The Lost Band of Brothers (46 page)

MTB 344 at speed off Beach Head, Sussex. Also known as
The Little Pisser
because of her small size and turn of speed, MTB 344 was the carrier of choice for the men of SSRF on their raids across the Channel. (Chris Rooney)

Dory training for the men of SSRF on the Dorset coast. Graham Hayes is at far left. (Chris Rooney)

Dawn, Omaha beach, Normandy. The French plaque to Operation
Aquatint
is on the sea wall in the foreground and marks the place where Gus March-Phillipps and his men are believed to have come ashore. Then there were no flags, no sea wall, no beach-set monument to American D-Day casualties – just the same vast, empty beach offering nowhere to hide. And an alert, waiting enemy. (Author’s collection)

The French plaque to Operation
Aquatint
overlooked by the vast majority of visitors to ‘Bloody Omaha’. (Author’s collection)

The grave of Major Gus March-Phillipps in the village cemetery at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, flanked by the men who died with him: Private Richard Lehniger (left, serving as Private Leonard) and Serjeant Alan Williams (right). In the foreground, incised in marble, is Gus March-Phillipps’ poem ‘If I Must Die …’ (Author’s collection)

British war graves in the Cimetière Communal de Viroflay on the outskirts of Paris. Most of the British war dead were RAF bomber crew. Captain Graham Hayes’ grave is nearest camera. (Author’s collection)

The grave of Captain Graham Hayes MC, at Viroflay. The freshly watered single rose was taken from his mother’s grave nearby and offered by a Frenchman after he was told Graham’s story of evasion, betrayal and execution. (Author’s collection)

Patrick Dudgeon, St Anthony’s House, Oundle School, 1938. Patrick is third from right, second row. (Steven Forge, Oundle School)

Captain Oswald ‘Mickey’ Rooney of 12 Commando, pictured here in service dress. He was seconded to SSRF after the disaster of Operation
Aquatint
. (Chris Rooney)

Night ops: MTB 344 at work close inshore, Brittany. (Appleyard family)

Working rig. Captain Rooney, left, that ‘powerfully built, self-confident officer who knew his men intimately and commanded their implicit obedience’. A good man to have on your rope. Note the commando dagger slung beneath his throat. To his left, training on Beachy Head, is J. Barry. (Chris Rooney)

Inset: Sgt James Edgar, 1945. (James Edgar)