| Synopsis: |
Special Forces Commander is the remarkable story of Peter Wand-Tetley's wartime service in the Army Commandos, the Long Range Desert Group, SAS, SOE and Parachute Regiment.Having initially joined the Wiltshire Regiment, Wand-Tetley immediately volunteered for special service. As a result he was catapulted into a maelstrom of operational service that saw him, first, in action on Commando raids along the North African coastline, and then in fierce fighting on Crete following the German airborne invasion. Raiding operations with the Long Range Desert Group in the Western Desert followed and, as Rommel's Panzerarmee Afrika retreated to Tunisia, he was again in action, this time with the SAS.Following transfer to the SOE, he was parachuted 'blind' into enemy-held Greece to equip and train andarte guerrillas and was awarded an immediate Military Cross. Following victory in Europe, Wand-Tetley sailed for the Far East with the Parachute Regiment, and was engaged in counterinsurgency operations in Java at the end of the war.This superbly researched book, written by a serving soldier, is a tribute not only to an exceptional fighting man but to the specialand unconventional units he was part of.As a bonus, his post-war colonial service provides an insight into the break-up of the Empire. |