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RED DAGGER COMICS.....ONLY 30 IN THE SET. 

Issued monthly, first one out was October 1979, the last being produced June 1983.

Several of the pictures in the Red Dagger were originally included in the comics they were intended for , several had changes done by in-house artists to cut out say the name of the character of the story title.

One of these such changes was The Sniper! Originally in the 171 issue of Warlord, it was then altered and added to for the Red Dagger series. In the original Sniper Kelly is shown: hand on belt, and then in the Red Dagger version a longer arm and carrying a gun. The word SNIPER taken from the top of the strip. This can be viewed on the downthetubes.net site.

No1 Twisty. 

Firstly advertised on the inside cover as "Criminal-in-the-making....or Soccer Star of Tomorrow?

Twisty was the story of one Twisty Lunnon who lived in a grimy backyard in Sleethorpe. Twisty kept pigeons and walked with a limp after suffering injury in a car crash, he lived with his horrible Uncle Charlie, and was aware that people didn't take kindly to him. He was especially hated by Badger Smith's mob.

It was whilst swipping the football from Smith's gang and showing them a footballing lesson on a disused site that Twisty was spotted by Mr Barney Hollis the Sleethorpe United Youth Team Manager.

After a scrape with the law over a stolen watch that he was to sell on for money for his Uncle Charlie, Twisty was asked by Mr Hollis to sign a contract.

It was either this or face the law, so Twisty agreed. On returning home, Twisty had found that his Uncle had sold his pigeons, again Mr Hollis came to his rescue and got the pigeons back.

After the United club Manager was hurt in a car crash, Mr Alf Meeker was his replacement,  but after seeing Twister play in the training session, Meeker's mind was concentrating more on how much he could make by selling him.

When Twisty was supposed to be substitute for the apprentices, Meeker had organised for Twisty to play for the reserves against a hard side instead, it was planned that Twisty gets a surprise in the way of scouts from several First Divisions. His plan back-fired and Twisty was once again under the wing of Hollis.  Further exploits in this issue saw Twisty play his socks off and win a cup. This once hated rogue, turned out to be a much loved footballer indeed.

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No2 The Tough of the Track. 

Tough of the Track hero Alf Tupper is the character everyone is talking about in this second of these Red Dagger stories. Fed on Fish and Chips, Alf the character created for The Rover comic by Bill Blaine, written by Gilbert Dalton and illustrated in the Victor comic by Pete Sitherland has appeared in several British comics strips over the years. 

Alf Tupper lived with his aunt Meg and worked for several people in his hard-working career! Alf was said to have paid his aunt £1 2s and 6d for rent and kept 2/6d for himself. Alf was often seen to give cups and trophies to his aunt too and was also seen to be burning the candle at both ends, having his favourite fill of fish and chips and then going out running and having a time of his life.

This issue sees Tupper starting in a line-up in The Autumn Games in London.

The race saw Tupper running in the five thousand metres race, he had come up against Serapho Kibo from Tanzania. At three thousand metres Kibo skid past Alf. And on the final lap passed him again, this is the first time in Alf's career he had ever been lapped. With Kibo nearing the finish line Tupper sprung forward and de-lapped himself, though he didn't win the race, he with-held his record of never being lapped.  The story goes on with tupper going to Tanzania in an attempt to see a witch doctor to mend his leg that he had previously broken, Tupper got himself a job working for a railway and did jobs there to earn his stay, meanwhile the witch doctor sets Tupper several tasks before the remedy is done. It worked out that Tupper was doing a set of tasks set by the witch doctor, who also happened to be Kibo and the owner of the railway.

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No3 Morgyn the Mighty. 

Morgyn the Mighty was a character of D.C. Thomson that had his own book written about him circa 1951 published by Thomson/Leng. Morgyn was a "Tarzan" like man,  who first appeared in the Beano. In 1951 he as drawn for The Rover and then found himself in The Victor in 1963. He was drawn by the reknown artist Dudley Dexter Watkins, who had earlier drawn a similar character called Strang the Terrible. Morgyn was a fictious strong man who supposedly lived on Black Island  with his mentor Adam (another D.C. Thomson idea) Morgyn was to appear in many stories throughout the Victor's publication run! No3 The Red Dagger sees Morgyn and Adam fit their witts against Marsh Men, and large prehistoric monsters. Adam is there as a mentor and Morgyn the strongest man around.

