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Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat
Six gentlemen, one goal: the destruction of Hitler's war machine
In the spring of 1939, a top-secret organization was founded in London: its purpose was to plot the destruction of Hitler's war machine through spectacular acts of sabotage.
The guerrilla campaign that followed was every bit as extraordinary as the six men who directed it. One of them, Cecil Clarke, was a maverick engineer who had spent the 1930s inventing futuristic caravans. Now, his talents were put to more devious use: he built the dirty bomb used to assassinate Hitler's favorite, Reinhard Heydrich. Another, William Fairbairn, was a portly pensioner with an unusual passion: he was the world's leading expert in silent killing, hired to train the guerrillas being parachuted behind enemy lines. Led by dapper Scotsman Colin Gubbins, these men—along with three others—formed a secret inner circle that, aided by a group of formidable ladies, single-handedly changed the course Second World War: a cohort hand-picked by Winston Churchill, whom he called his Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
Giles Milton's Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a gripping and vivid narrative of adventure and derring-do that is also, perhaps, the last great untold story of the Second World War.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published June 30, 2016
About the author
Giles Milton
37 books530 followersBritish writer and journalist Giles Milton was born in Buckinghamshire in 1966. He has contributed articles for most of the British national newspapers as well as many foreign publications, and specializes in the history of travel and exploration. In the course of his researches, he has traveled extensively in Europe, the Middle East, Japan and the Far East, and the Americas.
Knowledgeable, insatiably curious and entertaining, Milton locates history's most fascinating—and most overlooked—stories and brings them to life in his books.
He lives in London, where he is a member of the Hakluyt Society, which is dedicated to reprinting the works of explorers and adventurers in scholarly editions, some of which he uses in his research. He wrote most of Samurai William in the London Library, where he loves the "huge reading room, large Victorian desks and creaking armchairs". At home and while traveling, he is ever on the lookout for new untold stories. Apparently he began researching the life of Sir John Mandeville for his book The Riddle and the Knight after Mandeville’s book Travels "literally fell off the shelf of a Paris bookstore" in which he was browsing.
Copyright BookBrowse.com 2007
Knowledgeable, insatiably curious and entertaining, Milton locates history's most fascinating—and most overlooked—stories and brings them to life in his books.
He lives in London, where he is a member of the Hakluyt Society, which is dedicated to reprinting the works of explorers and adventurers in scholarly editions, some of which he uses in his research. He wrote most of Samurai William in the London Library, where he loves the "huge reading room, large Victorian desks and creaking armchairs". At home and while traveling, he is ever on the lookout for new untold stories. Apparently he began researching the life of Sir John Mandeville for his book The Riddle and the Knight after Mandeville’s book Travels "literally fell off the shelf of a Paris bookstore" in which he was browsing.
Copyright BookBrowse.com 2007
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October 14, 2017An extraordinary story: the impact of saboteurs on WW2, and how much the British establishment fought against them. Reads like fiction. People inventing limpet mines and hedgehog anti submarine missiles and training the Jedburghs (three-man saboteur units that helped D-Day succeed by stopping Panzer divisions getting to Normandy before a beachhead was established). Fascinating, hugely readable stuff about a deeply peculiar world of extraordinary people.
December 25, 2016
If caught this eclectic group of researchers and intelligence spies, a slow painful death was would be their last assignment. There was no book written on the best way to kill, incapacitate, or maim the maximum number of people. Every tactic listed not only had to be practical, but able to implement with minimal materials, knowledge, and time. This fast-paced book highlights people, places, and mission where this super-secret group designed weapons, planned mission, and continued striking at the Nazi regime until the last German soldier surrendered. The secrecy continued even after the war since actions taken did not fit a proper British military operation image. Supported with numerous endnotes, this book reads like a James Bond spy novel, only it really happened. Notes and sources, bibliography, and index are included.
May 5, 2019
In dark days that heralded World War Two Britain assembled a collection of people willing to fight in ways that would destroy the enemy and break all the "rules" of polite war.
The dangerous inventor
Gubbins’s task would be to plan a dirty, mischievous and thoroughly ungentlemanly war against Hitler’s Nazis.
Few in the regular army had any experience of fighting an ungentlemanly war. Gubbins’s priority was to prepare an instruction manual in such warfare, setting out in terse prose how best to kill, incapacitate or maim the maximum number of people.
‘My difficulty,’ he later admitted, ‘was that, strangely enough, there was not a single book to be found in any library in any language which dealt with this subject.’
He felt that ‘the whole art of guerrilla warfare lies in striking the enemy where he least expects it and yet where he is most vulnerable’.
Booby traps
One of the most devious was the innocuously named Release Switch, ‘which could be concealed under a book or a lavatory seat or something of that sort and cause a bang when it was lifted’. Men not in the habit of lifting the toilet seat at last had their excuse.
The wrong boss, a cautious politician, Burgin had made a specialty out of bureaucracy and red tape.
To avoid such delays, Jefferis took the unprecedented decision to bypass Leslie Burgin and his Ministry of Supply. Instead of red tape, there would be no tape at all: henceforth, he would answer to one person alone and that would be himself. Every weapon he designed was to be built on the quiet – clandestinely and illegally – by small family-run companies whose owners were known to him personally.
A bomb-like hangover cure
Jefferis knew that the key component in any new weapon was the fuse. He flirted with the idea of once again using aniseed balls for the W-Bomb, before stumbling upon a far better solution. ‘Because of our wearing work and the need to keep ourselves going with alcohol,’ wrote Macrae, ‘I kept in Room 173 a supply of Alka Seltzer tablets.’
These, tested in conjunction with spring-loaded detonators, were found to dissolve with absolute regularity. The most challenging problem had been overcome. The W-Bomb was to be the first weapon of war that could both sink a ship and cure a hangover.
On commandeering a stately home
The house itself was a large Palladian manor designed by Inigo Jones. It was the home of Miss Molly Pleydell-Bouverie and her elderly sister (members of the Earl of Radnor’s extended family), who were somewhat surprised to be told that their home had been commandeered by the War Office. The two ladies were permitted to remain in the house, even though it was to be overrun by guerrillas. They soon regretted their decision to stay, for their beloved dogs were so petrified by the constant explosions that they had to be put on a diet of aspirin and brandy.
Lawyer and saboteur
George Pollock, was dispatched to Cairo in order to build a team that could strike throughout the Middle East. Pollock delighted in underhand work – it was not so different from being a lawyer – and exceeded his brief by planning a series of spectacular assassinations of pro-Nazi Middle Eastern politicians.
