Featured battle : Jaffa

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 07 March 1799

The fortified port of Jaffa was taken by storm with very light French losses. About 2,000 Turks were killed in the storm and the sack. Over the following three days the 2,600 prisoners were all shot on Napoleon's orders.

Desert Raids with the SAS

Gerald Hough
This is a truly remarkable story which rings true from beginning to end. It reads like a novel or Boys Own adventure story except that it includes the blood and the gore and not a lot of glory. Stoic bravery, mental strength and raw courage are the qualities which run as a thread throughout the book. Gerald Hough has written up his father Anthony’s wartime experience with his regiment in North Africa, with the SAS and as an escaped prisoner of war. Much of the text is gripping and makes the book difficult to put down. There are many notable events and one of which stands out for me is Major Hough’s terror at being depth-charged while being transferred as a p.o.w. from North Africa to Italy in an Italian submarine.
There is a very good set of supporting photographs and two appendices which bring the story up to date. The title of the book is misleading as there are only two of the sixteen chapters about the SAS and only one raid is described.
We highly recommend this book as a fascinating insight into one man’s war.


Pen & Sword Military, 2021