The Island that the two of them are living on also has the same name as the one that stared in The Secret of Black Island.

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No4 Sniper. 

The Sniper first appeared in the Warlord 1977, it was drawn by the D.C. Thomson artist Spaniard Carlos Cruz. Sniper Kelly was a favourite character to many readers and his exploits were second to none. Starring in the Second World War, this fictious man saw his skills take him through several scrapes. Sniper Kelly, the British Army's deadliest marksman of World War II sets out to avenge the murder of his army pals. His target - the ruthless S.S. officer, who ordered the executions. Kelly's story is told in No4 of these stories.

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No5 Midge. 

Malcolm "Midge" Miller was the main character in this No5 of these comics.

Sixteen year old "Midge" Miller worked for Callaghan's the builders who were erecting a prefabricated shed at Marrow's shipyard. Midge started off as a 7 stone weakling and was bullied by his macho co-workers. However, in his spare time he took up a bodybuilding course at the S.W.I.S.H., the Shipyard Workers Indoor Sports Hall and at the end of the story became a hunk to be reckoned with.

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No6 Cast Iron Bill.

This story takes on Bill as a goalkeeper playing for Kendale Butchers. His team were playing Borrow Swifts in Kendale Public Park in the Lake District. Cast Iron Bill's real name was Bill Steele, and a man of steel was he! Bill owned two trail-hounds Rikki and Lora, they had an instictive nature about them and warned Bill which way a shot was being taken, they would bark and warn him, Riki one side and Lora the other. The story tells of Bills new side he signs for and their fight against relegation. Despite being injured several times Bill soldiered on.

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No7 Killer Kane. 

Artist Ian Kennedy captures the the spirit of war in this story of killer Kane.

Killer Kane is determined to carry the fight to the Germans during the Battle of Britain in World War II despite the odds his Spitfire is always in the forefront of the action.

Kane's story is told in this No7 of the Red Dagger long complete picture stories for boys special Battle of Britain issue.

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No8 Tasker.

The life of rough, tough Tasker, the boy with a big chip on his shoulder! This is how N08 of The Red Dagger portrayed the story. This is the story of Alf Tasker, a teenage  tear-a-way who lives by his wits- and his fists. It begins in London's Dockland in the dark hours- The Violent Hours! They can't tame The Tasker!. Alf was sentenced to two years in Ashfield Approved School. Mr Patch was designated to look after Tasker, he would certainly have a task on his hands. After a fall out with another ruffian Stevens, Tasker helps out a weaker boy they call Limpy. Tasker, Mr Patch and Limpy become good friends.

Tasker whilst getting into a scuffle with Stevens and his gang is spotted by Mr Patch who thinks he has potential for boxing, he enters him for a boxing bout. meanwhile Limpy overhears the gang discusing how they are going to nobble Tasker. Limpy is beaten up and Tasker volunteers to give him blood needed to make him better.  After the fight, Tasker tries to sneak out of the dormatory, he shins down the drainpipe into the hands of a gangsters runner. The runner thinks he is Stevens and tries to hand over money and jewellery as half the bounty stolen from an old lady, Tasker has none of it.

Tasker is selected for a championship fight, he is approached by some ruffians to fix the bout, though tasker is tempted, he doesn't go ahead with it. He wins outright and everyone at Ashfield are pleased.

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No9 Terror in the Tall Tower.

This is the Ballard Building, situated in Downtown Manhattan, New York, U.S.A.          It looked alright but what nameless terror lurks behind its walls? A terror that has kept the building empty for years! Young Don Ballard must find out what brings fear to its rooms and corridors - for Don has become the owner of The Ballard Building. On leaving the airport on his way to the building Don was involved in an attempted kidnap by two thugs working for a gangland boss. The scheme was thwarted however by a man dressed as a hippy. The hippy was an undercover Treasury worker called Jago, Jago's secret was kept until near the end of the story.

