{"product_id":"the-sbs-in-world-war-ii-an-illustrated-history-general-military","title":"The SBS in World War II: An Illustrated History (General Military)","description":"The Special Boat Squadron (SBS) was Britains most exclusive Special Forces unit  similar to US Navy SEALS. Highly trained  highly secretive and utterly ruthless  the SBS was established as an entity in its own right in early 1943 having previously operated under the auspices of the SAS during the war in North Africa.  Though the movie Guns of Navarrone was inspired by SBS exploits  most people know little about them. Unlike its sister unit  which numbered more than 1 000  the SBS never comprised more than 100. These men were mostly former commandos of guardsmen  cherry-picked by the units leader Lord George Jellicoe for their daring  initiative  and proficiency in killing Germans. The new unit was first committed to action on the islands of Crete and Sardinia  before spending much of the war fighting in the islands of the Aegean. Led by men such as the famed Victoria Cross winner Anders Lassen  the SBS went from island to island  landing in the dead of night in small fishing boats and launching savage hit and run raids on the Germans. Sometimes they blew up a telegraph station  other times they cratered the airstrip  and more often than not they laid waste to a barrack room of sleeping soldiers. Like modern-day Vikings or pirates  they terrorised the German garrisons and were even described in the House of Commons as a band of \"murderous  renegade cut-throats\". By the end of the war they had served in Italy  the Balkans  and mainland Greece  and following the cessation of hostilities their deeds were airbrushed out of history by an establishment that had never warmed to their piratical exploits. Gavin Mortimer  with his unrivalled access to the SBS and through interviews with the surviving members of the unit  has pieced together the dramatic exploits of this elite fighting force.","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44920509661237,"sku":"ByrdShop_1782001891","price":93.1,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/ByrdShop_1782001891.jpg?v=1768561691","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-sbs-in-world-war-ii-an-illustrated-history-general-military","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}