Code Name Dawn

Spymaster extraordinaire, Angelique Dawson is making her way north towards Beira, Mozambique, in an old Douglas Skymaster, once known as “Spook” in the South African Air Force, a discarded electronic warfare aircraft flown by 44 Squadron. She is as usual not explaining much to her future husband and former Police Special Forces Company Commander, Geoffrey Foxtrot, the narrator, trying to keep her safe. On her insistence, they jump per parachute from the Skymaster to take possession of a fighter aircraft, a twin-seater Northrop F-5T, last seen in Code Name Jen, to shoot down a Mi-8 medium transport helicopter in southern Congo. This happens close to Ndola, Zambia, the same place where UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld died when his aircraft, a DC-6, crashed in 1960.
Something goes wrong with Foxtrot’s parachute during the parachute descent and Angelique intervenes, almost killing herself much to Foxtrot’s exasperation. The jump is unique and via a Spetsnaz method unknown to most, using a canvas tube exit to avoid the Skymaster’s horizontal stabiliser - the aircraft is not known nor designed to drop paratroopers. When they finally reach the target, the Mi-8 helicopter is escorted by a Mi-24 Hind D gunship. Angelique, a superb fighter pilot, presses the attack home and flies into the trap as the Hind D valiantly defends itself and the Mi-8 by using a technique designed to down fighter aircraft, a combat technique that Angelique Dawson never heard about. If you wish to read about Covert and Special Forces Operations in sub-Saharan Africa, the GMJ Books are the place to start. You will learn about covert operations, Special Forces techniques and military history not known outside the select few. Code Name Dawn is the 37th book of the popular GMJ Series.