Gentleman Jim
Lorna Windmill charts SAS co-founder Jim Almonds’ wartime journey from Kabrit training to escapes, SOE missions and beyond.
- Author
- Lorna Windmill
- Publisher
- Constable
- Price
- £18.99
- ISBN
- 9781841193401
- Published
- 2018
Gentleman Jim by Lorna Windmill
Jim Almonds helped create the SAS at Kabrit and lived the Regiment’s ethos across every theatre. Lorna Windmill follows him from the early desert raids through capture at Benghazi, repeated escapes from Italian camps and his return to Allied lines. Later missions saw him parachute into occupied France to work with the Resistance, scout ahead of the Allied advance into Germany and serve in Norway.
Before Almonds’ final break from PG 70 at Monte Urano he walked out to reconnoitre Porto San Giorgio for a successful Special Force boat pickup, then trekked on foot to the Allied lines in 32 days. An anecdote encapsulates his character: spotting Italian POWs labouring in Britain, he halted his car, handed over his cigarette ration and thanked them for their countrymen’s kindness during his escape.
Windmill’s biography captures a Special Forces pioneer whose courtesy matched his daring.
Constable. £18.99. ISBN 1-84119-340-2.