Gavin Mortimer Bücher

The Special Boat Squadron was Britain's most exclusive Special Forces unit during World War II. Highly trained, and totally secretive, the SBS was established as an entity in its own right in early 1943. With the interviews of the surviving members of the unit, this title gathers the forgotten dramatic exploits of this fighting force.

With a wealth of photographs, many from the SAS Regimental Archives, this book captures the danger and excitement of the initial SAS raids against Axis airfields during the Desert War, the battles in Italy and those following the D-Day landings, the dramatic final push into Germany itself and the discovery of such Nazi horrors as Belsen.

The story of Ernest Shackleton, A British explorer who with 28 men attempted to cross the continent aboard his ship the Endurance in 1914 is a story of survival against all odds.

From one of the foremost experts on wartime British special forces, a new volume exploring the Long Range Desert Group

"A history of the Special Air Service's lightweight, heavily armed vehicles and their combat use, ranging from the famous 1942 airfield raids of North Africa, the SAS Brigade's jeep-borne operations in Europe after D-Day, and 22 SAS's postwar adoption of much-modified Land Rovers for desert operations. The SAS, the world's most famous special operations unit, made its name in the desert of North Africa, shooting up Axis airfields from specially modified Willys jeeps. Following the start of the El Alamein offensive in October 1942, the SAS used jeeps effectively in reconnoitring and ambushing the retreating Afrika Korps. After the conclusion of the North African campaign, the Willys underwent several small but significant changes, including the introduction of the .303 Browning machine gun. Between June and October 1944, the SAS brigade operated deep inside Occupied France, harassing Germans reinforcements heading to Normandy, calling up air strikes on installations, and carrying out reconnaissance missions - all made possible with jeeps dropped by the RAF. Jeeps were also used in the push into Germany in the spring of 1945. Transported across the Rhine in "Buffalo" amphibious landing craft, they formed part of the vanguard of the Allied advance, and their agility, speed, and firepower proved crucial in crushing fanatical pockets of Nazi resistance."--Amazon.ca

"The Long Range Desert Group was one of the most famous special units of World War II, operating heavily modified vehicles deep behind enemy lines to gather intelligence and support the raids of David Stirling's new Special Air Service. When war broke out, a pre-war explorer and army officer, Ralph Bagnold, convinced Middle East Command of the need for a reconnaissance force to penetrate into Italian-held desert. Bagnold tested four types of vehicles over rocks and through soft sand to find the best one for his new unit. Bagnold selected the Chevrolet WB (30 CWT) as the signature vehicle of the Long Range Desert Group because it is "fast, simple and easy to handle". With left-hand steering, horizontal grill and round fenders on the rear wheels, these trucks proved themselves popular and effective. The durability of the Chevrolets was demonstrated in January 1941 with an audacious raid on the Italian fort/air strip at Murzuk, hundreds of miles behind enemy lines. This book explains the detail of all the vehicles of the LRDG, as well as their modifications, driving techniques, and special kit for surviving behind enemy lines in one of the most hostile environments on earth."

The night of July 26, 1942 saw one of the most audacious raids of World War II, just as the outcome of that conflict hung in the balance. Featuring full- colour artwork, and incisive analysis, this study recounts the origins, planning, execution and aftermath of the daring raid that made the name of the SAS at the height of World War II.

The biography of David Stirling, founder of the SAS

Written by the foremost expert on British wartime special forces and illustrated with images that have not been seen in seventy years, this is a new history of the Long Range Desert Group.