In Research & Archives

Related Research

A Hundred Miles As The Crow Flies
The story of the largest mass escape of the Second World War, led by Australian Ralph Churches from Stalag XVIIID at Maribor.
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
Mark Sullivan novelises the true exploits of teenager Pino Lella, Alpine guide, Resistance courier, and spy.
Bletchley Park and the Pigeon Spies
Bernard O’Connor reveals how thousands of carrier pigeons fed intelligence to Bletchley Park and covert units.
Campo 78 – The Aussie Camp
Gabriella Di MattiaPG 78, a POW camp for Allied POWs in Italy is located on the northern outskirts of the town of Sulmona, at Fonte d’Amore.…
Captive Memories: Starvation – Disease – Survival
Meg Parkes and Geoff Gill record FEPOW testimonies, medical struggles, and the families who carried them home.
Commando Country
Stuart Allan documents the Scottish Highlands training grounds that forged Allied special forces and covert units.
Dutch Courage
Special Forces (SF) operations in the Netherlands and covers in general the period from September 1994 until the liberation.September 1944 s…
Escape From the Japanese
Lt Cdr Ralf Burton Goodwin recounts his 870 mile solo escape from Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po camp to Calcutta.
Escape from the Third Reich
Sune Persson recounts the Swedish Red Cross white buses rescuing thousands from Nazi camps in 1945.
Escape to Pagan
Brian Devereux tells his family’s harrowing wartime ordeal from Hong Kong to Burma and their desperate flight to Pagan.
D-Day Through German Eyes – Books 1 & 2
Holger Eckhertz publishes his grandfather’s frontline interviews with Atlantic Wall veterans, offering a rare German view of D Day.
Escaping Hitler
Monty Halls chronicles the Freedom Trails across Europe, from Slovenia’s mass breakout to high level routes in France and Italy.
Escaping the Ordinary
Lorna Windmill follows Jim Almonds after WW2 as he chases new frontiers in Ethiopia, Eritrea and the reformed SAS.
Escaping Soldiers and Airmen of World War 1
Martin Bowman surveys WW1 prison life, escape methods, and first hand accounts from Allied soldiers and fliers.
ETA – A Bomber Command Navigator Shot Down and On The Run
Gordon Mellor’s memoir follows his Bomber Command tour, shoot down over Belgium, and remarkable escape with the Comète Line.
Escaping With His Life
Sir Nicholas Young retraces his father Leslie’s route from Dunkirk to commando raids, POW camps, and a six month escape through Italy.
Facing Fearful Odds
John JayThis is the story of Rifleman Alec Jay, a Territorial Army infantryman whose unit was thrown into the defence of Calais, and effecti…
Fighters in The Shadows
Robert GideaReviewed by Roger Stanton With access to previously unseen French archive materiel, ‘Fighters in the Shadows’ attempts to expose…
Flee the Captor: The Story of the Dutch-Paris Underground and John Henry Weidner
Herbert Ford chronicles Dutch Paris founder John Weidner, whose textile network became Europe’s longest escape line.
Game of Spies
Paddy Ashdown uncovers a lethal triangle of SOE, Resistance, and Gestapo rivals in wartime Bordeaux.
From One Hell to Another
Liz Cowley and Donough O’Brien dramatise Resistance warfare in the Pyrenees, blending fact with local history.
Gardens of Stone
Stephen Grady’s remarkable wartime memoir traces a teenage gardener’s journey from Ypres to the French Resistance and beyond.
Gone To Ground
Marie Jalowicz Simon recounts her wartime survival in Berlin, shedding her yellow star and navigating twenty safe houses.
Gentleman Jim
Lorna Windmill charts SAS co founder Jim Almonds’ wartime journey from Kabrit training to escapes, SOE missions and beyond.
Shadow Warriors – Daring Missions of WW2 by Women of the OSS and SOE
WW2 was the first conflict in which women were trained on a large scale for combat against the enemy. Taught the skills of silent killing, u…
Great Escaper
Louise WilliamsJohn Williams as a young man in 1937, received one of the 25 Short Service Commissions awarded each year to members of the Ro…
Holocaust Heroes – Resistance to Hitler's Final Solution
Mark Felton charts the uprisings that challenged Hitler’s Final Solution from the ghettos to Treblinka, Auschwitz and Sobibor.
Gurkha
Colour Sergeant Kailash Limbu offers an insider’s account of life in the Brigade of Gurkhas and a tour in Afghanistan.
Home By Christmas
Ian English MC recalls the Fontanellato escapers of PG49 and the Italian families who saved them after the 1943 armistice.
If This is A Woman - Inside Ravensbruck: Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women
Sara HelmRavensbruck was designed as a women's camp and the site is situated about 50 miles north of Berlin. The guards were mainly women to…
