Four Boys' Own style World War Two heroes to fire your imagination

Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown

His episode of Desert Island Discs is here. It's well worth a listen for his sense humour, as well as his amazing life. He's still as sharp as a tack.

I loved the story of him illegally looping around the Forth Bridge in a Navy Spitfire... the police didn't know the Navy had a Spitfire so fruitlessly chased up the RAF, thus he escaped a severe reprimanding.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04nvgq1

And whilst I'm at it, here's Louis Armstrong's episode. Just because.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009y1rb

Jack Nissenthall

For the full story of Nissenthall's participation in the Bruneval Raid, I thoroughly recommend James Leasor's book Green Beach

You already mentioned Popski's Private Army, but the chap who created the unit Major Vladimir Peniakoff, MC is worth mentioning. Initially a concentious objecter in WWI but eventual served in the French Artillery in WWI as a private because he didnt want to waste his time training as an officer in the british army.

Next Herbert "Blondie" Hasler leader of the Cockleshell Heroes in the Operation Frankton raid against German ships harboured in Bordeaux. Haslers theories and practice where later to be used by the SBS. He was put forward for a VC but it wasnt granted. Hasler after the war went on to invent the Hasler Self Steering Gear for yachts that allowed single handed sail across large expanses of see. He also instituted the Observer Single Handed Transatlantic Race which he aslo raced in. He came 2nd to Sir Francis Chichester.

Third and sort of communications related on Thomas "Darkie" Waters a corporal in the Royal Crops of Signals. Waters was a wireless and line operator (though the old linemen(aka "lineys") of theSignals used to clain he was one of theirs) Waters was attached to 5 Para Brigade for the raid on Peagus Bridge in Caen. During the attack on the bridge Cpl Waters rescued a wounded comrade. Repaired a communications line multiple time under fire. He was awarded a MM. Water was later wounded trying to protect other soldier during a training excerise when a pin was pulled from a grenade. He Lost an eye and had a metal plate fitted to his head. Almost every Sergents mess in the Royal Corps of Signals has a copy of the painting by Peter Archer of Corporal Waters legging it across Pegasus bridge with reel of D8 line to repair another cut line. His example is used by the Signals to emphasise "comms must get through no matter what

I recall seeing a movie about Jack Nissenthall, but I cannot remember any of the film's details. A pretty good story.

Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart's memoirs are also on Amazon. I need some new books.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Happy-Odyssey-Adrian-Carton-Wiart/dp/1844155390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453471052&sr=8-1&keywords=Happy+Odyssey

Don't fuck with the Finns ....

Simo Häyhä - 'nuff said.

So unspeakably badass that not even a Russian artillery strike could take him out.

Family History

My war hero would have to be my Great Uncle, William O'Callaghan who was involved in the Dunkirk evacuations and his story started at a small village called Le Paradis.

"The Le Paradis massacre was a war crime committed on May 27th 1940 by members of the 14th Company, SS Division Totenkopf, under the command of Hauptsturmführer Fritz Knöchlein.

It took place during the Battle of France, at a time when the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was attempting to retreat through the Pas-de-Calais region during the Battle of Dunkirk."

The story can be found here.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/le-paradis-ss-killing.html

and here

http://www.stephen-stratford.co.uk/pooleys_revenge.htm

Simply put the Royal Norfolk Battalion was part of the rear guard defense for the Dunkirk evacuations and my Great Uncles company were captured by an SS company, marched in to field and then machined gunned down.

My Great Uncle survived along with one other person, Albert Pooley, who was badly wounded and saved by my Great Uncle. You can read the full story above.

My Great Uncle ended up in a POW camp in Poland and at the end of the war they were abandoned and had to find their own way back to allied territory by marching across Europe.

There is/was a book written called "The Vengeance of Private Pooley" and published by an author called Cyril Jolly, now out of print.

Some more good reads

Robert Crisp: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/mar/05/the-spin-bob-crisp-amazing-life

His books "Blazing Chariots" and "The Gods were Neutral" are brilliant reads.

And there's Deneys Reitz, who wrote "Commando" about fighting the Brits during the Boer War, and "Trekking On" about serving with them in WW1.

Despite helping found the KKK...

Nathan Bedford Forrest. Sorry to copy from Wikipedia, but...

" In the battle of Fallen Timbers, he drove through the Union skirmish line. Not realizing that the rest of his men had halted their charge when reaching the full Union brigade, Forrest charged the brigade single-handedly, and soon found himself surrounded. He emptied his Colt Army revolvers into the swirling mass of Union soldiers and pulled out his saber, hacking and slashing. A Union infantryman fired a musket ball into Forrest's spine with a point-blank musket shot, nearly knocking him out of the saddle. Forrest galloped back to his incredulous troopers. A surgeon removed the musket ball a week later, without anesthesia, which was unavailable."

