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In 1943, less than a year
before the Allies planned to finally launch their Cross-Channel attack on
France's northern coast, the Allied shadow warfare chiefs recognized a
crucial gap in their strategy. The Gestapo was rapidly arresting their
agents in the secret Resistance networks in France, just when the
Resistance networks would be needed the most, to make hell for the Germans
as the Allies finally attacked. Now that plan was falling apart. The
solution: Operation Jedburgh, one of the most hazardous covert operations
of World War II.
In the run-up to D Day,
three hundred young American, British, and French soldiers—volunteers
all—were dropped deep behind enemy lines in France. Working with the
beleaguered French Resistance, the “Jeds” launched a deft and stunningly
effective guerrilla campaign against the underbelly of the German war
machine. Colin Beavan—whose grandfather helped direct Operation Jedburgh
for the Office of Strategic Services—draws on scores of interviews with the surviving Jeds and
their families to tell the incredible story of the rowdy daredevils and
thrill seekers who carried out America’s first special-forces missions—and
changed the way American waged war forever.
Dodging Gestapo spies,
living hand-to-mouth in the devastated French countryside, the Jeds helped
arm and train fighters who liberated Paris, snarled German transport
across France, and provided essential cover to the invading Allied forces.
The young Jeds had to be reckless to take on such a mission, but their
courage never flagged, leaping from airplanes into the dark night, knowing
they faced at best being killed in battle against the Germans swarming
behind the lines in France—and at
worst, capture, excrutiating torture and an agonizing death. For decades, few of those who survived would
speak to their families of anything they had seen or done as Jed in
France.
This was the birth of the
type of behind-the-lines special operations that peppered American history
for the next 50 years. Jedburgh was a joint operation with the British and
French, but it was the first of its type for the United States and became
the precedent for many operations that followed. Beavan focuses on key
figures who would go on to become the CIA’s director (William Colby),
found the Green Berets (Aaron Bank), and become embroiled in the
Iran-Contra affair (John Singlaub)—all of whom had their first lesson in
covert warfare as Jedburghs.
At once a restored chapter in the history
of World War II, a book that reads like a wartime thriller, and a tribute
to three hundred brave, long-silent men, Operation Jedburgh makes a
major contribution to our understanding of American warfare.
6" x 9"; 416 pp.
two 16-pp. b&w inserts; 6 maps
ISBN: 0-670-03762-1
$27.95 ($36.50 CAN)
Published by Viking
May 2006
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