Acknowledgements
I could not have written this book without the help of the following people, and please forgive me for any individuals I may have inadvertently forgotten.
Thank you Eve Warton, Second World War WAAF, and Jamie Robertson, her son, for first alerting me to the incredible wartime escape story of George Paterson, who was a family friend of Eves husband and godfather to her eldest son. Thank you also to you both for introducing me to longtime family friend Teresa Bonfiglio, George Patersons daughter.
Thank you Teresa Bonfiglio, the daughter of George Paterson, for corresponding with me from the USA over your fathers wartime story and for sharing with me what documents, photos, recollections and other materials you were able to, for which I am immensely grateful.
Thank you David R. Farran, son of Roy Farran MC, for corresponding with me over your fathers war years and for sharing with me the documents, photos and family memorabilia such as you were able to.
Thank you Christopher Langton, the nephew of Thomas Langton MC, for kindly allowing me permission to quote from your uncles diary and private papers, and for sharing with me family documents and photos, for which I am immensely grateful.
Thank you Brett Fiddick, grandson of Lew Fiddick, and Rod Fiddick, son of Lew Fiddick, for corresponding with me over Lew Fiddicks war years and for sharing with me the documents, photos and family memorabilia such as you were able to.
Enormous thanks to the family of Lt Quentin Hughes, and particularly his cousin, Mrs Morrie Conant, his wife, Mrs. Jo Hughes, and his daughters Ceri Howard, Sian Davenport and Alice Hughes, who cherish Lt. Hughes memory and tales of his wartime exploits greatly. Also to Lt. Hughes great friend Conrad Thake, in Malta, for all your help and support.
Heartfelt thanks also to Lorna Almonds-Windmill, whose books about her fathers long and distinguished wartime career with the SAS are so superb namely Gentleman Jim , and Escaping The Ordinary . Meeting up and chatting with you has been an enormous pleasure and very enlightening, of course.
Thank you Jonathan Peck, for corresponding with me and sharing documents and photos regarding your cousin, Harold Sherman Peabody, the pilot of the Lancaster Bomber which was shot down over the Vosges, and his aircrew. Thank you Sean Rae Summerfield, for sharing with me and permitting me to quote from your superlative research document Swallowed into Dusk: Missing Airmen during the Second World War.
Thank you once again to LRDG, SAS and SBS veteran Jack Mann, who at ninety-five years of age soldiered through an early draft of the manuscript of this book, to scrutinise it for any mistakes I may have made. To have a Second World War veteran of the unit portrayed do so was invaluable and very greatly appreciated, and especially as the last great escape portrayed, that of Lew Fiddick and Henry Druce, in the Vosges, remains so very dear to your heart.
Thank you Peter Forbes, of the Newtownards War Department Film Club, for reading and checking the manuscript in an early draft and for your perceptive comments.
The staff at various archives and museums also deserve special mention, including those at the UK National Archives and the Imperial War Museum.
My gratitude is also extended to my literary agent, Gordon Wise, of Curtis Brown, for helping bring this project to fruition, and to all at my fantastic publisher, Quercus, for same, including, but not limited to: Charlotte Fry, Hannah Robinson, Bethan Ferguson, Ben Brock, Fiona Murphy and Jon Butler. My editor, Richard Milner, deserves very special mention, as always, as does Luke Speed, my film agent at Curtis Brown.
Thanks also to Tean Roberts, Julie Davies and Phil Williams for your research into the stories as portrayed in these pages. I am also indebted to those authors who have previously written about some of the topics dealt with in this book and whose work has helped inform my writing; I have included a full bibliography.
Finally, of course, thanks are due also to Eva and the ever-patient David, Damien Jr and Sianna, for not resenting Dad spending too much of his time locked away... again... writing... again.