Customer Reviews

The Jedburghs: The Secret History of the Allied Special Forces, France 1944

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I picked up Jedburghs in an airport bookshop recently, figuring it would be yet another book trying to exploit "Band of Brothers" recent popularity. In some ways, I guess that *is* what this book represents to its publisher, but inside is something original and quit interesting.

Jedburghs is the story of the operations of special forces during World War II: hard trained small units parachuted in behind enemy lines. In particular, this program consisted of people who spoke French and were parachuted into France to assist the Resistance (the maquis) by organizing air drops of weapons and supplies, training, and so forth.

Irwin is not a particularly gifted writer. His prose is direct and workmanlike, but he's done excellent research and knows well enough to stay out of the way of a very good story. In recreating the events and culling interesting stories from the available material, he's assembled a fascinating book, so much so that I was sad to see it end.

If you're buff of this kind of military history, you'll like this book a lot.

All of a sudden we have several books on the Jedburghs, at least two others come to mind. One thing this author doesn't answer for me is 'why' they were named Jedburghs. He gives us enough info to realize that several explanations have been put forth, however, he is not able to settle on just one.

These 3-men teams were trained and retrained up to the very date of the D-Day landings, with some of the men taken directly from the training field to behind the lines action. The teams consisted of 3 individuals, generally 2 officers, and 1 radioman. The 3-men teams were supposed to contain two officers, either British, French, or American, and 1 radioman at Sergeant level. All were required to be experienced in the French language, and the radioman was preferred to have at least 2 year's college. The radiomen had a special radio made exclusively for the rough combat conditions expected, with all members of the 3 men team trained all areas of survival.

They were expected to stay alive on their own until the D-Day armies reached the behind the line areas into which the Jeds had been dropped. The Jeds were also expected to arm, clothe, and train all French resistance personel in their areas. One of the attributes looked for in these men was that of having an attitude, or men who looked for a scrap. And during their training this was an ongoing psychological requirement. At certain points as many as 40% of applicants were washed out. After reading this book you realize any of these men who made it, were indeed very special men.

The author is very knowledgable about these teams and offers a very readable book. Until these recent books and declassified records, not much public awareness existed concerning these 3 men teams. I enjoyed this subject so much I have another book by another author on order concerning this same subject. One serious flaw of this book: no maps. For those of us without great knowledge of France, general maps and some of the specific area dropzones would have been beneficial.

If you enjoy out of the mainstream material on WWII subjects, these books on the Jedburghs, a force of no more than 300 men, may be for you. As an ex-military man, these resilient, courageous men have my fullest admiration!

Semper Fi.

I took a risk buying this book. I was intrigued by these secret warriors and was further intrigued reading Wild Bill Donovan's biography. Irvin seems to have done his homework and the set up was well written. My problem was every story was written from a 10,000ft and never seemed to finish. I was lost trying to keep track. Stories would start never having ended another.
Scattered thoughts on written page.

This book has some very detailed information on the recruiting and training standards for the commandos that entered France before the D-Day invasion. The selection process was very interesting along with team composition for nationalities, language skills, radio skills, and ability to adapt to active environments.

The description of the teams in France was more espionage in arming the Partisans and sabotaging German lines of communication. They had no self sustainment capability at all, they depended on the French civilians to provide them transportation, food, and shelter. They spent months preparing for the operation and once they landed, they were either chased around the countryside by the Germans or they coordinating the delivery of weapons and ammunition for the Partisans to disrupt the rear area German units.

What was extremely dangerous were the spies that operated before the Jedburgh teams. These spies acted independently for years in developing communications and Partisan cells. Once the teams arrived, the spies would then interface with the teams in introducing them to the cells.

Another interesting note was the lack of German security at night in France. It seems that they allowed very liberal movement and freedom to the French, no enforced curfews. When one of the teams landed in a farm field, the locals used fires to mark the landing zone. The German garrison at the neighboring village didn't even investigate.

The Jedburghs were well trained and successful in coordinating weapons delivery and training to the Partisans, but the Germans facilitated it by not enforcing martial law and restricting French civilian movements. Had the German rear area command been more aggressive in limiting French civilian movements, they would have limited the Partisans ability to communicate with messengers and gather large groups for offensive actions.

Overall, a different and unique perspective into the training of commandos. Extremely well researched, good book to borrow from the library.

Lt. Col. Will Irwin (Ret)'s The Jedburghs: The Secret History Of The Allied Special Forces, France 1944 represents the first full history of the Special Forces units of World War II and receives a dramatic narration by Ptrick Lawlor as it tells of their unconventional warfare, supporting the French Resistance in guerrilla stacks. They operated against all odds but in the end were effective heroes who survived underground battles with Germans and Gestapo for months while awaiting the arrival of Allied ground forces: The Jedburghs in audio is especially adept at bringing all this to life.

My interest in the Office of Strategic Service and subsequently the Jedburghs is the direct result of my obsession in collecting, restoring and using military communications (MilCom) equipment; especially "spy radios" of the WW-II through Viet Nam.

The Jedburghs consisted of three man teams of military personnel made up of specially trained officers and enlisted men. These teams drew from the U.S., British and Free French personnel who, after intensive training, were air dropped behind Nazi lines piror to the D-Day invasion in 1944.

Typically these Jedburgh Teams were responsible for recruiting, training, arming and organizing local resistance movements to form effective irregular (guerilla) forces which would harass the Nazi's prior to and during the initial phases of Operation Overloard, the D-Day invasion. Overall, this idea has been carried forward and the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berret) are direct descendents of these Jedburgh Teams.

