A Most Ungentlemanly Way of War - by Bernd Horn (Paperback)

About the Book

Created by Winston Churchill to sabotage and subvert the enemy in WWII, the Special Operations Executive (SOE) was an innovative and at times infamous group, a band fanatically devoted to the Allied cause and willing to do whatever it took to advance it and hamper the Axis -- even operating within North America.

Book Synopsis

An examination of the SOE, its accomplishments, and the Canadian connection to the organization.

During the Second World War, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill created the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to conduct acts of sabotage and subversion, and raise secret armies of partisans in German-occupied Europe. With the directive to "set Europe ablaze," the SOE undertook a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the Nazi Gestapo. An agent's failure could result in indescribable torture, dispatch to a concentration camp, and, often, a death sentence.

While the SOE's contribution to the Allied war effort is still debated, and many of its files remain classified, it was a unique wartime creation that reflected innovation, adventure, and a fanatical devotion on the part of its personnel to the Allied cause.

The SOE has an important Canadian connection: Canadians were among its operatives and agents behind enemy lines. Camp X, in Whitby, Ontario, was a special training school that trained agents for overseas duty, and an infamous Canadian codenamed "Intrepid" ran SOE operations in the Americas.

About the Author

Colonel Bernd Horn is a retired Canadian Regular Force infantry officer and military educator. Dr. Horn has authored, co-authored, or edited more than forty books, including No Easy Task: Fighting in Afghanistan and No Lack of Courage: Operation Medusa, Afghanistan. He lives in Kingston, Ontario.