Customer Reviews

He Who Dares: Recollections of Service in the SAS, SBS and MI5 (Special Warfare Series)

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Do not waste your money, and more importantly, your TIME in reading this dottering, rambling, hazy memoir of someone who sorta, kinda, maybe was there.
The book had the potential to shed some light on the origins of the British Special Boat Squardors in WWII. It appears the author was there for some involvement,(ok, he commanded the Squadron), but he never goes into any real detail as to what he did. It is all the rather vague recollections of someone who, 60 years after the fact, takes pencil to paper and writes in longhand what he remembers (the author's admission). What he remembers is mostly who in his regiment came from what upper class family and where they were from in England, and what house in Eton they attended, and many, many times what he had for lunch.
What is missing is volume and substance. Where is the operational detail? What were the planning factors for SBS missions? What was done to harden the men after errors in trainng were found in combat? There were some great operators in the SBS and SAS. Other than Anders Lassen, the rest are rarely mentioned and then only with a cursory listing of their nicknames. The author's nickname was "Dinkey," probably for his writing abilty. For example, why use a slew of acrynoms without explaining them?
Bottom line - forget this book. It could have been fascinating, but it is merely ponderous and vapid. For "He Who Dares" - WHO CARES!