The generation that reached maturity in the inter war years had grown up in the shadow of the heroic age of Polar exploration and the sacrifices of a generation in the Great War. Their own adventures were to prove as astonishing and heroic as those of a previous generation.

The members of the British Arctic air route expedition to Greenland, including Martin Lindsay, Quintin Riley and Freddie Spencer Chapman, were to pioneer the weather research methods necessary for Trans-Atlantic Flight. The university expeditions to Spitsbergen led by George Binney in the 1920s and Sandy Glen in the 1930s traversed and surveyed unexplored ground and contributed to developments in polar flight and radar. Glen's expeditions added to the knowledge of Arctic conditions by over-wintering. Other pre-war exploits of these adventurers included a voyage around the world the wrong way, and participation in the British Graham Land Antarctic expedition. Peter Fleming, brother to the creator of James Bond - Ian Fleming - spent the 1930s exploring Brazil, China and Tartary. Fleming's exploits are recounted in detail in this book.

The character, skills and endurance obtained in these years set these adventurers and explorers apart as men who were to play a distinguished and heroic role in the Second World War. Their expertise in Arctic conditions, small boat handling, and exploring in all climatic conditions resulted in their participation in all aspects of warfare and arenas of battle, particularly as exponents of 'special operations', and as key members of Britain's first special forces. Their war service took them from the fjords of Norway and Spitsbergen to the jungles of Burma and Malaya and the beaches of Normandy and Italy. They were involved in blockade running, covert operations in Yugoslavia, Corsica and France and took part in major initiatives such as Ian Fleming's Intelligence gathering force, No 30 Assault unit, and the raid on St Nazaire.

Most of these men had known each other before war came in 1939. In some cases they ended up serving alongside one another in wartime. The intertwined stories of these characters in peace and war are examples of how the spirit of adventure shown by men in the inter war years contributed to Britain's outstanding role in the Second World War. Linda Parker has written an important study that is equally relevant to both the history of British exploration and the genesis and early days of Britain's special forces 1939-45 - a quite unique and hitherto unexamined relationship.

Linda Parker combines teaching History on a part time basis with her writing, and is currently completing a PhD at Birmingham University. Her main areas of interest are 20th Century Military History, Church History and the History of Polar exploration. She is a member of the Western Front Association. She was born and educated in Wales, but now lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and their dog. She enjoys walking and travelling, ideally together, and her ambition is to visit Antarctica. Her first book published by Helion was The Whole Armour of God: Anglican Army Chaplains in the Great War (2009).

