The secret forces of World War II - Granada

World War II gave rise to an astonishing number of unorthodox units, yet previously no book had assessed their contribution to the final victory or shown how they related to one another and to the more conventional fighting forces. In 1939 'Special Forces' did not exist; it was Churchill who ordered them to 'set Europe ablaze'. Operating under a cloak of secrecy during wartime, and quickly disbanded after it, they have never received credit for their achievements.

From the early 'butcher and bolt' raids by parachutists ad commandos, to SOE activities in France and the Balkans and 'Merrill's Marauders' and Wingate's 'Chindits' in Burma, Special Forces were were active in all the great theatres of war. They played a vital role in intelligence-gathering, Anglo-American co-operation, sabotage, the fostering of local resistance movements and guerrilla fighting.They denied 'heavy water' to Germany, which prevented that country making the atomic bomb, and they crucially affected the balance of air power in the Western Desert in 1942.

Philip Warner has talked to many survivors and tells their individual stories here. The bravery of these men and women was exceptional, and many have become legendary: Vladimir Peniakoff of 'Popski's Private Army', David Stirling of the SAS, Ian Lapraik of the SBS, Peter Young, 'Mad Jack' Churchill, and a host of others.