''A War of Shadows'' is a non-fiction book written by

W. Stanley Moss Ivan William Stanley Moss Military Cross, MC (15 June 1921 – 9 August 1965), commonly known as W. Stanley Moss or Billy Moss, was a British army officer in World War II, and later a successful writer, broadcaster, journalist, and traveller. ...

, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

soldier, writer and traveller, best known, together with

Patrick Leigh Fermor Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor (11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011) was an English writer, scholar, soldier and polyglot. He played a prominent role in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War, and was widely seen as Britain's greate ...

, for the

Kidnap of General Kreipe The kidnapping of Heinrich Kreipe was an operation executed jointly by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and local resistance members in Crete in German-occupied Greece during the Second World War. The operation was launched on ...

as described in Moss’s book '' Ill Met by Moonlight''. Moss recounts his subsequent activities during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as agent of the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

(SOE) in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Macedonia (Greece) Macedonia ( ; , ) is a geographic regions of Greece, geographic and former administrative region of Greece, in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and geographic region in Greece, with a population of 2.36 million (as of 2020). ...

and

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

(Thailand). The 2014 editions contain an Introduction by one of Moss's children and a short biography, ''Billy Moss: Soldier, Writer, Traveller - A Brief Life'' by Alan Ogden as an Afterword.

Summary

In May 1941, German forces attacked and occupied Crete. Allied forces were driven back and evacuated to North Africa by June. The

(SOE) inserted agents on Crete in order to work with the local resistance in harrying German occupying forces.

Crete

After the Kreipe Abduction, Moss returned to Crete on 6 July 1944. On the main road connecting Rethymno and

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

, he led a resistance group consisting of eight Cretans and six escaped Russian POW soldiers in an ambush on German forces intent on attacking

Anogeia Anogeia (Ανώγεια) is a municipality in the Rethymno (regional unit), Rethymno regional unit, Crete, Greece. The municipality has an area of ., excluding the former municipal departments Axos and Zoniana. Population 2,240 (2021). When exact ...

. He chose an ambush site by a bridge in the ''Damastos'' location, one kilometre west of the village of Damasta. After the team destroyed various passing vehicles, among which was a lorry carrying military mail to

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

, the German force on its way to target Anogia finally appeared. It consisted of a truck of infantrymen backed up by an armoured car. Moss and his group attacked the troops. Moss crawled up to the back of the armoured car and dropped a grenade into the hatch. In total, 40 to 50 Germans were killed in the clash that followed and one Russian partisan. He left Crete on 18 August 1944.

Macedonia

Moss served in Macedonia between September and November 1944, being promoted to Major on 24 October. He was sent to join Major Ken Scott in an operation to blow up the railway bridge over the Aliakmon River in order to disrupt German troop movements in and out of Thessaloniki. After heavy rain, the river burst its banks preventing Moss from a final attempt to blow up a section of the bridge. He continued to undertake sabotage operations to hinder the German withdrawal.Ogden, Alan, ''Sons of Odysseus, SOE Heroes in Greece'', Bene Factum Publishing Ltd, London, 2012, .

Siam (Thailand)

He was then posted to join Force 136 in Siam arriving from Cairo on 25 June 1945 to stay at the Grand Hotel, in Calcutta. Joining Major Ken Scott as Jedburgh team leader and Capt John Hibberdine (W/T) for Operation Sungod,National Archives, Kew. File HS1/58 he flew out of Jessore, Bangladesh on 22 August by Dakota landing by parachute in a drop zone by a river, south of Bandon in the Bandon Nakon Sri Tamaraj area. The team’s orders included establishing communication with HQ (W/T station Gaberdine), liaising with the Siamese 6th Independent Division, identifying all POW camps, finding locations for drop zones and seaplane landings and preparing to demolish the tunnel on the railway from Chong Khao and Ron Phibun, east to Tunsong. The Mission arranged the orderly surrender of Japanese forces in their area of operations, before Moss left in November 1945.Ogden, Alan, ''Tigers Burning Bright, SOE Heroes in the Far East'', Bene Factum Publishing Ltd, London, 2013, .

References

Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:War of Shadows, A) 1952 non-fiction books World War II memoirs Works about Greece in World War II Special Operations Executive