Abstract

The Second World War in Yugoslavia is an area neglected by historians and other commentators. This is perhaps surprising as Yugoslavia was the only country in Europe to be conquered by the Germans and then, later, to free itself solely as a result of guerrilla activity. Other countries had to be liberated by Allied armies. The British played an important role in supporting the activities of Tito’s guerrilla army. This is the story of Walter Jones’s service and the operations of the Raiding Support Regiment. A precursor to the modern SAS the Raiding Support Regiment fought alongside the commandos and Tito’s partisan in Yugoslavia. Based on the Island of Vis in the Adriatic they provided heavy weapons support to British and partisan forces trying to drive the Germans out of Yugoslavia. Later they served in Albania and Italy. This is a brutally honest account of one man’s service with the Regiment and a neglected period of European history. It documents the transformation of a young man into a combat veteran as he witnesses the effects of bombing, the deliberate killing of POWs and partisan savagery against those who transgress the partisan code.