Category: Special Service Units

LEWIS, Damien. Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII. xiv, 401p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Quercus, 2014. ISBN: 9781848669178.

Very much focused on veterans tales and personal experiences, it covers the best known actions of the raiders.

MEAD, Richard. Commando General: The Life of Major General Sir Robert Laycock KCMG, CB, DSO. xv, 240p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2016. ISBN: 1473854075.

A biography of one of the most successful leaders of commandos and special forces. His service included the abortive raid on Rommel’s headquarters, but he served most notably in the Mediterranean at Sicily and Salerno before moving into senior staff posts.

MORTIMER, Gavin. Kill Rommel! Operation Flipper 1941. 80p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Osprey, 2014. ISBN: 9781472801098.

In November 1941 a mixed party of Commandos and SBS men were landed by submarine to assassinate Erwin Rommel on the eve of Operation Crusader intended to drive the Germans and Italians back across the Western Desert. The operation proved a fiasco, but lessons were learned.

MILLER, David. Special Operations South-East Asia 1942-1945: Minerva, Baldhead & Longshanks Creek. xx, 220p., bibliog., illus., index.  Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2015. ISBN: 9781783400638.

The first detailed accounts of raids on Sumatra , the Andamans and Goa carried out in 1942-43 by Special Forces.

DAVIS, Wes. The Ariadne Objective: the Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis. xx, 329p., bibliog., illus, index. New York: Crown, 2013. ISBN: 9780307460134; London, Bantam Press, 2014. ISBN: 0593072804.

An American account of the adventures of the swashbuckling group who worked with the partisans on irregular warfare against the German occupying forces. The English edition is subtitled Patrick Leigh Fermor and the Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis.       

FERMOR, Patrick Leigh. Abducting a General: the Kreipe Operation and SOE in Crete. xxix, 206 p., illus. .London: Murray, 2014. ISBN: 9781444796582.

Fermor participated in this behind-the-lines mission to capture General Kreipe and spirit him back to Egypt. Originally written in the 1960's this has only just been published by his estate.

STROUD, Rick. Kidnap in Crete: The True Story of the Abduction of a Nazi General. 304p., illus. London, Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN: 140885175X.

 Although focussed on the Kriepe kidnapping this is a good critical account which also covers the more general Cretan resistance movement.

MOSS, W. Stanley. Ill Met By Moonlight. 192p., illus. London: Harrap, 1950.

A light, enjoyable account of an Allied commando raid on the island of Crete in 1944 when British-led fighters kidnapped the commanding German General and spirited him off the island to Cairo.

KEMP, Ross. Raiders. x ,294p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Century, 2012. ISBN: 1780890559.

A popular account of six raids: The FAA attack on Taranto (JUDGEMENT); the raid on Vaagso (ARCHERY); the raid on radar sites at Bruneval  (BITING); the raid on the heavy water plant in Norway (GUNNERSIDE); the raid on St Nazaire (CHARIOT); the D-Day raid on Pegasus Bridge (DEADSTICK).

LEE, David, Beachhead Assault: The Story of the Royal Naval Commandos in World War II. 272p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Greenhill, 2004. ISBN: 1853676195.

The first account of the RN's own commandos, formed in 1941 and led by Beachmasters, who secured the beaches on the way in, and were prepared to defend them on the way out. Largely concerned with the major landings in the Mediterranean and D-Day. Reprinted several times.

MACE, Martin & GREHAN, John. Unearthing Churchill’s Secret Army: The Official List of SOE Casualties and Their Stories. xi, 268p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2012. ISBN: 1848847947.

A list of agents who died, with biographical details. Some relevant if marginal naval material and some background on some raiding units.

TRENOWDEN, Ian. Operations Most Secret. SOE: The Malayan Theatre. 231p., bib-liog., illus., index. London: Kimber, 1978. ISBN: 071830036X. 

Force 136 (Group B)'s exploits are recorded. They mounted special operations from Ceylon between January 1943 and the end of the war. They were landed by air and submarine. Reprinted in a revised edition by Crecy Books in 1994 (ISBN: 0947554432).

GALLEGOS, Adrian. And Who Are You? 406p., illus. London: Adelphi, 1992. ISBN: 1856540669.

An autobiography, which is in effect a substantially expanded second edition of his earlier book From Capri into Oblivion, the tale of a young RNVR officer captured and made a POW in Italy.

MORTIMER, Gavin. The SBS in World War II: An Illustrated History. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Osprey, 2013. ISBN: 9781782001898.

