He Who Dares

With so few survivors of the Second World War military generation alive today, it is extremely fortunate that men like David Sutherland recorded their experiences for posterity. There can be few veterans whose contribution to victory can rival Sutherland's as readers of this superb memoir will discover.

Much of the action is set in the Aegean where the author served with the Special Boat Service, an offshoot of the infant SAS, raiding airfields on the German-held islands. This is made all the more moving by the author's profound and lasting admiration for the Greek resistance fighters who risked not just their lives, but those of their families and entire villages, by giving their support.

David Sutherland's war certainly ranks very high indeed in the thriller ratings. While modest when describing his own role, he is typically generous in his praise of comrades. Yet he cannot disguise the fact that he found it all exhilarating - while realizing that ultimately he was extremely lucky to come out alive.

Post-war Sutherland served with MI5, and he rounds off his account with a brief description of his time in the secretive counterintelligence agency.

He Who Dares is more than a military memoir, it is true adventure story which, over seventy years on, remains an inspiring and revealing insight in to Second World War special forces operations.