Desert Raids with the SAS (ePub)
Memories of Action, Capture and Escape
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
File Size: 19.8 MB (.epub)
Pages: 176
Illustrations: 32 black and white illustrations
ISBN: 9781399007238
Published: 28th April 2021
| Other formats available | Price |
|---|---|
| Desert Raids with the SAS Paperback Add to Basket | £14.99 |
| Desert Raids with the SAS Hardback Add to Basket | £19.99 |
Tony Hough’s war started with ski training in the Alps in early 1940 preparing for winter warfare in Finland. Nothing came of that. Later that year, back with 9th Battalion, The Rifle Brigade, he sailed for North Africa. In March 1941, his under-gunned Battalion suffered a catastrophic baptism of fire in Libya from 15,000 troops and 500 tanks of Rommel’s Afrika Korps.
For the next 18 months Hough and his Battalion experienced brutal conflict against a formidable enemy. Selected for David Stirling’s elite 1st Special Air Service (SAS), he was captured in December 1942 while raiding behind enemy lines.
Sent to an Italian POW camp he suffered the deprivations of captivity. Taking advantage of the September 1943 Italian Armistice, he and fellow POWs escaped. After an arduous three month ordeal, he reached Allied lines thanks to the help of brave locals. He went on to fight in North West Europe before becoming a Town Major in occupied Germany.
Beautifully and modestly written, Tony’s many and varied experiences make for a classic war memoir. It is heartening that even after 75 years, accounts such as this are still appearing.
Featured on
BBC Radio Guernsey
Review as featured in
The Armourer
Highlight: 'Well-written and a good read.'
This is a marvellous read, with some very honest record of how he felt, and just how low he felt at times during this story. There were times he came very close to recapture, or when he could have been shot. Once he did get back to safety he was an ill man and needed care to recover. I thought the story was rounded off perfectly with the final element of the book, where author Gerald went back to retrace his father's footsteps. Definitely recommended.
Military Model Scene
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The story of Anthony Hough is one of extraordinary courage, not just on his part, but that of the men he fought alongside and the people who helped him on his remarkable journey to freedom. It is one that once read will not be easily forgotten.
Beating Tsundoku
First published in 2021 Desert Raids with the SAS: Memories of Action, Capture and Escape is the memoir of Major Anthony Hough. In 1940 he volunteered for Ski training and was on the brink of being sent as part of a British force to Finland.
WW2 Today
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This was a very decent book, and clearly this man is a down-to-earth, ‘let’s not make a fuss’ type of person. All in all, this was an enjoyable book, and I’m quite enjoying the number of SAS/WW2 books coming out. A good book to read, well written and certainly one to read if your interest is in world war two.
UK Historian
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An exciting ‘Boys Own’ story of SAS operations in North Africa, capture and internment in an Italian POW camp, escape back to the fight and Town Major in occupied Germany at the end of WWII. The SAS has always been surrounded by mystery by the very nature of its purpose as a covert Special Force. This book lifts the lid on the exciting career of one officer before, during, and after SAS service. – Very Highly Recommended
Firetrench
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There is a very good set of supporting photographs and two appendices which bring the story up to date. The title of the book is misleading as there are only two of the sixteen chapters about the SAS and only one raid is described.
Clash of Steel
We highly recommend this book as a fascinating insight into one man’s war.
Read the full review here
The book covers a lot of ground and is a further piece of the enormous jigsaw of those who experienced the Second World War, a precious piece of history, a tribute to those who fought. It may be that the SAS mantra includes daring and willing to take risks, but it is clear, the men of the 9th also dared and won!
Robert Bartlett
About Gerald Hough
Like his father, GERALD also went to Uppingham. After working in Paris and Sydney, in 1988 he joined Morgan Grenfell Asset Management becoming a Managing Director in 1996. His career took him to Guernsey where he lives in retirement. He too is a keen golfer and tennis player.
He married Anne Longton in 1979 and they have four children and an increasing number of grandchildren.
About Maj Tony Hough
Tony Hough, born in 1918, was educated at Uppingham. He joined 1st Battalion Tower Hamlets Rifles TA in 1938 which was embodied into The Rifle Brigade at the outbreak of war. After earning three campaign medals for France, North Africa and Germany and a Mention in Despatches, he was demobbed with the rank of Major in 1946. He married Valerie Hennessy the same year and they had four children.
He re-joined the family paperboard manufacturing business, becoming Managing Director in 1968, retiring in 1990. He was a gifted golfer playing to a handicap of four. He died in 2000.
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