Peter Dixon

Return to Vienna by Peter Dixon

‘Captain Charles Kennedy’ parachuted into a moonlit Austrian forest and searched frantically for his lost radio set. His real name was Leo Hillman and he was a Jewish refugee from Vienna. He was going home.
Men and women of Churchill’s secret Special Operations Executive worked to free Austria from Hitler’s grip. Many were themselves Austrians who had fled Nazi persecution. Trained and equipped by SOE, they courageously returned to their homeland. Some died in the attempt.
Their moving stories are part of the history of how Austria recovered her sovereignty.
‘An extraordinary and compelling account of the little-known operations of SOE and Austria in World War Two … shines a light on the bravery of the agents, in a narrative told with colour and vivacity, yet great sensitivity and meticulous research’, Dr Helen Fry, author of Spymaster.
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What if you have to survive undercover in a hostile land?
A single slip can lead to arrest, torture, execution. Who can be trusted? Discover what kept Churchill’s secret saboteurs alive in occupied France, Holland or Thailand – or didn’t!
‘A fascinating and important study of a long-hidden corner of SOE history.’ Dr Roderick Bailey, Pembroke College, Oxford, Advisor to BBC TV series ‘Secret Agent Selection: WW2’.
The men and women who served as agents of the World War 2 Special Operations Executive were courageous. But courage was not enough. They also needed to learn the caution and suspicion that might just keep them alive, deep undercover in enemy territory.
Guardians of Churchill’s Secret Army tells the stories of the extraordinary men who taught them those skills and thought processes. They helped trainee agents learn how to seem innocuous while preparing resistance, subversion and sabotage. Each spoke several languages. Many became agents themselves and faced danger with great bravery; that’s part of their story too. All played a crucial role in the global effort to undermine the enemy.
We find them not only in the Baker Street Headquarters of SOE, but also in night parachute drops, in paramilitary training in the remotest depths of Scotland and in undercover agent training in isolated English country houses. We follow them to occupied France, to Malaya and Thailand under threat of Japanese invasion, to Italy and Germany as they play their part in the collapse of the Axis regimes. Their stories are inspiring.
If you like discovering the true stories that underpin the history of the Second World War, then you’ll want to read this authentic book. Author of Setting the Med Ablaze, Dr Peter Dixon has a PhD from the University of Cambridge and four decades of military and peacebuilding experience. In the tradition of Antony Beevor and Ben Macintyre, he shines a spotlight on a crucial area of the Special Operations Executive.

Targeted Age Group:: Adult

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
Many books have been written about the men and women of the Special Operations Executive, but the story of these men was a little-known aspect of World War 2 history.