Operation Jedburgh Hardback - 2006

by BEAVAN, COLIN

The thrilling inside story of the secret 'special operations' mission that paved the way for D-Day and changed the way America waged war

On D-Day, three hundred young American and Allied soldiers were dropped behind enemy lines to launch a secret sabotage mission code-named Jedburgh. Working with the French Resistance, the 'Jeds' launched a stunningly effective guerrilla campaign against the German war machine. In this compelling narrative, Colin Beavan, whose grandfather Gerry Miller helped direct the operation for the OSS, tells the incredible story of the rowdy daredevils who carried outAmerica's first special-forces mission.

Drawing on scores of interviews with Jeds, Beavan's history reads like a spy thriller. Dodging Gestapo spies, the Jeds armed and trained fighters who liberated Paris, snarledGerman transport throughout France, and provided essential cover to the invading Allied forces. Beavan focuses on key figures like William Colby, Stewart Alsop, and John Singlaub all of whom went on to high-profile postwar careers and shows how Jedburgh pioneered the specialforces procedures still used in Iraq and Afghanistan today.

This gripping history of the original special ops mission makes a major contribution to the literature of American warfare.