Henderson's Boys
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''Henderson's Boys'' is a series of young adult
spy novels Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligen ...
written by the English author
Robert Muchamore Robert Muchamore (born 26 December 1971) is an English author, most notable for writing the '' CHERUB'' and ''Henderson's Boys'' novels. Early life Robert Muchamore was born in Tufnell Park, London, and is the youngest of four children. Muchamo ...
. The series follows Charles Henderson, the creator of the fictitious CHERUB organisation. The novels are set between 1940 and 1945, during the
Nazi occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Throughout the novels, Henderson leads a series of war missions, aided by children. ''Henderson's Boys'' is a spin-off and a prequel of the ''
CHERUB A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...
'' series, which centres on the peacetime version of the organisation during the 2000s and 2010s. ''Henderson's Boys'' reveals various features of the CHERUB organisation's origins.


Books


''The Escape''

''The Escape'' is the first book in the ''Henderson's Boys'' series. It was published on 5 February 2009 by Hodder Children's Books. The novel is set in France, from 5 to 15 June 1940, at a time when
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
's Nazi armies are invading and forcing civilians to flee. Meanwhile, German agents are tracking two British children, 11-year-old
Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
and 13-year-old Rosie Clarke. Charles Henderson, a British spy, finds himself trying to reach them before the Germans can. He enlists the help of 12-year-old
Marc Kilgour Marc Kilgour is a fictional character from the ''Henderson's Boys'' series of books by Robert Muchamore. He was born in France not long before World War II. He was found by Charles Henderson and helped him to foil Nazi Germany's planned invasion ...
, a French orphan, in order to save the pair. He soon realises that children will be essential recruits if the British are to win the war. Meanwhile, Paul and Rosie find a six-year-old called Hugo, who is later killed by Herr Potente, a German posing as Henderson. ''The Escape'' has received a positive reception from critics, with Toby Clements of ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' calling it "fresh and direct", but noting that the subject matter is "challenging". Amanda Craig of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' said that "this clever, tense novel is a great way of getting bored boys interested in history". It scored an average rating on ''
Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and read ...
'' of from 2,735 votes. It was published in French under the literally translated title of ''L'évasion'', in Polish as ''Uciekinierzy'', which translates to ''The Escapees'', in German under the literally translated title of ''Flugten'', and in Portuguese under the literally translated title of ''A Evasão''.


''Eagle Day''

''Eagle Day'' is the second book in the ''Henderson's Boys'' series. It was published on 4 June 2009 by Hodder Children's Books. The novel is set from 15 June to 1 October 1940. During this time, the
Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
is in full swing and Hitler is planning to cross the channel and invade Britain. After failing to escape from France, Paul and Rosie reunite with Marc and Henderson. With the help of PT Bivott, an American boy in trouble with the law, they help British bombers to target ports in France that will be used to invade Britain in
Operation Sealion Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (german: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Following the Battle o ...
. ''Eagle Day'' scored an average rating on ''Goodreads'' of from 1,521 votes. It was published in French under the literally translated title of ''Le Jour de l'aigle'', in Polish under the literally translated title of ''Dzień Orła'', and in Portuguese under the literally translated title of ''O Dia da Águia''.


''Secret Army''

''Secret Army'' is the third book in the ''Henderson's Boys'' series. It was published on 4 February 2010 by Hodder Children's Books. The novel is set from January to February 1941. The British spy Charles Henderson has returned to Britain, having thwarted Nazi invasion plans, and wants to start an organisation training teenagers as secret agents. ''Secret Army'' concerns the training of the first group of agents of his new organisation (named CHERUB by the end of the book) - Paul and Rosie Clarke, Marc Kilgour, PT Bivott, Luc, and Joel, together with the recruitment of the first members of Group B. Their training takes place in a requisitioned village, with parachute training in Scotland, followed by an exercise where the CHERUB team, and groups of Polish, Norwegian and French SOE agents, are parachuted over northern England and instructed to steal an anti-aircraft gun and deliver it to Kings Cross station in London within 48 hours. Despite Air Vice Marshal Walker, the head of SOE, wanting the CHERUB agents to fail, they deliver two guns. ''Secret Army'' was praised for its realism and ability to interest boys in history. It scored an average rating on ''Goodreads'' of from 1,223 votes. It was published in French under the literally translated title of ''L'Armée secrète'', in Polish under the literally translated title of ''Sekretna armia'', and in Portuguese under the literally translated title of ''A Arma Secreta''.


''Grey Wolves''

''Grey Wolves'' is the fourth book in the ''Henderson's Boys'' series. It was published on 3 February 2011 by Hodder Children's Books. The novel is set from 20 April to early August 1941. It begins with Marc Kilgour and Charles Henderson on a fact-gathering mission in the town of
Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...
, on the Atlantic coast of France, in preparation for a possible future sabotage of the U-boat bases there. They meet a local woman, Madame Mercier, who gets Marc into a part of the docks where he can take photos of the U-boat bunker. After this, they sail back to a rendezvous with a boat from the UK, named ''Madeline'', but two nights later, they are stopped by a German E-boat, but after a shootout, Troy LeConte reveals that Henderson's son has been born. After a brief period of time in England, they go back into occupied France, where Joel and PT get jobs with the
Organisation Todt Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering projec ...
, an organization which commandeered resources for German military usage, and Paul, Boo and Rosie work as a team to communicate with London, and Marc is a cigarette boy at a brothel-bar. ''Grey Wolves'' scored an average rating on ''Goodreads'' of from 1,031 votes. It was published in French under the title of ''Opération U-Boot'', which translates to ''Operation U-Boat''.


