"Origins of the Special Forces" Topic

"The men who formed Britain's special forces shared a particular sense of independence and ingenuity. Men like Orde Wingate, Roger Courtney, David Stirling and Ralph Bagnold wanted to find a new way of waging war. Gathering like-minded individuals around them, they trained for, planned and carried out their own operations. They developed new tactics for carrying out new missions…"
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Amicalement
Armand

An interesting volume on the genesis of the British commandos is Combined Operations: The Official Story of the Commandos by Hilary A. ST. George Saunders, with a forward by Lord Louis Montbatten, Chief of Combined Operations. It was published in 1943. The copy I have was purchased by my mother shortly after it was released. Her copy was a "Book-of-the-Month Club" edition.

Jim

Yep, Britain is a world leader in slightly bonkers posh blokes…

Glad you enjoyed it my friends! (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

The direct predecessors of our Special Forces were General Krueger's Alamo Scouts which were recon and rescue detachments during the New Guinea and Philippine campaigns.

Lance Zedric is the leading authority and book(s) author on them and was able to interview most all the Scouts still living in the 1990s and later.

From the first, some of the Scouts were Filipino, including at least one West Point graduate.

Thanks!.

Amicalement
Armand