A look at three very readable 1950s hardbacks about the commandos of World War Two
Recently, I saw a new book in Waterstones about the SAS brashly entitled Forged in Hell, with a strapline about “dogs of war” and “mavericks”. It struck me that military books from the 1950s seem to have understated titles by comparison – for example, one 1950s book about the origins of the same unit was simply and more intriguingly titled The Phantom Major. In those increasingly rare and old-fashioned second-hand bookshops, there's something of the smell of 'bargains' about lines of old hardbacks with faded dustjackets filling the shelves. Among those books, there's plenty to interest those interested in military history and three examples are described here.
Books about special forces have long held a fascination and this is particularly true of the Commandos that were formed in 1940 to raid German-occupied Europe. One difference between the 1950s and the 2020s is that many of the earlier books were written by veterans of World War Two, as these three were. All retain their dustjackets, two are first editions while the third is a second edition, and one is signed by one of its principal characters. I acquired …
