S.A.S. in Tuscany, 1943–1945
S.A.S. in Tuscany, 1943–1945

Author: Brian Lett

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2011-12-01

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 1844686361

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While always dangerous and daring, SAS operations are by no means invariably successful and when they go wrong, they do so very badly. The first of the three operations covered in this book, SPEEDWELL 2, saw six men drop blind into Northern Tuscany on 8 September 1943, by chance the day of the Italian Armistice. But with no radios or air/ground support their courageous three week operation ended in disaster; four were captured and executed and only one got out. The second and third operations, GALIA (winter 44/45) and BLIMEY (April 1945), provided contrasting results. GALIA, 34 men led by Captain Walker-brown, tied up many thousands of enemy troops for nearly two months under extreme winter conditions an extraordinary achievement, thanks in measure to cooperation with an SOE mission led by Major Gordon Lett, the authors father. BLIMEY sadly achieved little and the reasons for the success and failure of these two operations are carefully analyzed.This book adds valuable new information on SAS operations in WWII.

SAS in Italy 1943-1945
SAS in Italy 1943-1945

Author: Malcolm Tudor

Publisher: Fonthill Media

Published: 2018-11-10

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13:

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This is the story of Britain's elite special force in Italy during the Second World War. In the summer of 1943 the SAS came out of Africa to carry the fight to the Germans and Fascists in Sicily and the mainland. On the Italian Armistice and Surrender in September 1943 the originator of the SAS, Scots Guards lieutenant David Stirling, was a prisoner at the high-security prisoner of war camp five at Gavi in Piedmont, north-western Italy, after being captured in January in Tunisia. He eventually ended up as a prisoner at Colditz Castle in Germany, but his work continued. The idea of small groups of parachute-trained soldiers operating behind enemy lines to gain intelligence, destroy enemy aircraft, and attack their supply and reinforcement routes, was realised in the many daring missions carried out in Italy by the men of 2nd SAS Regiment and the Special Raiding Squadron. The famous SAS motto of 'Who dares wins, ' was swiftly translated into the Italian 'Chi osa vince.' This book reveals how words were turned into deeds.

SAS in Tuscany 1943-45
SAS in Tuscany 1943-45

Author: Brian Lett

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781848844469

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While always dangerous and daring, SAS operations are by no means invariably successful and when they go wrong, they do so very badly. The first of the three operations covered in this book, SPEEDWELL 2, saw six men drop blind into Northern Tuscany on 8 September 1943, by chance the day of the Italian Armistice. But with no radios or air/ground support their courageous three week operation ended in disaster; four were captured and executed and only one got out. The second and third operations, GALIA (winter 44/45) and BLIMEY (April 1945), provided contrasting results. GALIA, 34 men led by Captain Walker-brown, tied up many thousands of enemy troops for nearly two months under extreme winter conditions - an extraordinary achievement, thanks in measure to cooperation with an SOE mission led by Major Gordon Lett, the author's father. BLIMEY sadly achieved little and the reasons for the success and failure of these two operations are carefully analyzed. This book adds valuable new information on SAS operations in WWII. SELLING POINTS: * SAS operations remain a hugely popular topic * Describes three separate operations with very different results * The story of these operations has never been covered in any detail, adds to the bibliography of the SAS * Tuscany is an area that is of interest to travellers * Author has a unique knowledge of the area and the operations. ILLUSTRATIONS: 16 mono plates

2SAS
2SAS

Author: Gavin Mortimer

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-10-12

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1472856724

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Drawing on recently declassified files and interviews with veterans, this is a fascinating history of Bill Stirling and 2SAS – pioneering founders of modern special forces. David Stirling is the name synonymous with the wartime SAS, but the real brains behind the operation was in fact Bill Stirling, David's eldest brother. Bill was described in the SAS War Diary as a 'man from the shadows'; it was an apt description for, unlike his attention seeking brother, Bill shunned the spotlight. Now for the first time the truth – and the triumph – of 2SAS is revealed. Having originally joined the SOE in March 1940, Bill Stirling sailed for Cairo in 1941 and there had the idea for a small special forces unit to be led by his mercurial brother. But despite some success, David allowed the legendary 1SAS to drift under his leadership. Following his capture, Bill re-directed 2SAS, under his personal command, to the strategy he had originally envisaged: parachuting behind enemy lines to gather intelligence. Fully illustrated with rare and previously unpublished photographs, this compelling history details how 2SAS fought with ingenuity and aggression, from Italy and then into France before heading through Holland into Germany. The unit was capable of attacking by parachute, jeep or landing craft, establishing a template for future special forces' operations. Their feats have been overshadowed by the many books that have focused on David and 1SAS. 2SAS corrects this oversight, revealing that the real innovator was Bill Stirling – the true pioneer of Who Dares Wins.

