FAO GOBB (Rogue Heroes spoilers)

"A sudden influx of troops arrived from an unexpected quarter in early spring: a contingent of 52 Free French paratroopers under the command of Colonel George Berge. These paratroopers were 'tough cases', in Stirling's words: intensely patriotic Frenchmen who had escaped Nazi-occupied France and trained as parachutists in Britain. They were keen for any opportunity to take the fight to the Germans, and happy to do so under British command. ... Mixing French and British soldiers might have been a recipe for tension; in fact, though the forces teased each other endlessly, relations were almost uniformly peaceful. French troops would play a vital role in the evolution of the SAS."

It is also true that Mayne was left behind to train them, but all the stuff about him shooting at them was bollocks. In fact, "Instead of training the new recruits, as instructed, he had pushed two beds together and climbed in, together with a stock of paperbacks ('mostly poetry') and a large supply of whisky." Stirling then lost it with him when he returned; after a huge and bitter shouting match they had a very honest conversation and got on better.

Oh yes, and the German traitor was true too - except it WAS Bruckner, and he DID dob them in when he went off "to get a spark plug" - I really don't know why they decided to fiddle around with that bit.

Basically the truth is far more interesting than the TV show, though the TV show does contain lots of truth!

Posted By: Old Git, Nov 7, 13:42:12