Rufolo Reviews: The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall

Everyone loves the Goonies right? Now imagine it were British and set during World War Two – you’d just about have The Machine Gunners.

All the kids in the northern coastal town of Garmouth collect souvenirs from German air raids, mostly just shrapnel, but when a Luftwaffe pilot is shot down, 14-year-old Chas McGill uses his father’s saw to steal the entire machine gun with over 200 rounds of live ammunition.

 Come on, that’s just awesome! (Well, it is for us British kids, for any American readers that sort of thing’s the norm.)

So Chas and his friend Cem, who’s sort of like an unhygienic socially retarded scarecrow (I’m autistic, so I’m allowed to say that) and a very tough slightly awesome ginger called Audrey end up smuggling the weapon from place to place, outwitting the hapless police forces whilst the school bully starts to suspect and fancies the machine gun for his own collection. Then when Chas and the gang stand up to him to protect a wealthy but lonely classmate, their new friend lets them turn his sizeable back garden into their own gun emplacement to fight the Germans themselves.

Despite being about kids, the book isn’t exactly kid-friendly. There’s some pretty intense action, particularly at the incredible climax and some brutal fight scenes that get bloody serious. I’m nearly seventeen and I found the violence pretty distressing when the perpetrators were so young, but it makes the book realistic and impactful enough to show what war can do to children.

And these child characters are just fantastic. Chas, like Simon in Westall’s other book The Scarecrows, can be quite snobbish and, at times, very cruel, but when he’s so smart, mischievous and conniving, you can’t help but like him and he really redeems himself. He’s brave, he has an enormous sense of justice and is immensely loyal to his friends.

The rest of the gang are just as interesting. They’re not always likeable, but let’s admit it, that’s not always the case with teenagers. It’s not just about them though; there’s time set aside for the adult characters: their teacher, the home guard and the police who are all very entertaining.

Admittedly Audrey starts off as a great tomboy until the boys basically put her in the kitchen, but I don’t think it’s a huge problem. As Westall argued himself, women’s lib didn’t really exist back in the forties and when the story could have been a strictly boys only adventure. With Audrey, any girls reading aren’t excluded becuse she's still strong in her own way.

The only thing I’d say is a big problem is the way the northern accents are written. The dialogue is very realistic as Westall didn’t shy away from using swear words, but with the adults and one boy who’s Scottish, there are quite a few odd spellings for the pronunciations and it can be distracting.

Overall though, it’s damn near perfect, suitably dark and gritty yet a fun and relatable story at the same time. It's a book of high calibre, deserving of its classic status and Carnegie Award and could go down a treat for anyone enjoying Netflix’s Stranger Things at the moment!

So guys, have any of you read The Machine Gunners and if so, what did you think of it? Also, what’s your favourite sort of boys-will-be-boys story complete with a bit of crude language and violence?