SBS Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA terrific book It really is one of the most enjoyable histories Ive read in many a year JAMES HOLLANDRiveting A brilliant account DAILY MAILTHE FIRST AUTHORISED HISTORY OF THE SBS.Britains SBS or Special Boat Service was the worlds first maritime special operations unit. Founded in the dark days of 1940, it started as a small and inexperienced outfit that leaned heavily on volunteers raw courage and boyish enthusiasm. It went on to change the course of the Second World War and has served as a model for special forces ever since.The fledgling units first mission was a daring beach reconnaissance of Rhodes in the spring of 1941. Over the next four years, the SBS and its affiliates would carry out many more spectacular operations in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Channel and the Far East. These missions including Operation Frankton, the daredevil attempt by the Cockleshell Heroes to paddle up the Garonne river and sink Axis ships in Bordeaux harbour were some of the most audacious and legendary of the war.Paddling flimsy canoes, and armed only with knives, pistols and a few submachine guns, this handful of brave and determined men operated deep behind enemy lines in the full knowledge that if caught they might be executed. Many were.Yet their many improbable achievements destroying enemy ships and infrastructure, landing secret agents, tying up enemy forces, spreading fear and uncertainty, and, most importantly, preparing the ground for DDay helped to make an Allied victory possible.Written with the full cooperation of the modern SBS the first time this ultrasecretive unit has given its seal of approval to any book and exclusive access to its archives, SBS: Silent Warriors allows Britains original special forces to emerge from the shadows and take their proper and deserved place in our island story.