Foot, Michael (2004). SOE in France: An Account of the Work of the British Special Operations. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-5528-7. The commandos threw a party for the crews of the three ships. While they were out partying, the commandos sneaked onto the vessels, overpowered the sentries onboard, blew up the anchor chains with explosives, and sailed the ships out of the harbor to rendezvous with a Royal Navy patrol boat. But they should be rightly proud, for ranging the blue Mediterranean during the enemy occupation of many of its lonely islands was a young Dane whose exploits became legendary. A British submarine surfaced off the French coast and launched five canoes, each carrying two commandos, for the strike. The port was hundreds of miles inland up a river, and the commandos had to paddle the whole way, taking several days to make the journey and hiding on the shore during the day. Only two of the boats managed to reach the safety of inland waters; two others capsized, and one disappeared. After reaching the harbor, the four remaining commandos blew up six ships. In his last novel, Ace High Gus had already created a hero called John Sprake, who fitted the James Bond mould. Describing John Sprake, Gus had written: “It was unusual for him to be moved by sentiment in others, for it was something he did not understand. In women he looked upon it as a necessary evil. In men he ignored it.”

The SBS returned to Greece in autumn 1944. Lassen led an improvised group which on 29 October was the first British force to move into Saloniki. The Germans were preparing to destroy the harbour installations and fuel depots, but a daring bluff on the part of Lassen persuaded the Germans that his small, but very mobile and active force was much bigger than it was in fact, so they abandoned the town without carrying out the planned acts of destruction. At 9pm, the raiders set off from Portland, Dorset, aboard Motor Torpedo Boat 344 (MTB). Moving swiftly across the water, she arrived at Casquets Island at 10.45pm and was anchored before the force rowed ashore, landing on the small beach at midnight. The story of Operation Postmaster is fascinating but a bit thin for a full length book. It makes for sometimes trite story-telling... even though the risks and the daring involved were truly impressive for that point in the war. But it was, after all, a commando raid to steal a passenger liner and a tugboat from a Spanish island harbor off the coast of West Africa. Brian Lett´s book is an inspiring and exciting book that should please not just SOE and Fleming/Bond buffs. The Special Operations Executive had now demonstrated their ability to undertake operations, no matter the political consequences. Hugh Dalton, the government minister in charge of SOE, informed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the outcome of the raid. He also stated his belief that..."other neutral governments would be impressed that Britain would if needed disregard the legal formalities of war in their efforts to succeed." [22] The agent in charge of SOE Africa station submitted a report to the head of SOE Colin Gubbins reflecting on the success of Postmaster: "perhaps next time it will not be necessary for prolonged negotiations before undertaking a 30 minute operation." [19]Many commandos were trained to kill in ‘Bond’ fashion, but very few indeed had the ability so expertly to deceive.

Since they had left the Maid Honor behind in West Africa, the SSRF now used a specially adapted Motor Torpedo Boat, MTB 344. Anderson Manor became known as a Commando Camelot, and the SSRF would set out from there for each and every one of its raids, usually sailing from Portland. However, it remained a secret unit, using the code name 62 Commando. The full story of the events leading up to, during and after SOE's Operation Postmaster are revealed by Brian Lett in his latest book. In this detailed account of the mission, the author also presents evidence that many of the personalities involved in the venture were the inspiration for Ian Fleming's classic James Bond series. Britain at WarOn the following day, the bodies of Lassen and his companions were taken to Comacchio by the local parish priest don Francesco Mariani and some women from the town. They laid out the bodies and buried them in the old cemetery in Comacchio. There they lay until, shortly after the war, they were transferred to the new British military cemetery a little to the north of Argenta. Holidays from Herlufsholm, Denmark’s foremost boarding school, were spent shooting on his father’s estate with his younger brother Franz. They made their own bows and arrows and became so expert with them that they could kill a bird in flight. In the games they described innocuously as ‘Snakes and Arrows’, the weapons were no playthings: the arrows would pass right through a stag and penetrate a tree beyond! Richards, Brooks; Foot, M R D (2002). Clandestine Sea Operations to Brittany: 1940–1944. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-5316-0. Morgan, Mike (2000). Daggers drawn: Second World War Heroes of the SAS and SBS. Sutton. ISBN 0-7509-2509-4. Bourne was based at HMS Gosport when he became involved in Coastal Forces. A chance meeting with Lt Roger Thornycroft, of the well known shipbuilding

Ian Fleming and SOE’s Operation POSTMASTER: The Untold Top Secret Story, is a historical look at just one of the Special Operations Executive’s (SOE’s) missions in West Africa. The author draws parallels between this mission, the makeup of the SOE, and Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Lassen’s raids on the Aegean islands continued. The enemy never knew where to expect the next lightning swoop. Just before the Germans landed at Samos, Lassen evacuated hundreds of Greek civilians to the mainland.Jones, Tim (2006). SAS Zero Hour: the Secret Origins of the Special Air Service. Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-669-1. After seven months as a mechanics instructor with the Royal Army Service Corps, Winter volunteered for the Parachute Wing, No 2 Commando, in 1940. Two of the commandos were captured and executed, but the other two were smuggled out of France and into Spain by French resistance members. The strike was a huge propaganda boost for the struggling Allies, and the Germans were forced to guard their ships more closely from then on, an increased expenditure of resources.

Operation Aquatint on 12 September 1942 was a failed raid by 11 men of No. 62 Commando British Commandos on the coast of occupied France on part of what later became Omaha Beach. Three commandos were killed in the raid, including their commander, Major 'Gus' March-Phillipps and the others became prisoners of war, of which only five would survive the war; one was killed in captivity and the fate of the other two is uncertain.Just nine days later, the raiders, once again led by March-Phillipps and including Winter, were on the offensive again in Operation Aquatint. The commandos would serve in all the theatres of war from the Arctic Circle, to Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific. Their operations ranged from small groups of men landing from the sea or by parachute to a brigade of assault troops spearheading the Allied invasions of Europe and Asia.