A well illustrated introduction to their activities

COURTNEY, G. B. SBS in World War II: The Story of the Original Special Boat Section of the Army Commandos. xxi, 242p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Hale, 1983. ISBN: 0709012918.

The brother of the founder of the SBS writes authoritatively on their wartime career prior to absorption by the Royal Marines. The book concentrates on the Mediterranean but has sections on the rest of Europe and the Far East. Founded in 1940, they never numbered more than 100 men and specialised in reconnaissance and sabotage.

LETT, Brian. The Small Scale Raiding Force. 224p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2014. ISBN: 9781781593943.

The Force was founded in February 1942 and a whole series of gallant individuals served in this special forces unit.

KEENE, Tom. Britain’s Band of Brothers. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: History Press, 2014. ISBN: 0752489909.

The story of the fifty strong Small Scale Raiding Force, which included people like Geoffrey Appleyard and conducted all sorts of raids on the enemy coast.

JEFFERSON, David. Tobruk: A Raid Too Far. 304p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Robert Hale, 2013. ISBN: 0709092989.

Based on eyewitness accounts and previously unpublished interviews with veterans, the book explores the operation in-depth, highlighting appalling errors of judgement and their tragic consequences, as well as the trek of survivors across the desert to reach their front lines.

LEWIS, Damien. SAS Shadow Raiders: The Special Forces Mission that Changed the Course of WWII. xxiv, 389p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Quercus, 2019. ISBN: 9781787475199.

Describes the less than successful Operation Colossus, a raid on an aqueduct in Italy, but has a main focus on Operation Biting – the Bruneval Raid which was aimed at capturing German radar technology.

ORR, Andrew. The Flight of the Vikings: Daring Escapes in Small Boats from Nazi-Occupied Norway 1940-45. 304p;, bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2025. ISBN: 9781036103682

Although the tales of the Shetland Bus are well documented in fact some 4000 fugitives escaped from Norway in some 360 boats during the war. Broad coverage not only of the escapes but of how many of the escapees served during the war after gaining their freedom.

LEWIS, Damian. SAS Great Escapes: Seven Incredible Escapes Made by Second World War Heroes. xii, 332p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Quercus, 2021. ISBN: 9781787475281.

A good read telling the story of seven remarkable men and their escapes while being held as POWs. Has some marginal detail about the involvement – or lack of it – of the RN in their escapes.

LANCE, Rachel. Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever. 484p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Bedford Square Publishers, 2024. ISBN: 9781835010686.

Tells the story of a small group of researchers, experimenting on themselves from inside pressure tanks in the middle of London, who explored the complicated science needed to design the reconnaissance vessels and underwater breathing apparatuses that would underpin the reconnaissance of the landing beaches which preceded D-Day. Also covers the pre-war sinking of the submarine Thetis which demonstrated the issues and the absence of reconnaissance of the Dieppe beaches in 1942.

SPICER, Tim. A Dangerous Enterprise: Secret War at Sea. 312p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Barbreck Publishers, 2021. ISBN: 9781999589134.

A distinguished soldier turned author gives an excellent account of the service of the 15th Motor Gunboat Flotilla. Based in Dartmouth it specialised in ferrying secret agents to and from Brittany. Uses an extensive range of official documents such as SOE files and private papers as well as published and on-line sources.

O’CARROLL, Brendan. The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean. 336p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2020. ISBN: 9781526777379.

Shortly after the invasion of Sicily Churchill ordered the occupation of the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean. The Long Range Desert Group, retraining in Lebanon, were now part of Raiding Forces, Middle East, along with the Special Boat Service and No 30 Commando. The LRDG landed on Leros establishing observation posts, reporting movement of enemy shipping and aircraft and fought bitter battles in the area until the end of 1943.

DAVID, Saul. SBS Silent Warriors. xxxviii, 490p., bibliog., illus., index. London: William Collins, 2021. ISBN: 9780008394523.

An authorised history of the Service covering all of their wartime exploits from the English Channel to the Far East. An excellent account.

JELLICOE, Nicholas. C. George Jellicoe: SAS and SBS Commander. 336p., illus. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2021. ISBN: 9781399009447.

A biography of his father, a man with a life full of action and drama.

WYNN, Stephen. The Shetland ‘Bus’: Transporting Secret Agents Across the North Sea in WW2. 216p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2021. ISBN: 9781526735355.

A good modern account of the work of this special operations group.

HODGKINSON, Terry. “Frederick”: The Forgotten Mission. c.45p. [Kindle edition], 2012.

