S.A.S. Italian Job; The Secret Mission to storm a forbidden Nazi Fortress.

[old_fat_and_hairy]

old_fat_and_hairy submitted a new resource:

S.A.S. Italian Job; The Secret Mission to storm a forbidden Nazi Fortress. - Partisans and SOE in Italy.

In 1944 the attack on the 'soft underbelly' of Europe was in progress, American and British and Commonwealth troops had invaded Italy and were fighting their way through. In the meanwhile, Italian Partisans were behind enemy lines waging a war of attrition. The advance began to stall when it reached the mighty and fearsome 'Gothic Line', a more successful version - albeit Axis - version of the Maginot Line. This defensive line was made up of many hundreds of machine gun nests, artillery...

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[Auld-Yin]

Good review OFAH and a good book.I read and reviewed this for another magazine and there is just so much information about what these guys did, much to the chagrin of some British VSOs who got their revenge when it came to awards! Major Farran was forbidden to drop in with his men but just happened to fall out of the aircraft over the drop zone, and just happened to be wearing a parachute!!

He and Lees then organised a hotchpotch of Italian partisans of dubious fighting ability, escaped Russian PoWs and German deserters, into a fighting unit that took on a German Army HQ.

The phrase "balls of steel" was invented for these guys, but as I say, this did not go down well at British HQ who saw these two as rogue officers.

Once again Britain has a way of badly treating their real heroes but this book puts a lot of that to the lie. There is so much in the book that I really recommend that you get a copy.

 

[old_fat_and_hairy]

Good review OFAH and a good book.I read and reviewed this for another magazine and there is just so much information about what these guys did, much to the chagrin of some British VSOs who got their revenge when it came to awards! Major Farran was forbidden to drop in with his men but just happened to fall out of the aircraft over the drop zone, and just happened to be wearing a parachute!!

He and Lees then organised a hotchpotch of Italian partisans of dubious fighting ability, escaped Russian PoWs and German deserters, into a fighting unit that took on a German Army HQ.

The phrase "balls of steel" was invented for these guys, but as I say, this did not go down well at British HQ who saw these two as rogue officers.

Once again Britain has a way of badly treating their real heroes but this book puts a lot of that to the lie. There is so much in the book that I really recommend that you get a copy.

Absolutely! There is a campaign to get Lees his MC that he was denied out of spite. As you say, balls of steel. How they could achieve so much with what was really so little is astounding. And Farran; well, what can one say? Hell of a soldier.

 

[Awol]

Good review OFAH and a good book.I read and reviewed this for another magazine and there is just so much information about what these guys did, much to the chagrin of some British VSOs who got their revenge when it came to awards! Major Farran was forbidden to drop in with his men but just happened to fall out of the aircraft over the drop zone, and just happened to be wearing a parachute!!

He and Lees then organised a hotchpotch of Italian partisans of dubious fighting ability, escaped Russian PoWs and German deserters, into a fighting unit that took on a German Army HQ.

The phrase "balls of steel" was invented for these guys, but as I say, this did not go down well at British HQ who saw these two as rogue officers.

Once again Britain has a way of badly treating their real heroes but this book puts a lot of that to the lie. There is so much in the book that I really recommend that you get a copy.

Farran? Was he an NCO when he wrote a book about his days in the early days of the war? I'm sure I've got a book somewhere by him.

 

[old_fat_and_hairy]

Farran? Was he an NCO when he wrote a book about his days in the early days of the war? I'm sure I've got a book somewhere by him.

Don't believe so. Wiki has a fair bit on him.
Roy Farran - Wikipedia

 

[Grownup_Rafbrat]

Just reading this now, after an evening with Damien Lewis at Mike Lees' ancestral home. It's fast-paced and very interesting.

 

[old_fat_and_hairy]

Just reading this now, after an evening with Damien Lewis at Mike Lees' ancestral home. It's fast-paced and very interesting.

Damien is a nice bloke too. Wish I had known you were going to see him, he owes me a pint!

 

[Grownup_Rafbrat]

Damien is a nice bloke too. Wish I had known you were going to see him, he owes me a pint!

He was very occupied with Mike Lees' daughter.




No not in that way!!!

 

[old_fat_and_hairy]

He was very occupied with Mike Lees' daughter.




No not in that way!!!

I was going to say...………… but then I saw your addendum.
When I first went to meet him, the women in my household were very envious, until I pointed out it was a different Damien Lewis to the one they thought.

 

[Grownup_Rafbrat]

He made himself low in my estimation when he said in the Epilogue of this book that the War ended in May 1945.

 

[old_fat_and_hairy]

He made himself low in my estimation when he said in the Epilogue of this book that the War ended in May 1945.

That's the trouble with these young pups, they forget the unpleasantness that carried on East of Suez.
However, his thoughts may have been clouded by the magnificent event that did occur in May 1945.