[1] James Edmond Macdonnell was born in 1917 in Mackay, Queensland and became one of Australia's most prolific writers of paperback novels.
At age 13, while his family was still asleep, he took his brother's bike and rode some 80 miles from his home town to Brisbane in an attempt to see ships and the sea.
[1][2] After leaving the navy, Macdonnell lived in St. Ives, Sydney and pursued his writing career.
Macdonnell's naval stories feature several recurring characters: Several books follow Jim Brady through the ranks from Able Seaman to Captain.
Since J. E. Macdonnell wrote so many books,[citation needed] many of which were released numerous times in different guises, in different collections and in various countries, it is difficult to identify every published series but some can be clearly identified:[citation needed] The Collector's Series, and the Classics Series both comprise 141 books, with 2 differences between them other than the title sequence.
Macdonnell wrote three juvenile works about the character Captain Mettle using the pseudonym James Macnell.
He wrote another entitled Colt and Co in the Valley of Gold as J. Macdonnell, which was published by Dent in 1960.
Mettle at Woomera was re-released in paperback as Weapon Raid by Horwitz in 1979, using the name J. E. Macdonnell.
[1] Macdonnell may have written other medical romance novels released by Horwitz under the name Kerry Mitchell, as well.
[2] The back cover of one edition says of Macdonnell, in part, "...In researching for this series of medical novels, he has witnessed more than fifty major surgical operations – and only fainted once...!
Commander Brady, Published by Constable 1956, Reprinted 1956, Corgi Books 1957, Re-issued 1971.