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World War II Rescue at Drumshee by Cora Harrison
Published by Wolfhound Press Ltd., 2001
ISBN 0863278493

Reviewed by Kilmihil Library Children’s Book Club

This book is set in 1940. Brother and sister, Clive and Marjorie live in Kent with their father Bob Chandler. Their mother was killed in a bomb blast the year before. Bob is an RAF pilot and flies a Spitfire. Marjorie lives in constant fear that Bob will be killed and that she and Clive will be orphans. Clive loves the excitement of war and knows all about the different types of aeroplanes that fly over them in Kent.

Bob decides to send Clive and Marjorie to their Irish cousins in Drumshee Co. Clare, to escape the dangers of the war at home. The McMahon’s live on a farm in Kilfenora. Mike and Maggie and their son James live on the farm.
Visiting them for the summer from America is their daughter Bridget and her twins Patsy and Paddy, and also their niece Kitty with her daughter Vivien. Kitty’s son Ed is away in the American merchant navy.

Marjorie and Clive settle in to life in Drumshee and get on well with their cousins. They camp out and have lots of fun. They also have to help out on the farm and Marjorie begins to lose the fears and anxieties that made her so unhappy in England. However, one day a telegram arrives for Kitty to tell her that Ed’s ship has been lost at sea, bombed by a German U-Boat. Kitty and Vivien are beside themselves with worry. To distract Vivien the children decide to go camping to the Aran Islands. While on Aran they have an amazing adventure. A German U- boat comes ashore for fresh water and they discover that Ed is a prisoner on board. They come up with a daring plan and rescue their cousin and bring him and his friends back home to Drumshee.

This is one of the Timeline series of books by Cora Harrison. It was a very popular read by the members of the book club. They found it very exciting and liked that the book was set in Clare.
Some said the language used in the book was wonderfully descriptive and they could picture in their minds eye what was happening. They would definitely recommend this book to others to read.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

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