The Jedburghs: The Secret History of the Allied Special Forces, France 1944

by Will Irwin

Book Overview

The story of the Special Forces in World War II has never fully been told before. Information about them began to be declassified only in the 1980s. Known as the Jedburghs, these Special Forces were... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586483072
• ISBN13: 9781586483074
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 323 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

WW2 commando training

This book has some very detailed information on the recruiting and training standards for the commandos that entered France before the D-Day invasion. The selection process was very interesting along with team composition for nationalities, language skills, radio skills, and ability to adapt to active environments. The description of the teams in France was more espionage in arming the Partisans and sabotaging German lines of communication. They had no self sustainment capability at all, they depended on the French civilians to provide them transportation, food, and shelter. They spent months preparing for the operation and once they landed, they were either chased around the countryside by the Germans or they coordinating the delivery of weapons and ammunition for the Partisans to disrupt the rear area German units. What was extremely dangerous were the spies that operated before the Jedburgh teams. These spies acted independently for years in developing communications and Partisan cells. Once the teams arrived, the spies would then interface with the teams in introducing them to the cells. Another interesting note was the lack of German security at night in France. It seems that they allowed very liberal movement and freedom to the French, no enforced curfews. When one of the teams landed in a farm field, the locals used fires to mark the landing zone. The German garrison at the neighboring village didn't even investigate. The Jedburghs were well trained and successful in coordinating weapons delivery and training to the Partisans, but the Germans facilitated it by not enforcing martial law and restricting French civilian movements. Had the German rear area command been more aggressive in limiting French civilian movements, they would have limited the Partisans ability to communicate with messengers and gather large groups for offensive actions. Overall, a different and unique perspective into the training of commandos. Extremely well researched, good book to borrow from the library.

The original U.S. Special Operations Unit

My interest in the Office of Strategic Service and subsequently the Jedburghs is the direct result of my obsession in collecting, restoring and using military communications (MilCom) equipment; especially "spy radios" of the WW-II through Viet Nam. The Jedburghs consisted of three man teams of military personnel made up of specially trained officers and enlisted men. These teams drew from the U.S., British and Free French personnel who, after intensive training, were air dropped behind Nazi lines piror to the D-Day invasion in 1944. Typically these Jedburgh Teams were responsible for recruiting, training, arming and organizing local resistance movements to form effective irregular (guerilla) forces which would harass the Nazi's prior to and during the initial phases of Operation Overloard, the D-Day invasion. Overall, this idea has been carried forward and the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berret) are direct descendents of these Jedburgh Teams. This book takes a look at several individual Jedburgh Teams and their guerilla ctivities in occupied France. The author shows us an inside look into the workings of an early special ops force that is, quite literally, out numbered, out gunned and alone in a very hostile environment. While this book is not the difiniative work on the special section within the OSS called "Jedburghs", it can be viewed as a well documented work that will serve to whet the appitite of anyone wanting specific knowledge of this segment of WW-II. The author is knowledgable and has documented his text quite well. With all the hoopla regarding special operations units in the War on Terror, The Jedburghs will reveal how today's SOCOM units got their start.

Behind The Lines In France With The Resistance

All of a sudden we have several books on the Jedburghs, at least two others come to mind. One thing this author doesn't answer for me is 'why' they were named Jedburghs. He gives us enough info to realize that several explanations have been put forth, however, he is not able to settle on just one. These 3-men teams were trained and retrained up to the very date of the D-Day landings, with some of the men taken directly from the training field to behind the lines action. The teams consisted of 3 individuals, generally 2 officers, and 1 radioman. The 3-men teams were supposed to contain two officers, either British, French, or American, and 1 radioman at Sergeant level. All were required to be experienced in the French language, and the radioman was preferred to have at least 2 year's college. The radiomen had a special radio made exclusively for the rough combat conditions expected, with all members of the 3 men team trained all areas of survival. They were expected to stay alive on their own until the D-Day armies reached the behind the line areas into which the Jeds had been dropped. The Jeds were also expected to arm, clothe, and train all French resistance personel in their areas. One of the attributes looked for in these men was that of having an attitude, or men who looked for a scrap. And during their training this was an ongoing psychological requirement. At certain points as many as 40% of applicants were washed out. After reading this book you realize any of these men who made it, were indeed very special men. The author is very knowledgable about these teams and offers a very readable book. Until these recent books and declassified records, not much public awareness existed concerning these 3 men teams. I enjoyed this subject so much I have another book by another author on order concerning this same subject. One serious flaw of this book: no maps. For those of us without great knowledge of France, general maps and some of the specific area dropzones would have been beneficial. If you enjoy out of the mainstream material on WWII subjects, these books on the Jedburghs, a force of no more than 300 men, may be for you. As an ex-military man, these resilient, courageous men have my fullest admiration! Semper Fi.

The first full history of the Special Forces units of World War II

Lt. Col. Will Irwin (Ret)'s The Jedburghs: The Secret History Of The Allied Special Forces, France 1944 represents the first full history of the Special Forces units of World War II and receives a dramatic narration by Ptrick Lawlor as it tells of their unconventional warfare, supporting the French Resistance in guerrilla stacks. They operated against all odds but in the end were effective heroes who survived underground battles with Germans and Gestapo for months while awaiting the arrival of Allied ground forces: The Jedburghs in audio is especially adept at bringing all this to life.

A rarity: the "untold story of WWII" that was actually untold before...

I picked up Jedburghs in an airport bookshop recently, figuring it would be yet another book trying to exploit "Band of Brothers" recent popularity. In some ways, I guess that *is* what this book represents to its publisher, but inside is something original and quit interesting. Jedburghs is the story of the operations of special forces during World War II: hard trained small units parachuted in behind enemy lines. In particular, this program consisted of people who spoke French and were parachuted into France to assist the Resistance (the maquis) by organizing air drops of weapons and supplies, training, and so forth. Irwin is not a particularly gifted writer. His prose is direct and workmanlike, but he's done excellent research and knows well enough to stay out of the way of a very good story. In recreating the events and culling interesting stories from the available material, he's assembled a fascinating book, so much so that I was sad to see it end. If you're buff of this kind of military history, you'll like this book a lot.