Target Tobruk (Yeoman Series Book 3) by Robert Jackson

Target Tobruk (Yeoman Series Book 3) Reviews

• 
  Veronica ⭐️

  A riveting tale of flying officer George Yeoman’s time in North Africa during WWII
  Target Tobruk is part of the Sergeant Yeoman WWII series but stands on its own very well. The other books in the series are "Squadron Scramble, “Mosquito Squadron” and "Hurricane Squadron".
  Rather than focusing on the injuries and conditions Jackson focuses on the tactical side and the operations won and lost. Reconnaissance missions are described in breathtaking detail and the camaraderie of the men under extreme conditions is touching.
  The story was very real for me and I was held spellbound throughout the entire book. We must remember that Yeoman is only 21 years old and already somewhat of a veteran of life and death situations.
  To show the parallels in their lives Jackson gives us two short glimpses of the enemy in the form of a couple of paragraphs from the POV of Yeoman’s adversary, Lt Richter.
  Jackson writes many non-fiction books on aviation history and clearly knows his topic.
  The Yeoman series are classic WWII adventure stories.
  
  With my thanks to the publisher via Netgalley for my copy to read and review.
  
• 
  KOMET

  In "TARGET TOBRUK", George Yeoman, whom we first met as a greenhorn fighter pilot in 'Hurricane Squadron', is now a full-blooded ace and combat veteran. The time is April 1941 and Yeoman has been assigned to a fighter squadron in North Africa, where British and Commonwealth forces are locked in a great battle with German and Italian forces for control of the Mediterranean Sea and its surrounding land masses. The fighting is often desperate, for Britain is still very much fighting for its survival. To that end, Yeoman, after flying a number of close support missions, strafing Axis troops and installations, is ordered into Tobruk, a key port stoutly defended by mainly Australian forces, though surrounded by German forces set on capturing it. His task: to fly tactical reconnaissance missions deep inside enemy territory in a Hawker Hurricane fighter.
  
  As with the other books in the Yeoman Series, this one has plenty of heart-stopping action and adventure. His subsequent experiences take him to the island of Crete, in a vain attempt to stop the German juggernaut from overrunning it and thus establishing its dominance over the Eastern Mediterranean. Any reader in search of a story to thoroughly enthrall the imagination will savor reading "TARGET TOBRUK."
• 
  Tony Hisgett

  The information included about the time spent in and around Tobruck and Crete was quite interesting, but the story wasn’t particularly exciting. Apart from an occasional incident I found myself skipping a big chunk of this book.
  I also find I am getting a bit tired of everybody being killed, even when they survive, the author then goes on to say how they are going to die in a few months/years time. I suppose the author is trying to compensate for how George keeps surviving.
  
• 
  John Davies

  Another good book in the series. Yeoman fights in the Western Desert, and Crete as the Germans invade Greece and Crete. They also lay siege to Tobruk, which is defended by the famous Desert Rats.
• 
  Donna Davis

  Military history and World War II buffs will enjoy this well written third installment in Jackson’s Sergeant George Yeoman series. I hadn’t read any of the others in the series, but it didn’t matter; it serves just fine as a stand-alone novel. Thanks go to Net Galley and Endeavour Press for the DRC, which I received free of charge in exchange for this review.
  
  Yeoman is a pilot; Jackson served as a pilot himself in the Royal Air Force Reserve and flew many different types of planes, so he has personal experience with his topic. The story centers around the battle for Northern Africa before the USA has entered the war.
  
  And did you know how hot the desert is? Those that are considering reading this need to know this one thing: have some water beside you as you commence. I don’t think any novel has ever made me this thirsty!
  
  Those that are not native English speakers may find this too challenging, and so will high school students. The vocabulary, as well as the military and geographic references, calls for a solid literacy level, and those with some knowledge of World War II and the Mediterranean region will be happier reading it than those that don’t. The four star designation is for this demographic; for general audiences unfamiliar with the Africa campaign, I’d take it down to three stars.
  
  The book would really benefit from a couple of maps and some photographs of the many different types of weapons and especially aircraft that are mentioned here.
  
  I am slightly touchy about the racist term that was used during this time period for Japanese; I understand they were adversaries, and yet the ugly racial terms--which went so far further than anything that was said about European members of the Axis forces--turn my stomach. Because of this, I veer away from fiction that has to do with the Pacific theater of this war, because I just know it’s going to be there, probably in liberal doses. The “J” word pops up here just once. On the one hand, it really doesn’t add anything to the plot and could have been left out, but on the other, at least it is in quotation marks, reflecting a character’s mindset rather than the overall tone of the narrative. Given the nature of the story, I felt the author did pretty well in this regard.
  
  Recommended for those with a strong interest in World War II history, this book is more of a novella in length; just 142 pages. It is available for sale digitally now.
  
• 
  John Purvis

  “Target Tobruk” eBook was published in 2016 (the original paper version was first published in 1979) and was written by Robert Jackson. Mr. Jackson has published over 50 books. This is the third novel in his “Yeoman “ series.
  
  I received an ARC of this novel through
  https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set in North Africa and on Crete during 1941. The primary character is Sergeant Pilot George Yeoman.
  
  The British are desperately fighting the German and Italian forces in North Africa. Yeoman gets assigned to Tobruk, which is essentially under siege by the Germans. He witnesses a lot of combat, though not all in the skies. He is also sent to Crete to help defend against invading Germans. The British are forced out of Crete and hundreds flee on a variety of Royal Navy vessels. Not all of which make it to the relatively safety of Egypt. Yeoman does his extraordinary flying, but finds himself having to bail out of his faltering aircraft yet again.
  
  I enjoyed the not quite 4 hours I spent reading this 160 page WWII novel. I have read a handful of books by Jackson and found them all to be interesting. In this case you get an image of the war as seen by those fighting in North Africa. The cover art is OK, but since this is a book about Hurricanes, I think a combat photo of a fighter would have been better. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.
  
  Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at
  https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.
• 
  Dave

  Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
  
  When I was a kid, there were these little comic books called Commando comics, man I was so addicted to them. I had a huge collection of these things, and was always scouring the local second hand book stores for them. They were kind of on the ground stories of the little people of the second world war. They weren't particularly realistic, and were full of macho American exceptionalism and British stiff-upper-lippedness, but they were just a plain good time.
  
  I say these things because I think in many ways, Target Tobruk, and its erstwhile hero Yeoman something or other, who seems capable of doing everything from flying planes, to acting as a commando, and everything else in between.
  
  I must admit that I was a little surprised in that the author gave a German point of view character, and actually treated him with some dignity which is not always afforded to antagonists. On the other hand, I was often unsure actually what was going on in the bigger picture, and/or what the point of it all was.
  
  I quite liked the novel - accepting its flaws - because it was unpretentious, short, and was just good plain harmless fun. It's part Biggles, part Commando Comic and a little bit of rock and roll.
• 
  Eileen Hall

  This is set in Tobruk in 1941.
  The bloody fighting on the ground was matched by planes raining down terrors.
  The fighting was ferocious with the British coming under enormous pressure from the Germans.
  Another exciting story from the Sergeant George Yeoman series.
  I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
• 
  Chaplain Stanley Chapin

  Great short military story
  
  I read most of his writing and they are interesting and enjoyable. This was one of the real turning point's of WW 2.
• 
  Robin Halvorson

  Enjoyable book.