" In December 1862, Forrest's veteran troopers were reassigned by Gen. Braxton Bragg to another officer, against his protest. Forrest had to recruit a new brigade, composed of about 2,000 inexperienced recruits, most of whom lacked weapons. Again, Bragg ordered a raid, this one into west Tennessee to disrupt the communications of the Union forces under Grant, which were threatening the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Forrest protested that to send such untrained men behind enemy lines was suicidal, but Bragg insisted, and Forrest obeyed his orders. On the ensuing raid, he showed his brilliance, leading thousands of Union soldiers in west Tennessee on a "wild goose chase" to try to locate his fast-moving forces. Never staying in one place long enough to be attacked, Forrest led his troops in raids as far north as the banks of the Ohio River in southwest Kentucky. He returned to his base in Mississippi with more men than he had started with. By then, all were fully armed with captured Union weapons."

Major Allison Digby Tatham-Warter

Anyone who carries an umbrella into battle, fights until his ammo runs out, radios "ammo out, God Save The King", gets captured, makes a compass out of buttons, escapes and then helps lead 150 men out of occupied territory, all with a girls name, gets my vote.

Anders Lassen

This is worth a read, what a life he had!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Churchills-Secret-Warriors-Explosive-Desperadoes-y/dp/1848668554

Some great ones in the recent le Carré biog

My favourite so far is Lance Pope - walked out of Colditz wearing a German officer's uniform he'd made himself. Even had the cheek to b*ll*ck one of the guards in flawless German on the way out!

Fitzroy Maclean

Fitzroy Maclean's life reads like one of the more outrageous adventure novels.

He was a British diplomat in the 30s, requested a Moscow posting from where he got into parts of the USSR that no westerner had visited for 30 years, succeeding in this by sheer cheek. At the start of WW2 he tried to enlist but was prevented because the diplomatic service was a reserved occupation: you could only resign if elected to Parliament. So he stood in a by-election on a platform of immediately joining the army, won, enlisted and became one of the first members of the SAS. After serving in the desert (he he drove into Tobruk and out again while the Germans were still in residence) he was dropped into Yugoslavia to find out who or what Tito was and fought with the Partisans for the rest of the war, taking up his seat in Parliament after being demobbed.

His book, "Eastern Approaches" is a most entertaining read.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Upham

Not sure if being British is a requirement, but ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Upham

> He made a total of 2,407 carrier landings during his distinguished career

From the BBC: 'The US Navy were said to have given one man the specific job of breaking Brown's record. "To his everlasting credit he got up to 1,600 and then had a nervous breakdown," says Brown.'

It's also interesting to note that the official figure for the number of different types of plane he flew doesn't include any of the variants of a given plane. So the Spitfire will only count once even if he flew 8 different versions.

If we are into WWII lunatics then mention must be made of Charles Upham. A man who makes mad Jack Churchill look only slightly vexed. He's the only combat soldier to win the VC twice.

Not quite right about Bruneville

A few points.

The raiding party (about 150 men) was dropped into St Bruneville and taken off by sea. The raid was a spectacular success with the Paras holding off any kind of counter attack while the techies stripped the Radar set of most of it important black boxes and the antenna, all of which was brought back to Blightie for analysis.

What they found from this led to jamming techniques being developed for the bombers and helped to set up a decoy for the D Day landings

Andrew (something of a military history buff)

I came here to post mad Jack Churchil for the last RECORDED longbow kill in a military conflict, but he's already up there ^

Also Wingate was a interesting chap, and his chindit unit's activities went on to form the basis of the para's. Not to be confused with the modern repurposement of the title for the geeks...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orde_Charles_Wingate

When I am soured on humanity...

...I read Victoria Cross citation, for Canadians, then any Commomweath country. And then the Medal of Honour citations (USA). To remember that courage, self-sacrifice and gallantry exist. But these are only those acknowledged -- so many more have to take our thanks to the Unknown Hero.

Major Robert Cain VC

... VC won at Arnhem in 1944. Finest VC awarded, according to General Sir Peter de la Billière.

Two more for your reading pleasure

Major Francis Harvey VC, Royal Marines - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Harvey

Boy (1st class) Jack Cornwell VC, Royal Navy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Cornwell

A personal note if I may. Jack Cornwell was my boyhood hero. I first read about him when I was younger than he was at the time of his death. I marvelled at his courage, and devotion to duty, as ordinary as they may seem to some people.

As the years roll by, and the lights begin to fade away, his star burns as brightly as ever.

The guys who took Heydrich down in Prague

By sheer chance I stumbled upon the Church of Saint Metodious and Cyril in Prague, the day after the anniversary of Operation Anthropoid. The whole street was littered with flowers and ribbons from military services from all over the world.

I have never felt so overwhelmed, as when I entered the crypt where the soldiers holed up after attacking Heydrich, and was face to face with their busts. I was moved to tears, I must say.

Ken Adam and Chuck Yeager

Ken Adam: piloted Hurricanes for the RAF in WWII for the RAF while still being technically German - he was too young to become a British subject when he joined the RAF. After the war he became one of the most (aguably the most) influencial production designer(s) ever. I've read his biography last year - utterly, utterly fascinating. Larger than life.

