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

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Following intensive training in the desert and action at Tobruk, Sidi Haneish, Nofelia, and Benghazi, Almonds was captured and shipped to a POW camp in Italy, where he staged two escapes.

Most of the enemy aircraft had been moved at the last moment but they destroyed those that remained. Much to the consternation of the Germans, airfields were raided and at Fuka, on 12 July 1942, 22 aircraft destroyed. He showed great resource in managing to extricate this party with only one casualty, although all but one of his trucks had been destroyed. Dad had been taken by ship across the Mediterranean to Italy and was at risk of being sunk by the Allies.He made his first – unsuccessful – attempt to join the Army on his 14th birthday, eventually joining the Coldstream Guards on his 18th birthday in 1932. Five more shifta emerged, throwing their arms on the ground in front of them - handguns, a sword and even a spear.

If by some miracle he got out of this spot, and if money were no object, one day he would build his own ocean-going yacht and sail it where he wanted to go. Not only did they have to dig in for the tentage but, according to the CQMS (Company Quarter Master Sergeant), they were going to have get the tents from somewhere, along with other essentials. Mayne's strong recommendation that Almonds be granted a commission was approved after the briefest of interviews.After thirty-two days on the run in enemy territory, he reached US forces at the Benevento front line.

All three served in the Army and John had a particularly distinguished military career, serving three times with the SAS.The doctors said he would "always be a weakling" but at home the boy quickly recovered and later went on to command an SAS squadron at Hereford. Asked how she saw her father, Almonds-Windmill added: “It was only writing the books that made me really appreciate quite what an exceptional man he was. By the end of Operation Gain, 16 railway lines had been put out of action and two locomotives and 46 trucks destroyed. One of his many post-war achievements was to build, over four years, the 32-foot ketch he had designed in his head in solitary confinement.