X TROOP

The story of a commando unit “determined to wreak havoc on Hitler’s regime.”

The history of World War II teems with elite special forces that stepped on each other’s toes during imaginative missions, few of which went as planned, and their exploits continue to fascinate publishers and readers. Working with newly declassified documents, “breathless heat-of-the-battle official war diaries,” and other sources, Hunter College professor Garrett revives a subunit within these specialized units that consisted mostly of European Jews. Ironically, they had fled the Nazis to Britain but were arrested as “enemy aliens” and interned under terrible conditions after war broke out in September 1939. Some were permitted to join the Pioneer Corps, which performed manual labor, but it was only in December 1941 that internees were able to sign on to combat units. Garrett’s subjects formed part of a special commando force, formed in July 1942, comprised of displaced nationals carrying out different missions depending on their native language. The author focuses on a unit filled with German-speaking refugees called X Troop. “The men’s fluency in German,” she writes, “would enable them to get essential intelligence that would guide the next moment’s choices rather than having to wait to interview prisoners until they were back at headquarters.” Garrett describes the prewar lives of a dozen young men, their escape to Britain, the miseries of their internment, the brutal months of training, and their subsequent operations, which carried on well past the German surrender, when they tracked down and interrogated Nazi war criminals. Hollywood-style sabotage missions were rare; mostly, the troop accompanied conventional units “killing and capturing Germans, gathering crucial intelligence, and taking on leadership roles. They were trusted and respected, and they were highly sought after for especially hazardous undertakings.” The author compassionately chronicles the casualties, and the traditional epilogue describes survivors who mostly led prosperous lives.

A lively, expertly researched history of an obscure WWII unit whose heroism deserves recognition.