Great Britain. Army - SAS--men in the making: an originals account of operations in Sicily and Italy

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by
Pen & Sword Military
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright Peter Davis MC 2015

ISBN: 978 1 47384 560 2
PDF ISBN: 978 1 47384 621 0
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47384 619 7
PRC ISBN: 978 1 47384 620 3

The right of Peter Davis MC to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Typeset in Ehrhardt by
Mac Style Ltd, Bridlington, East Yorkshire
Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd,
Croydon, CRO 4YY

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Dedicated to the memory of
Private George Valentine Weston.
A different war and a lifelong battle.

Contents

Foreword and Acknowledgements

T his is my fathers story. Using the diaries that he kept, he wrote this book immediately after the war. It filled the gap between coming home and taking up his place at Cambridge University.

I knew of the manuscripts existence, but was never asked to read it. Over the years it was forgotten. My father was murdered in 1994. He was shot in the back of the head, whilst reading a book in his home in South Africa, and his death remains an unsolved crime. After his murder I cleared his house and his personal papers were stored until such time as it wasnt too painful to go through them. During 2012, whilst at last going through his papers, I came across his original manuscript, and read this book for the first time. I wasnt surprised that he hadnt written about being awarded the Military Cross as he had told me that the most memorable times for him were those early years in the SAS. At the age of 20 he was experiencing things and taking on responsibilities which I had never known about. I had never realized quite how lucky he was to survive the war. When I read the book now, I wonder why he didnt talk about that time more. Perhaps the past was too painful.

Much of the books content was entirely unknown to my brother and I. Where necessary the book has been shortened, but the words are entirely my fathers. The only thing we have changed is the title. He had called it Stand by to Embark. For me, reading this book is seeing his journey from boyhood to manhood. We have called it SAS Men in the Making.

This book would not have been possible without the help of various people, including Alec Muirheads daughter, Colette Baigrie. Alec is mentioned throughout the book and he and my father remained friends for the rest of their lives.

Thanks also go to Simon Fletcher for working his magic on my Dads old black and white photographs. He brought them back to life, and achieved that difficult balance between clarity and atmosphere.

I would also like to thank the SAS Regimental Association for helping me to make sense of the abbreviations used and filling in many of the gaps in my fathers military career.

Lastly I would like to thank my wife, Lisa, for her help, encouragement and suggestions.

Paul Davis

Glossary

Alec Muirhead

Bill Fraser

Captain Francis (Franco)

Derrick Harrison

Fraser McCluskey

Harry Poat

John Tonkin

Johnny Wiseman

Paddy Mayne

Pat Reilly

Phil Gunn

Sandy Wilson

Tony Marsh

Introduction

T here are few of us who fought in this war, who do not, on occasions, find their thoughts wandering back to the past, reliving those former days and desiring them back with some eager longing. Few of us can forget the glamour of travelling through foreign countries, especially as part of a victorious army, or the pride and self-satisfaction which accompany the risks and dangers of battle once these are things of the past, rather than of the present. But more deeply than any of these things do we regret the loss of the carefree, intimate, regimental life which we once experienced but for which there is no substitute in the narrow, peacetime existence to which we have returned.