Agent Michael Trotobas and SOE in Northern France - Tapa dura

The exceptional exploits, courage and leadership of British SOE Agent Trotobas have long been recognised in France but not in his own country despite being recommended for the Victoria Cross. Captured on his first mission, Trotobas led a mass break-out from Mauzac Internment Camp and eventually returned to England. He immediately volunteered to return and established and ran a resistance group around Lille and the Pas de Calais for a year. As the Nazis closed in, he refused to leave the French men and women who had shown him complete loyalty. He paid the ultimate price, fighting to the death rather than undergo capture. As well as describing the operations of the Sylvestre-Farmer circuit, the authors record the rivalries and intrigues that sprang up culminating in betrayals and extraordinary demand for the court martial and execution of the Circuit's British second in command. This book is a major addition to the bibliography of the SOE and French Resistance.

STEWART KENT worked as an Engineering Draughtsman for a short period before moving into Tourism for over thirty years when he worked as Director and General Manager for a leading Tour Operator. His grandmother who harboured escaping Allied soldiers and airmen was betrayed and died in Ravensbruch. His mother, who knew Trotobas, has recently been awarded the Legion d'Honneur. NICK NICHOLAS graduated in modern languages before spending a career in international business, including working in the former Eastern Bloc countries when he contributed articles to numerous Trade Journals. After becoming a management consultant, he turned his attention to writing operational and training manuals.