SBS

SBS
Author: John Parker
Publisher: Headline
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2013-02-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472202651

The men of the SBS are the maritime equivalent of their counterparts in the SAS; they are the elite of the British Special Forces and also the most secretive. Although SAS activity has been extensively documented, the SBS has remained in the state it prefers - a shadowy silhouette, with identities protected and missions kept from public view. Formed during the Second World War, when they took part in many daring raids (one of which was filmed as The Cockleshell Heroes), they were active in the jungle campaigns in the Far East, in the Falklands, the Gulf War and Bosnia. Since this seminal book was published in 1997, John Parker has been privy to much more inside information about the SBS's original operations and he brings the book right up to date with accounts of their exploits in East Timor, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Kosovo and most recently in Iraq.

Special Boat Squadron

Special Boat Squadron
Author: Barrie Pitt
Publisher:
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2018-08-10
Genre:
ISBN: 9781718075863

Not by strength but by guile. Only since the Falklands campaign have the initials SBS become known to the public. Yet this clandestine formation of Britain's armed forces has been in existence since the Second World War. Barrie Pitt, who himself served with the SBS, describes how the it came into being in 1941. How they fought with distinction in the Aegean, where one of their exploits inspired The Guns of Navarone. How they earned rapport in the Adriatic, in Greece and in Italy. How the SBS was reorganised in 1946 as part of the Royal Marines and has since played a role in Korea, Borneo and the Falklands. Equally interesting is the author's report of the training and specialized skills required by the boat units, and the essential tasks facing them -- infiltration from the sea, reconnaissance, sabotage, survival, resistance to interrogation, escape from captivity -- and the expertise and determination to complete them. As Barrie Pitt's superb account of the formative years of this elite force shows, these qualities have been present from the very beginning. Barrie Pitt (1918-2006) was well known as a military historian and editor of Purnell's History of the Second World War and History of the First World War. His publications include 'Coronel and Falkland', 'Churchill and the Generals' and 'The Crucible of War', a trilogy covering the North African campaign of the Second World War. He was born in Galway and later lived near Ilminster in Somerset.

Special Forces Hero

Special Forces Hero
Author: Thomas Harder
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
Total Pages: 542
Release: 2021-04-30
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1526787520

Until the German occupation of his native Denmark in April 1940 Anders Lassen had no interest in the War. Yet over the next five years he became a highly decorated Special Forces legend and the only non-Commonwealth recipient of the Victoria Cross. After taking part in a mutiny on board a Danish ship, he made his way to Scotland. He first joined the Special Operations Executive before serving with the Small Scale Raiding Force, Special Air Service and Special Boat Service. He took part in the daring Operation Postmaster, off West Africa, and raided the Channel Islands and the Normandy coast. He saw most action in Eastern Mediterranean, fighting in Crete, the Dodecanese, Yugoslavia, mainland Greece and finally Italy. In April 1945, now a major aged 24, he was killed at Lake Comacchio, where his gallantry earned him his posthumous VC. This superb biography is not just a worthy tribute to an outstanding soldier, but a superb account of the numerous special force operations Anders was involved in.

Fighting Scared

Fighting Scared
Author: Robin Horsfall
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018-01-03
Genre:
ISBN: 9781973348993

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.

Victor Two

Victor Two
Author: Peter Crossland
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2014-09-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1408858347

The Israeli government was persuaded at the last minute not to enter the Gulf War when they were told that it was the SAS who were hunting for Scud missiles and disrupting Iraqi communications. The SAS forces inside Iraq comprised two half-squadrons (30 men each with vehicles) and three much smaller foot patrols, one of which had the call sign, "Bravo Two Zero".;Corporal Terence Clayton, known as "Yorky", was a member of one of the half-squadrons. His group played a crucial role by destroying microwave communications lines, Scud missiles, weapons dumps and Iraqi soldiers. His 42-day story ricochets between stunning successes and extraordinary cock-ups, moving from corpse-strewn battlefields to stealthy operations at the dead of night.

SBS – Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History

SBS – Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History
Author: Saul David
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Total Pages: 528
Release: 2021-09-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 0008394547

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘A terrific book ... It really is one of the most enjoyable histories I’ve read in many a year’ JAMES HOLLAND ‘Riveting ... A brilliant account’ DAILY MAIL

SOE in Denmark

SOE in Denmark
Author:
Publisher: Frontline Books
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2021-08-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 1399015052

From a small number of clandestine activities against the German occupation of Denmark in 1940, a sophisticated resistance movement developed which by 1944, with the support of Special Operations Executive, had become a highly effective intelligence gathering and sabotage organisation. Denmark is composed of a mainland and more than 500 islands, a fifth of which are inhabited, and the countryside is devoid of any inaccessible or mountainous region. Together this made communication between resistance cells difficult and meant that there were no natural bases from which guerrilla operations could be mounted. Nevertheless, thanks to supply drops of explosives, weapons and ammunition arranged by SOE, the Danes harassed the Germans and raised the moral of the Danish people in the latter, and most brutal, stages of the war. This largely forgotten story of SOE and its agents in Denmark, the latter facing extremely hazardous conditions, was written immediately after the war by a SOE staff member and read and validated by the Director of SOE, Major General Colin Gubbins. A very large number of documents were burned at SOE’s London headquarters in Baker Street when the organisation was wound down in 1946 making this history of the Danish Section an invaluable and irreplaceable study. SOE in Denmark was written at a time when SOE was still largely unknown to the general public and its operations a closely guarded secret. It was expected that its activities would never be officially acknowledged and the study of its actions in Denmark was compiled with the aim of provide a lasting record of its achievement. Within its pages we read of the dangers the agents faced, the logistical mountains they had to overcome, and the successes achieved in the face of a ruthless enemy. Completed with unique photographs from the Danish archives, SOE in Denmark is an essential addition to the SOE literature.

First Into Action

First Into Action
Author: Duncan Falconer
Publisher: Lume Books
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2020-12-15
Genre:
ISBN: 9781839012341

First into Action tells how Duncan Falconer trained with the Royal Marines before being recruited into the SBS. The ruthless training is graphically described, as are accounts of operations in Ulster, Bosnia and the Gulf War. It is the first Special Boat Services memoir written from the inside.

Behind Enemy Lines

Behind Enemy Lines
Author: Angus McLean
Publisher:
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2021-06-24
Genre:
ISBN: 9780473579265

A nation on the brink of disaster. A devastating betrayal. When an unlikely duo is called to drill deep into foreign territory, will they do or die? Cairo, 1942. SAS Sergeant "Black Jack" Hastings despises Nazis. So when he's picked for a make-or-break operation to recover a stolen prototype plane, the rugged New Zealander is keen to get his hands dirty. But after he meets his upper-crust pilot partner, he's certain the man is dead weight that will get them both killed. Flying ace Frederick Balfour-Napier, DFC is determined to prove himself. But partnering with a boorish commando for a behind-enemy-lines suicide mission wasn't his preferred act of heroism. And the RAF Flight Lieutenant with a taste for the finer things in life feels the noose tighten when their training is cut short by the discovery of a double agent in their ranks. Coming to blows with the pampered flyboy before they can even infiltrate the SS interrogation outpost, Hastings sees little hope that they aren't doomed. And Napier finds his confidence further shaken when a surprise attack leaves them stranded with few supplies a hundred miles off-course. Will the two men learn to depend on each other's strengths before they fatally blow their assignment? Behind Enemy Lines is an action-packed WWII adventure novel. If you like clever heroes, seat-of-the-pants strategy, and accurate historical details, then you'll love Angus McLean's spirited story.