Churchill's Hellraisers
Churchill's Hellraisers

Author: Damien Lewis

Publisher: Citadel Press

Published: 2020-08-25

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 0806540761

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From award-winning war reporter Damien Lewis, the untold story of the heroic hellraisers who stormed a Nazi fortress—in one of the most daring raids of World War II . . . Winter, 1944. Allied forces have liberated most of Axis-occupied Italy—with one crucial exception: the Nazi headquarters north of the Gothic Line. Heavily guarded and surrounded by rugged terrain, the mountain fortress is nearly impenetrable. But British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is determined to drive a dagger into the “soft underbelly of Europe.” The Allied’s plan: drop two paratroopers into the mountains—and take the fortress by storm . . . The two brave men knew the risks involved, so they recruited an equally fearless team: Italian resistance fighters, escaped POWs, downed US airmen, even a bagpipe-playing Scotsman known as “The Mad Piper.” Some had little military training, but all were willing to fight to the death to defeat the Nazi enemy. Ultimately, the mission that began in broad daylight, in the enemy’s line of fire, would end one of the darkest chapters in history—through the courage and conviction of the unsung heroes who dared the impossible . . . “One of the most dangerous and effective attacks ever undertaken by this Regiment against the enemy.” —Lt Col Robert Walker‐Brown, MBE DSO, senior SAS commander “Action-packed . . . Battleground history buffs will be entertained.” —Publishers Weekly

Victory in Italy
Victory in Italy

Author: Richard Doherty

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2015-01-30

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1783462981

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While the main focus in early 1945 was on the advance to The Fatherland, 15 Army Group's 5th (US) and 8th (British) Armies were achieving remarkable results in Northern Italy. Superb generalship (Truscott – 5th Army and McCreery – 8th Army under General

Storming the Eagle's Nest
Storming the Eagle's Nest

Author: Jim Ring

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2013-09-03

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0571282407

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From the Fall of France in June 1940 to Hitler's suicide in April 1945, the swastika flew from the peaks of the High Savoy in the western Alps to the passes above Ljubljana in the east. The Alps as much as Berlin were the heart of the Third Reich.'Yes,' Hitler declared of his headquarters in the Bavarian Alps, 'I have a close link to this mountain. Much was done there, came about and ended there; those were the best times of my life . . . My great plans were forged there.'With great authority and verve, Jim Ring tells the story of how the war was conceived and directed from the Fuhrer's mountain retreat, how all the Alps bar Switzerland fell to Fascism, and how Switzerland herself became the Nazi's banker and Europe's spy centre. How the Alps in France, Italy and Yugoslavia became cradles of resistance, how the range proved both a sanctuary and a death-trap for Europe's Jews - and how the whole war culminated in the Allies' descent on what was rumoured to be Hitler's Alpine Redoubt, a Bavarian mountain fortress.

An Extraordinary Italian Imprisonment
An Extraordinary Italian Imprisonment

Author: Brian Lett

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2014-11-30

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1473822696

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This book tells the story of prisoner of war camp PG 21, at Chieti, Italy, between August 1942 and September 1943. It was grossly overcrowded, with little running water, no proper sanitation, and in winter no heating.??Conditions (food/clothing) for POWs were so bad that they were debated in the House of Commons.??The prisoners suffered under a violently pro-Fascist regime. The first Commandant personally beat up one recaptured escaper. A pilot was murdered by an Italian guard following his escape attempt. Tunnels were dug, and the prisoners were even prepared to swim through human sewage to try and get out. Morale in the camp remained remarkably high. Two England cricket internationals staged a full scale cricket match. Theatre and music also thrived.??After the Italian Armistice, in September 1943, the British Commander refused to allow the ex-prisoners to leave camp. Germans took over the camp, and most prisoners were transported to Germany. Some managed to hide, and more than half of these subsequently escaped. After the war, a number of the Camp staff were arrested for war crimes.

SOE's Mastermind
SOE's Mastermind

Author: Brian Lett

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2016-09-30

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1473863821

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The first complete biography of Britain’s WWII spymaster presents an intimate look at his life and career, as well as an insider’s look at the SOE. Major General Sir Colin Gubbins was the driving force behind Britain’s Special Operations Executive, the secret military organization established by Winston Churchill in 1940. First as its Operations and Training Director, and then its Commander, Gubbins orchestrated every aspect of the SOE’s worldwide covert operations. Though Gubbins made enormous contributions to Allied victory, his life and work have remained shrouded in secrecy until now. With copious research and unprecedented access to family archives, biographer Brian Lett reveals the war hero’s early experiences in the Great War, as well as in Russia, Ireland, Poland, and as Head of British Resistance. The result is a fascinating biography that reveals as much about SOEs extraordinary activities as it does about the man who inspired and commanded them.

Hitlers Hangmen
Hitlers Hangmen

Author: Brian Lett

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2022-02-01

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1922615560

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Before and after the outbreak of the Second World War there were sizeable Fascist groups active in Britain, working to overthrow the British government. Most of the Fascist leaders were interned in 1940 as soon as Churchill came to power, but were freed in the better times of 1944, all the more embittered and just as intent on installing a Fascist government and taking revenge on Churchill. By late 1944 there were hundreds of thousands of German prisoners of war in Britain, many of them in camps brutally dominated by the SS and other Nazi fanatics. When Hitler tried to restore Germany’s position with his massive Battle of the Bulge offensive he gave orders for this to be supported by a break-out from all of the POW camps under Nazi control. Some of the escapers were to head for London to assassinate Churchill, with the help of the British Fascists. It was only by chance that the plot was foiled. This is the incredible, disturbing story of how close British Fascists came to impacting the outcome of the Second World War. It is also a comprehensive investigation of the break-out plot as it unfolded across Britain: how it came to fruition and how it was quashed, its repercussions and the many little-known stories of escape and recapture which took place throughout the country.