Chuck Yeager: got shot down during one of his first sorties over France. Avoided capture, made contatct with la résistance, walked across the Pyrenees (carrying a fellow airman half the time), from France to Spain, got back to England, fought USAAF policy*, eventually presenting his case to Eisenhower himself, was allowed to get back into active service - and made ace in one day. After WWII he was a test pilot and for 10 years flew every new american plane and survived more than one close shave. Was smart enough to quit while he was ahead of the game and returned to being a fighter pilot. Retired as a general, still spending every possible minute at the stick instead behind a desk. If you watch "The Right Stuff": he has a cameo as "Fred", one of the regulars at Pancho Barnes bar.

*Escaped pilots were not alowed to fly missions over enemy teritory again, for fear of being shot down again and captured, possibly being forced to compromise those who helped them escape the first time. Yeager got back to Britain some time after D-Day, so he argued that if he would be shot down again it would not be over France, so not compromising anyone there.

Military Obituaries

The Military Obituaries in the Telegraph is always an interesting read.

Obituaries of the greatest heroes and heroines from our Armed Forces, providing an insight into the world shaping battles through the eyes of the men and women who fought and lived to tell the tale

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/

Jon Pertwee

Jon Pertwee was a bit of a star.

Next time you see Worzel Gummidge, consider the fact that you might be looking at the real James Bond...

Vic.

My heroes

My grandfather Percy Eastland.

Lied about his age, signed up in '14, sent to France in early '15. Fought in several major battles, including the Somme, where he got his first wound (bullet in the chest) when attacking and taking a machine gun position. Invalided out of the army in late '17 after his leg was blown off. Refused to talk about his experiences; only after his death did any information about his activities come to light. (He occasionally crawled out into no-mans land, usually without a weapon, to spy on the enemy positions.)

During the second world war, he worked as a mechanic in the naval dockyards during the day and a fire warden at night. During the Blitz, he dived into the harbour to rescue someone that had fallen in the water. Despite only having one leg, he was a powerful swimmer; he rescued the man and lifted him out of the harbour on his own. He didn't tell the family; they found out a couple of months later when he received another medal to go with those he received in '19.

My great uncle Ernest Mitchell.

He was a PO in the navy; and assigned to a new submarine, HMS Thetis. Unfortunately, there was a manufacturing flaw on the torpedo tubes, which they didn't know about. He had been designated to a different position during the maiden voyage, so his experience was not available to prevent a tragedy. However, he realised what had gone wrong, made his way to the flooding compartment and somehow managed to lock the water tight door to save the lives of everyone on board. Sadly to no avail; they were stuck on the bottom of the sea and succumbed to carbon dioxide poisoning.

As an aside, 70 years later, I was talking to a member of my then IT team. It turned out that he had a great uncle that served on board the same boat after it had been put back in service as HMS Thunderbolt; and had gone down with her in action in the Med during '43.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/gurkha-obituaries/1580614/Bhanubhakta-Gurung-VC.html

Ended up with a rock, when he ran out of space for his kukri....

Sir Douglas 'Dogsbody' Robert Steuart Bader

..Merits a definite mention, lost both his legs, went to war with the RAF anyway. Got captured and spent the rest of the war trying to escape multiple times, eventually ending up in Colditz. He never let his lack of mobility stop him!

A true testament to the British wartime spirit.

Arctic Convoys

When I read "HMS Ulysses" by Alistair MacLean, I'd not seen any photographs or had any knowledge of the conditions encountered on the Arctic Convoys.

With the 70th anniversary of the convoys, there appeared articles like these detailing the harrowing conditions endured by the sailors. The accompanying photographs and descriptions are exactly as MacLean described - he himself having first hand experience in 2 Arctic Convoys

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/rbth/features/8778658/Arctic-Convoys-of-WWII.html

Churchill called it ‘the worst journey in the world’; 3,000 British sailors had died by May 1945.

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search?query=belfast+arctic

http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/hms-belfast

Buster Crabb

Lionel "Buster" Crabb - not to be confused with Buster Crabbe the actor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Crabb

Jan Baalsrud

A Norwegian who got an MBE, he has one of the greatest survival stories I've ever read in the book We Die Alone. Amongst other things he amputated nine of his own toes, and survived 27 days alone in a stretcher in an alpine environment, including being buried under several metres of snow. And on learning to walk again, he went back into Norway on active duty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Baalsrud

Long before WWI - but noteworthy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cochrane,_10th_Earl_of_Dundonald

One of the models for Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey, but possibly more unlikely than them.

Arnold Ridley (Private Godfrey)

"...Ridley was a rare kind of war hero in real life, having served in both the first and second world wars – horribly wounded in hand-to-hand trench fighting at the Somme in 1916, he was back in action again in 1939 as a major with the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/dads-army/private-godfrey-arnold-ridley/