Guy Verstraete, code name Vlaminck, was a young officer in the Belgian Merchant Navy who escaped from French internment. He was taken by the submarine Saracen to Corsica in 1943 for MI6 accompanied by two Corsicans. Hidden for two months, in a small shepherd’s house he sent coded radio messages to MI6 in Algiers. But he was eventually caught and condemned to death. Verstraete was the only foreign agent shot by firing squad in Corsica, under the Italian occupation.

TRENOWDEN, Ian. Malayan Operations Most Secret – Force 136. 231p., bibliog., illus., index. Singapore: Heineman Asia, 1983. ISBN: 9971640570.

 No copy seen. Appears to be a retitled reprint of the author’s 1978 work Operations Most Secret: SOE, q.v.

MILNER, Charles W., HAMILTON, M. I. Guy & SEDDON, Ronald F. H. M.  M. T. B. 718 “Something Special”: The Story of MTB 718. 156p., bibliog., illus., index. York: York, Publishing Services, 2015. ISBN: 9780993144509.

Milner was the Radio Operator on this MTB, which was in commission as part of the 15th MGB Flotilla in 1944-45. She operated with SIS landing and evacuating secret agents in Norway and France.

STOKES, Peter. No Ordinary Life. 197p., illus. [242p.], FeedARead, 2013. ISBN: 9781784070427.

An account of the wartime exploits of his father Horace Stokes. A member of the TA, he quickly moved to 12 Commando, then the Small Scale Raiding Force and finally the SAS, where he took part in many pinprick raids before ending up as a Prisoner of War. Based on his contemporary journal.

PARKER, John. SBS: The Inside Story of the Special Boat Service. viii, 311p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Headline, 1997. ISBN: 0747219761.

The wartime exploits of the various units which came together to form the modern SBS are recounted in ninety pages, from COPPs to Cockleshell Heroes.

LETT, Brian. Ian Fleming and SOE's Operation Postmaster: The Untold Top Secret Story. x, 255p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2012. ISBN: 9781781590003.

The story of a daring but controversial raid by the Small Scale Raiding Force which sailed a Q ship to West Africa in January 1942 and stole three enemy ships from a neutral Spanish port on the island of Fernando Po in the Gulf of Guinea.

JACOBS, Peter. Codenamed Dorset: The Wartime Exploits of Major Colin Ogden-Smith Commando and SOE. 224p., bibliog., illus, index. Barnsley: Frontline Books, 2014. ISBN: 1848326866.

 A biography of Major Colin Ogden-Smith who served as a commando and as an SOE operative in North Africa and Europe, where he died during the liberation of France.

HARDER, Thomas Special Forces Hero: Anders Lassen VC MC*. 400p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2021. ISBN: 9781526787514.

A fresh account of this much decorated legendary figure.

LODWICK, John. The Filibusters: The Story of the Special Boat Service. vi, 189p., illus. London: Methuen, 1947.

This small but effective raiding unit operated in the Eastern Mediterranean performing various covert operations. Reprinted by Greenhill in 1990 as Raiders from the Sea (ISBN: 1853670685), with a new foreword by Lord Jellicoe who commanded SBS for almost two years. Reprinted again by Greenhill in 2018, ISBN: 9781784383459.        

Another description of some secret operations. This tells of raiding forces in the Aegean, the Sea Reconnaissance Unit in Burma, the tragedy of a raiding party landed in Norway to attack shipping which was captured by the Germans and later executed in Sachsenhausen and Belsen, and finally the African Coastal Flotilla whose task was to land agents and equipment on the Mediterranean coastline.

An American translation of his Norwegian autobiographies. See also the British version entitled Underwater Saboteur.

Lassen was a Danish merchant seaman who joined British irregular forces and served with great gallantry in the Mediterranean and Aegean, most notably with the Special Boat Section and the SAS.

A good biography of a legendary raider of astonishing bravery, who won the only SAS VC.

A history of the various groups of swimmer-canoeists and shallow- water divers who preceded then formed the SBS. These irregular groups operated from Norway to Singapore during the war. The second half of the book covers the postwar years up to and including the Falklands Conflict.

The first Norwegian account, by a participant, of the special operations immortalised by Howarth in The Shetland Bus.

An unsuccessful attempt to land Norwegians in Northern Norway in 1943.

The Special Norwegian Naval Unit was based in Shetland. Their aim was to land men and cargo in Norway for the underground and to bring refugees back to the UK. US title: Across to Norway.

The biography of Odd Starheim, who fought with the Norwegian resistance. He seized the s.s. Galtesund, which was taken to Aberdeen, but was killed while trying to repeat the exploit.

