Band of Brothers
Authors: Alexander Kent
Table of Contents
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Epub ISBN: 9781409062172
Version 1.0
Published by Arrow Books in 2006
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Copyright (c) Bolitho Maritime Productions 2005
Alexander Kent has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual person’s, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
First published in the United Kingdom in 2005 by Heinemann
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ISBN 0 09 943632 9
ISBN-13 978009943 6324
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The stirring story of the life and times of Richard Bolitho is told in Alexander Kent’s bestselling novels.
| 1756 | Born Falmouth, son of James Bolitho |
| 1768 | Entered the King’s service as a Midshipman on Manxman |
| 1772 | Midshipman, Gorgon ( Midshipman Bolitho ) |
| 1774 | Promoted Lieutenant, Destiny : Rio and the Caribbean ( Stand into Danger ) |
| 1775 - 7 | Lieutenant, Trojan , during the American Revolution. Later appointed prizemaster ( In Gallant Company ) |
| 1778 | Promoted Commander, Sparrow . Battle of the Chesapeake ( Sloop of War ) |
| 1780 | Birth of Adam, illegitimate son of Hugh Bolitho and Karenza Pascoe |
| 1782 | Promoted Captain, Phalarope ; West Indies: Battle of Saints ( To Glory We Steer ) |
| 1784 | Captain, Undine ; India and East Indies ( Command a King’s Ship ) |
| 1787 | Captain, Tempest ; Great South Sea; Tahiti; suffered serious fever ( Passage to Mutiny ) |
| 1792 | Captain, the Nore ; Recruiting ( With All Despatch ) |
| 1793 | Captain, Hyperion ; Mediterranean; Bay of Biscay; West Indies. Adam Pascoe, later Bolitho, enters the King’s service as a midshipman aboard Hyperion ( Form Line of Battle! And Enemy in Sight ) |
| 1795 | Promoted Flag Captain, Euryalus ; involved in the Great Mutiny; Mediterranean; Promoted Commodore ( The Flag Captain ) |
| 1798 | Battle of the Nile ( Signal - Close Action! ) |
| 1800 | Promoted Rear-Admiral; Baltic; ( The Inshore Squadron ) |
| 1801 | Biscay. Prisoner of war ( A Tradition of Victory ) |
| 1802 | Promoted Vice-Admiral; West Indies ( Success to the Brave ) |
| 1803 | Mediterranean ( Colours Aloft! ) |
| 1805 | Battle of Trafalgar ( Honour This Day ) |
| 1806 - 7 | Good Hope and the second battle of Copenhagen ( The Only Victor ) |
| 1808 | Shipwrecked off Africa ( Beyond the Reef ) |
| 1809 - 10 | Mauritius campaign ( The Darkening Sea ) |
| 1812 | Promoted Admiral; Second American War ( For My Country’s Freedom ) |
| 1814 | Defence of Canada ( Cross of St. George ) |
| 1815 | Richard Bolitho killed in action ( Sword of Honour ) Adam Bolitho, Captain, Unrivalled . Mediterranean ( Second to None ) |
| 1816 | Anti-slavery patrols, Sierra Leone. Battle of Algiers ( Relentless Pursuit ) |
| 1817 | Flag Captain, Athena ; Antigua and Caribbean ( Man of War ) |
| 1818 | Captain, Onward ; Mediterranean ( Heart of Oak ) |
Also by Alexander Kent
Man of War
Midshipman Bolitho
Stand Into Danger
In Gallant Company
Sloop of War
To Glory We Steer
Command a King’s Ship
Passage to Mutiny
With All Despatch
Form Line of Battle!
Enemy in Sight!
The Flag Captain
Signal - Close Action
The Inshore Squadron
A Tradition of Victory
Success to the Brave
Colours Aloft!
Honour This Day
The Only Victor
Beyond the Reef
The Darkening Sea
For My Country’s Freedom
Cross of St George
Sword of Honour
Second to None
Relentless Pursuit
Man of War
For you, Boo, with my love.
Contents
1
The Way Ahead
Midshipman Richard Bolitho threw up one hand to shade his eyes, surprised by the fierce, reflected glare from the water alongside. He waited while two seamen lurched past him half carrying, half dragging, some bulky objects wrapped in canvas toward the open deck and the hard sunlight. After the semi-darkness of
Gorgon
‘s between decks, it only added to his sense of unreality.
Gorgon
‘s between decks, it only added to his sense of unreality.
He calmed himself.
Another day
. For most people, anyway.
Another day
. For most people, anyway.
He glanced down at his uniform, his best. He wanted to smile. The
only
uniform that would pass muster and avoid criticism. He flicked off several strands of oakum which he had collected somewhere along the way from the midshipmen’s berth, his home in
Gorgon
for the past year and a half.
only
uniform that would pass muster and avoid criticism. He flicked off several strands of oakum which he had collected somewhere along the way from the midshipmen’s berth, his home in
Gorgon
for the past year and a half.
Was that really all it was?
He took another deep breath. He was ready; and it was not just another day.
He walked on to the main deck, adjusting his mind to the noise and outward confusion of a ship undergoing the indignities of a badly needed overhaul. Chisels and handsaws, and the constant thud of hammers in the depths of the hull, while elsewhere men swarmed like monkeys high above the decks, repairing the miles of standing and running rigging which gave life to a fighting ship and the sails that drove her. And now it was almost finished. The stench of tar and paint, the heaps of discarded cordage and wood fragments, would soon be a cursed memory. Until the next time.
He gazed across the nearest eighteen-pounders, black muzzles at rest inboard of their ports, still smart, disdaining the disorder around them. And beyond, to the land, hard and sharply etched in the morning light: the rooftops and towers of old Plymouth, with an occasional glitter of glass in the sun. And beyond them the familiar rolling hills, more blue than green at this hour.
He tried not to quicken his pace, to reveal that things were different merely because of this particular day. The new year of 1774 was barely a few days old.
But it
was
different.
was
different.
Some seamen flaking down halliards glanced at him as he passed. He knew them well enough, but they seemed like strangers. He reached the entry port, where the captain was piped aboard and ashore, and important visitors were greeted with the full ceremonial of a King’s ship. Wardroom officers were also permitted here, but not a midshipman, unless on duty in his proper station. Richard Bolitho was not yet eighteen, and he wanted to laugh, to shout, to share it with someone who was free of doubt or of envy.
Out of the blue and with less than a few days warning, the signal had arrived: the appointment every midshipman knew was inevitable. Welcome, dread, even fear: he might receive it with all or none of these emotions. Others would decide his fate. He would be examined and be subject to their decision, and, if successful, he would receive the King’s commission, and take the monumental step from midshipman to lieutenant.
He watched a schooner passing half a cable or so abeam, her sails hard in the wind, although the waters of Plymouth Sound were yet unbroken, a deep swell lifting the slender vessel as if it were a toy.
‘Ah, here you are, Mr. Bolitho.’
It was Verling, the first lieutenant.
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