I have had the privilege to serve with the British airborne forces for most of my service life, making a grand total of over 20 years in which I have worn a red beret. Throughout that time I have been conscious of the bond and comradeship which binds airborne soldiers together, regardless of their nationality, language or politics. The best years of my life have been spent among these men, years in which I have benefited from the experiences of others and been helped and guided by those who knew how to steer the enthusiasm and energy of the youngsters around them. I have gained from what they have given me, and I have never been entirely sure that I have passed on that knowledge when it became my turn to do so. Now that I am within a few weeks of my retirement from service life this book will, I hope, redress the balance slightly and hand on to others something of what I have absorbed and admired in my years of parachuting.
In the mechanical production of this book I have been helped by many people, and it would be invidious to try to name them all here. This is my opportunity to express my gratitude to all those who have assisted me by lending me books from their libraries, by answering my many questions, and by writing to me. I have been particularly helped by the staff of the US Army Audio-Visual Library in the Pentagon and by Mr Potts and his staff in the War Office Library in London. Mrs Ponting deciphered my appalling manuscripts and produced legible copy from them and my wife put up with endless evenings of loneliness and boredom while I sat in my study hammering at the typewriter.
John Weeks
April 1978