In the world of military history there is no brand as potent as that of
the SAS. They burst into global prominence in 1980 with their
spectacular storming of the Iranian Embassy, and there have been
hundreds of books, films, documentaries and even reality TV shows about
them. But what there hasn't been is a guide to the scenes of some of
their most famous Second World War operations. That is why Gavin
Mortimer's vivid two-volume account of their daring missions in
German-occupied France in 1944 is such compelling reading.
SAS actions in France delayed German reinforcements reaching the
battlefront in Normandy, later sewing confusion among the Germans as
they withdrew. The SAS trained the French Maquis and helped to turn them
from an indisciplined rabble into an effective fighting force. Their
exploits inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans, and they left a
trail of destruction and disorder in their wake.
In this second volume focusing on 2 SAS he describes in graphic detail
operations Loyton, Wallace and Hardy, and Rupert, all of which were
carried out in eastern France. Using previously unpublished interviews
with SAS veterans and members of the Maquis as well as rare photographs,
Gavin Mortimer blends the past and present, so that readers can walk in
the footsteps of SAS heroes and see where they lived, fought and died.
