Summary of Damien Lewis's Churchill's Shadow Raiders

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The six men were wedged into the aircraft’s narrow hold like the proverbial sardines in a tin. They were prepared for the long flight ahead, and their commander, Trevor Alan Gordon Pritchard, was a ten-year Army veteran and a tough-as-old-boots regular.

#2 The first British airborne raid was codenamed Operation Colossus, and it was led by Tait. The Whitley aircraft flew with a pronounced nose-down attitude, making the hold pitch at a bizarre angle. With no side-door, the only means for the men to exit was via a dark, narrow hole in the floor.

#3 The first Allied airborne raiders were sent to the Scottish Highlands to train. The Scottish Highlands were not too different from the kind of terrain that Pritchard’s SAS would be deployed to, and they were there to learn how to fight and survive in such an environment.

#4 The raiders were taught to be self-reliant, and to track and kill a wild animal if they were separated from their comrades. They were also taught to use fair means or foul to kill, and to keep their weapons concealed until the last possible moment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669399537

IRB Media

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Insights on Damien Lewis's Churchills Shadow Raiders

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 17

Insights from Chapter 18

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The six men were wedged into the aircraft’s narrow hold like the proverbial sardines in a tin. They were prepared for the long flight ahead, and their commander, Trevor Alan Gordon Pritchard, was a ten-year Army veteran and a tough-as-old-boots regular.

#2

The first British airborne raid was codenamed Operation Colossus, and it was led by Tait. The Whitley aircraft flew with a pronounced nose-down attitude, making the hold pitch at a bizarre angle. With no side-door, the only means for the men to exit was via a dark, narrow hole in the floor.

#3

The first Allied airborne raiders were sent to the Scottish Highlands to train. The Scottish Highlands were not too different from the kind of terrain that Pritchard’s SAS would be deployed to, and they were there to learn how to fight and survive in such an environment.

#4

The raiders were taught to be self-reliant, and to track and kill a wild animal if they were separated from their comrades. They were also taught to use fair means or foul to kill, and to keep their weapons concealed until the last possible moment.

#5

The eight Whitleys that were to carry the paratroopers were scheduled to fly diversionary raids, hitting targets adjacent to the paratroopers’ landing zone. This way, if the fleet of aircraft was heard passing overhead, the enemy would believe it was a bombing raid.

#6

The raid on Rome was a colossal undertaking. The men had traveled over 1,600 miles from the UK to their forward operating base in Malta. They had been flying through enemy airspace for hours, and had been shot at by German anti-aircraft fire.

#7

The X in X Troop stood for both hush-hush and ex – expendables who were sent into the unknown to attempt something that had never been done before. They were given a strangely emotional send-off by the chief of Combined Operations, Admiral Roger Keyes.

#8

The raid was led by a forty-something veteran of the First World War, Flight Lieutenant Ralph Lucky. He was fluent in several languages, and had spent the