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This first-ever biography of of Lt. Cdr. Mike Cumberlege DSO & Bar, Greek Medal of Honour, murdered in Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Feb/March 1945, recalls a man who was `truly Elizabethan in character-a combination of gaiety and solidity and sensitiveness and poetry with daring and adventurousness-and great courage.' Cumberlege came from a maverick sea-going family. He was highly resourceful and lived by his wits, skippering ocean-going yachts for wealthy Americans before the war. In 1936 he married Nancy; their relationship was close and, with the sea, forms a thread in the book. From 1940 Cumberlege and served in undercover roles in the Royal Navy in Marseilles and Cape Verde and was on the staff of General de Gaulle in London. Posted to Egypt in 1941 in the SOE, he formed a para-naval force of fishing vessels, took part in fighting in Greece, attacked the Corinth Canal, escaped from Crete, was wounded and returned three times to Crete clandestinely. On a second operation to destroy the Corinth Canal in 1943 he was captured. Tortured in Mauthausen concentration camp, he was transferred to Sachsenhausen and spent 21 months in solitary confinement. The book contains unique material gathered from the family and from well-wishers in places as far apart as Ukraine, Australia and the USA.
During the Second World War the Corinth Canal assumed an importance disproportionate to its size. It was the focus of numerous special Allied operations to prevent oil from the Black Sea reaching Italy, to delay the invasion of Crete and severing the vital German supply lines to Rommel's Army in North Africa.German airborne forces occupied the Canal to cut off the ANZAC retreat and Hitler needed the Canal kept open to maintain control of the Aegean Sea. Were this lost, he feared Turkey entering the War on the Allied side.Target Corinth Canal unearths a treasure trove of facts on the little known operations by SOE and other special force units. Heroes such as Mike Cumberlege emerge from the pages of this splendid work of military history.
British Intelligence is the oldest, most experienced organization of its kind in the world, the unseen hand behind so many world events, and glamorized by James Bond. Despite the change in role, from a global power controlling an Empire that covered much of the world, to a mere partner in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union, the country’s famed security and intelligence apparatus continues largely intact, and recognized as “punching above its weight.” Feared by the Soviets, admired and trusted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), British Intelligence has provided the hidden dimension to the conduct of domestic and foreign policy, with the added mystique of Whitehall secrecy, a shroud that for years protected the identities of the shadowy figures who recruited the sources, broke the codes, and caught the spies. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the British Intelligence covers the history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1,000 cross-referenced entries on specific operations, spies and their handlers, the moles and defectors, top leaders, and main organizations. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the British Intelligence.
The history of Special Operations Executive (SOE) seems to spring a never-ending run of surprises, and here are some more. This book explores the mysterious world of the tools SOE used for their missions of subversion and sabotage. An often grim reality is confronted that is more akin with the world of James Bond and Q's workshop than previously believed. Written by two scientists, one of whom served in the SOE and one who was tasked with clearing up after it was disbanded; their insider knowledge presents a clear account of the way in which SOE's inventors worked. From high explosive technology to chemical and biological devices; from the techniques of air supply to incendiarism; from camouflage to underwater warfare; and from radio communications to weaponry, "SOE: The Scientific Secrets" is a revelation about the tools that allowed the murky world of spying and spies to operate during wartime.
NOW WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY W. STANLEY MOSS'S DAUGHTER GABRIELLA BULLOCK AND AN AFTERWORD BY PATRICK LEIGH FERMOR Ill Met By Moonlight is the true story of one of the most hazardous missions of the Second World War. W. Stanley Moss is a young British officer who, along with Major Patrick Leigh Fermor, sets out in Nazi-occupied Crete to kidnap General Kreipe, Commander of the Sevastopool Division, and narrowly escaping the German manhunt, bring him off the island - a vital prisoner for British intelligence. As an account of derring-do and wartime adventure, made into a classic film starring Dirk Bogarde, Ill Met By Moonlight is one of the most brilliantly written, exciting and compelling stories to come out of the Second World War.
Robin Horsfall shot and killed one of the leading terrorists inside the Iranian Embassy when the SAS stormed the building. He served with the SAS during the Falklands War and on subsequent counter-terrorist operations. He tells his personal odyssey from boy-soldier to paratrooper with insight and wisdom. His enemies were not just terrorists: he fought the institutionalized brutality of the Parachute Regiment -- and his own inner demons. He learned the difference between physical and moral courage; between officers who expect you to be ready to die for them, and those who actually want you to get killed so they can win a medal. It's an action-packed narrative, but much more than another RAMBO-style romp. Robin reveals some painful truths, not least the ordinary SAS men's view of General de la Billiere and his orders for a kamikaze mission to Argentina. This is the best, no-holds barred, personal account of an SAS trooper ever published.