Beware of Britons bearing gifts. Guerrillas parachute into Greece with plastic explosives
Woodhouse’s most urgent task was to locate the other two teams, but first he and his men were led to a nearby mountain village. Here, they were alarmed to see that a group of children had found their supply canisters and taken out the plastic explosive.
Assuming it was fudge, they were cramming it into their mouths. ‘This was disastrous for them,’ said Woodhouse, ‘but it was also disastrous for us, because it was reducing our essential explosives.’
In fact, the explosive did no harm to the children other than to make them sick.
A surgical strike
For months, Gubbins had been facing criticism from Bomber Command, who objected to his constant request for planes. Now, his persistence had been triumphantly vindicated, as Bickham Sweet-Escott was quick to point out. The Norsk Hydro operation ‘was the classic proof of our contention that one aircraft which drops an intelligent and well-trained party can do more damage than a whole fleet of bombers’.
Win or lose all
One young mariner aboard the England confessed to being upset at the ease with which their Hedgehogs were destroying the subs. Williamson had a ready answer. ‘Son,’ he said, ‘war is killing. The more of the enemy we can kill, and the more of his ships we can sink the sooner it will be over.’ He added that ‘we are in a war that we must win, for to lose it would be far worse.’
A series of exciting adventures in World War Two safely viewed from my armchair.
What makes them even more exciting is that they are true.
Enjoy!
The dangerous inventor
Gubbins’s task would be to plan a dirty, mischievous and thoroughly ungentlemanly war against Hitler’s Nazis.
Few in the regular army had any experience of fighting an ungentlemanly war. Gubbins’s priority was to prepare an instruction manual in such warfare, setting out in terse prose how best to kill, incapacitate or maim the maximum number of people.
‘My difficulty,’ he later admitted, ‘was that, strangely enough, there was not a single book to be found in any library in any language which dealt with this subject.’
He felt that ‘the whole art of guerrilla warfare lies in striking the enemy where he least expects it and yet where he is most vulnerable’.
Booby traps
One of the most devious was the innocuously named Release Switch, ‘which could be concealed under a book or a lavatory seat or something of that sort and cause a bang when it was lifted’. Men not in the habit of lifting the toilet seat at last had their excuse.
The wrong boss, a cautious politician, Burgin had made a specialty out of bureaucracy and red tape.
To avoid such delays, Jefferis took the unprecedented decision to bypass Leslie Burgin and his Ministry of Supply. Instead of red tape, there would be no tape at all: henceforth, he would answer to one person alone and that would be himself. Every weapon he designed was to be built on the quiet – clandestinely and illegally – by small family-run companies whose owners were known to him personally.
A bomb-like hangover cure
Jefferis knew that the key component in any new weapon was the fuse. He flirted with the idea of once again using aniseed balls for the W-Bomb, before stumbling upon a far better solution. ‘Because of our wearing work and the need to keep ourselves going with alcohol,’ wrote Macrae, ‘I kept in Room 173 a supply of Alka Seltzer tablets.’
These, tested in conjunction with spring-loaded detonators, were found to dissolve with absolute regularity. The most challenging problem had been overcome. The W-Bomb was to be the first weapon of war that could both sink a ship and cure a hangover.
On commandeering a stately home
The house itself was a large Palladian manor designed by Inigo Jones. It was the home of Miss Molly Pleydell-Bouverie and her elderly sister (members of the Earl of Radnor’s extended family), who were somewhat surprised to be told that their home had been commandeered by the War Office. The two ladies were permitted to remain in the house, even though it was to be overrun by guerrillas. They soon regretted their decision to stay, for their beloved dogs were so petrified by the constant explosions that they had to be put on a diet of aspirin and brandy.
Lawyer and saboteur
George Pollock, was dispatched to Cairo in order to build a team that could strike throughout the Middle East. Pollock delighted in underhand work – it was not so different from being a lawyer – and exceeded his brief by planning a series of spectacular assassinations of pro-Nazi Middle Eastern politicians.
Beware of Britons bearing gifts. Guerrillas parachute into Greece with plastic explosives
Woodhouse’s most urgent task was to locate the other two teams, but first he and his men were led to a nearby mountain village. Here, they were alarmed to see that a group of children had found their supply canisters and taken out the plastic explosive.
Assuming it was fudge, they were cramming it into their mouths. ‘This was disastrous for them,’ said Woodhouse, ‘but it was also disastrous for us, because it was reducing our essential explosives.’
In fact, the explosive did no harm to the children other than to make them sick.
A surgical strike
For months, Gubbins had been facing criticism from Bomber Command, who objected to his constant request for planes. Now, his persistence had been triumphantly vindicated, as Bickham Sweet-Escott was quick to point out. The Norsk Hydro operation ‘was the classic proof of our contention that one aircraft which drops an intelligent and well-trained party can do more damage than a whole fleet of bombers’.
Win or lose all
One young mariner aboard the England confessed to being upset at the ease with which their Hedgehogs were destroying the subs. Williamson had a ready answer. ‘Son,’ he said, ‘war is killing. The more of the enemy we can kill, and the more of his ships we can sink the sooner it will be over.’ He added that ‘we are in a war that we must win, for to lose it would be far worse.’
A series of exciting adventures in World War Two safely viewed from my armchair.
What makes them even more exciting is that they are true.
Enjoy!
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May 4, 2020
Wonderful book!
Yet another “Review to Come!”
Yet another “Review to Come!”
November 16, 2022
FAN-F$&@ING-TASTIC. I absolutely love history that reads like a novel, and this was a swashbuckling ride from beginning to end. I had no idea just how little I knew about the massive impact that these brave saboteurs had on the outcome of the war, and ultimately history as we know it. Good gracious, this was loads of fun.
March 3, 2022
По време на Втората световна война Уинстън Чърчил създава специален отдел за "неджентълменска война". Получава името Секция Д (от деструкция), като отговаря за всички подривни дейности в окупираните територии, саботаж и организиране на партизанска съпротива. Секция Д е замесена в провеждането на голям брой секретни мисии, повлияли изхода на войната. Ето само някои от тях.
През май 1942 г. двама специално обучени чешки агенти извършват атентат срещу архитекта на Холокоста - Райнхард Хайдрих. Атаката почти се проваля, след като оръжието на единия от нападателите не може да произведе изстрел на метри от целта. Другият атентатор хвърля бомба под колата на нациста, който по чудо оцелява експлозията. Но шрапнели от взрива причиняват рани, станали източник на инфекция, от която той не може да бъде излекуван и умира няколко дни по-късно. След смъртта на Хайдрих две чешки села са изравнени със земята като отмъщение срещу непокорния чешки народ.
