The War that Never was - The True Story of the Men who Fought Britain's Most Secret Battle
Edition: 1st
Format: Hardback
Author: Duff Hart-Davis
ISBN: 9781846058257
Publishers: Random House, Century
Price: £14.99
Publication Date: 2011
Publisher's Title Information
For the very first time, The War That Never Was tells the fascinating story of a secret war fought by British mercenaries in the Yemen in the early 1960s. In a covert operation organised over whisky and sodas in the clubs of Chelsea and Mayfair, a group of former SAS officers - led by the irrepressible Colonel Jim Johnson - arranged for a squadron of British mercenaries to travel to the remote mountain regions of the Yemen, to arm, train and lead Yemeni tribesmen in their fight against a 60,000-strong contingent of Egyptian soldiers.
It was one of the most uneven running battles ever waged; the Egyptians fielded a huge, professionally-trained army. The British fought back at the head of a ragtag force of tribal warriors and, ultimately, won. Egypt's President Nasser described the battle in the Yemen as 'my Vietnam'.
It's a fascinating, forgotten, and rip-roaringly entertaining pocket of British military history, much in the spirit of Ben McIntyre's bestselling Agent Zigzag and Operation Mincemeat.
Praise for Duff Hart-Davis
'Duff Hart-Davis recounts with verve and much fascinating long-lost detail the hugely entertaining story.' Independent
'An exceptionally vivid account of an extraordinary man and his equally extraordinary project?
Sunday Telegraph
Duff Hart-Davis brings not only a wealth of knowledge and a solid biographical methodology to his task, but a real feel for the spheres in which the artist operated.' Washington Times