Mike Lees
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Michael Lees (17 May 1922 – 23 March 1993) was a British soldier and member 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. ...
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 ...
, who operated behind enemy lines supporting
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
and
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
n
partisan forces Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...
. The chief planner of
Operation Tombola During the World War II, Second World War, Operation Tombola was a major raid conducted by the 2 Special Air Service, under the command of SAS Major Roy Farran, and Special Operations Executive's Captain Mike Lees, Michael Lees. The operation wa ...
, an attack on the headquarters of the Wehrmacht's 14th Army near
Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...
, made prematurely in contravention of orders from his superiors. Lees was the son of Bernard Percy Turnbull Lees, who served with distinction in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
with the
Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry The Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army founded in 1794 as the Dorsetshire Regiment of Volunteer Yeomanry Cavalry in response to the growing threat of invasion during the Napoleonic wars. It gained its first ro ...
, winning a
Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...
; and grandson of Sir Elliott Lees, the first Baronet Lees, a Major in the Dorset Yeomanry who fought in the
Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...
and was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...
. Following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps and joining the Dorset Yeomanry, as war broke out he volunteered for airborne services and was posted to Egypt where, in 1943, he joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE). He was sent to join Serbian nationalist
Chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...
fighting against Tito's Communist-led Yugoslav partisans. In September 1944 he was sent to Italy and joined SOE agents fighting alongside Italian partisans in the Apennine mountains.


Mission 'Envelope' and Operation Tombola

Lees became head of SOE Mission 'Envelope' in January 1945. Shortly after, his relationships with his superiors deteriorated, to the extent he was felt to be a liability. Lees was offered evacuation by his superior Major Charles Macintosh. Lees rejected the offer, and replied vulgarly to Macintosh on 10 March: "“by not accepting your invitation to come out I gave you a moral victory, but I did not accept because I realise that the firm would have jumped at the opportunity of putting some British Liaison Officer type who would sit here doing fuckall and give them a peaceful job with FANYs (
First Aid Nursing Yeomanry The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps) (FANY (PRVC)) is a British independent all-female registered charity structured like a military reserve unit. which primarily provides surge relief to civil and military authoriti ...
) on their knees”.Michael Lees to Charles Macintosh, 10 March 1945 in HS 9/906/6 SOE Personnel file Michael Lees. On 19 March Lees reported that two German defectors had given him the location of German 14th Army Headquarters (possibly actually LI Mountain Corps HQ), and had performed reconnaissance which confirmed their testimony. SOE returned Lees’ message asking him to submit a plan of attack, and not to launch the attack alone, as they hoped to coordinate the action with a broader offensive by the British 15th Army. On 21 March Lees’ submitted a plan of attack, which would have been launched jointly with Italian Partisans and a contingent of
Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...
(SAS) led by Major
Roy Farran Major Roy Alexander Farran (2 January 1921 – 2 June 2006) was a British-Canadian soldier, politician, farmer, author and journalist. He was highly decorated for his exploits with the Special Air Service (SAS) during the Second World War. Farr ...
. 28 March was the planned date of the operation. SOE responded “wait one week after target date…your scheme will then be correctly timed for maximum effort”.This would have delayed the operation until April 5, immediately proceeding
Operation Grapeshot The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack in the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 ...
, the Spring 1945 offensive that would end with the capitulation of Axis forces in Italy. SOE planned for the attack to cause maximum disruption to the German defence, and deprive their planners of the ability to reorganize German headquarters staff outside of battle. Despite SOE confirming Lees and Farran had received their orders, the pair disobeyed and attacked the German HQ according to their original timeline. They completely destroyed one of the two villas comprising the HQ, badly burning the other and killing several senior enemy officers. Lees was badly wounded during the attack, and wrote in his report to Major Macintosh "I hope the show was as success…look after the show for me as I will be layed up for a long time, and tell Charles Macintosh to fuck himself.”


Aftermath of Operation Tombola

Owing to his injuries, Lees was eventually smuggled by small airplane from behind enemy lines to
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
and repatriated to
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. While in hospital in Chester, Lees claimed he had been promised a promotion to Major within a week of entering Italy. The report of this claim was passed to Lieutenant-Colonel
Richard Thornton Hewitt Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Thornton Hewitt OBE (1917–1994) was a distinguished British Army Officer in World War II, and subsequently held senior positions in the Royal Society of Medicine in both London and New York. Biography Born on 19 Ja ...
, commander of Allied Special Forces in Italy. Hewitt investigated the claim, and found it spurious, writing "“I must emphasise most strongly that he was never promised promotion by me or any officer serving under me, that in no circumstances would I recommend his promotion…” This was partially due to Hewitt learning the claim of promotion had come from Lees himself. “I learnt, after he had been dropped, that (Lees) himself had expressed the view that he should have been granted major’s rank”. Hewitt also noted that Lees had been shielded from disciplinary action, only due to the wounds he sustained in combat. On 17 July 1945 Major Farran recommended Lees be immediately gazetted with the Military Cross for his actions during the raid (making no mention of the orders to delay the attack). The recommendation was rejected, owing to both Lees' insubordination, and the squandered opportunity to incorporate Operation Tombola into Operation Grapeshot. Lieutenant Colonel John Grosvenor Beevor wrote in his rejection of the award: “It is not disputed that the facts given are correct or that this officer, along with SAS detachment, showed gallantry and enterprise. But in the opinion of 15th Army Group the value of this operation depended on its timing and Captain Lees with the SAS carried it out prematurely and recklessly, in spite of the express orders from 15th Army Group transmitted by this HQ. But for the gallantry displayed and the fact that Captain Lees was wounded in action, it is probably that disciplinary action would have been considered.” Though not disciplined or court-martialed, Lees was blocked from a post-war career with
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
.


Published books

* ''The Rape of Serbia: The British Role in Tito's Grab for Power 1943-1944'' (Harcourt, 1990)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lees, Mike 1922 births 1993 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British expatriates in Italy British Special Operations Executive personnel Chetniks Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry officers