През 1943 г. норвежки командоси взривяват ключови съоръжения в хидроцентралата Веморк - основен източник на тежка вода (деутериев оксид), необходима за създаването на атомна бомба.
Секция Д планира и организира взривяването на ключовия виадукт Горгопотамос в Гърция, с което прекъсва един от пътищата за снабдяване на армията на Ромел в северна Африка. При операция "Postmaster" британски агенти влизат в ролята на пирати, като отвличат три закотвени кораба (италианския "Дукеса д'Аоста' и германските "Бурунди" и "Ликомба") край остров Фернандо По (сега Биоко, Екваториална Гвинея).
След десанта в Нормандия френската съпротива изпълнява серия от саботажни действия за забавяне придвижването към фронта на страховитата втора SS Panzer дивизия Das Reich. Взривяването на влакови релси и събарянето на дъвета по пътя сериозно затруднява елитната дивизия, която достига крайната си дестинация след цели седемнадесет (вместо очакваните три) дни.
Сега повече от всякога трябва да ни е ясно, че войната не протича само на фронта. Тя доминира всички сфери от живота и не пощадява никого. Саботажът и подривните дейности в окупираните територии се оказват с ключова роля за финалната победа срещу нацизма.
През май 1942 г. двама специално обучени чешки агенти извършват атентат срещу архитекта на Холокоста - Райнхард Хайдрих. Атаката почти се проваля, след като оръжието на единия от нападателите не може да произведе изстрел на метри от целта. Другият атентатор хвърля бомба под колата на нациста, който по чудо оцелява експлозията. Но шрапнели от взрива причиняват рани, станали източник на инфекция, от която той не може да бъде излекуван и умира няколко дни по-късно. След смъртта на Хайдрих две чешки села са изравнени със земята като отмъщение срещу непокорния чешки народ.
През 1943 г. норвежки командоси взривяват ключови съоръжения в хидроцентралата Веморк - основен източник на тежка вода (деутериев оксид), необходима за създаването на атомна бомба.
Секция Д планира и организира взривяването на ключовия виадукт Горгопотамос в Гърция, с което прекъсва един от пътищата за снабдяване на армията на Ромел в северна Африка. При операция "Postmaster" британски агенти влизат в ролята на пирати, като отвличат три закотвени кораба (италианския "Дукеса д'Аоста' и германските "Бурунди" и "Ликомба") край остров Фернандо По (сега Биоко, Екваториална Гвинея).
След десанта в Нормандия френската съпротива изпълнява серия от саботажни действия за забавяне придвижването към фронта на страховитата втора SS Panzer дивизия Das Reich. Взривяването на влакови релси и събарянето на дъвета по пътя сериозно затруднява елитната дивизия, която достига крайната си дестинация след цели седемнадесет (вместо очакваните три) дни.
Сега повече от всякога трябва да ни е ясно, че войната не протича само на фронта. Тя доминира всички сфери от живота и не пощадява никого. Саботажът и подривните дейности в окупираните територии се оказват с ключова роля за финалната победа срещу нацизма.
May 29, 2018
This is both a chilling book and a fascinating one.
The book depicts the act of sabotage and gorilla warfare as though its an necessity - which at the time it was. However by its very nature (and something that is referred to several times both by the author and in quotes of some of dialogue referred to in this book) as ungentlemanly. The fact you are referring to death and destruction is almost a side effect. The way in which seemingly average people set themselves about the promotion and development of such techniques is as I say chilling.
However it is fascinating in the fact that war does push progress. It is undeniable the fact that we enjoy and in some cases rely on things developed as either a by product or direct development from war efforts. This book charts many of these - both directly and indirectly.
And finally you have the hidden (or at least more subtle message) about the costs that such wars indirectly have. These people worked to shorten the war - the reduce casualties and damage and it took a toll on them too both physically and mentally. It just goes to show that the effects of war and the second world war in particular were felt much further than you would realise.
In the end although not glamourising what went on it does shed a light on events that otherwise would have been lost in time - rather like the efforts of Bletchley park they may not have been as glamorous but they were in their own right just as important.
The book depicts the act of sabotage and gorilla warfare as though its an necessity - which at the time it was. However by its very nature (and something that is referred to several times both by the author and in quotes of some of dialogue referred to in this book) as ungentlemanly. The fact you are referring to death and destruction is almost a side effect. The way in which seemingly average people set themselves about the promotion and development of such techniques is as I say chilling.
However it is fascinating in the fact that war does push progress. It is undeniable the fact that we enjoy and in some cases rely on things developed as either a by product or direct development from war efforts. This book charts many of these - both directly and indirectly.
And finally you have the hidden (or at least more subtle message) about the costs that such wars indirectly have. These people worked to shorten the war - the reduce casualties and damage and it took a toll on them too both physically and mentally. It just goes to show that the effects of war and the second world war in particular were felt much further than you would realise.
In the end although not glamourising what went on it does shed a light on events that otherwise would have been lost in time - rather like the efforts of Bletchley park they may not have been as glamorous but they were in their own right just as important.
July 25, 2024
More an adventure, fiction, escapade: the training, the spy paraphernalia, the sabotage gear, the gusto, the tactics and more. It is a thrilling read and the author I'm sure has had access to the declassified docs and spent the time doing the research: we get a taste for the personalities and what drove them on.
This is not fiction and if you read, 'Security and Special Operations: SOE and MI5 During the Second World War', (which is anything but fiction), you might come away with the idea that Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was riddled with incompetence and continual efforts from the top to cover up their failures rather than admit to what was going wrong and ask for help. Reading Guy Liddell's Diaries might just point you to a truth closer to that which those controlling Churchill's Ministry should be known for, rather what many authors shy from when trying to paint the ministry as whiter than white.
I agree that post war and for a good many after, the truth should have been kept behind a locked door. That time has gone.
This is not fiction and if you read, 'Security and Special Operations: SOE and MI5 During the Second World War', (which is anything but fiction), you might come away with the idea that Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was riddled with incompetence and continual efforts from the top to cover up their failures rather than admit to what was going wrong and ask for help. Reading Guy Liddell's Diaries might just point you to a truth closer to that which those controlling Churchill's Ministry should be known for, rather what many authors shy from when trying to paint the ministry as whiter than white.
I agree that post war and for a good many after, the truth should have been kept behind a locked door. That time has gone.
September 30, 2022
Okay, so it's possible I need to stop reading books about the SOE, but I still maintain that the problems with this book were the author's fault, not mine. Let's list them!
