Full name: The Jedburghs: The Secret History of the Allied Special Forces, France 1944

Author: Will Irwin Year: 2005 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: History, War/Military Purchase/reserch links: Goodreads Amazon Barns&Noble Google Books LibraryThing ISBNs: 9781586483074 9781586484620 1586483072 1586484621

The story of the Special Forces in World War II has never fully been told before. Information about them began to be declassified only in the 1980s. Known as the Jedburghs, these Special Forces were selected from members of the British, American, and Free French armies to be dropped in teams of three deep behind German lines. There, in preparation for D-Day, they carried out what we now know as unconventional warfare: supporting the French Resistance in guerrilla attacks, supply-route disruption, and the harassment and obstruction of German reinforcements. Always, they operated against extraordinary odds. They had to be prepared to survive pitched battles with German troops and Gestapo manhunts for weeks and months while awaiting the arrival of Allied ground forces. They were, in short, heroes. The Jedburghs finally tells their story and offers a new perspective on D-Day itself. Will Irwin has selected seven of the Jedburgh teams and told their stories as gripping personal narratives. He has gathered archival documents, diaries and correspondence, and interviewed Jed veterans and family members in order to present this portrait of their crucial role '€” a role recognized by Churchill and Eisenhower '€” in the struggle to liberate Europe in 1944-45. This is narrative history at its most compelling; a vivid drama of the battle for France from deep behind enemy lines. Similar books: We Were Soldiers Once...and Young by Harold G. Moore The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James D. Hornfischer Neptune's Inferno by James D. Hornfischer April 1865 by Jay Winik Gettysburg by Allen C. Guelzo The First Team by John B. Lundstrom Bunker Hill by Nathaniel Philbrick Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East by David Stahel Fire In The Sky by Eric M. Bergerud Ship of Ghosts by James D. Hornfischer The War of the World by Niall Ferguson Operation Jedburgh by Colin Beavan Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions by Samuel Eliot Morison A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy by Paul S. Dull Operation Drumbeat by Michael Gannon Strong Men Armed by Robert Leckie Five Came Back by Mark Harris Beyond the Beachhead by Joseph Balkoski Not a Good Day to Die by Sean Naylor The First Salute by Barbara W. Tuchman