Once More the Hawks (The RAF Trilogy Book 3) by Max Hennessy

Once More the Hawks (The RAF Trilogy Book 3) Reviews

• 
  Steve Minnick

  Three is a Charm and this doesn’t disappoint.
  
  Max Hennessy is quite the author and has a knack for putting you there; in the cockpit; on the cold and wet ground; or in a big multi-engine plane. He IS that GOOD!
  
  Thanks Max!!!!!!
• 
  Viva

  Spoilers ahead.
  
  I've been reading all of Max Hennessy books together and sometimes it's hard to keep the events straight because he's got 3 (or 4?) RAF series. This is the last book of the last series I've read and details the exploits of Quinney. This series is a little different in that it starts in WWI and ends in WW2.
  
  The book starts off with Quinney retired and then immediately called back into service because of the beginnings of WW2. One difference in this series is that Quinney is friends with Ernst Udet and he comes up quite a bit giving us his POV of the German's side.
  
  And like many historical fiction books, the author puts the protagonist in as many actual historical events as possible. In this case we see Quinney in the Phony War and the Battle of France in the beginning. He goes through so many other events that I was going to write them as I read the book but decided not to.
  
  He's also involved in training and daylight bombing of Germany. He takes part in the first 1000 bomber stream. He also had a fantastic quote here where Quinney and someone discuss the killing of civilians. It goes something like: The British are going to be vilified for killing German civilians and there are sure to be Germans who are against the war and Hitler. The other speaker goes: Sure, but where were they when Hitler was winning, why didn't they speak out then? It doesn't matter, this is a war for survival and we absolutely cannot lose so anything goes.
  
  I read it as Hennessy's justification (and the British) for the mass bombing of civilian targets (also that the Germans had done it first). Bomber Harris' justification was to damage the spirit and infrastructure. It was basically total war.
  
  Another one I remember is the Greek campaign, which is a nice one as it's rarely covered in the books I have read. Eventually he is sent off to the China campaign. Hennessy is an old hand at this as several of his books deal with that.
  
  In this one, the Nationalists are shown to be as bad as the Japanese. They're corrupt, indifferent to the plight of the Chinese refugees and peasants and only concerned about getting money and arms, waiting for the Allies to defeat the Japanese so that they can conserve their forces to deal with the Communists afterwards. A pretty good summary I would have to say.
  
  In the middle of all this is a romance thread. I'm usually not into romance in historical military fiction but I think Hennessy did a good job with this one. After losing Marie-Gabrielle in the last book, he finally meets her again in China where she has become a nurse. She initially refuses him as she has set her mind on a selfless purpose to help the Chinese but his actions in that event changes her mind and I'm glad we have a happy ending.
  
  Overall, not a bad series.
• 
  Don

  This book was ok but unfortunately no more than that .I enjoyed the part where it featured the "1000 bomber raid" and generally where the story was based in "the European theatre", but once it moved again to "the Asia/pacific theatre" I found it less interesting and harder to follow - though I accept that this could be because I'm less familiar with the geography of this area and so found it harder to picture in my mind.
  All in all I enjoyed this trilogy as a whole and the relationships and interactions between the characters are told well , though I feel the story would perhaps benefit from more focus on the actually adventures .
• 
  Jonathan Nicholas

  Rattling good read
  
  If you like aeroplanes, flying, the RAF & WW2 you’ll enjoy this book. Clearly well researched and packed with information about WW2 and the aeroplanes of the time the story rattles along at a great pace. Very enjoyable read, recommended.
  Jonathan Nicholas, author of ‘Kittyhawk Down-Dennis Copping & ET574’.
• 
  John Loaring

  Concluding chapter in the Dicken trilogy. Left me wanting more.