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The SAS "Italian Job"

Discussion in 'WWII Books & Publications' started by GRW, Nov 22, 2018.

  1. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    Got one of Roy Farran's books, it's a great read so would expect good stuff from this story.
    "Wars can be won and lost in bed, and it was pillow talk that was the surprise starting point of a military operation vital in bringing World War II to an end.
    It was early 1945 and, in northern Europe, the invading Allies were spilling over the Rhine into Nazi Germany, bent on victory. But, to the south, in Italy, there was a serious hold-up. Hitler’s forces were defying the British and the Americans in a string of seemingly impregnable fortifications known as the Gothic Line.
    Mile upon mile of concrete bunkers, gun emplacements, tunnels, minefields and razor wire stretched from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic coast. Crack German forces were dug in and, for six months, British and U.S. armies had been battering away unsuccessfully (and with huge loss of life) to force a way through.
    Behind enemy lines, Italian resistance fighters were doing what they could to disrupt the German defenders, aided and organised by undercover agents of Britain’s SOE, the Special Operations Executive much loved by Winston Churchill for its expertise in subterfuge and sabotage.
    It was to one of these agents, Captain Mike Lees, that a beautiful, young Italian woman (charmingly described as ‘not averse to love’) brought some crucial information. While sleeping with an enemy officer, she had learned from him the whereabouts — until then unknown — of the German army communication and command headquarters.
    The Gothic Line defences she disclosed were masterminded from two villas in the remote village of Botteghe.
    Lees, a larger-than-life figure known as ‘Wild Man’ and blessed with a can-do spirit, grasped the significance straight away: if he could take them out, the next Allied offensive would have a better chance of success.
    And so the secret military plan known as Operation Tombola — meticulously detailed and narrated with verve in this latest book by SAS historian Damien Lewis — swung into action."
    www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-6419517/Two-maverick-officers-defied-superiors-stage-raid-helped-end-WWII.html
     
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2018

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