Popski's Private Army (Cassell Military Paperbacks)

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Popski was the name given to Peniakoff by the LRDG New Zealanders when they found Peniakoff too much of a problem in radio transmission. The development of cable and wireless communications made messages more secure but methods of eavesdropping soon developed creating the need for ever more sophisticate cryptography. It maintained close relations with the governments-in-exile both for recruiting purposes and to coordinate resources and objectives. On his 18th birthday, broke and wondering what to do, Vic was approached by a Rifle Brigade recruiting sergeant.

It overlooked the upper reaches of the River Chienti and beyond to the walled town of Camerino, which was the headquarters of a German mountain division.It sits in the center of the Allied Special Forces Association’s Memorial Grove within the British National Memorial Arboretum (inspired by the USA’s Arlington Cemetery) in Staffordshire, in the very center of the United Kingdom. Peniakoff began an engineering degree at the Free University of Brussels at the age of 15 before his studies were interrupted by the German invasion of Belgium in August 1914.

But when Belgium was invaded, he was accepted and commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the general list, probably the oldest 2nd lieutenant in the British Army. Other units - such as the famous Special Air Service (SAS) - are still active and although their work is still a closely guarded secret, they have been involved in high profile missions that captured world attention.

During WW2, Peniakoff sustained two injuries to his left hand: the first, during the desert campaign, resulted in the loss of a finger, while the second, towards the end of the war in Italy, necessitated amputation of the entire hand.

He joined a boxing club, formed a jazz band and got himself recruited as a grease monkey at Brooklands race track. They were obviously not Italian peasants, and when Popski stopped them he found they were Russian soldiers captured at Smolensk and sent to work in the Todt Organization, Germany’s labor establishment, in northern Italy. When it left Cairo in October 1943, Popski’s Private Army consisted of Popski, Captain Bob Yunnie, 12 other ranks, and three Arab soldiers from the Libyan Arab Force. It was created in July 1940 after the triumph of Germany’s armies on the continent and the Nazi occupation of most of Europe. The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is the successor to the Second World War code-breaking establishment at Bletchley Park.

Peniakoff agreed, had some “PPA” shoulder flashes made and some cap badges in the form of a 16th-century Italian astrolabe, and went off to find recruits, vehicles, weapons, and equipment. In his absence, Jean Caneri took command of PPA and led it on operations until snow bogged down the jeeps. Post-war, in 1947, he was made a Belgian Officier de l'Ordre de la Couronne avec Palme and awarded the Belgian Croix de guerre avec Palme. In his spare time and on holidays he made expeditions into the desert in a Model A Ford, where he made friends with Arabs he met, learned to navigate in the wilderness, and learned something of desert lore.

Any man who did not come up to, or fell below, his standards was sent back to the unit he came from. They spent the next three days keeping the ford open, chasing away any Germans who came close; nights were spent at the Castle Ripalta whose chatelaine was a lovely English girl married into the Parlato family. Throughout history, governments and military commanders have tried to keep their communications secret by the use of codes and ciphers.

Most nights PPA and the partisans would drive down to the river and shoot up German convoys on the other bank. From there, Popski took his men to Tebessa, Algeria, where he persuaded the American II Corps to issue them rations and clothing.