Italy's Outstanding Courage: The Story of a Secret War
Dilip Sarkar reveals Italy’s unsung Resistance heroes who saved downed aircrew and fought alongside the Allies.
KL
Nikolaus WachsmannKL (from the German for Konzentrationslager) is a tremendous research achievement dealing with every aspect of the Nazi co…
Les Parisiennes
Anne Sebba examines how Parisian women navigated occupation—resisting, collaborating, and surviving.
Lindell's List
List by Peter Hore Mary Lindell ran an escape line in France (Marie Claire Line) for escapers, evaders and other fugitives, two of whom were…
Lost Warriors
Philip Davies pairs the astonishing wartime stories of guerrilla leader Hugh Seagrim and escaper Roy Pagani in Burma.
Malayan Spymaster
Boris Hembry recounts clandestine operations in Malaya and Burma, from stay behind parties to SIS missions.
Never Surrender: Lost Voices of a Generation at War
Robert Kershaw stitches veteran interviews into a sweeping oral history of Britain at war.
One Day in France
Jean Marie Borzeix reconstructs a 1944 German reprisal in Bugeat and uncovers the identity of a long forgotten victim.
Monopoli Blues
Tim Clark and Nick Cook tell the intertwined SOE stories of para naval officer Robert Clark and FANY wireless operator Marjorie Lewis.
No Surrender at Arnhem
Robert Peatling’s diary captures three months hiding with the Dutch Resistance after Arnhem.
Operation Sealion
Leo McKinstry reveals Britain’s clandestine preparations to repel a German invasion and the reasons Operation Sealion never sailed.
Mosquito Down
Frank DellThose of you who were part of the RAFES will know Frank Well. Later the RAFES became part of ELMS and Frank became one of our Patr…
One Woman's War
Eileen Younghusband recalls WAAF filter rooms, V weapon tracking, and post war service teaching Polish pilots.
Operation Exodus
Gordon ThomasDuring WW2 over six million Jews died in 32 concentration camps. The death camps of Auschwitz/Birkenau, Belzec, Sobibor, Trebli…
No Surrender in Burma
Fred C GoodeFred Goode was a member of a Special Forces Unit, Special Service Detachment II, whose role in 1941 was to support Chiang Kai Sh…
Rifleman
Londoner who experienced an extraordinary service life between his enlistment in 1938, his wartime service and his subsequent activities dur…
SAS Rogue Heroes
Ben Macintyre draws on newly opened SAS archives to tell the Regiment’s audacious wartime story from desert raids to disbandment.
Secret War
Nigel West delivers a provocative reassessment of SOE’s achievements, failures, and sacrifices.
Shot Down and on the Run
Graham Pitchfork updates his classic survey of Allied airmen who evaded capture across every WW2 theatre.
Secret Pigeon Service
Gordon Corera uncovers Operation Columba, MI14’s covert network of homing pigeons that gathered intelligence across occupied Europe.
Shadows in The Fog
By Michael Tillotson; The Times saturday 28th March 2015 Who or what caused the collapse of the Special Operations Executive's \"prospect" c…
So Close to Freedom
Jean Luc Carton investigates the betrayed April 1944 François Line crossing of the Pyrenees.
Sisters in Spitfires
Alison Hill’s extensive research into the wartime contribution made by the 164 women pilots of the ATA allows us to experience not only the…
Solvitur Ambulando
Eric MossEric Moss served in the RAF as a Wireless Operator/Gunner. His story recounts his initial training in England, operations in North…
Retreat and Rearguard – Dunkirk 1940
Jerry Murland charts the desperate rear guard battles that shielded the Dunkirk evacuation, honouring British and French defenders alike.
Standing Tall
Andy Reid charts his recovery after catastrophic injuries in Helmand and his mission to support fellow veterans.
Swift to Attack – No 1 Group Bomber Command
This is the story of 1 Group Bomber Command, which was actually established in 1936 and based on airfields in Oxfordshire, Norfolk and equip…
The Barefoot Soldier
Johnson Beharry VC shares his journey from Grenada to Iraq, where extraordinary bravery saved his comrades under fire.
The Bletchley Park Girls
Tessa Dunlop interviews fifteen women who served at Bletchley Park, revealing their secrecy, routine and lasting impact.
The Cover Up at Omaha Beach
Gary SterneReview by Chris Colussi Many of us have read about the desperate struggle at Omaha Beach and the Point du Hoc. However, when you…
The British Army in France After Dunkirk
Patrick TakleDuring Operation Dynamo more than 330,000 British and French troops were evacuated via Dunkirk between 26th May 4th June. Howev…
The Camera Became My Passport Home