1. I have, unfortunately, read most of the primary sources Milton has. There's nothing wrong with the "I read a whole bunch of stuff and here are the good parts!!!!" genre of popular non-fiction, but Milton's definition of the good parts and mine do not align. He is wrong. I am right. (Although the Norsk Hydro mission was OF COURSE the coolest part of the book, as it is the best thing the SOE ever did, and Milton and I do agree on that.)
2. Milton is also wrong in another, much more important way: his just-the-good-parts summary is inaccurate. I've read enough of the sources that I kept saying, over the course of this book, "But that isn't what he said." "Actually, in context, that meant the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you're saying here." "BUT YOU FORGOT ABOUT --" If you're going to do a just the good parts summary book, make sure your summary is accurate.
3. The general patina of horribleness. My dude, you were not writing in 1942. You did not need to refer to women as girls. You didn't need to omit every single female agent from the book (although, to be fair, you did mention two in a parenthetical aside; you just forgot to include their names). You didn't need to imply that every Resistance action was mostly SOE with locals playing minor supporting roles. (Some of your OWN SOURCES said otherwise! They were the ones who DID the missions!) You did not need to fellate Churchill as much as you did. You did not need to be as rah-rah Empire and yay colonialism. None of this was required, and you did it anyway, and that does not reflect well on you.
Basically, the overall feel of this book was "This author is a tool and also consistently wrong about things." Cannot recommend it.
1. I have, unfortunately, read most of the primary sources Milton has. There's nothing wrong with the "I read a whole bunch of stuff and here are the good parts!!!!" genre of popular non-fiction, but Milton's definition of the good parts and mine do not align. He is wrong. I am right. (Although the Norsk Hydro mission was OF COURSE the coolest part of the book, as it is the best thing the SOE ever did, and Milton and I do agree on that.)
2. Milton is also wrong in another, much more important way: his just-the-good-parts summary is inaccurate. I've read enough of the sources that I kept saying, over the course of this book, "But that isn't what he said." "Actually, in context, that meant the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you're saying here." "BUT YOU FORGOT ABOUT --" If you're going to do a just the good parts summary book, make sure your summary is accurate.
3. The general patina of horribleness. My dude, you were not writing in 1942. You did not need to refer to women as girls. You didn't need to omit every single female agent from the book (although, to be fair, you did mention two in a parenthetical aside; you just forgot to include their names). You didn't need to imply that every Resistance action was mostly SOE with locals playing minor supporting roles. (Some of your OWN SOURCES said otherwise! They were the ones who DID the missions!) You did not need to fellate Churchill as much as you did. You did not need to be as rah-rah Empire and yay colonialism. None of this was required, and you did it anyway, and that does not reflect well on you.
Basically, the overall feel of this book was "This author is a tool and also consistently wrong about things." Cannot recommend it.
May 8, 2017
This is a sort of greatest hits of Britain's clandestine guerilla warfare during WWII. The ministry (once it had some legitimacy in the government, that is; there were plenty of people who were opposed to sabotage and assassination as ways of waging war, and they were vocal) and the people who ran it take a backseat to the missions themselves. This is probably for the best, since internecine government battles don't make the most interesting reading, but blowing up a heavy water plant does.
This is by no means an exhaustive look at the history of clandestine warfare during the war, and the sources cited are really thin. But accepting that it's very much a one-sided story doesn't make it any more entertaining to read. (It did make the portrayal of the old-school soldiers, horrified at what was being done in this ministry, as stodgy, backward, interfering ninnies rather suspicious, though.)
I find the reactions to the book fascinating. A number of reviewers seem to be dewy-eyed at the spy-novel quality of the stories, and sure, they are pretty impressive. A number are also appalled by what they read, and again, rightfully so. It's bad stuff. (There doesn't seem to be a middle ground; is that because people are politically polarized? I don't know. It's something that struck me as odd.)
Because the sources are thin (which means I couldn't take this at face value without doing further research) and because the breezy storytelling style did get old: 3.5 stars. Worth reading, though, especially if you aren't OCD about sources.
Disclaimer: I read an ARC via Goodreads giveaway. While I'm quite willing to be bought, my price is a lot higher than one book. (I guess it might depend on the book, but so far my reviewing virtue remains intact.)
This is by no means an exhaustive look at the history of clandestine warfare during the war, and the sources cited are really thin. But accepting that it's very much a one-sided story doesn't make it any more entertaining to read. (It did make the portrayal of the old-school soldiers, horrified at what was being done in this ministry, as stodgy, backward, interfering ninnies rather suspicious, though.)
I find the reactions to the book fascinating. A number of reviewers seem to be dewy-eyed at the spy-novel quality of the stories, and sure, they are pretty impressive. A number are also appalled by what they read, and again, rightfully so. It's bad stuff. (There doesn't seem to be a middle ground; is that because people are politically polarized? I don't know. It's something that struck me as odd.)
Because the sources are thin (which means I couldn't take this at face value without doing further research) and because the breezy storytelling style did get old: 3.5 stars. Worth reading, though, especially if you aren't OCD about sources.
Disclaimer: I read an ARC via Goodreads giveaway. While I'm quite willing to be bought, my price is a lot higher than one book. (I guess it might depend on the book, but so far my reviewing virtue remains intact.)
July 26, 2019
“The whole art of guerilla warfare lies in striking the enemy where he least expects it and yet where he is most vulnerable.” Colin Gubbins
The best World War Two history I’ve read in years. One blurb claims, “The last untold story of World War Two.” And a critical story it is. An unlikely collection of English men and women, working outside normal channels but with cover by the prime minister, develop and field weapons which solve many problems critical to England’s survival and eventual victory.
“A job is a good one if it looks like an accident, an act of God, or has no explanation.” Cecil Clark
One point can’t be overemphasized: as messy and repulsive as unconventional warfare is, it is more efficient, more effective, and--in the end--more humane than mass bombing raids or bayonet charges across open fields, not to mention nuclear weapons.
“When the time for action comes, act with the greatest boldness and audacity.” Colin Gubbins
Well-researched and presented. Many photographs. Better than fiction.
“Whatever your opponent’s weight and strength, you can overcome it if you attack. To stay on defense is fatal.” William Fairburn
One sabotage team leader was Peter Fleming, brother of Ian Fleming, who probably mined his James Bond ideas from the real thing.
“The fighting I’m going to show you is not a sport. It’s every time and always, a fight to the death.” Eric Sykes
Quibble: “They threw hand grenades with precision at one hundred yards.” Not likely.
“The intelligence professionals resisted bitterly the whole idea of letting a lot of thugs loose on the Continent.” Kim Philby (future traitor)
After the war, the principals got medals (maybe) and fired. The organization and facilities abandoned. Nothing remained, except the American splinter operation which evolved into the Central Intelligence Agency.
