He Who Would Valiant Be

 

The final book continues the stories of my two protagonists after the invasions of Italy and France. It will be published in mid-October 2026.

 

Aristocratic former barrister, Lt Cdr ‘Monty’ Montcalm RNVR, is in Italy with 30 Commando, Ian Fleming’s intelligence brainchild, hunting for equipment, documents and even people connected with secret underwater weapons and especially a new German acoustic torpedo, but the Germans and Italians aren’t his only foe. Whilst liberating a Jewish concentration camp, he is captured by Croat fascists. Meanwhile, his best friend, Lt Stephen Cunningham RNVR, an already highly-decorated bomb disposal officer, is in Italy, too, assigned to port clearance, but mines and booby traps aren’t his only challenge. Whilst diving on a sunken U-boat to retrieve some precious and top secret equipment, he makes a gruesome discovery.

 

With the invasion of southern Europe underway, the Germans know that an amphibious landing in northern France is in the offing, something they are determined to counter. Not only do they devise and deploy a brand-new unsweepable mine off the coast, but a special Kommando of frogmen is formed to conduct sabotage operations. Whilst Monty and his commandos traipse across Europe capturing vital intelligence on mines, torpedoes and submarines, it is Stephen who must risk his life to stymie the German frogmen’s latest action to prevent the Allies crossing the Rhine into Germany.

 

The final book in the Death to Touch trilogy, accurately relating the true story of mine disposal and how the Royal Navy gathered intelligence on Germany’s underwater weapons, the action is just as fast-paced and explosive as in the earlier books and continues to highlight the extraordinary bravery of some exceptional men.