Ben van Drogenbroek and Steve Martin document Stalag Luft III through Charles Woehrie’s lens in a lavish, limited edition history.
Target Italy
Roderick BaileyThis is an unusual book which deals with SOE's secret war against Mussolini from 1940 1943. Commissioned by the Cabinet Offic…
The Brave Japanese
Kenneth Harrison reflects on brutal captivity, the Burma Railway, and witnessing Hiroshima’s aftermath.
The Dutch Resistance Revealed: The Inside Story of Courage and Betrayal
Jos Scharrer examines the Dutch underground, from escape lines to Englandspiel betrayals, highlighting courage amid occupation.
The French Resistance
(Translated by Jane Marie Todd) This is a well researched book on the French Resistance. The author deals in depth with the social, politica…
The Escape Line
Megan Koreman chronicles the Dutch Paris Line, Europe’s longest escape network, and the ordinary people who sustained it.
The Hidden Army: MI9’s Secret Force and the Untold Story of D-Day
Matt Richards and Mark Langthorne reveal MI9’s Operation Sherwood and the helpers who sheltered 152 airmen for D Day.
The Great Escapes: The Story of MI9’s WW2 Escape & Evasion Maps
Barbara Bond charts MI9’s secret map programme—how ingenious silk charts guided escapers across Europe and beyond.
The Long Range Desert Group
This is a reprint of a book first published in 1945 by Kennedy Shaw, who had been the Intelligence Officer of the Long Range Desert Group (L…
The Lost Airman: A True Story of Escape from Nazi-Occupied France
Seth Meyerowitz follows his grandfather Arthur’s perilous journey through the Comet Line, Morhange group, and the snowbound Pyrenees.
The Man Who Was Saturday: The Extraordinary Life of Airey Neave
Patrick Bishop charts Airey Neave’s journey from Colditz escaper to MI9 mastermind and influential politician.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
In 1939 Winston Churchill was the driving force behind what he called the ‘Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’, which would eventually employ…
The Nazi Hunters
Damien Lewis recounts the SAS mission on Operation Loyton and the post war manhunt for Nazi war criminals led by Colonel Brian Franks.
The SAS and LRDG Roll of Honour 1941 – 1947
An 800 page commemorative roll compiled over thirteen years to honour every SAS fatality of the Second World War and their comrades in the L…
Trusty to the End: The History of 148 (Special Duties) Squadron RAF 1918-1945
Oliver Clutton Brock chronicles 148 Squadron’s clandestine missions from Malta to Warsaw, honouring the crews who supplied Europe’s resistan…
When the Moon Rises
Davis was captured while fighting with the Honourable Artillery Company in the hills around Medjez el Bab in Tunisia. Wounded in the head he…
The Twisted Florin
Stella Clare Marsh tells Sqn Ldr John Mott’s remarkable story of evasion, SOE flying and multiple escapes across Europe.
Where The Hell Have You Been?
Tom Carver retraces his father Richard’s wartime capture, Italian escapes and reunion with Field Marshal Montgomery.
With SOE in Greece
Pat Evans recounts SOE missions in northern Greece, balancing sabotage, resistance politics, and the chaos of civil war.
Within Four Walls
There were many escapes made during WW1 which are little remembered, but the lessons learned have provided excellent references for later wo…
Zero Night
Mark Felton recounts the ladder escape of forty officers from Oflag VI B in August 1942.

St Valery and Its Aftermath

Stewart Mitchell honours the Gordon Highlanders of the 51st Division, charting their stand at St Valery and the ordeals that followed.

Author: Stewart Mitchell
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Price: £25
ISBN: 9781473886589
Published: 2017

St Valery and Its Aftermath by Stewart Mitchell

In May 1940 the 1st and 2nd Gordon Highlanders of the 51st Highland Division were detached from the main BEF and tasked with defending the perimeter at St Valery-en-Caux. Ammunition dwindled, escape proved impossible and the order to surrender followed, yet many men slipped away. Some reached other ports, others trekked towards the Pyrenees and Gibraltar, and a number disappeared into the French countryside to rejoin newly formed escape lines.

Mitchell traces the subsequent ordeals: recapture, imprisonment in camps across France, Germany and North Africa, and the brutality of forced labour in mines and quarries. He follows those who endured the infamous long marches as the war neared its end, and celebrates the few who evaded and returned to fight again. Every Gordon Highlander captured, killed, escaped or evaded in 1940 is recorded.

This is a richly detailed tribute to a division that fought stubbornly against overwhelming odds.

ISBN 9781473886589. Pen & Sword. £25.