Helen Fry - Why I Became an X-Troop Commando – Mannington Hall

A fascinating and moving biography of Colin Anson, the German refugee who became an elite British commando. Born in Germany in 1922, Colin Anson’s (Claus Ascher) childhood was marked by the trials of Nazism. His father was arrested by the Gestapo in 1937 and transported to Dachau, where he died shortly after. Colin, aged just seventeen, escaped to Britain in the Kindertransport.

As soon as he was old enough, Colin volunteered in the Pioneer Corps. Then, in 1942, he was recruited for X-Troop, a secret Jewish elite commando unit that fought for the British against the Nazis on the front lines of all the major battles of World War II. Colin took part in the invasions of Sicily and Italy in 1943, where he sustained a near-fatal injury.
But just months later, he returned to duty. He fought in the Yugoslav islands, became the first Allied soldier to liberate Corfu, and was stationed in postwar Frankfurt.

Drawing on extensive interviews, Fry recounts his actions in X-Troop and beyond in his own words—and sheds new light on the experience of refugees in the British forces.

Dr Helen Fry has authored and edited over 25 books covering the social history of the Second World War, British Intelligence, espionage, spies and MI9 escape and evasion. ​She is a recent recipient of the Lifetime Contribution Award for Jewish Military History and Education, awarded by The Jewish Military Association

Good to know

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