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Unlikely Soldiers: How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against
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Unlikely Soldiers: How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Hardcover - 2008

by Jonathan Vance


From the publisher

When Nazi Germany's Buchenwald concentration camp was liberated in 1945, its records revealed that two young Canadians, Ken Macalister and Frank Pickersgill, were among its countless victims. At 30 and 31 years of age, they had been agents of Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE ), an undercover unit established by Winston Churchill that used sabotage and subversion to bring down the Nazi regime from within.
Jonathan F. Vance brings us the dramatic, untold story of two men who were the most unlikely of soldiers. Pickersgill, an up-andcoming journalist, and Macalister, one of the finest law students ever to attend the University of Toronto, were both living in France when the Nazis seized power. Pickersgill, arrested as an enemy alien, spent two years in prison before escaping to England.
The men's intelligence, resourcefulness and familiarity with French customs and language caught the attention of the SOE. Trained in special-operations techniques, from radio control to killing, they were paired together and parachuted into France--just as the underground network they were to join was cracked open by the Germans.
Unlikely Soldiers is an extraordinary tale of unsung heroes, intrigue and tragic error. With access to the recently opened SOE archives, Vance draws new material into a fascinating narrative that will appeal to anyone interested in military history, the evolution of espionage, or simply the remarkable story of two heroic Canadians.

Above the village of Chtillon-sur-Cher on the night of June 15/16, 1943, Frank and Ken sat in the fuselage of the Halifax and watched as the dispatcher hooked their parachutes to the static line. Seconds later, the red light blinked on, the dispatcher pulled the cover off the chute in the floor, and the two Canadians sat down. . . . Then the green light flashed . . . and Ken and Frank were gone.
--
From Unlikely Soldiers

Details

  • Title Unlikely Soldiers: How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against
  • Author Jonathan Vance
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 320
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher HarperCollins Publishers, Toronto
  • Date 2008
  • ISBN 9780002007351 / 0002007355
  • Weight 1.18 lbs (0.54 kg)
  • Dewey Decimal Code 940.548
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Unlikely Soldiers : How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Nazi Occupation
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Unlikely Soldiers : How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Nazi Occupation

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Unlikely Soldiers: How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Nazi Occupation
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Unlikely Soldiers: How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Nazi Occupation

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Unlikely Soldiers: how Two Canadians Fought The Secret War Against

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Unlikely Soldiers: How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Nazi Occupation
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Unlikely Soldiers: How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Nazi Occupation

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Unlikely Soldiers  How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Nazi  Occupation

Unlikely Soldiers How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Nazi Occupation

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Toronto: Harpercollins Canada. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dust jacket. 2008. First Edition. Hardcover. 0002007355 . Light edgewear to dust jacket. A little damage bottom of a couple of pages. ; A bright, solid book. DJ in protective Mylar sleeve, unclipped. ; 9.10 X 5.80 X 1.40 inches; 307 pages; ``When Nazi Germany`s Buchenwald concentration camp was liberated in 1945, its records revealed that two young Canadians, Frank Pickersgill and Ken Macasliter, had perished there late in the war. They had been agents of Britain`s Special Operations Executive (SOE), an undercover unit that used subversion and sabotage to defeat the Nazi regime from within.`` .
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Unlikely Soldiers How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Nazi  Occupation

Unlikely Soldiers How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Nazi Occupation

by Vance, Jonathan F.

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Toronto: Harpercollins Publishers. Very Good- in Very Good- dust jacket. 2008. First Edition. Hardcover. 0002007355 . 307 pp. Index. Notes. Sources. Spine, corners gently bumped. Jacket has light edgewear. Details the heroism of two young Canadians, Frank Pickersgill and Ken Macalister, who joined the SOE in the Second WOrld War, and were parachuted into France, only to be caught up in the collapse of one of the most extensive Allied spy operations of the war. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall .
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Unlikely Soldiers: How Two Canadians Fought The Secret War Against Nazi Occupation
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Unlikely Soldiers: How Two Canadians Fought The Secret War Against Nazi Occupation

by Jonathan F Vance,Jonathan Vance

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Toronto,: Harpercollins Canada, 2008. First edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo. pp. 307. ""An award-winning historian recounts the tragic story--never before told --of two heroic young men and the espionage battles of the Second World War When Nazi Germany's Buchenwald concentration camp was liberated in 1945, its records revealed that two young Canadians, Ken Macalister and Frank Pickersgill, were among its countless victims. At 30 and…
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