Gentleman Jim - Lorna Almonds Windmill

A true story of love and danger, of courage, high drama and amazing survival against the odds. And the story of the real beginnings of the SAS.

Set in wartime England, the western desert, Italy and France, the story captures for the first time the real spirit of the young soldiers at war in the newly emerging SAS. 'Gentleman Jim' Almonds, a sergeant in the Guards Commandos, sailed for the Middle East as part of 'Layforce' in January 1941 with David Stirling and others destined to become SAS 'originals'.

After intense training in the desert and action at Tobruk, Jolo Oasis, Nofelia and Benghazi, Almonds was captured and shipped to a POW camp in Italy, from which he managed to escape. After thirty-two days on the run, he successfully reached US forces at the Benevento front line.

Based on 'Gentleman Jim's' diaries - which he kept to be sent to his wife should he fail to return - the detail of action is vivid and immediate. A wonderful untold wartime story.

An account of the earliest days of the SAS based on diaries kept by a sergeant at the time

Vivid descriptions of wartime army life in the western desert, action against the enemy, etc.

Great adventure story - 'Gentleman Jim' survived 32 days as a fugitive, escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp