Did you ever read the Clair Bee "Chip Hilton" books?
If I can recommend one more..I'm sure you know Alistair MacClean from his epic novels (later films) like "Guns of Navaronne" and "Where Eagles Dare"..but his first novel "HMS Ulysses" is based on his service in WWII..and is, I think, his best work...again..worth trying to find..I think there's an e-book edition
Never heard of Chip Hilton, but I did read all the Hardy Boys mysteries and even the older series called the Radio Boys which were from my uncle’s generation and in his bookshelf.
By the way, the first serious descriptions of sex I was exposed to also came from those popular novels on my mother’s bookshelves. Not nearly as graphic as you find today, but I learned a lot there too. :-)