Popskis Private Army was a special service unit led by Major Vladimir Peniakoff (Popski). Signalman Leslie (Chalky) White was taken on strength in December 1943. The aim of the unit was to collect intelligence, inflict damage on the enemy, and, therefore spread unease.PPA was one of the smallest, colourful, and most daring units ever set up to operate behind enemy lines, first in Africa, then Italy.
In October 1942, Vladimir Peniakoff (nicknamed Popski) formed his own elite fighting force in the North African desert. Over the next year ‘Popski’s Private Army’ carried out a series of daring raids behind the German lines that were truly spectacular—freeing prisoners, destroying installations, spreading alarm. This, one of the classic memoirs of the Second World War, is their story. ‘A story of adventure...which has no rival in the literature of any war.’—DAILY EXPRESS ‘This is certainly among the best of war books...splendid writing.’—THE OBSERVER ‘One of the small handful of really first-class war books. A superb story of adventure told masterfully, brilliantly.’—EVENING STANDARD ‘His courage, resourcefulness and qualities of leadership deservedly gained him a high reputation. He has now shown that he also possesses unusual literary talent.’—THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
In October 1942, with the sanction of the army, Vladimir Peniakoff (nicknamed Popski) formed his own elite fighting force. By befriending and enlisting desert Arabs, he was able to penetrate deep into German territory without being detected - over the next year, 'Popski's Private Army' carried out a series of raids behind the German lines that were truly spectacular. A bestseller when it was first published in 1950, POPSKI'S PRIVATE ARMY is a classic account of the war in the desert, and later in Italy, as seen through the eyes of a maverick soldier, hailed as the Second World War's answer to T.E. Lawrence.
This WWII memoir gives the inside story of Britain’s legendary demolition squadron and their daring escapades in Italy and Norther Africa. During the Second World War, a Russian-born emigre named Vladimir Peniakoff emerged as a decorated officer of the British Special Forces in Cairo. Code-named Popski, he started the No. 1 Demolition Squadron—known as Popski’s Private Army—charged with thwarting Field-Marshal Rommel’s fuel supply in Northern Africa. This is the story of Popski's famous fighting unit as told by his second-in-command, Captain Bob (Park) Yunnie. As Britain’s Eighth Army advanced toward Tripoli, PPA set out in jeeps across the desert to mount raids behind the Mareth Line in Southern Tunisia. In his lively and intimate account, Yunnie describes the ensuing action at Gafsa and Kasserine, and vividly depicts the sorties which took the men straight across the German Line of Command. As Tunis fell to the Allies on May, 7th, 1943, PPA began raid operations for the Italian Campaign. Dropped into Central Italy by RAF gliders, they set about blowing up strategic targets while waiting for the Allied landings. Yunnie takes command of his own patrol, and through a series of daring missions, colorful characters flit in and out of the front-line action.
Captain Robert Park Yunnie MC (1909-1961) was one of the original officers of “Popski’s Private Army” (officially No. 1 Demolition Squadron, PPA), a unit of British Special Forces set up on Cairo in October 1942 by Major Vladimir Peniakoff, MC (“Popski”). Capt. Yunnie was Popski’s second in command and leader of “B” patrol. “This is the true story of a small group of men who enjoyed World War II. The war was not of their seeking, few of them knew anything about war or wanted it, but when it came they volunteered as a matter of course. One by one, led by a love of adventure, they gravitated to a special service unit called ‘Popski’s Private Army’. I was second-in-command of Popski’s Private Army. I was the first recruit. I trained the men and knew them intimately. I fought with them and joked with them. I shared their triumphs, their failures and their fears. I saw some of them die. I loved these men and was honoured by their friendship and their faith. This story should have been written long ago, when the war ended. It was, but in a different form, and never published; now I have found time to rewrite it, just as it happened during the years of the war.”-Author’s Preface.
