No Ordinary Life

The previously personal untold story of the making of a young Commando and SAS soldier in World War 2, from Sark to Stalag VIIA. On his death, Sergeant H Stokes of 2 SAS left a journal that revealed what his life had been like growing up in the shadow of approaching war, which described what life was like operating behind enemy lines in France, the Mediterranean and Italy. In August 1939, an 18 year old Stokey, as he was known to his war-time comrades, left his home in Birmingham to attend a two-week Territorial Army (TA) Camp in Devon, and in those two-weeks he was mobilised when Hitler invaded Poland. This young TA soldier would never put on civilian clothes for another six years. This book charts his journey through 12 Commando, his move to the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) and eventually on to the 2nd Special Air Service (SAS), and his capture, escape, and recapture behind enemy lines in Italy and Germany in 1944.