Gentleman Jim: The Wartime Story of a Founder of the SAS and Special Services

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They gagged them, tied them up with parcel string, filled a sack with provisions, clambered over the perimeter wall and got clear.

Almonds’ diary chronicled his hazardous parachute and endurance training, experimental training missions and early raids behind enemy lines. The only one of Almonds’s exploits ever to reach the media was his building of the ketch, the SS Kumasi, two hundred miles from the sea in Ghana, launching her at Takoradi and sailing her home to England. Ultimately however, he would always display an incredible respect for the enemy and an old-fashioned sense of “fair play”. The Field Force had recently complained to the War Office, ‘You may have noticed that we are still, on paper, short of seventy-six NCOs… deficiencies in personal clothing and equipment have been shown at 75 per cent for many months past. After intensive training in Scotland, Almonds went to Egypt as part of "Layforce" but the brigade was subsequently disbanded, and part of No 8 Commando joined the besieged garrison at Tobruk.I acknowledge with thanks the assistance of the National Archives – records held by them appear courtesy of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office – and the invaluable help of the staff of the British Embassy and British Consulate, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They stopped work, amazed and slightly apprehensive at the sight of a British army officer coming towards them. When he refused to talk, he was made to kneel down in an open truck with both hands shackled to an ankle and was driven around the town and shown off to the populace. Awarded the Military Medal in recognition of gallant and distinguished service during SAS operations at Nofilla Areodrome and Aghelia [3]. Cleverly, he came out at an oblique angle, running fast and almost making it between two men posted one opposite the door and one further round to the side of the hut.

On the other hand, the means to train properly was vitally important; the success of the unit and possibly the saving of lives depended on it.Major 'Gentleman Jim' Almonds, who has died aged 91, was the oldest surviving member of the original complement of the SAS; he was subsequently commissioned in the field after winning the MM twice and twice escaping from a PoW camp. Night after night they broke out through the Tobruk perimeter for reconnaissance missions, attack artillery positions or capture prisoners. is a small calibre round, he used high velocity hollow point (dum dum) bullets to improve its lethality. The marauders from Kabrit prowled about in what seemed like a veritable city of British and other Commonwealth tents before getting their bearings and making for the New Zealanders' lines.

He said that he had heard from Mr Lewes, who had introduced the idea of parachuting to Stirling, that Sergeant Almonds was 'a dab hand at making things'. However, Justin Saddington, a curator at the museum, told The Telegraph that Mayne ripping out the compass was the "kind of Herculean act which amazed his comrades".He kept the diary for his wife, Iris May, who had a three-month-old baby son when he first went to war,” said Almonds-Windmill, a mother of two and grandmother of six.

Indeed, if ever there was proof a professional soldier can be both ruthless killer and possess great compassion, Sergeant (later Major) Jim Almonds was that rare example. Set in wartime England, the western desert, Italy, and France, this book captures the spirit of the young soldiers in the newly emerging Special Air Service, against a dramatic background of love, courage, and high-risk adventure.Lord Ashcroft tells the story of SAS original Jim Almonds ahead of remembrance Sunday Ahead of Remembrance Sunday, philanthropist and historian Lord Ashcroft reveals the incredible story of SAS original Jim Almonds, whose fearsome reputation was combined with immense humanity and compassion. During the breakout, he had overpowered, tied up and gagged an Italian officer, removing the man’s teeth in the process. He was awarded the Military Medal and Bar (the equivalent of two MMs) but I have no doubt that his relentless bravery was worthy of the Victoria Cross (VC), Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious gallantry medal. They managed to jump out before their jeep blew up and crawled around in the undergrowth until daylight. Almonds and three other Special Forces men comprised the famous “Tobruk Four”, who used tactics that would later be adopted by the SAS.