The author was parachuted into Norway in 1943 and was responsible for sabotage attacks, particularly on shipping.

Describes three irregular naval units. They were concerned with the landing of agents in and out of occupied Europe; Marines undertaking special operations from cockles - including the "Cockleshell Heroes"; and an Intelligence Assault Unit which aimed to capture enemy documents while moving with or ahead of assault troops.

The author describes yet another little known unit, in this case the RN Commandos whose job was to make the beachhead secure and to direct and control the arrival of landing craft.

Records the activities of four special service units: MGBs running supplies from Sweden; a converted fishing boat picking up refugees from occupied France; Q Ships; a Royal Marine Force in Burma.

Seven tales of bravery from the war. One of them tells of the Cockleshell Heroes Raid on Bordeaux.

The Italian adventures of a young RNVR Lieutenant in Special Forces. Mainly concerned with his capture, escape, and adventures in Italy, Germany, and Austria.

Mainly a guide to the insignia, clothing and equipment, with brief accounts of some memorable actions.

The author has trawled archives and interviewed veterans in order to piece together the history and record of this elusive special forces unit which fought with great distinction and achieved results disproportionate to its size.

Short reminiscences arranged chronologically. Some limited naval material.

Covers all WWII forces from Commandos to COPP and the Special Boat Section. Also 50 pages on postwar special forces.

IRVINE, James W. The Waves Are Free: Shetland/Norway Links 1940 to 1945. xiv, 257p., bibliog., illus., index. Lerwick: Shetland Publishing, 1988. ISBN: 0906736102.

Commandos and agents, MTBs, submarines, and fishing boats all played a part in ensuring that, through constant raids, Norway was an operational theatre throughout the war.

Jellicoe's war, mostly in the SAS and SBS, could hardly have been more out of the ordinary, exciting or, for the reader, stirring. His is an enviable record of behind-the-lines action against the King's enemies, epitomised by winning a DSO as a 24-year-old lieutenant — a rare distinction indeed for one so junior.

An army autobiography. For a time he served with an irregular unit which was involved in an abortive raid on an airbase in Sicily. This meant extensive cooperation with the Navy.

Relying heavily on unpublished, oral and official material, this is an authoritative and readable account of all COPP operations.

Excellent original research on clandestine operations. Strong on SBS activities and the war in the Aegean and Adriatic.

The modest but engaging memoirs of a founding member of the WWII raiding forces. As a young subaltern in the Black Watch he took part in the retreat to Dunkirk. He swiftly joined the Commandos then the SAS and SBS and played an active and daring part in their Eastern Mediterranean Operations.

A popular account of the work of the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties, who operated in advance of the Allied invasions in Europe and the Southeast Asia Command area.

His career began in the Royal Navy, surviving the Portsmouth Blitz and an attack by sharks off Reunion, both vividly described, before he joined the SOE. His role as off-shore navigational lead marker was crucial to the Anzio operation's success.

The biography of one of the first of the raiders, killed in North Africa in 1943 after much active service.

Leif Larsen escaped from Norway in 1941 in a fishing smack and from then on fought ceaselessly to free his homeland. In 52 trips across the North Sea and back he laid mines, attacked the Tirpitz, fought seaplanes, and conveyed agents, arms, and refugees. A stirring tale.

Effectively an official history. A full, detailed, and scholarly account. Republished by Routledge in two volumes in 2004.

Over 4000 canoes were made and the contribution they made to the war was immense, but has remained untold until now. The author tells the story of the development and use of these canoes, from Combined Operations to SOE.

An engaging and well written account of the unit which specialised in acquiring documents from the enemy.

A solid account of the operations of these special forces.

30 Assault Unit was the brain child of Ian Fleming. It was a mixed service unit whose role was to land with the assault forces and to press ahead to capture scientific and military intelligence. The editor was a member of the unit and collects the reminiscences of a cross-section of survivors. A revised second edition was published in 2003 (ISBN: 0952625725) .

A personal memoir from a member of Number 5 Combined Operations Pilotage Party, who took passage in submarine and canoe to survey possible landing beaches.

Minshall spent his life trying to prove that amateurs would always beat professionals - and losing. A well-connected child of the establishment he spent the prewar years cruising round Europe. He joined the RNVR and worked with Ian Fleming, plotting madcap escapes such as blowing up the Iron Gates on the Danube. He was exiled to New Zealand by Admiral Godfrey (a bête noire), but returned to Europe to spend the latter part of the war as naval liaison officer to Tito's partisans. What are intended as humorously self-deprecating memoirs become irritatingly full of blind prejudice.