SINISTER SERVICE
First Published in June 1942 - 191 pages
This book is divided into two distinct parts. The first half of the
book is a story that is in fact a rewrite of a previous story by W. E.
Johns. It had originally been called
and the heroes were Steeley and Tubby. This “Steeley” story had been published in 'The War Thriller' (number 586) on 27th April 1940. In
'Sinister Service', Steeley becomes Lance Lovell and Tubby becomes Lance's
brother, Rodney Lovell. As to the second part of the story, it appears to be
completely original but there has to be a possibility that it is a rewrite of
another Johns story - either previously unpublished or published in a unknown
periodical.
If anybody can shed any light on this, please let me know!
FORWARD BY RODNEY LOVELL
The
forward, written in the first person, as is the entire book, tells us how
Rodney Lovell came to be in the Secret Service (or, as some call it, the
Sinister Service). He and his brother Lance, who is some three years older than
Rodney, are the sons of a diplomat, and were born in Germany. They speak German
as well as they speak English. They both also learned to fly. After the death
of their father, they returned to England with their mother. Time passes and
Rod is invited on a trip to the New Forest with his brother Lance. At this
stage, Rod doesn't know his brother's occupation.
PART ONE
Lance
and Rod are driving through the New Forest when they almost run over a woman
who runs out in front of their car. Two men are chasing this woman, whose name
is ascertained to be Julia Ashton-Harcourt. The two men are armed and
dangerous. Taking Julia back to her house, Lance and Rod find out that she has
suspicions about gliders silently landing in the night. On investigating her
suspicions, Julia had then found herself being pursued by the two armed men.
Lance's car is stolen and our heroes are forced to use Julia's car. On
returning to Julia's empty cottage a bomb is discovered in her kitchen. The
following day, investigations are carried out and Lance, Rod and Julia go to
Garthstone Manor, where they are suspicious of Mr. Smith, the owner,
particularly as he has been burning things in his back garden, such as glider
parts. After a meal at a hotel, Julia returns home alone to get her belongings
as she intends to move out. When she doesn't return, Lance and Rod return to
her house to find her car on the drive. Julia has disappeared and our heroes
fear that she has been kidnapped. Lance and Rod take the car and intend to go
back to Garthstone Manor to look for Julia but they begin to feel sleepy. Lance
realises just in time that an attempt is being made to try to gas them by
turning the exhaust back into the car. After smashing the windscreen to get
fresh air and then pretending to crash they are approached by a car containing
two men. Lance and Rod overpower the men and find Julia tied up in the back of
their car. Arrangements are made for a police raid on Garthstone Manor. Lance,
Rod and Julia return to the Manor in advance of the raid and see a glider land
and hear German being spoken. Here, in an addition to the original text,
Lance, Rod and Julia get lost in a maze in the grounds and also meet the
mysterious 'Hylda' - who turns out to be a chimpanzee. A shoot out occurs
and the baddies escape in three cars. Lance and Rod manage to hijack a fourth
car in order to pursue them. The chase leads to Conway in Wales where the
Germans are planning to meet a waiting submarine. Lance has managed to organise
naval support and the Navy arrives in time to ram the Germans' submarine
causing it to sink. The day is saved but there is still to be a surprise in
store for Julia.
PART TWO
Lance
and Rod are sent by General Carteret to Germany to rescue a man called Doctor
Luther Colburg. Colburg is a Czech inventor and a specialist in armour plating,
who has been kidnapped. Parachuting into Germany, our two heroes head for
Obendorf, on the Elbe. Stopping at a 'Bierhaus', Lance gets chatting
with a man and persuades him to put them up for a few days. The man, Schmidt,
has a son who is a fanatical Nazi. Learning that Colburg is being held in a
college and that the Commandant of the college is expecting a visit from Bureau
17, Lance forms a plan. The next day, Lance and Rod travel to Hamburg and ring
Commandant Wolff at the college to tell him of their proposed arrival and to
have a car meet them at the station. This way, Lance and Rod are taken to the
college and meet with the Commandant. They order him to bring Colburg to see
them straight away. Dismissing the guards and knocking out the Commandant,
Lance and Rod make a daring escape in the car belonging to the real visitors
from Bureau 17, who have just arrived. Changing the car for a lorry, they make
for Hamburg and the address of a secret agent that can help them. Here, they
intend to hide up for a few days, until they can rendezvous with a plane that
is due to meet them. Hidden in a secret room, things take a turn for the worse
when the house is raided by the Germans and the occupiers are arrested (and
killed). The Germans are not aware of the secret room, however. Lance and Rod
have to shoot their way out of the house and they take Doctor Colburg with
them. They set fire to the house so that the Germans cannot use it as a trap
for unsuspecting agents. At a checkpoint, Lance sets fire to a load of straw
piled high on a military lorry. This diversion enables our heroes to get
through to the rendezvous. Hearing the baying of hounds, Lance realises that
the Germans have got tracker dogs after them. There then follows a desperate
shoot-out as our heroes wait for the aeroplane to come and pick them up. The
pilot is wounded and Lance has to fly the plane home. Rod mans the rear guns to
fight off enemy aircraft that try to stop them. Coming down in the North Sea,
our heroes are rescued by a British patrol boat. Back in England, General
Carteret enrols Rod as an active member of his staff.
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Sinister Service
Subtitle - The adventures of Lance Lovell, counter-espionage officer,
told by his brother and unofficial assistant, Rodney Lovell.
Publication Details - originally published by Oxford
First Edition
French Edition – note the removal of the Swastika
The original first edition dust jacket in full
The original 1949 second edition dust jacket in full
The writing on the inner flap has been completely re-written for this
edition and now finishes on the word “tame”.
The additional words on the first edition dust jacket “- which is not
surprising” are now deleted
The different version of the 1949 second edition dust jacket in
full.
Not only is there now a dotted line by the price and the wording on
the inner flap spaced out differently, but the author of “The Dangerous Road”
on the back has been changed from ‘John Newton Chance’ to “David C Newton”.
How did they get the author’s name wrong on the back of the
book? Well, they didn’t. John Newton Chance and David C. Newton are
the same person. The first is his real
name and the second is one of his pen names.
The book “The
Dangerous Road” was released under the pen name of “David C Newton” so this
dust jacket had to be reprinted to correct the error. The name of “John Newton Chance” on one
version is changed to “David C Newton” on the later version.
The original 1952 third edition dust jacket in full
The writing on the inner flap now has an extra paragraph added
referring to Captain Johns and the list of Biggles books on the back of the
jacket
The design of the boards for the first edition. Only the first edition had this design. All reprints had plain boards.
Frontispiece
Only the first edition had a frontispiece. Both the 1949 and the 1952 reprints omitted
it.
Click on the Frontispiece to enlarge it