Based on the wartime diaries of Allied soldier and saboteur Tom Barnes, this account of thrilling WWII wartime deeds deep behind enemy lines in Greece is based on fact but reads like fiction. A thrilling read of wartime exploits, daring, intrigue and resourcefulness, The Sabotage Diaries is the astonishing true story of Allied engineer Tom Barnes, who was parachuted behind enemy lines in Greece in October 1942 with a small team of sappers and special operations officers. Their brief was to work with the Greek resistance in sabotage operations against the German and Italian occupation forces. Under-equipped and under-prepared but with courage to spare, their initial mission was to blow up a key railway bridge, cutting Rommel's supply lines to North Africa, where the battle of El Alamein was about to begin. But Operation Harling-as it was known-was only the start of a lengthy and perilous clandestine mission. Written by Tom Barnes' daughter-in-law, award-winning author Katherine Barnes, and drawn from Tom's wartime diaries, reports and letters, plus many other historical sources and first-hand accounts, this is a vivid and gripping tale of the often desperate and dangerous reality behind sabotage operations. 'A thrilling tale that could be straight out of the pages of an action adventure novel ... a remarkable and highly readable tale of a little known World War II operation.' Daily Telegraph 'Think the Guns of Navarone, but for real ... Explosions, mountains, dashing male partisans, dashing female partisans, big fat village weddings, treachery – it's all here in this thrilling and informative salute to an unsung hero of the Second World War.' Sunday Express UK 'Exciting and informative' Hobart Mercury 'The Sabotage Diaries has fantastically broad appeal ... Like a saboteur under the cover of dark, the book will stealthily administer a solid history lesson cloaked in an enthralling personal tale of struggle, success and longing.' Neos Kosmos
Ernest Van Maurik, known to all simply as Van, joined the illustrious Artists Rifles regiment in the Territorial Army in 1936, but when war broke out he was commissioned into the Wiltshire Regiment. In the summer of 1940 the regiment was posted at Folkestone to defend the South Coast in the event of an invasion, during which time he undertook a course at Hythe Small Arms School and found himself involved with the SOE, the Special Operations Executive.This led to him to Scotland, first to the Commando Training School at Lochailort and then to Arisaig, where he became responsible for helping organise resistance to the Nazi regime in occupied countries. This involved the training of prospective agents in small arms, demolition and other special forces activities. At this time, he helped train a number of Czech soldiers who went on to participate in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of SS-Obergruppenfhrer Reinhard Heydrich in Prague.Van was then transferred to the SOEs headquarters in Baker Street, London. There he was to work for notable figures such as Maurice Buckmaster and General Colin Gubbins. He also got to know a number of individuals who were to become famous agents, people such as Peter Churchill, Odette and Yeo-Thomas (The White Rabbit). His main work was to get agents both in and out of Occupied France but then it was his turn to go into the field.Van was initially sent to Malta to help with the dropping of agents into Yugoslavia. His next mission was to Switzerland via Occupied France to assist SOE agents in France and also deal with couriers from F Section SOE who used Switzerland as a channel for communicating with London.After many adventures, Van reached Switzerland where he carried out his task until the end of the war in Europe. He then was involved in assisting the investigation into the fate of the many SOE agents who had been captured by the Germans and were still missing.
The memoir of a special forces veteran of the Rhodesian War, with over a hundred photos included. Nothing terrorized Russian and Chinese-backed guerillas fighting Rhodesia’s bush war in the 1970s more than the famed Selous Scouts. The name of the unit struck fear in the hearts of even the most battle-hardened—rather than speak it, they referred to its soldiers simply as Skuzapu, or pickpockets. History has recorded the regiment as being one of the deadliest and most effective killing machines in modern counter-insurgency warfare. In this book, a veteran of the unit shares his stories of childhood in colonial Africa with his British family, documenting a world where Foreign Service employees gathered at “the club” to find company and alcohol, leopards prowled the night, and his mother knew how to use a gun. Eventually he would move to Canada, only to feel drawn back to the continent where he grew up. There he would be recruited into the Selous Scouts, comprised of specially selected black and white soldiers of the Rhodesian army, supplemented with hardcore terrorists captured on the battlefield. Posing as communist guerrillas, members of this elite Special Forces unit would slip silently into the night to seek out insurgents in a deadly game of hide-and-seek played out between gangs and counter-gangs in the harsh and unforgiving landscape of the African bush. By the mid-1970s, the Selous Scouts had begun to dominate Rhodesia’s battle space. Working in conjunction with the elite airborne assault troops of the Rhodesian Light Infantry, the Selous Scouts accounted for an extraordinarily high proportion of enemy casualties. Not content with restricting themselves to hunting guerrillas inside Rhodesia, they began conducting external vehicle-borne assaults against camps situated deep inside neighboring countries. Recounting his experiences while surviving in this cauldron of battle, while also relating with dry wit the day-to-day details and absurdities of the world that surrounded him, Timothy Bax provides a rare look at this time and place.