ROORD: To War in a Rubber Duck: Book I - The Air War

Readers who enjoy a good World War II action novel will be drawn into this one from the start. It is 1939. The war is going badly. The Nazi blitzkrieg has overwhelming Europe and threatens to sweep into England. Mr. Churchill raises a defiant fist and declares that England will fight on the land, on the sea, and in the air. This war, he declares, must not be lost. Western civilization is at stake. So, behind the scenes, conceived for a desperate purpose, unacknowledged and invisible, ROORD is born.\nBypassing America’s official noninvolvement in the European war, Prime Minister Church-ill and President Roosevelt create a covert American-manned and supplied air squadron. ROORD--Reconnoitering, Observation, Opposition Resources, Destruction--is a self-contained air unit operating covertly. Funded off-book, supplied surreptitiously, ROORD operates directly under Mr. Churchill’s personal direction.\nShortly after arrival, the Americans redefine the official ROORD acronym. Now the letters no longer define a job description, they herald “An Ancient and Honorable Society,” the Royal Order of Rubber Ducks. Thus is born Rubber Ducky, a B-25 with nose-art depicting a rubber duck silhouette transiting a full moon, accompanied by Duck Soup, Duck and Cover, Just Ducky, Pluck-a-Duck, Lucky Duck, and Duck Butt.\nThe novel’s story follows the broad outline of the first half of the war: the desperate battles in the air, the North Atlantic submarine war, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz. ROORD crews en-gage in history-in-the-making, their North American B-25 Mitchell gunships proving their worth as Mr. Churchill sends them into harm’s way high and low.\nWithin the action and adventure of the novel, the reader will find that history makes room for humanity and humor as the story progresses. Readers will meet interesting people from all sides of the conflict and follow their individual stories. There are laughs, too, as the absurdities of life in combat are encountered.\nThose interested in WWII, in aviation, and in action and adventure will find a good read here. As one early reader said, “It doesn’t read like a standard military novel--and I mean that as a compliment.” It brings together history, action, good stories, and compelling writing to make a book that will satisfy and stick in memory.