It Had to be Tough

In June 1940, the invasion of Great Britain by the Nazi war machine was imminent. But in the midst of plans to defend the country from the might of Hitler's Wehrmacht, Winston Churchill's vision was to take the fight to the enemy - harass them in Europe with small, specially trained raiding parties that would boldly attack targets along the extended Nazi-held European coastline, from Norway to France. Named 'commando' after the Boer irregular troops who fought and often defeated the British in the South African war of 1899-1902, these unconventional British warriors were the forerunners of today's SAS. Author James Dunning was one of the original Commandos. In his historic memoir, he describes the gruelling training that each soldier endured. He records how they conducted daring missions behind enemy lines, including the famous St Nazaire raid, widely believed to be the boldest raid of the Second World War. This book reminds us that irregular warfare is not new and that the winners are often those who 'train hard, fight easy'.