevice. He chipped it out with his knife, chewing chunks to slush before spitting the result into the stolen canteen. If he kept the bottle under his cloak, ice should be water by morning. At least he had wet his lips.

The greenjacket refused food until Lock realised he would be unable to swallow bread dry. He put a chunk in his own mouth, chewing it to paste before offering it again. This time his mute companion accepted, poking the soggy lump into the undamaged corner of his mouth with a forefinger. Lock watched the sergeant swallow. He chewed another pinch to mush and spat it into his hand.

from Leopardkill by Jonathan Hopkins

Buy your copy at Amazon or a bookshop

Book Description

Publication Date: 19 Sep 2013

A thrilling war novel set against the dramatic backdrop of the Peninsular War that saw a small British force pitched against Napoleon's Grande Armee. It is Autumn 1808. The French army is gone from Portugal...except for one man. And what he has stolen is deadly secret. Sergeant Joshua Lock and Captain the Honourable John Killen pursue the spy deep into Spain ahead of Sir John Moore's British army - a force now ordered to fight the French alongside native troops. But instead of helping their new allies, the Spaniards seem to have turned against them. Their quarry still free, Killen's discovery of Lock's affair with a fellow officer's wife drives the childhood friends apart as savage winter storms grip the Galician mountains. With discipline breaking down, and Spain's armies in disarray, every man must decide for himself - who is friend and who is foe? Should the outnumbered, starving British stand and fight, or run for the sea, and home? Whilst unbeknown to the bickering allies, Bonaparte himself is storming through Spain with but a single purpose...to destroy every 'mangy English leopard.' Meticulously researched to be historically and militarily accurate, this dashing novel of cavalrymen at war is written by an expert horseman.

NEW BOOK OF THE MONTH - Leopardkill

"Leopardkill" secures Book of the Month Award for Glamorgan Author

Bretwalda Books have today announced that their Independent Panel of Readers have chosen "Leopardkill" by Glamorgan author Jonathan Hopkins to be this month's Book of the Month.

Editorial Director Rupert Matthews says “It was Jonathan's striking ab ility to conjure up the flavour of a historical period, together with his gripping story telling that won the award for "Leopardkill".

About the Book

Leopardkill is a thrilling war novel set against the dramatic backdrop of the Peninsular War that saw a small British force pitched against Napoleon’s Grande Armee.

It is Autumn 1808.  The French army is gone from Portugal...except for one man. And what he has stolen is deadly secret.

Sergeant Joshua Lock and Captain the Honourable John Killen pursue the spy deep into Spain ahead of Sir John Moore’s British army - a force now ordered to fight the French alongside  native troops. But instead of helping their new allies, the Spaniards seem to have turned against them.

Their quarry still free, Killen’s discovery of Lock’s affair with a fellow officer’s wife drives the childhood friends apart as savage winter storms grip the Galician mountains. With discipline breaking down, and Spain’s armies in disarray, every man must decide for himself - who is friend and who is foe? Should the outnumbered, starving British stand and fight, or run for the sea, and home?

Whilst unbeknown to the bickering allies, Bonaparte himself is storming through Spain with but a single purpose...to destroy every ‘mangy English leopard.’

Meticulously researched to be historically and militarily accurate, this dashing novel of cavalrymen at war is written by an expert horseman.

About the Author

Jonathan Hopkins has worked in occupations as diverse as bulk tanker loader and kitchen designer, but since 2001 has fitted and repaired saddles professionally.

A lifelong horse-keeper and long term chair of an affiliated riding club close to his home in South Wales, his interest in the cavalrymen who served under the Duke of Wellington originally grew out of research into saddlery worn by troop horses, for which there are no surviving patterns.

Leopardkill is his second published novel.

Note to Editor :

Author Jonathan Hopkins can be contacted on oldchesnut@hotmail.co.uk

Editorial Director Rupert Matthews is available to interview by phone on 01737 356197 or on 07721 455944.

Attached photos show:

1) The Book cover

2 ) Contemporary cavalrymen

About the Book

Title:               Leopardkill

Author            Jonathan Hopkins

Print ISBN      978-1-909698-00-0

Ebook ISBN    978-1-909099-79-1

Publisher       Bretwalda Books

Price               £12.99

FIRST EBOOK SALE OF OCTOBER - The Athenia 1939 (Eyewitness World War II)

Product Description

An ebook contianing eyewitness accounts of the first British ship to be sunk in World War II - just 10 hours after war was declared. Complete with explanatory text and background on the men and machines involved.
The Athenia left port in peacetime, heading for Canada with more than a thousand passengers and crew on board. Nobody had any idea that they were steaming into any kind of danger at all. But lurking in her path was U-30 a Type VIIA U-boat armed to the teeth and sent to sea even before war began to prey on British merchant shipping.
Alone and unarmed the Athenia made an easy target. A torpedo struck home in her engine room, killing dozens of crew and passengers in the dining room above - and fatally wounding the ship.
When the German Naval command realised that American citizens had been killed they hastily denied that the Athenia had been sunk by a U-boat and claimed it must have hit a British mine instead. The truth did not come out until after the war.
The “Eyewitness World War II” series is a growing collection of ebooks that contain original eyewitness accounts and contemporary newspaper reports of the action in question. You can find more ebooks in this series by searching for “Eyewitness World War II” or by visiting the military page of our website.

Contents
Chapter 1 Background
Chapter 2 Men and Machines
Chapter 3 Contemporary Press Reports & Eyewitness Reports


Buy your Kindle copy HERE
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Athenia-1939-Eyewitness-World-ebook/dp/B00C9F87MM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380707971&sr=8-1&keywords=the+athenia+bretwalda