“The part which your naughty deeds in war play in peace cannot at all be considered.” Winston Churchill
The best World War Two history I’ve read in years. One blurb claims, “The last untold story of World War Two.” And a critical story it is. An unlikely collection of English men and women, working outside normal channels but with cover by the prime minister, develop and field weapons which solve many problems critical to England’s survival and eventual victory.
“A job is a good one if it looks like an accident, an act of God, or has no explanation.” Cecil Clark
One point can’t be overemphasized: as messy and repulsive as unconventional warfare is, it is more efficient, more effective, and--in the end--more humane than mass bombing raids or bayonet charges across open fields, not to mention nuclear weapons.
“When the time for action comes, act with the greatest boldness and audacity.” Colin Gubbins
Well-researched and presented. Many photographs. Better than fiction.
“Whatever your opponent’s weight and strength, you can overcome it if you attack. To stay on defense is fatal.” William Fairburn
One sabotage team leader was Peter Fleming, brother of Ian Fleming, who probably mined his James Bond ideas from the real thing.
“The fighting I’m going to show you is not a sport. It’s every time and always, a fight to the death.” Eric Sykes
Quibble: “They threw hand grenades with precision at one hundred yards.” Not likely.
“The intelligence professionals resisted bitterly the whole idea of letting a lot of thugs loose on the Continent.” Kim Philby (future traitor)
After the war, the principals got medals (maybe) and fired. The organization and facilities abandoned. Nothing remained, except the American splinter operation which evolved into the Central Intelligence Agency.
“The part which your naughty deeds in war play in peace cannot at all be considered.” Winston Churchill
May 5, 2024
Informative, entertaining and inspiring! A sensational account of the SOE from its beginnings in a tiny office “with an old table and two chairs” to its immeasurable impact on the Allied victory in WW2. They say truth is stranger than fiction; indeed, the courage and bravery of the many agents and saboteurs across Europe seems more like a Hollywood propaganda film than deeds of real people facing capture, torture, imprisonment or certain death - or all the above.
If you have any interest in WW2, then I highly recommend this book.
*******************
May 4, 2024. I just watched the movie, Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and while it was a decent movie, it most certainly didn’t do justice to the book. Cecil Clarke is not a character, or even mentioned. If I were going to make a movie based on this book, I would tell the story of the team that went to Norway to destroy the heavy water plant - that was a breathtaking story!
On the positive side, Henry Cavill portrayed Gus March-Phillips…
If you have any interest in WW2, then I highly recommend this book.
*******************
May 4, 2024. I just watched the movie, Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and while it was a decent movie, it most certainly didn’t do justice to the book. Cecil Clarke is not a character, or even mentioned. If I were going to make a movie based on this book, I would tell the story of the team that went to Norway to destroy the heavy water plant - that was a breathtaking story!
On the positive side, Henry Cavill portrayed Gus March-Phillips…
August 5, 2024
I haven’t seen the movie but the wild true life exploits of Churchill’s agents are pretty far out there adventures. Excellent read. Very recommended
April 25, 2020
NON-FICTION SPY THRILLER
This is a masterpiece spy thriller that will rival anything written by Follett; LeCarré or Forsyth except that it is not fiction – it is authentic.
It is the story of the “brilliant mavericks with unorthodox talents” of WWII that I certainly did not know about before this book:
Colin Gubbins / Millis Jefferis / Cecil Clarke /Stuart Macrae / Eric Sykes / William Fairbairn / Nigel Tibbits / Stephen Beattie / Gus March-Phillipps / Eddie Myers – to name just a few.
This is a page-turner if ever there was one made all the more fascinating by the fact that it is all very real. As much of a spy thriller as it is – it is not without lighter moments that will surely give you a good laugh out loud.
Thanks to the author, Giles Milton, for bringing this amazing story of these amazing men (and women) of valour and heroism to light.
This is a “MUST READ” for any WWII spy thriller enthusiast.
This is a masterpiece spy thriller that will rival anything written by Follett; LeCarré or Forsyth except that it is not fiction – it is authentic.
It is the story of the “brilliant mavericks with unorthodox talents” of WWII that I certainly did not know about before this book:
Colin Gubbins / Millis Jefferis / Cecil Clarke /Stuart Macrae / Eric Sykes / William Fairbairn / Nigel Tibbits / Stephen Beattie / Gus March-Phillipps / Eddie Myers – to name just a few.
This is a page-turner if ever there was one made all the more fascinating by the fact that it is all very real. As much of a spy thriller as it is – it is not without lighter moments that will surely give you a good laugh out loud.
Thanks to the author, Giles Milton, for bringing this amazing story of these amazing men (and women) of valour and heroism to light.
This is a “MUST READ” for any WWII spy thriller enthusiast.
July 18, 2017
Such an enjoyable read and written in such an informative grouping of short stories of what became of the British MI(R) during World War 2. Most great stories involving clandestine services don't come into light until years later and this goes to prove that there are never enough great stories about World War 2. It is also a sobering reminder that there is no 'clean' war and that the John Wayne portrayals of war are mere fiction. What these stories do reveal though is that there are unsung heroes out there waiting to be discovered, even 70+ years later. Giles Milton has a really fun podcast you should also check out that is 5-10 minute in length and tell many of the stories in this book. The book is ultimately a great book for any casual history reader to enjoy.
July 23, 2019
2019 bk 229. It took me longer than normal to finish this excellent book about the beginnings of the S. O. E. from the early years of WWII through to the end. This book tied up a lot of missing pieces, identified folks in unidentified pictures in other books and in general was an excellent read. The reason it took so long, I would read a chapter and then have to root through my bookshelves to see other books it referred to or to write clarifications and then I went on vacation. The book was heavier than I wanted to take on vacation (both physically and in subject matter) and it took a bit to get back to it (I had to find it.) An excellent read and one I will return to when in the mood for ungentlemanly behavior.
Read
March 1, 2018 This is not so much a book about Churchill as it is about the people he surrounded himself in an attempt to stymie Hitler's war effort. The damage they caused at Norsk Hydro prevented Hitler from being able to develop the bomb. Their hit and run raids caused the Germans an extra 2 weeks to reach Normandy, by which time Allied forces had already established a beachhead.
Sadly, no evidence exists of their exploits. The facilities that were utilized have either been destroyed or turned back to their former use. Any information on the weapons or their use, for the most part have disappeared.
Note to my son: You will enjoy this book.
Sadly, no evidence exists of their exploits. The facilities that were utilized have either been destroyed or turned back to their former use. Any information on the weapons or their use, for the most part have disappeared.
