The Secret History of the SBS

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2021

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The SBS was formed out of the Commandos during the Second World War to help counter Nazi domination of Europe. This small unit made up of regulars as well as maverick volunteers took on some of the most dangerous missions of the Second World War. Most famously Operation Frankton, where a small team who became known as the 'Cockleshell Heroes' attacked Axis shipping in Bordeaux harbour. But perhaps their biggest contribution to the war effort came in the run-up to D-Day where SBS reconnoitred the landing beaches in Normandy bringing back vital information that helped shape Operation Overlord and undoubtedly save many lives.

Saul David is the author of SBS - Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History and had exclusive access to the SBS archives. He talks to Dan about how the unit came into operation, the oversized role they played in the war effort and the audacious missions the men of the SBS undertook during the war.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I've been working on Dancer's history. It's very excited about today's episode.
0:03.6	We're going to be exclusive here. We are helping Saul David, one of our favourite historians,
0:08.7	is launching his new book to have an achievement. This is the official history of the SPS,
0:13.0	the special boat service. During the Second World War, Winston Churchill set up Commander
0:17.6	units, units designed to fight unconventional warfare, to come to terms with the reality
0:22.4	of German domination of the continent, but to launch strikes, raids to set Europe ablaze,
0:28.2	and the SPS was a key part of that. You're going to hear some extraordinary stories coming
0:31.9	up in this podcast. Saul David has been given access to the SPS archives. He was interviewed.
0:36.9	They checked if he was the right kind of chap. And he was, obviously. We're now lucky to
0:41.5	be the first audio radio podcast show to have him on to help him launch his wonderful book,
0:47.4	which is out next week. I've been lucky enough to meet many of the veterans that he's talked
0:51.1	about in this book. I've been lucky enough to go to many of the sites and it is truly, truly
0:55.9	a remarkable, remarkable story of what these people achieved during the Second World War.
1:02.2	Did they change the course of the war? Listen and find out. If you want to listen to other
1:08.1	podcastes, Saul David, or you want to watch any documentaries about World War II special
1:12.9	operations, the place you can do that is on HistoryHitTV. You just go over to HistoryHit.TV.
1:18.7	There you go. All our audio, all our videos, the world's best history channel is like Netflix,
1:23.1	only for History. They're going to absolutely love it. However, HistoryHit.TV become a subscriber.
1:27.9	It only costs about the same as a really smart cappuccino. Once a month, there it goes. We'll
1:32.7	never notice it. And you get the words about HistoryChannel. And if you subscribe now,
1:36.2	you get 30 days for free. So you can check it out. See if you like it. In the meantime,
1:40.4	everyone here is the very brilliant Saul David talk about the SPS.
	...

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