Free The Lost Band of Brothers by Tom Keene Page A

with his arm around younger brother Malcolm’s shoulders. (Malcolm Hayes)

    Kiln Hill, Linton. Graham Hayes’ family home a few hundred yards uphill from that of his childhood friend, Geoffrey Appleyard. (Annabel Grace Hayes)

    Graham Hayes and ‘Grip’, his tame jackdaw. (Annabel Grace Hayes)

    The Hayes brothers, from left to right: Malcolm, Denis, Graham (with dog) and Austin. Malcolm, a Halifax bomber pilot with 295 Squadron, was killed over France in February 1943. (Malcolm Hayes)

    Wetherby Rugby Club, 1932–33. Graham Hayes is in the back row, third from right. (Annabel Grace Hayes)

    The crew of Pommern . Graham Hayes is in the back row, third from right. (Malcolm Hayes)

    Tall ships and furled sails. Picture taken by Graham Hayes from the stern of Pommern . (Annabel Grace Hayes)

    Graham Hayes as SSRF knew him. (Appleyard family)

    Men of 7 Commando working on I’m Alone at low tide, Isle of Arran. Gus March-Phillipps (?) before mast, Geoffrey Appleyard (?) ashore beside boat’s leg. (Maggie Higham)

    The Antelope Inn, Poole, Dorset. First Headquarters of Maid Honor force and scene of early planning and celebration dinners. (Author’s collection)

    Maid Honor at sea. Geoffrey Appleyard in swimming trunks. Gus March-Phillipps bending forward astern. (Appleyard family)

    The Brixham fishing ketch Maid Honor. Built in 1925 and 70 feet long, she was requisitioned by March-Phillipps in 1941 and converted to a ‘Q’ ship. Intended to lure German ships to their doom in the English Channel, she ended her days on the African coast. (Lt Col David Owen MBE; artist: John Turk of Brixton)

    The Arne Peninsula, Poole harbour, where Maid Honor was moored and the early volunteers for what became the Maid Honor force lived aboard ship. Today’s SBS base at Hamworthy lies on the far shore. (Author’s collection)

    St Nicholas Chapel, Arne, where Geoffrey Appleyard and crewmen came to pray. (Author’s collection)

    Clandestine photograph taken of Duchessa d’Aosta , Fernando Po. (The National Archives)

    Marjorie Stewart. The strong-willed West End actress who went on to train as an SOE agent. When they met at SOE in Baker Street, she led Gus March-Phillipps to believe she was the lift girl. She did her early SOE parachute training unaware she was pregnant with Gus March-Phillipps’ daughter, Henrietta. (March-Phillipps family)

    Marjorie Stewart on the day of her wedding to Gus March-Phillipps, 18 April 1942, with her younger brother David. Brigadier Colin Gubbins, SOE’s Director of Training and Operations, attended the wedding. (March-Phillipps family)

    Anderson Manor, Dorset. Home and secret headquarters to the select band of men who formed 62 Commando – the Small Scale Raiding Force. (Author’s collection)

    St Michael’s Chapel at Anderson where Tony Hall and Gus March-Phillipps sought strength before Operation Aquatint. (Author’s collection)

    Lt Freddie Bourne.A frequent visitor at Anderson Manor, Bourne took part in seventeen operations with SSRF for which he was awarded the DSC. Skipper of MTB 344 on the ill-fated Operation Aquatint to what was to become Omaha beach on the Normandy coast. (Chris Rooney)

    MTB 344 at speed off Beach Head, Sussex. Also known as The Little Pisser because of her small size and turn of speed, MTB 344 was the carrier of choice for the men of SSRF on their raids across the Channel. (Chris Rooney)

    Dory training for the men of SSRF on the Dorset coast. Graham Hayes is at far left. (Chris Rooney)

    Dawn, Omaha beach, Normandy. The French plaque to Operation Aquatint is on the sea wall in the foreground and marks the place where Gus March-Phillipps and his men are believed to have come ashore. Then there were no flags, no sea wall, no beach-set monument to American D-Day casualties – just the same vast, empty beach offering nowhere to hide. And an alert, waiting enemy. (Author’s collection)

    The French plaque to Operation Aquatint overlooked by the vast majority of