This is the first comprehensive history of all the British Special Forces, from their beginnings during the Second World War to the Falklands War. The birth of many of the Special Forces was controversial—they were accused of being 'private armies' and a waste of valuable manpower that could have been better used within the regular forces. Their existence was justified only by their successes. The secrecy that still surrounds some of the Special Forces makes writing an authoritative history no easy task. William Seymour's fascinating narrative draws on a wide variety of documentary sources and eye-witness accounts from surviving members of the Forces. The Special Forces covered are: The Commandos, the Special Boat Section, Combined Operations Pilotage Parties, the Long Range Desert Group, Popski's Private Army, The Special Air Service, the Special Boat Squadron and Raiding Forces, and the Royal Marines Special Forces. From the chaungs of Burma to the African desert, the Greek islands to the D-Day landing beaches, Special Forces played a vital part in Allied victory in the Second World War.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The incredible untold story of World War II’s greatest secret fighting force, as told by the modern master of wartime intrigue—now a limited series on Epix! “Reads like a mashup of The Dirty Dozen and The Great Escape, with a sprinkling of Ocean’s 11 thrown in for good measure.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times ONE OF NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • “Rogue Heroes is a ripping good read.”—Washington Post (10 Best Books of the Year) Britain’s Special Air Service—or SAS—was the brainchild of David Stirling, a young aristocrat whose aimlessness belied a remarkable strategic mind. Where most of his colleagues looked at a World War II battlefield map and saw a protracted struggle, Stirling saw an opportunity: given a small number of elite men, he could parachute behind Nazi lines and sabotage their airplanes and supplies. Defying his superiors’ conventional wisdom, Stirling assembled a revolutionary fighting force that would upend not just the balance of the war, but the nature of combat itself. Bringing his keen eye for detail to a riveting wartime narrative, Ben Macintyre uses his unprecedented access to the SAS archives to shine a light on a legendary unit long shrouded in secrecy.
Tim Moreman examines the creation and deployment of British 8th Army, probably the most famous military formation raised by the British during World War II. Formed in September 1941 from the Western Desert Force, it went on to wage a lengthy, hard-fought campaign against German and Italian troops across the deserts of North Africa. It was composed of British and Commonwealth troops - as well as smaller numbers of French and Polish troops. Additionally, a variety of specialized elite forces came under its umbrella including the Special Air Service, Popski's Private Army and the Long Range Desert Group. This book will provide a fascinating insight into these unconventional troops who became the inspiration for today's Special Forces. It was also the first Allied army to rely on close air support; a revolutionary, war-winning tactic that would shaped combined forces strategy throughout the rest of the war. The Desert War was unlike any other fought by the British Army. The hot, dusty, and unforgiving climate and environment in which its troops lived, moved, and fought was almost as troublesome as the enemy. During its two-year period of service in North Africa, 8th Army underwent major changes in organization, equipment, and training to adapt it to the terrain. Discover the difficulties of desert warfare and how these were overcome by the 8th Army to defeat Rommel and become masters of the desert.
'A remarkable act of imagination and filial homage' William Boyd, New Statesman In November 1944, Sub Lt Bob Clark, a twenty-year old agent with Britain’s top-secret Special Operations Executive, parachuted into northern Italy. He left behind the girl he had fallen in love with, Marjorie, his radio operator. Captured by the enemy, Bob’s fate hung in the balance and Marjorie wouldn't know for six months whether he was alive or dead... Monopoli Blues recounts the story of Tim Clark’s journey to uncover the story of his parents’ war – and the truth behind the betrayal of his father’s Clarion mission to the Nazis.
A highly illustrated guide to the unconventional vehicles that help special forces succeed in asymmetrical warfare, from the author of The Centurion Tank. What is the ideal vehicle for special forces operations, for dangerous missions performed by small units of highly trained troops often working in enemy territory, behind enemy lines? And which vehicles have the world’s armies selected, adapted and developed since modern special forces established themselves as a key arm of the military during the Second World War? Pat Ware, in this authoritative and highly illustrated book, uses all his expert knowledge of the history of military vehicles to show the fascinating variety of machinery that has been used, from converted Jeeps and Land Rovers to a bizarre collection of even more remarkable, sometimes purpose-built strike vehicles—the Scorpion, Cobra and Supacat Jackal, the LRDG Chevrolet, the Mechem, the Pinzgauer and the Warrior among them. As well as describing the anatomy of the typical special forces vehicle, with particular reference to the iconic SAS Jeeps and the Land Rover “Pink Panther,” he illustrates all of the known special forces vehicles, giving technical data, including information on power units and transmission, type of weapons, auxiliary equipment, armored protection, speed and mobility, and weight. He also explains the nature of special forces and describes their historic origins, with emphasis on units such as the LRDG, the SAS and Popski’s Private Army during the Second World War, and he looks at modern special forces and their role.
