Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne was one of the most outstanding soldiers and leaders of the Second World War. A qualified solicitor and Irish Universities heavyweight boxing champion, the Ulsterman had played international rugby for both Ireland and the British Lions before …
David Stirling’s capture saw the SAS reorganize into two squadrons – the Special Raiding Squadron (SRS) and Special Boat Squadron (SBS). The indomitable Paddy Mayne commanded the SRS, while George Jellicoe took over the SBS. Jellicoe was the son of …
Operation Jubilee, the raid on the German-occupied French port of Dieppe was one of the most controversial and costly operations of the Second World War. A combined force of nearly six thousand Canadian, British and other Allied troops took part …
It is relatively unknown that the men of No.2 Commando were Britain’s first airborne troops and the unit was the first to be designated as the Special Air Service (SAS). In June 1940 Prime Minister Winston Churchill called for a …
No.4 Commando landed in two waves from HMS Princess Astrid and the SS Maid of Orleans and touched down on Queen Red Beach at La Breche, a mile to the west of Ouistreham. The original plan for the British landings …
Two days after Germany landed troops on Guernsey, Winston Churchill wrote to General Ismay on the 2nd of July 1940: ‘If it be true that a few hundred German troops have been landed on Jersey or Guernsey by troop-carriers, plans …
At the end of January 1941 No 7 Commando along with Nos 8 and 11 (Scottish) Commando sailed to the Middle East as part of Force ‘Z’, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Bob Laycock. On 19 April 1941 No.7 …
The invasion of Sicily in July 1943 was based on two Allied armies landing on the island. The US 7th Army were tasked to land on the south-west at Gela, with the British 8th Army on the south-east at Pachino …
From May 1940, the War Office started the process of requisitioning properties in the Scottish Highlands for unspecified military purposes. One of which was Inverailort House, the home of the Cameron-Head family. Situated close to the shores of Loch Ailort …
