Churchill's Hellraisers
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From award-winning war reporter Damien Lewis, the untold story of the heroic hellraisers who stormed a Nazi fortress—in one of the most daring raids of World War II. . . . It is the winter of 1944. Allied forces have succeeded in liberating most of Axis-occupied Italy—with one crucial exception: the Nazi headquarters north of the Gothic Line. Heavily guarded and surrounded by rugged terrain, the mountain fortress is nearly impenetrable. But British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is determined to drive a dagger into the “soft underbelly of Europe.” The Allied’s plan: drop two paratroopers into the mountains—and take the fortress by storm . . . “One of the most dangerous and effective attacks ever undertaken by this Regiment against the enemy.”—Lt Col Robert Walker‐Brown, MBE DSO, senior SAS commander [/b] The two brave men knew the risks involved, so they recruited an equally fearless team: Italian resistance fighters, escaped POWs, downed US airmen, even a bagpipe-playing Scotsman known as “The Mad Piper.” Some had little military training, but all were willing to fight to the death to defeat the Nazi enemy. Ultimately, the mission that began in broad daylight, in the enemy’s line of fire, would end one of the darkest chapters in history—through the courage and conviction of the unsung heroes who dared the impossible . . . [b]Bracingly tense, brilliantly researched, and truly unforgettable, Churchill’s Hellraisers is a must-have for every World War II library.
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ALSO BY DAMIEN LEWIS
World War Two:
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To those charged to investigate Lees’ story, it appeared to have merit. He hailed from the right kind of background. He’d been educated at Ampleforth – the Roman Catholic boarding school known as the ‘Catholic Eton’, of which David Stirling, the founder of the SAS, was a fellow alumnus – plus the Lees family was steeped in military tradition. Grandson of Sir Elliott Lees, the First Baronet of Lytchett Minster, Michael’s father, Bernard Percy Turnbull Lees, had served with distinction in the Queen’s Own Dorset Yeomanry during the First World War, winning a Military Cross (MC).
Bernard Lees had died in a shooting accident when Michael was just two years old, so he had never got to know his father. After the tragic loss, Michael had grown very close to his cousin James Lees – direct heir to the baronetcy – hunting, fishing and riding together in the Dorset countryside. They’d become inseparable, to the extent that James’s father had become an honorary guardian to Michael. Bereft of a father and brought up by his widowed mother and elder sister, Dolores, Lees was effectively the man of the house and felt fiercely protective over all. When he was just twelve, he caught an older boy trying to kiss his sister. He stepped forward and punched the boy firmly on the chin.
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