“The Sky Wolf’s Brood” by Harold F. Cruickshank
WE’RE celebrating the works of Canada’s very own Harold F. Cruickshank this month. Mr. Cruickshank launched his career writing stories based loosely on his war experiences. As tastes turned from straight out battle field stories to air war stories, Cruickshank shifted his setting from the trenches to the cockpit. With stories appearing in such titles as War Birds, War Aces, Sky Birds, Airplane Stories, Flying Aces, and Sky Fighters.
For Harry Steeger’s trio of Popular Publication’s titles—Battle Aces, Dare-Devil Aces and Battle Birds—Mr. Cruickshank developed continuing characters that ran generally in short novelettes each month. The first was Captain Bill Hennedy, a.k.a The Sky Wolf, in the pages of Battle Aces. Starting in the magazine’s fourth issue in January 1931, The Sky Wolf would appear just over a dozen times before flying through the pages of G-8 and his Battle Aces and Dare-Devil Aces for another dozen or so adventures.
Hennedy was ably assisted by his famous Yank Wolf Brood! “Red” Kelly was the Sky Wolf’s deputy leader; he along with Pat Maguire and Stan Glover formed a trio of pilots who had no equal in the whole of France. Filling out the Wolf Flight were wolf cubs Jim Evans and Hank Daly—able to hold their own with any German Ace that dared take them on. Together, The Sky Wolf and his Brood were the scourge of any and all German Aces who dared attack the Allied forces.
Here we present The Sky Wolf’s premier outing as he and his brood try to save a stranded garrison! From the January 1931 issue of Battle Aces, it’s “The Sky Wolf’s Brood!”
It was the “Sky Wolf’s” daring scheme—this plan to rescue that stranded garrison of wounded infantrymen. And now unmindful of his blood-drenched face, he was leading his brood straight down into the enemy stronghold—for here was a skipper and a brood that didn’t know when they were dead!
- Download “The Sky Wolf’s Brood” (January 1931, Battle Aces)
Here is a listing of Harold F. Cruickshank’s SKY WOLF stories.
title | magazine | date | vol | no |
1931 | ||||
The Sky Wolf’s Brood | Battle Aces | Jan | 1 | 4 |
The Sky Wolf Returns | Battle Aces | Jul | 3 | 2 |
Fangs of the Wolf Brood | Battle Aces | Nov | 4 | 2 |
1932 | ||||
The Wolf Brood Strikes | Battle Aces | Jan | 4 | 4 |
The Wolf Brand | Battle Aces | Mar | 5 | 2 |
Sky Wolf’s Cub | Battle Aces | Apr | 5 | 3 |
The Brood at Bay | Battle Aces | May | 5 | 4 |
The Wolf Terror | Battle Aces | Jun | 6 | 1 |
Snarl of the Sky Wolf | Battle Aces | Jul | 6 | 2 |
Wolf Brood Hell | Battle Aces | Aug | 6 | 3 |
The Flying Torpedo | Battle Aces | Sep | 6 | 4 |
Sky Wolf’s Trap | Battle Aces | Oct | 7 | 1 |
Staffel of Hell | Battle Aces | Nov | 7 | 2 |
1934 | ||||
Return of the Sky Wolf | G-8 and his Battle Aces | Feb | 2 | 1 |
The Silver Spad | G-8 and his Battle Aces | Apr | 2 | 3 |
The Outlaw Patrol | G-8 and his Battle Aces | Jun | 3 | 1 |
Drome of the Living Dead | Dare-Devil Aces | Nov | 8 | 4 |
1935 | ||||
Legion of Death | Dare-Devil Aces | Jan | 9 | 2 |
The Torpedo Eagle | Dare-Devil Aces | May | 10 | 2 |
The Iron Devils | Dare-Devil Aces | Aug | 11 | 1 |
The Jackal Patrol | Dare-Devil Aces | Nov | 11 | 4 |
1937 | ||||
Hell Trap | Dare-Devil Aces | Mar | 12 | 4 |
1938 | ||||
The Sky Wolf Returns | Dare-Devil Aces | Jun | 19 | 3 |
The Hell Raider | Dare-Devil Aces | Oct | 20 | 3 |
1943 | ||||
Fangs of the Sky Wolf | Dare-Devil Aces | May | 31 | 2 |