Don and Jago also an ex-green beret became close friends, Jago helped save Don's life on several occasions. It turns out that Don's uncle who he had never met vanished when fleeing the police chasing underground villians, Don's uncle was supposed to be involved, but neither he or the gangs stash was ever found. The story thickens when Don and Jago come across a swimming pool in the basement complete with an Octopus "The Terror in the Tall Tower". The octopus had been reared by a villain and he set about getting it to kill for him. During much chasing through false doorways and hidden tunnels, the monster was eventually killed, Don also found the stash hidden from all some 30 years previous. A great read.

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No10 Killer Kennedy. 

First published in 1971, Killer Kennedy, the skipper the enemy feared to meet. During the Second World War, Sub-Lieutenant Bill Doyle served in motor torpedo boats under Lieutenant-commander "Killer" Kennedy. One night late in 1943, however, they found themselves in an R.A.F. aircraft flying over German occupied Yugoslavia. Their mission was to advise and assist the Yugoslavian partisan fighters in farming a naval force to harass the Germans along the Yugoslavian coast. The plot nearly back-fired when the partisans captured the British naval officers that had parachuted out to help them in their fight against the Germans. Once everything was explained the British and the partisans became allies. The adventure started off with the partisans helping to cease an ordinary fishing boat, very soon though this was swapped in another mission to an enemy E-boat.

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No11 Smasher. 

Smasher, a 50-foot tall, virtually indestructible robot which destroyed cities. It was controlled from a secret command bubble by Doctor Doom, an evil genius who planned to take over the world. The comic Bullet by D.C. Thomson ran several series for this story - they had to nuke it at the end, thats Smasher, not The Bullet, though in 1978 the Bullet did merge with The Warlord and discontinue. Smasher starts off with Red Reglan and his pal Ferret searching for an awesome metal monster, the monster was controlled by Dr Doom, an evil scientist whose aim was to rule the World. The monster is armed with a terrible laser-ray gun that can reduce all matter to dust. Off the Florida coast, a huge figure of the Smasher emerged from the sea. Smasher started shooting with his laser guns at anything that was in his way, a hotel was first and the it was all go for Red Reglan! Red and Ferret dived out of the vehicle they were driving just in time. An army vehicle then started shooting at the Smasher, this was a useless cause and it was found that they were actually shooting at his laser gun, his only weakness.

The Smasher was then taken by surprise by a group of bolas missiles that wrapped themselves around the huge monster, Smasher fell onto his back and was unoperational. Two Chinnock helicopters then moved in above him, lifted him up in the air and then dropped him in deep water to assumably drown Dr Doom. This was not the end of the story, the Smasher survived.

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No12 Braddock and the Flying Tigers.

Sergeant Matt Braddock, V.C. was one of Britain's greatest pilots in the last war. Sergeant George Bourne was his navigator. In 1942, the new Mosquito aircraft had proved so successful with the R.A.F. that the Fleet Air Arm had decided to try one out. Braddock and bourne were abroad the aircraft carrier Royal Ark, ready to fly special tests for Vice-Admiral Parker of the United States Navy. After much practising from taking off from the aircraft carrier, Braddock and Bourne were then given details and a plan to sort out the enemy. Firat though they had to sort out their American alliy. The US pilots and Military Police proved to be a problem, but a problem Braddock could sort out!

Once out on a mission, Braddock was seen to be flying towards China. It was soon that they had spotted the emblem of the Chinese Air Task Force, American fliers who fought from bases in China.

On having met up with the infaous force of US fliers, Braddock and Bourne thought they would spend a  bit of time getting to know the squad. No such luck though. Almost as soon as they had woken the Air-Raid Alarm went. The C.A.T.F. were already scrambled, then the alarm was signalled again as another bomber fleet approached, but Braddock had sighted a single American Warhawk plane standing alone on the strip. Workers had only just made it flyable. Braddock climbed into the cockpit and took off into the skies. 

