In the Beginning

Former Marine aviator and author Cap Parlier created an intriguing story of a young Kansas boy who develops exceptional skills as a pilot and hunter. His mentor helps him join the Royal Air Force on the eve of war in Europe. Brian Drummond will prove himself during the epic Battle of Britain – the largest aerial battle in human history. This is the first book of the To So Few series.

 

Brian Drummond was an accomplished aviator in his 17th year on the Great Plains of Kansas. He learned well and honed his instinctive skills under the expert tutelage of Malcolm Bainbridge, a decorated ace from the Great War. Brian also acquired from Malcolm a keen sense of world events evolving in Europe and Asia. Brian’s mentor also had an influential brother in arms from the War to End All Wars, RAF Group Captain John Spencer, who is also a cousin of Winston Churchill. Brian sees and feels what they see, and he sets his course. As soon as he graduates from high school, Brian Drummond will join the RAF to fly the new monoplane fighters. So begins the story of flight and a warrior’s life.

The Prelude

This is the second of a planned dozen books in Cap Parlier’s To So Few series of historic novels. Brian Drummond becomes a fighter pilot in the RAF as World War II opens in Europe. It does not take long for him to demonstrate his skills with the best fighter airplane of its day. As with all bands of warrior brothers, the special kindred bonds forged in the heat of battle expand their lust for life.

 

Just after his 18th birthday, Brian Drummond leaves his Kansas home in the spring of 1939 during the last days of peace. He crosses the border into Canada and joins the Royal Air Force. The last vestiges of Brian’s innocence are lost forever as he enters the crucible of war. With the help of one of Churchill’s cousins and others, Brian completes his training and gains the assignment he seeks. He hones his skills with the elegant but deadly Spitfire Mark I during the Phony War – the lull before all of Europe was engulfed – and becomes a man. Brian struggles against his parents who use U.S. Federal law in a desperate attempt to force their son to return home before its too late; against his emotions boiling within personal conflict and the loss of his mentor; and against a sometimes not-so-subtle discrimination. Brian makes mistakes, falls victim to the foibles of young men unconstrained by any sense of accountability, and manages to become a valued member of that very small brotherhood of warriors.

 

The Trial

 The Trial is the fourth book of Cap Parlier’s epic To So Few series of air warfare history novels.

 

Brian Drummond, a young American volunteer pilot, and his British comrade Jonathan Kensington had been with No.609 Squadron for only six months, when the Spitfire fighter squadron moved south to join the daunting fight. The Trial takes the young pilots of Fighter Command through August and into September 1940 – the most intense and conclusive phase of the greatest aerial battle in all of history.

 

Amongst the unrelenting, mind-numbing fatigue of multiple sorties each day and the constant specter of death all around them, Brian and his brethren throw themselves into long odds against the overwhelming numbers, skill and experience of the Luftwaffe. Brian becomes an ace and is awarded the Distinguish Flying Cross at the same ceremony that King George VI awards the George Cross to Mrs. Charlotte Palmer – the woman who saved Brian’s life after his crash at her farm. These are the months of aerial combat that will establish these pilots as legend, to be known for eternity as The Few.

 

 

Explosion

 

Explosion is the third book of Cap Parlier’s epic To So Few series of air warfare history novels.

 

Explosion is the third book of Cap Parlier’s To So Few series of historical novels. Cap weaves an intriguing story tapestry with the personal experiences of the young pilots of Fighter Command, Royal Air Force, as well as the vital decisions of His Majesty’s Government, as they walk a very fine line in their defense of Great Britain. Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister as the German armed forces flooded across the border into the Netherlands, Belgium and France. All too soon, the British stand alone against Nazi aggression. President Roosevelt risks it all to provide what assistance he can to the beleaguered British and sends his unofficial emissary Colonel William J. Donovan to assess whether the British could hold the line at the English Channel. Brian Drummond and Jonathan Kensington, along with the other fighter pilots of No.609 Squadron, live life to the fullest in those very dark days that Prime Minister Churchill would so famously say, “This was their Finest Hour.” Cap takes the reader on an energetic journey through the Miracle of Dunkirk and the opening phase of what would become known as the Battle of Britain, in the cockpit of a Supermarine Spitfire fighter airplane, the Cabinet Room at No.10 Downing Street, and the Oval Office of the White House. The reader will not be disappointed with the ride.

The Verdict

 

The Verdict is the fifth book of Cap Parlier’s epic To So Few series of air warfare history novels.

 

The Battle of Britain has been raged in the skies above England for nearly two months, and the Germans sought air superiority in preparation for and in support of their planned cross-Channel invasion – code-named Operation SEALION. They only obstacle to the continued success and domination of the undefeated German Wehrmacht juggernaut was the Royal Air Force Fighter Command.

 

By the beginning of September 1940, the pilots of Fighter Command awoke each day to face yet another relentless day of multiple combat sorties against overwhelming numbers of Luftwaffe pilots, as they struggling to fight off their own mind-numbing fatigue.

 

The Verdict takes the young pilots of Fighter Command and No.609 Squadron through August and September 1940 – the most intense and conclusive phase of the greatest battle in all of aviation history. For Brian Drummond and Jonathan Kensington, as with their brethren, they lived moment to moment, doing their part in the defense of Great Britain and liberty itself, with the stark knowledge their next moment, their next flight, could be their last.

 

Frustration

 

Frustration is the sixth book of Cap Parlier’s epic To So Few series of air warfare history novels.

The mind-numbing fatigue the fighter pilots endured during the Battle of Britain transitioned to the night terror of The Blitz – the German bombing of British cities. Jonathan remains in and takes on a leadership role in No.609 Squadron. Brian recovers from his wounds and reluctantly transfers to the newly formed, first, all-American volunteer squadron – No.71 Squadron. Winter weather diminished the invasion threat, and then mounting intelligence information in the spring indicated the Germans were turning their attention and moving their military resources to the east for Operation BARBAROSSA – the invasion of the Soviet Union. Two more all-American volunteer fighter squadrons – Nos. 121 and 133 Squadrons – join No.71 Squadron in Fighter Command.

 

The human story of freedom’s defenders and those who love them continues to unfold amid historic events. Prime Minister Churchill leads the British and Commonwealth countries, who stand alone against German aggression and domination until the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. President Roosevelt carefully navigates a very thin line to support the British in stopping the Germans and preparing the United States for what he increasingly sees as the inevitable war. The signs of impending war with Imperial Japan continue to mount. The reader will not be disappointed with the wild ride that plays out in this story.

Deflection

 

Deflection is the seventh book of Cap Parlier’s epic To So Few series of historical novels.

Accomplished American volunteer fighter pilot RAF Flying Officer Brian Drummond and his brethren of No.71 ‘Eagle’ Squadron finally overcome their frustration with being a show squadron and fly their first combat missions into German occupied France.

 

The improving spring weather of 1941 brought deflection of German attention from the west to the east.  For the British people, the Blitz mercifully ends and Hitler takes the German people into war with the Soviet Union, after the two countries divided up Poland nearly two years previously.  Great Britain was no longer alone in the fight against fascist dominated Europe.  The attack on the Soviet Union shocks the world and places new stress upon the already strained British economy with Prime Minister Churchill’s initiative to divert scarce and precious supplies to assist their new ally in the war against Germany.

 

Brian and Charlotte rejoice in the birth of their son Ian—their first child—as the war demands more sacrifice and separation.  The war engulfing the pilots of RAF Fighter Command saturate their attention, but the Allied leaders become progressively more concerned about the darkening clouds of war in the Far East.  The infamous surprise attack in the Pacific brings cataclysmic change.

The saga continues.

 

 

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