Page 129 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Fall 2014
P. 129
The Daring Dozen:
Special Forces Legends of World War II
Mortimer, Gavin. The Daring Dozen: Special Forces Legends of World War II.
Oxford, United Kingdom: Osprey Publishing; 2012. Hardcover, 304 pages.
ISBN-10: 184908842X/ISBN-13: 978-1849088428.
Review by COL (Ret) Warner “Rocky” D. Farr, MD, MPH
e in Special Operations Forces (SOF) have a quite true impact that their own personal actions, as well as
Wappropriate interest in the history of those special those of their specialized SOF units, had on the eventual
operators who have served before us. Those in whose outcome of the war.
footsteps we follow. One of my fa-
vorite SOF books is Admiral William When you first look at the list, some names may be quite
H. McRaven’s “Spec Ops: Case Stud- familiar, like Colonel David Stirling (SAS) and Major
ies in Special Operations Warfare: General Robert T Frederick (1st Special Service Force),
Theory and Practice,” which covers but some of the others included are less well known.
covert missions done by famous op- Colonel Charles N Hunter commanded the Marauders
erators. Journalist Gavin Mortimer after Merrill. Colonel Edson Raff (82nd ABN-D Day
brings out a near sequel in format Task Force Raff) ultimately commanded the 77th Spe-
to this in his book of 12 legendary cial Forces Group (Airborne). Brigadier Ralph A. Bag-
Special Forces commanders from nold (the Long Range Desert Group) after the war was
World War II. Before World War II, the concept of “spe- a researcher on the physics of blown sand, which was
cial forces” was largely unknown. We did have Major studied by NASA Mars researchers. Two of my favor-
T.E. Laurence and General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck in ites, both little known and little remembered (Lieuten-
World War I, but little else and nothing in the “big” ant Colonel Friedrich Baron von der Heydte, a Knight’s
theaters. World War II brought us visionary SOF leaders Cross with Oak Leaves-winning paratrooper who later
like Colonel David Stirling (of the Special Air Service) served as a Bundeswehr brigadier general, and Captain
and Colonel Charles Hunter (of Merrill’s Marauders). Adrian von Fölkersam, a Brandenburger) also made the
These men altered the very concepts of how wars can be list. Neither of them has been as widely written on as
fought and won. they should have been.
This book covers 12 extraordinary men who not only I highly recommend this book, which I bought used
reshaped military policy, but also led from the front and from Amazon for less than $10.00. It gives exposure of
®
accompanied troops into the heat of battle. All theaters some of the lesser-known World War II SOF operators
of war are covered, from the sands of North Africa to from both sides. There are Italians (SEAL precursors)
jumping in on D-Day to infiltrating behind enemy lines and Danes included also. Where the book “Spec Ops”
into the jungle. The author offers a skilful analysis of is mission oriented, this book is personality oriented and
the twelve’s qualities as military commanders and the covers each man’s entire career. It is a well-done effort.
121