Note to my son: You will enjoy this book.
June 20, 2017
This was an excellent book that really gives a great account of a lesser known subject of World War II. It does a great job of putting the guerrilla warfare and sabotage in the context of the larger war. It was briskly paced and easy to keep the people involved straight.
January 26, 2018
This history of those who worked tirelessly to build and plan Britain's and indeed the Allies Special Forces and guerrilla operations and some of those who carried them out is thrilling, exhilarating and wonderfully informative.
October 6, 2017
After the first few chapters of this book, I was ready to slog through it and give it a mediocre rating. But the final 75% was well worth it. The stories were amazing, all the more because they were true and because they helped the Allies win WWII. The history of British Special Forces is told in scintillating form. Initially a group of about six gentlemen were recruited to find ways to harass the Germans by fighting a guerilla war. At the time, this was viewed as crude and illegal, even though the Germans and others were already doing it. But the agency grew throughout the war, and had the support of Churchill, and ultimately gained the respect of all who encountered it. It became the model for the American CIA. They developed many weapons that were widely used throughout the war, and they were trained in killing techniques and survival. Many of the chapters are devoted to some of the more renowned missions that the group participated in, and they were amazing. For example, they destroyed the heavy water plant that Hitler had built in Norway, thus slowing the development by the Germans of an atomic bomb. The eliminated a huge drydock in the Atlantic, preventing the Germans from using their largest battleship. They blew up railroad trestles used to provide supplies to Rommel in North Africa. They continuously harassed and delayed the reinforcement troops headed towards Normandy after D-day. They assassinated a Nazi leader in Czechoslovakia. The leader of the group, Colin Gubbins, was widely decorated after the war for the role that he and his unconventional warfare group had played. He always felt that saboteurs and guerillas were far more effective than brute force approaches, such as aerial bombing, because they could be so much more precise in hitting their targets. Upon finishing this book, one is convinced that WWII could not have been won without this highly trained, well-supplied, and overwhelmingly brave group of unconventional soldiers.
February 2, 2018
Absolutely fascinating insight into the formation, development, and successes of a typically British endeavour: a disparate collection of professional soldiers, backyard garage boffins, Oxbridge Mafia types and gentlemen of ill-repute who were drawn together to create the definite rule book and arsenal of sabotage, assassination, and guerrilla warfare.
Milton draws on multiple sources to provide a comprehensive and seamless narrative, including the campaign of obstruction that was waged against the department by members of the military hierarchy, particularly Air Command. The result is an intricate and compelling account of a hidden war that defied the known rules and brought enormous success to the Allied cause, as well as the complex and unusual personalities who drove it. Fantastic stuff.
Milton draws on multiple sources to provide a comprehensive and seamless narrative, including the campaign of obstruction that was waged against the department by members of the military hierarchy, particularly Air Command. The result is an intricate and compelling account of a hidden war that defied the known rules and brought enormous success to the Allied cause, as well as the complex and unusual personalities who drove it. Fantastic stuff.
January 19, 2021
An interesting look at a crucial part of the British WW2 effort. (16+)
*Please note: this review is meant as a recommendation only. Please do not use it in any marketing material, online or in print, without asking permission from me first. Thank you!*
*Please note: this review is meant as a recommendation only. Please do not use it in any marketing material, online or in print, without asking permission from me first. Thank you!*
April 25, 2019
I was excited to buy this book because I have always had an interest in World War II and this seemed to offer new information. It did.
The book tells the story of a small group of mavericks who disdained the grinding bureaucracy, mindless discipline and conventional thinking of both the British Army and government ministries, leading up to and during World War II. They knew that in 1940 Britain was facing its darkest hour, an expression we associate with Winston Churchill, of course, who coined it most appropriately.
At that time Hitler was winning: Austria and the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia had been annexed, and Poland, Norway and Denmark were invaded and held. On 10 May the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France became the next victims, all overrun in quick time by the panzer armies. The British Expeditionary Force (practically all of the fully-trained professional British Army) was forced to retreat to Dunkirk and, as you probably know, was saved, along with tens of thousands of French troops, by being evacuated from the port and the beaches by both the Royal Navy and a huge flotilla of ‘little ships’: pleasure craft sailed by their civilian owners. Everyone, including Hitler, thought the next invasion would be of England, at a time when most of the army’s artillery and hundreds or thousands of vehicles had been left behind in France. The mood was grim and our prospects poor.
The mavericks thought outside the box; they were determined to use their brains, their skills and utter ruthlessness to fight to the death, which was actually the only choice facing us, though some of the generals still wanted to fight the war by ‘the rules’. These outsiders knew that we had to be cleverer than the enemy and to fight dirty if we had any hope of surviving, let alone winning.
These people had a tiny office, a tiny budget and were frowned upon by the wider establishment, and would not have survived as an organisation if not for their incredible ability to very quickly invent some new weapons for use by a network of underground guerrillas they set up – the British Resistance if you like, to be used once the Germans landed on British soil. One of the first things they did was to invent the ‘sticky bomb’, followed by the limpet mine, a small, cheaply produced magnetic mine that was light enough to be carried by one man and stuck to anything metal in order to destroy it (with built-in timer to effect the getaway of the guerrilla), e.g. factory machinery, vehicles, generators, ships and aircraft.
They were lucky enough to come to the attention of Winston Churchill (a bit of a maverick himself) and once he became prime minister he told all those who were trying to get them closed down to back off, and they flourished. This organisation became SOE, the Special Operations Executive, though it was known by several cover names and, owing to the extreme secrecy in which it was conceived, not recognised as ever having been in existence until long after the war was over.
They set up their own factory to produce weapons of their own design; they set up hundreds of networks of resistance fighters across Europe, they trained hundreds of men and women in the art of silent killing, evading capture, planning missions; and using explosives and their special weapons. These included the Fairbairn/Sykes Commando dagger, a fighting knife so well designed and made that the Americans adopted it for their special forces too. Many of SOE’s training techniques are still in practice today.
Many of the missions described in the book were audacious, bold, creative and remarkably effective. These include some that are well known: the raid on St Nazaire (see movie Attack on the Iron Coast); the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (see movie Operation Daybreak); and the destroying of the Norsk Hydro heavy water plant in Norway (see the movie The Heroes of Telemark). Other missions were equally well-planned and executed, as well as thousands of small acts of sabotage that damaged railway lines, factories and lines of communication, causing the occupying German forces endless grief and frustration, and forcing them to tie down huge numbers of troops just to guard installations and bridges in case they were hit. All this was done with a relatively small number of men and women, who were extremely well trained and dedicated to the cause.