''The Prisoner''

''The Prisoner'' is the fifth book in the ''Henderson's Boys'' series. It expressly follows the escape of Marc Kilgour, a British spy working for the organisation CHERUB during the Second World War who was moved to a German labour team in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
in the previous book. It was published on 2 February 2012 by Hodder Children's Books. The novel is set from May to September 1942. Fourteen-year-old Marc Kilgour is a Nazi
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...
, who is also a British spy working for the secret organisation CHERUB. Held in Frankfurt with a job filing prisoner records, he attempts to escape with three other boys by
forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which i ...
prisoner transfer documents and escaping from the transfer train. However the guard at the station recognises Marc and has him sent back to his boss, Commandant Vogel while the two boys Marc was escaping with continue on. Vogel assumes the transfer was a paperwork error and has him back working his filing job. However, when he arrives back at his dormitory, a gang of bullies find that he is no longer protected by the three boys he was attempting to escape with, and they get into a fight where Marc is eventually knocked unconscious. When Marc regains consciousness, Commandant Vogel has been replaced by a new commandant who works out that he tried to escape and he is reassigned as a sewage system cleaner. When he sees a chance to escape, Marc bolts but is forced to kill several German guards in the process and a search is put out for him. He hides out in the office where he originally worked for a few days where he forges paperwork for himself. He uses it to take a train from Frankfurt to
Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
, to
Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
and then on to
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. After hiding out for a few days, Marc is picked up for discrepancies in his paperwork. He admits to actually being Marc Kilgour who previously went to an orphanage
Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...
. The policeman does not realise he had escaped from prison and he is sent back to the orphanage. When he arrives he is pleased to find that the cruel Director Tomas has been replaced by a group of
nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
s. He is sent back to work for Farmer Morel and gets into a serious relationship with his daughter Jae. Two months pass, and Marc becomes used to life at the orphanage. However, when Marc finds two Canadian soldiers who landed at the unsuccessful landings at Dieppe and they help him get back in contact with the resistance group that Charles Henderson set up the previous year, which is being run by Maxine Clere. The resistance group decides to sabotage a German military airbase which has a radar system that has been causing heavy casualties to the British bombers because sophisticated German radar sets have been making their planes easy to find. They also plan to steal a plane and fly it back to give scientists in Britain a functioning radar set in the hope that they can jam the radar signals. A pilot is parachuted in and the raid goes according to plan, but one of the soldiers is killed. They reach England and Marc is reunited with his old friends at CHERUB, however he is still sad about Jae. ''The Prisoner'' scored an average rating on ''Goodreads'' of from 788 votes. It was published in French under the literally translated title of ''Le Prisonnier''.


''One Shot Kill''

''One Shot Kill'' is the sixth book in the ''Henderson's Boys'' series. It was published on 1 November 2012 by Hodder Children's Books. The novel is set from 16 May to 3 July 1943, when Hitler is developing a radical new weapon which he claims could turn the war back in his favor. Henderson's Boys have to find the weapon and sabotage all efforts to produce it. Four of the boys undergo sniper training, and the team is sent in to scout the area but something goes wrong. After many days in occupied France, a new target is located and they must hunt down the elusive war-turning weapon. ''One Shot Kill'' scored an average rating on ''Goodreads'' of from 576 votes. It was published in French under the title of ''Tireurs d'élites'', which translates to ''Snipers''.


''Scorched Earth''

''Scorched Earth'' is the seventh and final book in the ''Henderson's Boys'' series. It was published on 7 February 2013 by Hodder Children's Books. The novel is set from 5 June to 24 August 1944, during the final days of the Nazi occupation of France. During this time, large sections of the French population are in rebellion and the Nazis are at their most brutal. Henderson and his team embark on a mission to sabotage German supply lines but are soon redirected to stop the 108th Heavy Tank Battalion from reaching the D-Day landings. Their orders are to complete this task at any cost. Near the start of the book, Rosie Clarke is killed. ''Scorched Earth'' scored an average rating on ''Goodreads'' of from 401 votes. It was published in French under the title of ''L'ultimat Combat'', which translates to ''The Final Battle''.


Characters


See also

* ''
Boy Commandos Boy Commandos is a fictional organization from DC Comics first appearing in ''Detective Comics'' #64 (June 1942) by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. They are a combination of "kid gang" characters, an international cast of young boys fighting Nazis — ...
''


References


External links

* {{Robert Muchamore British young adult novels Junior spy novels Young adult novel series Hodder & Stoughton books Fiction set in the 1940s Novels set in France