Jubilee

Jubilee 1/3

This book is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2019 by Conor Bender

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the author.

All Rights Reserved.

Published in the United States by Amazon KDP & Barnes and Noble Press ISBN 978-1-7351059-0-1

Editing by Michele Rubin of Cornerstones US Editing

Cover Design by Anthony Sullivan

Maps by The Map Archive

For Jacquelyn. All my love.

Historical Note

What follows is a work of fiction, but is based on the events leading up to the fateful raid on the city of Dieppe in the late summer of 1942.

The political and bureaucratic circus that supervised the planning of this raid is based on historical accounts and interviews by personnel who participated in the raid.

All SOE events included are based in the realm of fiction, but it is well known that SOE agents were operating in and around Normandy in the time leading up to the raid. The Dieppe raid was one of the few times when all three RAF Eagle Squadrons participated in a joint operation, and all ground forces cited to have participated in the raid are real.

Where actual historical characters appear – Lord Mountbatten, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Bernard Montgomery, Charles Hambro, to cite the more prominent- all actions they are said to perform and do are pure fiction but are based on known documented interactions. That said, events such as General Montgomery's interaction during a planning meeting with Admiral Hughes-Hallet, and Lord Mountbatten taking time away from planning the Dieppe raid to assist in the filming of his war exploits for the film In Which We Serve, are factual. All interactions by these individuals, although fictional, are grounded in historical evidence. Other characters are composites or inventions.

JUBILEE

Prologue:

"Arrêtez! Arrêtez!" The German SS soldier shouted, as the crack of a pistol ripped through the Parisian quiet. Arthur Cutter ignored him and quickly ducked down a narrow alleyway. "Come on, Victor," he called in French.

Victor scrambled after Cutter, his breath ragged and coming in short gasps. He wheezed and leaned against the wall, struggling for air. "I'm shot," he gasped, a red splotch spreading on his shirt.

"But you aren't dead, so move!" Another gunshot echoed down the alleyway as the German soldier caught up to them.

"Bollocks." Cutter pulled his Walther from his waistband and let off two shots.

The German ducked for cover as one of the rounds snapped against the brick wall inches from his head.

"Let's go, Victor! If we stop the Gestapo will torture and kill us."

"I can go no further!" Victor wheezed as he slouched against the wall. He struggled to stand, but his legs buckled underneath him.

Cutter looked at his friend with a combination of concern and urgency. "Victor, if we stop we're dead."

Victor looked up at Cutter, his face set in a grimace. "I can't go on. You know what you have to do."

Cutter shook his head. "No. I won't do it."