Braddock got high aove them, with the first shots of his firing guns, he downed three, the top plane taking out two lower ones. He was acting like a hawk preying on pigeons. Shooting down plane after plane, his prize being the flagship of the Japanese Air Fleet, he downed this plane with ease, and the pilot and crew were taken prisoners. The next special job for Braddock and Bourne was laid on by the US. They were to hit a Jap amoured train called "The Iron Dragon". The train was taken easily, nothing that Brad did seemed to be hard. Much more fighting took place, but eventually the Battle of Midway was over. It had cost the Americans 150 planes-but this was a small price to pay for victory that proved to be a turning point of the war in the Pacific. Braddock and Bourne were proud to have played their part!

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No13 The Frozen Man on the Mountain. 

On the front cover drawing two men can clearly be seen, one is that of British secret-service agent Jake Jeffords, the other a dead climber who carried a notebook of vital scientific screts. Jake Jeffords against all odds must get to him first. on the North face of the Schneehorn was a sheer seven thousand foot high wind-lashed wall on whicj five mountaineers had died! It was there that a documentry film crew made a gruesome discovery that soon became world news. Meanwhile Jeffords was otherwise engaged, he stood in front of a firing squad waiting for the inevitable. the outcome was not as planned though, for Jeffords was released. It seemed he had high friends in all the right places. after having several plans of killing him go astray Jeffords finally gets what he wants, the notebook and contents from the frozen man is handed in and the story ends. One twist at the end was that the man he was working for was also the man that hired a bunch of fellows called the "Levellers", Jeffords took care of him too!

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No14 Morgyn the Mighty 2. 

The second in the Morgyn of the Mighty books from Red Dagger.

This pits Morgyn as the Strongest Man in the World! As he fights for his life in a secret arena. Morgyn had been travelling through Asia for many weeks. One day while crossing a mountain range in Mongolia, he came upon a valley completely surrounded by almost unscaleable cliffs. In the valley was a sight which caused him to tense every muscle in hi body. A troop of Mongol soldiers on horseback were riding near an en-campment. Morgyn decided to take a closer look!  After being captured and tied to four horses, Morgyn managed to escape, he ran, but found his route blocked. There in the mountain was a sword. it was set deep into the stone like the sword of excalibur. Morgyn set about pulling the sword from the rock, this he did and the Mongols instictively threw themselves to their knees. The men thought that it was Genghis Khan who had returned. Prophets had said this would happen. Now Morgyn stood wondering what to do. His only thought was to go along with what they were thinking.

Morgyns first task was to ride a descendant of the Khan's great horse. This was easier said than done as first it had to be broken. The second task was one thought up y Morgyn, to shoot an arrow from a bow. He won with ease.

Then a task of accuracy with bow and arrow, though one of the Mongols hit the target of a breast plate, Morgyn's arrow went right through. Morgyn was indeed a man who could set ench marks for all the soldiers. Morgyn told the men to practise these skills before they should go to war. It was Morgyn's aim that the Mongols, should never go to war.

During the book, Morgyn was up against the man he usurped as leader. then man then set about a personal vendetta against the man who said he was Genghis Khan. Different things happened in the mans attempt at stopping Morgyn from being leader, but he was stopped everytime by the might of Morgyn the Mighty.

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No15 Cast Iron Bill. 

Bill Steele the goalkeeper, or Cast Iron Bill as he was called in this, the No15 of the Red Dagger booklets. Bill started his adventures off by training for Sheffleigh Rovers trying to keep in trim by running with his two trail hounds Rikki and Lorna. Bill was staying with the Honourable Percy Lief-Maulde, the owner and chairman of the team.

The chairman was in money trouble and was selling off some family treasures to make ends meet!  Bill set off to the ground for early morning trainning, he was met by his trainer Duncan Forbes, a man who didn't like Bill.