This book takes a look at several individual Jedburgh Teams and their guerilla ctivities in occupied France. The author shows us an inside look into the workings of an early special ops force that is, quite literally, out numbered, out gunned and alone in a very hostile environment.

While this book is not the difiniative work on the special section within the OSS called "Jedburghs", it can be viewed as a well documented work that will serve to whet the appitite of anyone wanting specific knowledge of this segment of WW-II.

The author is knowledgable and has documented his text quite well. With all the hoopla regarding special operations units in the War on Terror, The Jedburghs will reveal how today's SOCOM units got their start.

The Jedburghs: The Secret History of the Allied Special Forces, France 1944
A really superior book which details one of the little-known stories of WWII and the Normandy Invasion. It allows us to see how many Frenchmen aided the Allies in the liberation of France. My only drawback to the book, is that the author, like many who write war books, seems to assume that we are familiar with the cities or territories. A few maps please!

Absolutely the worst written military history book I have ever read. No maps so that you can't tell where the teams were located without using another source. Same story over and over for each of the Jedburgh teams covered. Biographies of people selected, they train, they drop into France, train the French resistance, move around, always short of arms, wait for resupply drops, lose radios, hide radios, occasionally get caught,then either get information back to the allies or are overrun by the advancing armies. Absolutely no chronology. Jumping back and forth in time. With no satisfactory endings to the story of each team. No redeeming features in this book at all. Should have been a very interesting story of early special forces but was horrible. Fortunately I picked up the book at a book fair and didn't pay very much for it. A complete waste of time. Would give it 0 stars if it were possible. Save your money.

Book arrived promptly and in exactly the condition indicated. Exceptional care was taken in packaging for shipping. Would gladly use this vendor again in the future.

THE JEDBURGHS: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE ALLIED SPECIAL FORCES-FRANCE, 1944
LT. COLONEL WILL IRWIN, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED)
PUBLIC AFFAIRS, $26.95, 323 PAGES


Known as "the Jedburghs", these Special Forces teams; made up of American, British, and French volunteers, parachuted deep behind the German lines to assist with the recapture of France in 1944. Dropped in teams of three, the Jeds would rally local oppostion to the Germans and conduct guerrilla warfare-sabotage, ambush, and intelligence gathering-to prepare the way for advancing Allied armies. In doing so, they helped the Allies break through the Normandy bridgehead and rapidly advance to the German border.

The Jedburghs' mission was extremely dangerous, and tested even the most experienced soldiers' survival skills. The three-man teams couldn't be certain that their communications with London would survive the drop or that backup by armed forces could be counted on. They had to operate alone against extraordinary odds in a country almost entirely occupied by a hostile force, prepared to survive pitched battles with the Wehrmacht and relentless manhunts by the Gestapo. They had no idea how long they would have to wait before the Allied front line reached them. It was an enormous test of endurance, cunning, and strength of will.

But while reading this book, the reader should be aware of four mistakes that I located. They are listed below:

1. The subtitle: "THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE ALLIED SPECIAL FORCES-FRANCE, 1944". This isn't a history of Allied special operations in France in 1944 but a history of the Jedburghs, which was one of the units involved in special operations during this period, but certainly not the only one.

2. The use of the term "Special Forces" as it is applied in this book. In the U.S. military, there is only one Special Forces. That is the 1st Special Forces, often referred to as the Green Berets. This book uses the term "special forces" as it is used in the European military, not as it is used in the American military. The proper term, that should have been used in this bookfor the units described therein, is "special operations forces." Contrast and compare the very weak footnote in this regard, at the bottom of Page XVII of the Prologue of this book, with the excellant explanation given by Linda Robinson on Pages XII and XIII of the Introduction to her book, MASTERS OF CHAOS". For
a twenty-eight year military officer to be upstaged in matters of terminology and military organization in such a manner ought to be professionally embarrassing.

3. The only mention of the background and qualifications of the author are contained in the inside rear of the jacket. It is enigmatic to say the least. Officers below the grade of brigadier general are assigned to a branch. Their branch of assignment is part of their signature block. It is also very unusual for an officer to spend twenty-eight years on active duty and only reach the rank of lieutenant colonel. Add that to the incorrect use of military terminology as it relates to Special Forces. The inadequate precis of the author is troublesome. It detracts from what is otherwise a valuable contribution to the written history of unconventional warfare.

4. The author makes a very good point of the thrust of the Jedburghs-"The Jedburghs were fighters, but they were also teachers and advisors, counselors and advocates, and combat leaders. Substitute "Special Forces" for "Jedburghs" and you have a perfect description of the Green Berets before "Charging Charlie" Beckworth took command of the Special Warfare School and dumbed-down the training. The U.S. Army Special Forces were America's resistance fighters, before they were reduced to being door kickers. Again, the auther neglects to mention this fact. One wonders why?

Otherwise, "THE JEDBURGHS" tells the story of these heroic young men, and offers a new perspective on the D-Day landings. The author, who served in the modern U.S. Army Special Forces himself, has selected seven of the Jedburgh teams and told their stories as gripping personal narratives. He has gathered archival documents, diaries, and correspondence, and interviewed veterans and family members in order to present a full portrait of their crucial role-recognized by Churchill and Eisenhower-in the struggle to liberate Europe. It is narrative history at its most compelling: a vivid drama of the battle for France from deep behind enemy lines.


Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida