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Evading German guards, they travel through heavy snow and rough terrain and are met by Louki, the steward of the exiled owner of the island, and
Panayis, his enigmatic friend. They bring much needed food. By radio, Jensen tells the team that they have less time than was planned for. The ships are
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The island of
Navarone, off the Turkish coast, has been heavily fortified as the Germans attempt to stifle British naval activity in the Aegean. A force of 1200 British soldiers is now marooned on the nearby island of Kheros (another variation of the island Keros, which is situated to the west of
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brings together elements that would characterise much of MacLean's subsequent works: tough, competent, worldly men as main characters; frequent but non-graphic violence; betrayal of the hero(es) by a trusted associate; and extensive use of the sea and other dangerous environments as settings. Its
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Skoda. Thanks to Andrea's diversionary behaviour, they turn the tables on them and Skoda is shot. With Turzig and the others securely tied up, they escape and make their way to the town of
Navarone. They are harassed by troops and planes who are also apparently expecting them.
341:) coastal artillery guns, along with a number of smaller guns. The guns had been manufactured and used by the Italians, and were captured with the island after the surrender of the British and Italian defenders; the guns were used by the Germans for the rest of the war.
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they sail towards
Navarone. They carry papers identifying themselves as collaborators with, and couriers for, the German commandant of the island. They are intercepted by a German patrol boat, which appears to be expecting them. They sink it and kill all the crew.
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With no medical facilities available, Stevens is clearly dying and beyond help. He asks to be left behind and feels curiously at peace. Miller discovers that much of his equipment has been damaged. Suspicion falls on
Panayis, who is also suspected of being a
428:, a British-held island. Here, they discover an eavesdropper, Nicolai the base laundry boy, who allegedly speaks no English but is spying on them anyway. They demand that he be arrested and held incommunicado, but the story implies that this does not happen.
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three principal characters – New
Zealand mountaineer-turned-commando Keith Mallory, American demolitions expert "Dusty" Miller, and Greek resistance fighter Andrea – are among the most fully drawn in all of MacLean's work.
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Mallory and Miller manage to enter the fortress housing the guns, whilst the others create a diversion. They set the explosives and then get out to meet the others. They steal a boat and rendezvous with the
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Lt Andrew
Stevens R.N.V.R. – Stevens is a young naval officer chosen as navigator. Like Mallory, he speaks fluent Greek and is an experienced mountaineer but considers himself an abject coward.
473:, which is leading two others through the deepwater channel. Just in time, the explosives do their work, the guns are destroyed and the ships continue on their way to rescue the soldiers.
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They are wrecked in a storm but manage to land on the island, having lost much of their equipment. They climb the 'unclimbable' south cliff, but
Stevens slips and is badly injured.
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is planning to send ships to rescue them. The heavy radar-controlled guns command the only deepwater channel that ships can use and must be silenced at all costs.
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coming through that very night. But whilst resting in a cave, they are captured by a troop of German specialist mountain soldiers led by
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Turzig, who recognises
Mallory as a famous climber. They are taken to the town of Margaritha where they are ruthlessly interrogated by
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388:(LRDG). Mallory was a pre-war mountain climber, nicknamed "The Human Fly". He has been operating in the mountains of German-held
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519:, is considered a tongue-in cheek reference to MacLean's similarly titled novel. In addition to sounding alike, both
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The success of the book's film adaptation prompted
Alistair MacLean to write the only sequel of his writing career,
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does not exist and the plot is fictional, but the story takes place within the real historical context of the 1943
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Andrea – a former Lt. Colonel in the Greek army, a ruthless fighter and close friend and confidante of Mallory.
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does not exist and the plot is fictional, but the story takes place within the real historical context of the
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to the LRDG. Miller is described as a stringy, cynical man who doubts their chances of success.
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Petty Officer Telegraphist Casey Brown – a Royal Navy engineer and veteran of the
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provide inspiration for the novel. Sited on the island were 11 152mm/6 inch (an
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Corporal Dusty Miller – an American explosives expert who transferred from the
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and worked as a testing and installation engineer pre-war.
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bombers fails to destroy the guns, Captain James Jensen
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Commando attacks have failed and after a bombardment by
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Captain Keith Mallory – a New Zealand officer with the
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Churchill's Folly: The Battles for Kos and Leros, 1943
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produced a two-hour adaptation for radio written by
665:Rogers, Anthony; Jellicoe, Lord (2 February 2017).
56:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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265:in 1961. The story concerns the efforts of an
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279:that threatens Allied naval ships in the
116:Learn how and when to remove this message
1374:Novels set in Greece during World War II
701:"Italian Naval Forces in the Aegean Sea"
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272:team to destroy a seemingly impregnable
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624:performed the unabridged version for
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523:and Navarone are fictional islands.
491:The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time
376:The team meet for the first time in
54:adding citations to reliable sources
25:
13:
1389:Scottish novels adapted into films
760:Book review at AlistairMacLean.com
14:
1415:
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612:was also produced as an abridged
283:and prevents over 1,200 isolated
65:"The Guns of Navarone" novel
30:
1384:Novels set on fictional islands
1308:(1995) (with Alastair MacNeill}
1302:(1993) (with Alastair MacNeill)
1296:(1992) (with Alastair MacNeill)
1290:(1991) (with Alastair MacNeill)
1284:(1990) (with Alastair MacNeill)
1270:(1989) (with Alastair MacNeill)
41:needs additional citations for
1278:(1990)(with Alastair MacNeill)
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287:soldiers from being rescued.
206:Print (hardback and paperback)
19:For the movie adaptation, see
16:1957 novel by Alistair MacLean
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730:Miller, Frank (12 May 2009).
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1349:(1994) (with Simon Gandolfi)
1343:(1993) (with Simon Gandolfi)
1337:(1992) (with Simon Gandolfi)
1047:All About Lawrence of Arabia
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325:in 1943. In particular, the
259:that was made into the film
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21:The Guns of Navarone (film)
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365:, Chief of Operations for
251:is a 1957 novel about the
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1320:(1998) (with Hugh Miller)
1314:(1997) (with Hugh Miller)
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1262:(1981) (with John Denis)
1254:(1980) (with John Denis)
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292:Greek island of Navarone
142:First edition cover (UK)
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386:Long Range Desert Group
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1399:Allies of World War II
1221:The Way to Dusty Death
1173:Force 10 from Navarone
940:The Way to Dusty Death
908:Force 10 from Navarone
732:"The Guns of Navarone"
563:. The cast included:
541:a 1961 film adaptation
499:Force 10 from Navarone
1288:Time of the Assassins
1259:Air Force One Is Down
1229:Air Force One Is Down
1090:When Eight Bells Toll
892:When Eight Bells Toll
868:The Golden Rendezvous
582:as "Commodore Jensen"
477:Literary significance
309:Historical background
131:The Guns of Navarone
1117:The Guns of Navarone
820:The Guns of Navarone
610:The Guns of Navarone
487:The Guns of Navarone
481:In 1990 the British
420:The team travel via
409:. He is a native of
407:Special Boat Service
339:intermediate calibre
313:The Greek island of
302:The Guns of Navarone
262:The Guns of Navarone
248:The Guns of Navarone
50:improve this article
1369:1957 British novels
1157:Caravan to Vaccarès
924:Caravan to Vaccarès
539:wrote and produced
319:Dodecanese Campaign
296:Dodecanese campaign
255:by Scottish writer
132:
1328:Golden Girl novels
980:Goodbye California
828:South by Java Head
705:Orbat Web Magazine
699:Mehtidis, Alexis.
508:The Guns of Avalon
237:South by Java Head
130:
1356:
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1251:The Hostage Tower
1189:The Hostage Tower
1165:Golden Rendezvous
1141:Ice Station Zebra
1082:Puppet on a Chain
1074:Where Eagles Dare
916:Puppet on a Chain
900:Where Eagles Dare
884:Ice Station Zebra
860:The Dark Crusader
844:Night Without End
836:The Last Frontier
489:89th on its list
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39:This article
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1300:Code Breaker
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739:. Retrieved
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682:. Retrieved
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626:Harper Audio
622:Steven Pacey
609:
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600:as "Stevens"
570:as "Mallory"
550:
537:Carl Foreman
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505:The name of
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460:double agent
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48:Please help
43:verification
40:
1335:Golden Girl
1275:Night Watch
1267:Death Train
1232:(2013) (TV)
1224:(1995) (TV)
1216:(1995) (TV)
1213:Night Watch
1208:(1993) (TV)
1205:Death Train
1192:(1980) (TV)
1181:Bear Island
1109:Adaptations
1066:Screenplays
1039:Non-fiction
1020:San Andreas
932:Bear Island
812:HMS Ulysses
736:www.tcm.com
715:20 February
684:20 February
620:narrating.
598:Peter Kenny
592:Alex Norton
588:as "Miller"
576:as "Andrea"
557:Bert Coules
553:BBC Radio 2
527:Adaptations
426:Castelrosso
224:HMS Ulysses
1363:Categories
1341:Golden Web
1306:Rendezvous
652:References
594:as "Brown"
471:HMS Sirdar
378:Alexandria
352:Royal Navy
323:Aegean Sea
281:Aegean Sea
106:April 2019
76:newspapers
1294:Dead Halt
1282:Red Alert
1028:Santorini
1012:Floodgate
1004:Partisans
988:Athabasca
795:Works by
614:audiobook
605:Audiobook
551:In 1997,
468:destroyer
451:Hauptmann
411:Clydeside
174:Publisher
161:John Rose
972:Seawitch
315:Navarone
277:fortress
270:commando
166:Language
741:20 June
636:Author
632:Sequels
513:fantasy
485:placed
178:Collins
169:English
90:scholar
1243:novels
1200:(1989)
1184:(1979)
1176:(1978)
1168:(1977)
1160:(1974)
1152:(1972)
1144:(1968)
1136:(1965)
1128:(1961)
1120:(1961)
1101:(1976)
1093:(1971)
1085:(1971)
1077:(1968)
1058:(1972)
1050:(1962)
1031:(1986)
1023:(1984)
1015:(1983)
1007:(1982)
999:(1981)
991:(1980)
983:(1978)
975:(1977)
967:(1976)
959:(1975)
956:Circus
951:(1974)
943:(1973)
935:(1971)
927:(1970)
919:(1969)
911:(1968)
903:(1967)
895:(1966)
887:(1963)
879:(1962)
871:(1962)
863:(1961)
855:(1961)
847:(1959)
839:(1959)
831:(1957)
823:(1957)
815:(1955)
804:Novels
675:
521:Avalon
434:caïque
400:R.A.F.
274:German
267:Allied
239:
226:
148:Author
92:
85:
78:
71:
63:
1241:UNACO
616:with
547:Radio
390:Crete
371:Cairo
335:Leros
211:Pages
97:JSTOR
83:books
743:2021
717:2021
711:(41)
686:2021
673:ISBN
644:and
532:Film
511:, a
345:Plot
329:and
290:The
190:1957
180:(UK)
69:news
422:MTB
369:in
367:SOE
298:.
214:288
52:by
1365::
734:.
707:.
703:.
671:.
628:.
543:.
493:.
363:RN
788:e
781:t
774:v
745:.
719:.
709:1
688:.
392:.
119:)
113:(
108:)
104:(
94:·
87:·
80:·
73:·
46:.
23:.
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