The next game for Sheffleigh saw them lose 4-0, Bill was injured during the match, his leg giving way and allowing the opposition to score a goal. Bill's famous record of not conceding a goal in was beaten. He was taken to hospital as it was suspected there might be a break. Nothing was found, and Steele returned to the ground with calls of Scrap Iron. The fans were baying for him as they thought he faked it!

The debts proved too much for the chairman and eventually he had to sell the club, Bill was told he was able to stay on at the chairman's home but instead Bill decided to move to pastures new! He was to set up home in the Lake District.

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No16.  Tiger McTaggart.

The story starts in Crete in 1941. Sergeant Tiger McTaggart and his armoured car crew were based on the Mediterranean island. Suddenly the guys came under attack from air-bourne German planes and hundreds of paratroopers. Because the Germans had marked an assault on all the airfields in the local area, the British troops had to travel 400 miles to reach their enemy.  Battle hatches were quickly closed and Tiger McTaggart  and his crews made a run for it. With shells raining down on them they raced at full speed. Trouble soon arose though as a convoy going the other way had been hit and blocked the road. A second swarm of fighters came over, the troop were like sitting targets. McTaggart decided to try and make a fight for it, the armoured vehicle was positioned up a bank to give it elevation and O'Reilly took a shot. A German fighter was taken out and the rest of the formation disappeared..

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No17 The Secret of Black Island. 

Black Island afore metioned as a fictious Island that bore Morgyn the Mighty. This Red Dagger showed a great front cover of a character swimming in shark infested waters heading for the island. When ruthless terrorists threaten the World, Britain's top agent, Jake Jeffords is given his orders- seek and destroy!

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No18 A Mascot called Monty.

In this the 18th of the collection, Bernard Briggs a well known D.C. Thomson character stars in this with a pet called Monty. It's a great story about Bernard and his new team mascot Monty the St Bernard. The dog's football mad but doesn't know all the rules. The story starts with Bernard a scrap metal dealer collecting some scrap from Monty's owner Tom Carpenter, the caretaker of a Youth Club. Tom was surprised that Bernard was working and that Monty a St Bernard wasn't there with him. Mr Carpenter called "Monty", and the big beast came thundering through a gate, smashing straight into him. Tom asked Bernard to call for a Dr as the animal had hurt his leg! An examination found Tom's leg to be fractured and sent for an ambulance. Bernard agreed to look after Tom's dog and his work for the time being. Bernard was a brilliant goalkeeper and it was soon time for him to play, first though on checking Tom's diary, he found that Monty was in a competition at 1.30 that day. Monty won the contest easily, then Bernard faced a problem, should he take Monty to football or not, well he decided to ask the judges if Monty could stay behind, they agredd, Bernard tied Monty up and went on his way.

This was very short-lived as Monty had other ideas. As soon as Bernard's back was turned Monty though tied up, chased after him. the staging he was tied to was dragged through the Dog Show smahing everything in its wake! Bernard apologised to the judges and set about on his way again to football, this time with Monty in tow!

Bernard again tied Monty up and started playing a brilliant game for football, his side would be 6-0 down at half-time if it wasn't for him. Back at the scrapyard, Bernard brushed Monty as he was to appear at another show, he looked splendid and then once again Bernard turned his back. Monty had jumped out of a back window and had dug the biggest hole you had ever seen. No time left, Bernard had to give the dog a quick hose and brush down.

At the show monty won easily again, but then was upset by a cat! He chased the creature around the show, everything was once again being smahed. The organisors of the show were so mad they fined Briggs £30. They said they would hold on to Monty until the payment was made. Bernard agreed! The story goes on.

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No19 Braddock of the Rocket Squad.  

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No20 The Black Sapper. 

