Dick Valliant and O’Malley want action. At the Dardanelles, they find it in night minesweeping and landing boats under fire. When capture cuts them off from their ship, the two friends must find their way back through enemy territory.
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The invitation sounds irresistible: leave the waiting and routine of Scapa Flow for a posting on active service. Dick chooses his friend O’Malley to go with him, but neither boy knows where their new ship is bound. Before they even reach it, the storeship carrying them south meets a German submarine.
At the Dardanelles, the two midshipmen find themselves handling small boats in the shadow of battleships. They sweep for mines at night, tow troops ashore and bring wounded men off beaches under fire. Shipboard jokes and arguments over missing equipment continue, even as the fighting becomes more costly and personal. When a turn of events puts them behind enemy lines, their seamanship, nerve and trust in one another face a new test.
This is the second Dick Valliant novel by John Irving, following Dick Valliant, Naval Cadet and preceding Dick Valliant on the Northern Patrol. Set during the First World War’s Dardanelles campaign, it combines naval adventure with an escape story. The narrative reflects the patriotic outlook and language of its period.
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PaperbackCommander John Irving · Paperback · 250pp
Dick Valliant threatens to run away to sea—and his father calls his bluff. Training-ship pranks, a dangerous bully and fierce sporting rivalries test the new cadet as his life turns towards the Navy and the crisis of 1914.
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A boy determined to dodge school becomes a midshipman tested by war. Follow Dick Valliant from training-ship pranks to the Dardanelles and the northern blockade in three naval adventures by John Irving.
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