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Maps
• Abbreviations
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: George Binney
  • ‘A School for Explorers’ 1921–24
  • Blockade Buster 1940–44
• Chapter 2: Freddie Spencer Chapman
  • The British Arctic Air Route Expedition 1930–31
  • The Ascent of Chomolhari 1937
  • The jungle is neutral 1941–1945
• Chapter 3: Quintin Riley
  • British Arctic Air Route Expedition 1930–31
  • Watkins’s Last Expedition 1932–33
  • The British Graham Land Expedition 1934–37
  • The Norwegian Campaign 1940
  • No. 30 Assault Unit 1941–45
• Chapter 4: Peter Fleming
  • Brazilian Adventure 1932
  • News From Tartary 1933–35
  • Flying into Namsos 1940
  • Auxiliary Units and Greece 1941–42
  • Deception in the Far East 1942–1945
• Chapter 5: Andrew Croft
  • The Crossing of Greenland, 1933–34
  • The Oxford University Expedition to Spitsbergen 1935–36
  • Escape from Sweden 1940
  • Auxiliary Units 1940
  • Assistant Military Attaché in Sweden 1941–42
  • Operation Balaclava – Corsica 1943–44
  • Operation Snow White France 1944
• Chapter 6: Alexander ‘Sandy’ Glen
  • Expeditions to Spitsbergen 1933 and 1935–36 – “Those delightful dotted lines”
  • Yugoslavia 1940
  • Operation Gauntlet and Operation Fritham
  • Albania and Yugoslavia 1944–45
• Chapter 7: Martyn Sherwood
  • The voyage of the Tai Mo Shan 1933–34
  • The Cape Passaro Trawlers at Namsos 1940
  • Corvettes in the Mediterranean 1940–42
  • Landing Craft to Algiers 1943
  • D-Day and after
• Chapter 8: R.E.D. Ryder
  • The Voyage of the British Graham Land Expedition Ship Penola 1934–37
  • Q Ship Captain, 1940
  • The Raid on St Nazaire 1942
• Chapter 9: Lancelot Fleming
  • Iceland 1932
  • The Oxford University Expedition to Spitsbergen 1933
  • The British Graham Land Expedition 1934–37
  • Wartime Naval Chaplain
• Chapter 10: Augustine Courtauld
  • The Cambridge University Expedition to Greenland, 1926
  • Journey in the Sahara Desert 1927
  • The Cambridge University Expedition to Greenland 1929
  • British Arctic Air Route Expedition 1930–31
  • Return to Greenland 1936
  • Wartime service in the Royal Navy
• Chapter 11: H. W. Tilman
  • Across Africa by Bicycle 1933
  • The ascent of Nanda Devi 1934–36
  • Attempt on Mount Everest, 1938
  • Artillery Officer 1940–43, SOE in Albania 1943
  • SOE in Italy 1944–1945
• Conclusion
• Appendices
  • Appendix A: Members of the Oxford University Arctic Expedition 1924
    • Oxford University
    • Cambridge University
    • Services and Government Departments
    • Norwegians
  • Appendix B: Oxford University Expedition to Spitsbergen 1924
    • The Use of Wireless for Sledging Parties
  • Appendix C: The Oxford University Arctic Expedition 1924
    • The Flying Work of the Expedition
  • Appendix D: Members of the British Arctic Air Route Expedition 1930–31
  • Appendix E: British Arctic Air Route Expedition – Sledging Rations
    • Summary of expedition report on sledging rations by H.G. Watkins
  • Appendix F: The British Arctic Air Route Expedition 1930–31 – summary of climatological notes
    • The Climate of East Greenland
  • Appendix G: The British Arctic Air Route Expedition 1930–31 – report on flying operations
  • Appendix H: Members of the Oxford University expedition to Spitsbergen 1933
  • Appendix I: The Oxford University expedition to Spitsbergen 1933 – geological report by the Reverend W. Fleming
    • East Glaciology: The New Friesland Ice-Sheet
  • Appendix J: The Oxford University expedition to Spitsbergen 1933 – Rations and equipment by A.R. Glen
  • Appendix K: Members of the Oxford University Expedition to North East Land 1935–36
  • Appendix L: The Oxford University Expedition to North East Land – some scientific aims and achievements
    • The Scientific Programme
    • Glaciology at the Ice Cap Stations on the West Ice
    • The West Ice as a Sub-Arctic Glacier
  • Appendix M: Members of the British Graham Land Expedition 1934–37
  • Appendix N: The British Graham Land Expedition 1934–37 – sledging rations
  • Appendix O: The British Graham Land Expedition 1934–37 – sledging equipment
  • Appendix P: The British Graham Land Expedition 1934–37 – emergency equipment
    • Emergency equipment for two men carried in the aeroplane on all flights
  • Appendix Q: The voyage of the Tai Mo Shan – medical aspects and equipment
  • Appendix R: Operation Performance 1942
    • Ships
  • Appendix S: Arctic Warfare: A Lecture Given by Lieutenant Commander Q.T.P.M. Riley on 13th October 1942 at Chatham House
  • Appendix T: Summary of topics to be covered on the Arctic warfare course 1941
  • Appendix U: No 30 Commando – Summary by Lieutenant Commander Q.T.P.M. Riley on activities in the Naples area up to September 24th 1943
  • Appendix V: A summary of the report of Captain Sverdrup, Royal Norwegian Forces, and Lt. Glen of reconnaissance flight 4th–5th April 1942, prior to Operation Fritham
  • Appendix W: Training in preparation for the raid on St Nazaire
  • Appendix X: The main clandestine boating operations from Corsica 1943–44
  • Appendix Y: Supplies infiltrated into Albania by air and sea during the period May 1943 to January 1945
• Bibliography
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