The Black Sapper proved a different challenge as the strip drawn by British artist Terry Patrick in 1971 had been used on the front cover of Hotspur. The cover splash pages from Black Sapper are unique amongst the stories reprinted in Red Dagger and make it much more obvious throughout the issue were each week’s episode started.  Full story downthetubes.ne. The Black Sapper of the Red Dagger started in Britain, it was being hit by Khansus without warning, and very few knew about it, one of those few was the Blacl Sapper. Every airport, every R.A.F. airfield was attacked, while Heathrow London smouldered hundreds of giant transport planes poured in. The Black Sapper retreated to Hey Wood where he met an Army General, two bots Arthur Drummond and John Jordan watched from an upper window. They saw General MacChallenger escape and the Black Sapper go to an underground cellar. The Khanus arrived and took command. The General was captured, put on TV and stood in front of a firing squad. However just before the riflemen pulled their triggers, a giant screw came suddenly out of the ground, it was the Black Sapper in his screw tube called The Worm, so called because it travelled underground .

The Boys looked amazed as they watched the TV with the Black Sapper rescuing the General right under the firing squads noses.  And later on an airfield in Southern England, the Sapper struck again. He threw grenades at a plane carrying the Kwangi San's right-hand man. He then set about bombing the Kansus's huge petrol refinery and also the Severn Bridge , these were both part of the Black Sapper's plan. Being transported about in a lorry disguised for transporting milk, the Black Sapper was able to get around the countryside easier. Helped by the General, he did just this. He struck again and again against the Khansus. As a way of bringing ack some of his damaged pride the Kwangi-San had forced England to a game of football against a Khansus team. The game was played at Highbury. The Khansus stopped at nothing to get the ball, they beat England 8-0. England were in their changing rooms after the game and the Black Sapper and the Worm screwed their way throug the ground to help them escape.  Then two weeks later whilst the Khansus were playing Wales, the Worm complete with the Black Sapper struck again. This time the Black Sapper challenged the Khansus team to a game. the winner would get the Worm and himself. But to even things up the Black Sapper brought in Russian and American officials.

No21. Run Paul Run. 

No22. The Tough of the Track.

Hes Alf Tupper-and he's a winner who battled his way from back streets to the front ranks of British athletics. Alf Tupper "The Tough of the Track" worked as an apprentice in Ike Smith's welding shop in the back streets of Greystone. Alf who also lived in the welding shop, was also a well known runner and now, early on a Saturday morning he was out on a training run. Tupper starts by doing some welding work and then eating his favourite dish of Fish and Chips before running in the University Sports. Tupper did nothing conventional.

The Sports were a gala occasion in Greystone and were always opened by a march past of varity athletes in the Great Quadrangle before the assembled professors and specially invited guests. This year the salute was to e taken by the Lord Mayor of Greystone. After wrecking the main parade by pushing his welding gear through the parade, Tupper ran a slendid race and won.

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No23.  Dozy Danny.

He's Britain's sleepiest schoolboy, but when it comes to football, he's wide awake and one of the deadliest strikers in the game! This introduces Dozy Danny!

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No24.  Flying Fury.

Sergeant Fury the man who blitzed the German Air Force- the Hurricane pilot the Luftwaffe couldn't kill.

it was July 1940, with the full fury of "Adlertag" the German blitz on Britain-unleased. Southern England reeled beneath the onslaught. Fighter squadrons of Spitfires and Hurricanes flew almost non-stop. At 278 Hurricane squadron, a hanger was hit, but the fighting stopped, there was a small break in the bombbardment. Flying officer Ken Wilson was "A" Company commander, he returned to say a small number of the flight were shot down. Suddenly a plane lerched from the skies, it barrel-rolled and crashed. The squadron stood in disbelief as a pilot walked as calm as anything from the wreckage. he announced his name and gave his number. Sergeant Fury...580907 posted from 72 squadron. the commander shook his ice cold hand.  Days past and Fury was always first in his plane at the first sign of Jerry. he was even in the cockpit before the alarm was raised, he threw himself in front of other flight members, savung their lives and never coming out with a scratch. it was as though he was a ghost. An Angel to look over them! Other members of his flight saw a planet design painted on his plane. Who was this man really?

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No25 The Blitz Kid. 

This is the boyhood story of Arnold Todds, the famous Redburn Rovers and England Left-Half.

