“Winston Churchill was desperate to fight the Germans any way he could – including guerilla warfare”, writes Leah Garrett in a groundbreaking book about a secret unit created within the British Army during World War II. At one point, Lord Mountbatten suggested creating “a new special unit of commandos” formed by “displaced nationals such as Poles, Norwegians, and Frenchmen” among others. The idea thrilled the British Prime Minister. German-speaking refugees were to form the ranks of the X Troop that was born in 1942.

The unit was singular in the sense that the large majority of its 87 members were Jewish young men eager to bring the fight to Nazi Germany. Considered aliens and potential enemies when they reached Britain’s shores, these new commandos had to shun their real names and identities to perform their duty. One of them, George Lane (Lanyi György was his real name) even found himself in Marshal Rommel’s presence after his capture during a special mission leading up to D-Day.

Between the covers of X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War II (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), historian and author Leah Garrett traces the history of “one of the most selective unit” through the fate of these “highly intelligent, highly motivated, German-speaking commandos” whose knowledge of the enemy’s language would be crucial at many levels on the battlefield. They became Churchill’s brawns and brains.

The reader might be shocked to read that some of these men were literally praying for war, but it was quite understandable if one considers that they wanted to get back at “[…] those who had destroyed their childhoods” and families. In some cases, the men of X Troop probably found themselves fighting their former classmates who were enlisted in the Wehrmacht of the SS. “Fearless and determined [Corporal Ian] Harris [Hans Ludwig Hajos] was in his element in combat and relished fighting.” Harris and his colleagues had no regrets at all, which doesn’t mean they lost their conscience along the way. Fred Gray (Manfred Gans) and Colin Anson (Claus Ascher) preferred to convince the enemy to drop its weapons rather than fight to the death. Even if they had to serve under a different name, Jewish values remained in their DNA.

Few soldiers could have been more aware of the nefarious consequences if the Allies didn’t win the war.

Being a huge fan of anything related to Scotland’s military history, one of my favorite parts of the book is related to the legendary Lord Lovat. Few days after landing with his commandos on Sword Beach, the Scottish warrior was severely wounded “just outside the Saulnier farm” in Amfreville. Captain Gerard Nichols (Heinz Herman) saved his commander’s life and promised to return his walking stick. The aura of Lord Lovat was such that the men of X Troop believed it would protect them, because he “[…] and his commandos had been the only ones who had been successful at Dieppe and had not suffered major casualties there.” In the first moments of the landings on D-Day, Harry “Nomburg [one of the X Troop commandos who fought under the identity of Harry Drew] went up to Lovat and shyly touched his belt from behind for luck.” It is quite easy to read between the lines that they would have followed him anywhere.

The X Troopers never shied away from an assignment. Some refused to return to England to attend officer training school, while others, like Peter Masters (Peter Arany), “loved every minute of it”. On his part, Corporal Harris even went on to capture an entire German garrison all by himself.

Definitely, the men of X Troop were in a league of their own.

In the bigger picture of the war, the X Troopers also played a determining role in Greece, after the withdrawal of German troops. They participated in establishing a presence in the country, therefore contributing to “[…] determine the balance of power that would define the postwar Adriatic region for the decades to come”, mainly during the Cold War.

The German capitulation of May 8, 1945, marked the end of the war for Allied soldiers. But not for the X Troopers. For them, the war was not over because they now embarked on the journey to locate surviving members of their family. Manfred Gans was among the lucky ones who were able to find both his mother and father. After receiving permission to borrow a jeep, he left with his friend Andrew Kershaw (Éndre Kirschner) and crossed into the territory now occupied by the Red Army to reach Aue, a subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp where he was reunited with his parents. Not everyone among the X Troop was that fortunate. The Jewish commandos also had to fight to be naturalized as British citizens, a process in which they were scandalously disadvantaged, even though they had sacrificed blood and sweat for King and Country. They were not “given full rights as British subjects until several years after the war ended.” Better manifestations of gratitude were observed in history.

And because they had fought under a Christian name, the X Troopers who died in battle were buried under a cross. That was the normal standard at the time of and in the circumstances of their deaths. But considering current-day awareness, I find it revolting that the real identity of those men who were denied so much during their lifetime is still glossed over. Churchill’s Jewish commandos anonymously carried the Star of David to battle, and it would only be a minimal form of gratefulness to recognize that above the ground where they lie for eternity.

For the time being, we owe Leah Garrett a huge debt of appreciation for bringing the X Troopers to life in the chapters of this stirring and masterful book.

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Leah Garrett, X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War II, New York, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021, 368 pages.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sharyn Rosenblum of HarperCollins for sending me a copy of this book. Her generosity is much appreciated.