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Series

Combined Operations

Combined Operations follows Tom Harsker and a commando unit through the Second World War and into Korea. The series begins with Britain under pressure in 1940 and moves through raids, occupied Europe, Dieppe, Sicily, D-Day, the Scheldt and the final advance into Germany before shifting to the Korean War. It is built around specialist soldiers operating where conventional armies need small, hard missions carried out quickly.

Reading order

Books in this series (12 books)

Commando cover

1. Commando

Griff Hosker

4.2(2,458)

It’s 1940 and the British Expeditionary Force is caught ill-prepared for the onslaught of the German Blitzkrieg and its deadly panzers. Caught in the desperate retreat to Dunkirk, Tom Harsker, son of a WWI ace, discovers he is a natural soldier. Escaping to England and with…

Raider cover

2. Raider

Griff Hosker

4.4(2,380)

In 1940, with Britain facing Germany largely alone, Tom Harsker and his Commandos are sent back into occupied Europe to raid, sabotage and gather experience for a new kind of warfare. Their missions depend on small forces landing quickly, striking selected targets and escaping before stronger…

Behind Enemy Lines cover

3. Behind Enemy Lines

Griff Hosker

4.4(1,942)

It is 1941 and Britain is pressed on all sides. With Japan in the war and convoys being sunk by submarines and surface raiders the last bastion fighting Hitler is beleaguered. The Commandos are the only ones who can fight beyond the Atlantic Wall. Tom Harsker…

Dieppe cover

4. Dieppe

Griff Hosker

4.4(1,748)

Lieutenant Tom Harsker and his Commandos are sent across the Channel to support the Canadian assault on Dieppe, a raid whose limited objectives become a costly battle against prepared German defences. Working behind enemy lines, the section must complete its task and find a way out…

Toehold in Europe cover

5. Toehold in Europe

Griff Hosker

4.4(1,707)

Operating from Malta in 1943, Tom Harsker and his section take part in the preparations for the Allied return to continental Europe. Their work sends them behind enemy lines ahead of the invasion of Sicily, where small units must gather information, survive without conventional support and…

Sword Beach cover

6. Sword Beach

Griff Hosker

4.5(1,642)

As the Allies prepare to invade Normandy in June 1944, British commandos are required to do more than take part in the landings. Reconnaissance and raids against the Atlantic Wall are needed to discover German positions, test defences and reduce the uncertainty facing troops who will…

Breakout cover

7. Breakout

Griff Hosker

4.4(1,552)

After D-Day, Allied armies remain compressed inside the Normandy bridgehead while German forces use the difficult bocage country to slow every advance. Tom Harsker’s Commandos are sent behind the lines to destroy a fuel dump, a mission that places them in the path of enemy units…

The Battle for Antwerp cover

8. The Battle for Antwerp

Griff Hosker

4.5(1,113)

After the liberation of Paris, Allied hopes for a rapid end to the war are checked by the failure at Arnhem and by the logistical problem of supplying armies advancing far from the Normandy beaches. Tom Harsker and his Commandos are redirected toward Antwerp and the…

King Tiger cover

9. King Tiger

Griff Hosker

4.4(1,157)

After the fighting around Walcheren and Antwerp, Tom Harsker and several of his men expect a period away from the front when they are assigned to train other soldiers. Their respite ends abruptly in December 1944 when Hitler launches the Ardennes offensive and Allied units are…

Beyond the Rhine cover

10. Beyond the Rhine

Griff Hosker

4.5(1,072)

The war might be coming to an end but the missions do not get any easier for Tom Harsker and his elite Commando unit. With new men to replace the dead they are sent to destroy a factory making parts for V-2. As the war enters…

Korea cover

11. Korea

Griff Hosker

4.4(1,164)

After nearly five years outside the army, Tom Harsker has built a civilian life with his wife Susan, their children and an air-freight business run with his father, Bill. The outbreak of the Korean War interrupts that stability and draws him back toward the kind of…

Korean Winter cover

12. Korean Winter

Griff Hosker

4.4(1,015)

With a surprise attack launched behind North Korean lines, the UN forces think that the war in Korea is over. Already plans are in place to bring the troops home for Christmas and Major Tom Harsker, recently recovered from a life-threatening wound, is told that he,…