One evening in 1941, the wailing of air raid sirens in Stockbridge gave warning that German bombers were on their way to attack the Midlands town, One of the people hurrying towards an air raid shelter was 14-year-old Arnold Tobbs, who had been orphaned during a German air raid on Rudley and who was now working as an engine cleaner in the Stockbridge railway depot. Accompanying Arnold to the shelter was Mrs Harper, his landlady! Suddenly Arnold turned heels and started running in the opposite direction. Despite calls from Mrs Harper, Arnold headed in the direction of the depot.

It was Arnold's intention to see if he could be of use at the engine sheds.

No27 V for Vengeance.

In September, 1939, the Germans invaded Poland. Nothing seemed able to stop their powerful army. It crushed all before it, like a mighty steam-roller. But close to a concentration camp in Bavaria, an incident happened which was to have very unpleasant consequences for the Germans. A HGV carrying an amoured vehicle suddenly had its precious cargo break free. With the tank on its side, it was suggested that the prisoners from the camp should join forces and up-right the tank. It was thought by some that the task was too much for the malnutricianed men.

The task was completed with the help of small jacks, one man a concert violinist was ordered to show his hands as he was wearing gloves, he became friends with another man and then was shot dead. Before dying, the man told his friend that a brother lived nearby, the brother was a plastic surgeon. The brother if contacted would give him a new identity. An escape plan was devised and Herr Gregson managed to contact the plastic surgeon. The new face he chose was one of Von Reich, a second in command of the Gestapo. He was to lead the German army a huge chase around, causing havoc whenever he could.

The first effort was to kill three armed soldiers, and allow twenty starved wretches to escape. A note was placed on the head of the soldiers and they were left to be found. The note read:

V for Vengeance.

The deathless men, those who have died yet still live, strike for freedom. It is the turn of NAZI TYRANTS to die. Let them live in fear, for death is near to each and every one of them.Nothing can stop the just vengeance of the Deathless Men.

No29. Braddock of Bomber Command.

No30. Eleven Little Soccer Boys.

The very last of the set of Red Dagger booklets, Eleven Little Soccer Boys, the story is about eleven young footballers, they were once the World Youth Champions and it was football manager Danny Hawkes' dream to bring them back as a team again-but his dream became a nightmare! Danny Hawke, one-time centre-half of England and trainer of the world beating British Youth team of 1969, had become manager of struggling Fourth Division side Ashfield Rovers. Ashfield were in fear of going under as a club, Hawkes tried to instill an importance in the team and show them just how good they could be. The players tried to mutiny, one player smashed up Hawle's and the chairman's offices, but was found out by Hawkes who soon sent him packing.

Hawke's first target was young Alfie Dodd. Alfie however had been framed and was serving two years in jail for driving a gang that were doing a bank robbery. Dodds with the help of Hawkes was proven innocent and go out of jail free.

Hawke's second player was goalkeeper Sammy Land, Sammy had been given a free transfer from his last club and had given up football, Sammy's reason was that he had lost his nerve in one of the last matches he played in, he was diving to get a ball at the feet of a forward and the forward followed through and kicked Sammy in the head. Sammy was supposed to be working as a window cleaner, but he was not too keen on doing that. Hawke organised a plan to get Sammy's confidence back, it worked, Sammy was number two to sign for Ashfield Rovers. With just two of the eleven little soccer boys, Ashfield's losing streak have ceased.

Next on Hawke's mind was Jerry Spencer, but Jerry had been playing in the USA, Hawkes gainned a ticket and went to see him play, the game was slightly fixed, Hawkes saw Jerry playing like a robot, Jerry didn't want to play like that, but it was a crowd puller and the way his bosses wanted him to play. With Hawke watching Jerry reverted back to his old playing style, he was attacked by players of the other side who didn't like being out shone. Jerry was suspended, and Hawkes was unwittedly forced into signing for the American side. At his first chance Hawkes put the recocord straight, and the American side were glad to get rid of him, along with Jerry Spencer too. Player three down, eight more to go! Exercise Stan Bancroft was Hawke's number four priority. Hawkes needed a winger. Bancroft was in Italy, he was a football coach to a bunch of juvenile deliquents, but Hawkes got his man, seven more to go.