There was also the operation in Crete. After the Germans' shock invasion in 1941 - the largest airborne invasion in history at that point - was successful, the British had no choice but to flee the island. They came back in the form of a handful of officers who organised the natural Cretan resistors, lived in villages and caves in the mountains, harassing the Germans and Italians continually. Their grand success was to kidnap the German commanding general, Generalleutnant Karl Kreipe, Commander of the 22nd Panzer Grenadier Division, after which they played hide and seek with hundreds of soldiers hunting them in the mountains, until they managed to smuggle him off the island and back to GHQ in Cairo. For full details of this and their other exploits, see the books Ill Met by Moonlight (W. Stanley Moss), The Cretan Runner (George Psychoundakis) and Hide and Seek (Xan Fielding).
The book does not go into much detail about the failures, of which there must have been hundreds. I felt that the book did not make it entirely clear that the people (mavericks) discussed in the book were actually part of SOE – they were not in the beginning but became so. They also had links with the Commandos, via Combined Operations. I have read the book SOE, which made this clear.
What the book does reveal is that British eccentrics: the mavericks, the unorthodox, the eccentrics, the dedicated can, even on a modest budget, achieve huge success using brains, skill, the best training and after taking the time to plan properly – modern politicians and military leaders take note!
The book does go into a fair bit about the political wrangling surrounding SOE but not to the extent of the book SOE, which does get a bit bogged down by it. This book is more readable and will appeal more to the general reader interested in vivid descriptions of the missions. A thoroughly good read, it is full of derring-do (an expression used in the book) and will appeal to everyone who loves military adventure stories, unconventional thinking and scientific innovation, even using only primitive tools.
Four and a half stars.
The book tells the story of a small group of mavericks who disdained the grinding bureaucracy, mindless discipline and conventional thinking of both the British Army and government ministries, leading up to and during World War II. They knew that in 1940 Britain was facing its darkest hour, an expression we associate with Winston Churchill, of course, who coined it most appropriately.
At that time Hitler was winning: Austria and the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia had been annexed, and Poland, Norway and Denmark were invaded and held. On 10 May the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France became the next victims, all overrun in quick time by the panzer armies. The British Expeditionary Force (practically all of the fully-trained professional British Army) was forced to retreat to Dunkirk and, as you probably know, was saved, along with tens of thousands of French troops, by being evacuated from the port and the beaches by both the Royal Navy and a huge flotilla of ‘little ships’: pleasure craft sailed by their civilian owners. Everyone, including Hitler, thought the next invasion would be of England, at a time when most of the army’s artillery and hundreds or thousands of vehicles had been left behind in France. The mood was grim and our prospects poor.
The mavericks thought outside the box; they were determined to use their brains, their skills and utter ruthlessness to fight to the death, which was actually the only choice facing us, though some of the generals still wanted to fight the war by ‘the rules’. These outsiders knew that we had to be cleverer than the enemy and to fight dirty if we had any hope of surviving, let alone winning.
These people had a tiny office, a tiny budget and were frowned upon by the wider establishment, and would not have survived as an organisation if not for their incredible ability to very quickly invent some new weapons for use by a network of underground guerrillas they set up – the British Resistance if you like, to be used once the Germans landed on British soil. One of the first things they did was to invent the ‘sticky bomb’, followed by the limpet mine, a small, cheaply produced magnetic mine that was light enough to be carried by one man and stuck to anything metal in order to destroy it (with built-in timer to effect the getaway of the guerrilla), e.g. factory machinery, vehicles, generators, ships and aircraft.
They were lucky enough to come to the attention of Winston Churchill (a bit of a maverick himself) and once he became prime minister he told all those who were trying to get them closed down to back off, and they flourished. This organisation became SOE, the Special Operations Executive, though it was known by several cover names and, owing to the extreme secrecy in which it was conceived, not recognised as ever having been in existence until long after the war was over.
They set up their own factory to produce weapons of their own design; they set up hundreds of networks of resistance fighters across Europe, they trained hundreds of men and women in the art of silent killing, evading capture, planning missions; and using explosives and their special weapons. These included the Fairbairn/Sykes Commando dagger, a fighting knife so well designed and made that the Americans adopted it for their special forces too. Many of SOE’s training techniques are still in practice today.
Many of the missions described in the book were audacious, bold, creative and remarkably effective. These include some that are well known: the raid on St Nazaire (see movie Attack on the Iron Coast); the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (see movie Operation Daybreak); and the destroying of the Norsk Hydro heavy water plant in Norway (see the movie The Heroes of Telemark). Other missions were equally well-planned and executed, as well as thousands of small acts of sabotage that damaged railway lines, factories and lines of communication, causing the occupying German forces endless grief and frustration, and forcing them to tie down huge numbers of troops just to guard installations and bridges in case they were hit. All this was done with a relatively small number of men and women, who were extremely well trained and dedicated to the cause.
There was also the operation in Crete. After the Germans' shock invasion in 1941 - the largest airborne invasion in history at that point - was successful, the British had no choice but to flee the island. They came back in the form of a handful of officers who organised the natural Cretan resistors, lived in villages and caves in the mountains, harassing the Germans and Italians continually. Their grand success was to kidnap the German commanding general, Generalleutnant Karl Kreipe, Commander of the 22nd Panzer Grenadier Division, after which they played hide and seek with hundreds of soldiers hunting them in the mountains, until they managed to smuggle him off the island and back to GHQ in Cairo. For full details of this and their other exploits, see the books Ill Met by Moonlight (W. Stanley Moss), The Cretan Runner (George Psychoundakis) and Hide and Seek (Xan Fielding).
The book does not go into much detail about the failures, of which there must have been hundreds. I felt that the book did not make it entirely clear that the people (mavericks) discussed in the book were actually part of SOE – they were not in the beginning but became so. They also had links with the Commandos, via Combined Operations. I have read the book SOE, which made this clear.
What the book does reveal is that British eccentrics: the mavericks, the unorthodox, the eccentrics, the dedicated can, even on a modest budget, achieve huge success using brains, skill, the best training and after taking the time to plan properly – modern politicians and military leaders take note!
The book does go into a fair bit about the political wrangling surrounding SOE but not to the extent of the book SOE, which does get a bit bogged down by it. This book is more readable and will appeal more to the general reader interested in vivid descriptions of the missions. A thoroughly good read, it is full of derring-do (an expression used in the book) and will appeal to everyone who loves military adventure stories, unconventional thinking and scientific innovation, even using only primitive tools.
Four and a half stars.
