Thanks first to the ever helpful staff of the Imperial War Museum reading room and the National Archives in Kew, who assisted me in my research. A particular debt of gratitude to the SAS Regimental Association, who not only granted permission to reproduce some of the photographs in their collection but also provided answers to any wartime questions I had.
Thank you to John Kane in Northern Ireland and John Robertson in Scotland, the latter being the creator of www.specialforcesroh.com, an excellent website that is well worth a visit. John allowed me to reproduce some photos from his site.
Several publishers were good enough to grant me permission to quote from their works and so I thank Sutton (Paddy Mayne by Hamish Ross); Greenhill (SAS and the Maquis by Ian Wellsted); Cassell (Winged Dagger by Roy Farran); Pen and Sword (The Drums of Memory by Stephen Hastings) and Strong Oak (Parachute Padre by Fraser McLuskey).
Kate Moore and Emily Holmes at Osprey provided excellent support in the writing and editing of the book, and were tolerant of any missed deadline.
Thank you to Peta-Jane, daughter of Des Peter Middleton, Yvonne Greig, daughter of Jeff Du Vivier and Nicky Mellonie, daughter of Bob Sharpe. They went to great lengths to provide me with an array of wonderful photos, documents and other memorabilia and I am so very grateful. Thank you also to Mrs Joan Sharpe, widow of Bob, who unearthed some photos of her daring husband, and to Joe and Chris Bonington for providing valuable information on Charles.