#jedburghs

Keggie Carew's father was once known as "Lawrence of Burma" and "the Mad Irishman," and in her new book, Dadland, we find out why:

Tom Carew was part of the Jedburghs, an elite British unit established during World War II. Keggie had heard stories about her father's war years, but she was never sure how much to believe until she went to a Jedburgh reunion with him. There, she learned that they were trained in everything from setting mines and neutralizing booby traps to silent killing and night parachuting.

Author Unravels Her Spy Dad's Life, One Secret Mission At A Time

Sergeant John Austin, wireless operator with Jedburgh team DUDLEY: Netherlands 1944

Whilst serving with the Royal Berkshire Regiment John Austin volunteered to join the Jedburgh Teams (Jed’s) which were formed to operate in various occupied countries to assist local resistance supporting the allied strategy for D-day and after completing training was promoted to sergeant. On the night of 11 September 1944 John Austin with Major Brinkgreve of the Dutch Army and Major Olmsted of…

“By May 1944, there were in place and ready to be deployed nearly one hundred teams, consisting of three men each and going under the code name “Jedburgh.” These teams—consisting of a British or an American officer, a French officer, and a radioman of any one of the three nations—were to link up with the resistance fighters and then to serve as a liaison to them in order to effectively arm, train, and equip them…Asserting French sovereignty was the ultimate aim, and that was precisely what had created Eisenhower’s dilemma. Even as late as 1944, Roosevelt and Churchill dismissed the role to be played by the French Resistance, de Gaulle, and the provisional government in Algiers. They planned to assume political power in France as the Germans were pushed out, with Eisenhower to be appointed the military governor of France.” 

Former United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower faced major challenges before World War II’s Normandy landings in the spring of 1944. In order to free the French, he and the Allies needed a plan to do so, but also to retain their power. By gathering on-the-ground information surreptitiously, the Jedburghs did just that. Benjamin F. Jones sheds light on the triumphs and disconnects of the teams, and introduces firsthand perspectives on guerrilla warfare among the Allies.