Ungentlemanly Warfare

I'm not a frequent visitor here but I found this book fascinating and perhaps worth a mention.

Churchill's Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Giles Milton)

A look behind the scenes at the 'secret' war that was fought against the Germans during WWII. Initially the department was despised by the War Office and many attempts were made to close them down but with Churchill's approval and support it thrived to become a very successful venture.

The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich,the raid on Saint-Nazaire and the destruction of the heavy water plant in Norway are just a few of the operations carried out using weapons and training provided by the Special Operations Executive. You may have seen the films based on these events but the book tells you exactly how it really happened.

Sounds like a book I would be interested in reading. It's funny and interesting how attitudes change as time passes by. What may have been considered to be "ungentlemanly" back in 1939 is now what we call "Spec Ops".


In regards to the op to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, in retrospect it really accomplished nothing to be honest. Heydrich was promptly replaced by Ernst Kaltenbrunner and the brutal occupation of the Czechs continued.

Brilliant read interesting parts on Fairbairn and Sykes “the killing house”designers of the famous fighting knife/commando knife . Interesting quote from them “ never give a breathing man a chance “ fantastic read .

There's a 30 something year old book called "Bodyguard of Lies" floating around out there.

All about SOE and OSS and other interesting units and operations.

I am sure lots more info has come out since then and will try to check that one out Chucky.