October 19, 2017
This was terribly interesting. It's the untold history of underhanded tactics taken on by true gentlemen. I have a basic knowledge of WWII, thanks to sporadic history instruction, John Wayne movies, and a grandpa who fought in the Pacific. Like 'Code Talker,' this book follows a select group and their contribution to the war effort. It involves tinkerers, masterminds, geniuses, and everyday men and women who stood up against an awful foe, who all shook their fists at evil, rolled up their sleeves, and outsmarted the enemy.
It might be because I'm an American, but I found the tone of the book to be incredibly light-hearted and extremely British. That aspect was delightful. The author follows a few notable people throughout the book, and the insights of secretaries, as well as the main leads, makes this such a human book.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it. Fascinating. 5 stars!
It might be because I'm an American, but I found the tone of the book to be incredibly light-hearted and extremely British. That aspect was delightful. The author follows a few notable people throughout the book, and the insights of secretaries, as well as the main leads, makes this such a human book.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it. Fascinating. 5 stars!
March 7, 2017
Well-written and researched, I absolutely loved this book. Fascinating story of bravery in the face of pure evil, and a timely one at that. Highly recommend to all history buffs! Thank you, Goodreads, for awarding me this book in a giveaway!
August 8, 2017
Brilliant new information about the eccentricities and creative power of the British during the war. These actual secret departments of the government directly reflected Churchill's encouragement and support. Wonderfully written with authenticity,
Humor and grit.
Humor and grit.
October 15, 2020
This was too intellectual to be as fun as the title suggests. I wanted this to be really intriguing and while it had some interesting parts, it was too much about the production of the sabatoge devices.
January 29, 2022
> couldn’t work out if Clarke was mad or brilliant or both. ‘He had a disquieting habit, during lectures, of exhibiting to us one of his pets [he means an explosive device] with a large charge attached, placing it on the desk in front of him, cocking it, and announcing: “This will go off in five minutes.”’ He would then proceed with his lecture, unconcerned by the ticking bomb, while his students nervously counted the minutes. ‘During the last half of the last minute the sound of his voice was almost drowned by the shuffling and scraping of chairs, especially from the front rows. When only five seconds remained, and every head in the class was down, he would suddenly remember, pick up the infernal machine, look at it for a moment, thoughtfully, and toss it nonchalantly through the window to explode on the lawn with barely a second to spare.’
> ‘He had no guards on the gates to his magnificent estate. One just drove in and then found the vehicle being battered by rounds fired from spigot mortars set off by trip wires.’ Happily for the occupants of the cars in question, these rounds were blanks. ‘Nobby [Clarke] would emerge smiling and point out that if they had been live rounds, the occupants of the vehicle would no longer be in this world.’ This was all very well, ‘but it was of little consolation to the driver, who had to explain how the bodywork of his vehicle had been badly bashed.’
> He spent his leisure hours designing labour-saving domestic contraptions that proved rather less efficient than the weapons he had built during the war. His daughter-in-law Ann was on hand to see the test drive of his homespun pressure cooker. ‘It exploded,’ she said, ‘and bits of chicken had to be picked out of the kitchen ceiling.’ Indeed everything that Cecil touched in that post-war period seemed to explode, even his jars of homemade tomato soup. They blew up in the larder, splattering everything with fermented juice.
> ‘He had no guards on the gates to his magnificent estate. One just drove in and then found the vehicle being battered by rounds fired from spigot mortars set off by trip wires.’ Happily for the occupants of the cars in question, these rounds were blanks. ‘Nobby [Clarke] would emerge smiling and point out that if they had been live rounds, the occupants of the vehicle would no longer be in this world.’ This was all very well, ‘but it was of little consolation to the driver, who had to explain how the bodywork of his vehicle had been badly bashed.’
> He spent his leisure hours designing labour-saving domestic contraptions that proved rather less efficient than the weapons he had built during the war. His daughter-in-law Ann was on hand to see the test drive of his homespun pressure cooker. ‘It exploded,’ she said, ‘and bits of chicken had to be picked out of the kitchen ceiling.’ Indeed everything that Cecil touched in that post-war period seemed to explode, even his jars of homemade tomato soup. They blew up in the larder, splattering everything with fermented juice.
August 20, 2019
3.5!Το βιβλίο αποτυπώνει λεπτομερέστατα την ομάδα ανορθόδοξου πολέμου που συγκρότησε ο Τσόρτσιλ και τις επιχειρήσεις που αυτή ανέλαβε.
Ο συγγραφέας παρέχει αναλυτικές λεπτομέρεις για την κάθε επίχειρηση,όπως παραδείγματος χάρη η ανατίναξη της γέφυρας του Γοργοποτάμου,αλλά περιγράφει το πως λειτούργησε αλλά και το πως πολεμήθηκε εκ τω έσω η συγκεκριμένη ομάδα απο την αρχή ως το τέλος του Β' Παγκόσμιου πολέμου.
Χρησιμότατο βιβλίο για κάποιον που ��ου αρέσει η ιστορία και θέλει να γνωρίσει μι' άλλη πτυχή του Β' Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου.
Ο συγγραφέας παρέχει αναλυτικές λεπτομέρεις για την κάθε επίχειρηση,όπως παραδείγματος χάρη η ανατίναξη της γέφυρας του Γοργοποτάμου,αλλά περιγράφει το πως λειτούργησε αλλά και το πως πολεμήθηκε εκ τω έσω η συγκεκριμένη ομάδα απο την αρχή ως το τέλος του Β' Παγκόσμιου πολέμου.
Χρησιμότατο βιβλίο για κάποιον που ��ου αρέσει η ιστορία και θέλει να γνωρίσει μι' άλλη πτυχή του Β' Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου.
September 21, 2022
Pirmieji sprogmenys, tinkami partizaniniam karui, buvo kuriami namuose, naudojant parankines priemones. Pvz., buvo nustatyta, kad tam tikros rusies saldainis gerai limpa prie metalo vandenyje ir visada istirpsta per vienoda laiko tarpa. Kuriant prilimpancius sprogmenis, skirtus laivams, buvo supirkti visi tos rusies saldainiai miestelyje.
Viena is problemu, su kuria teko susidurti isradejams: geda vaikscioti po vaistines supirkinejant prezervatyvus, kuriuos jie naudojo siekdami islaikyti sprogmenis sausus, G. Milton raso, kad jie "jautesi kaip seni patvirke diedai"
Viena is problemu, su kuria teko susidurti isradejams: geda vaikscioti po vaistines supirkinejant prezervatyvus, kuriuos jie naudojo siekdami islaikyti sprogmenis sausus, G. Milton raso, kad jie "jautesi kaip seni patvirke diedai"
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