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HMS Mauritius, which assisted the SRS???s landing at Augusta, Sicily, on 12 July 1943 in a shore bombardment role. The light cruiser is shown here ready for action off the Anzio beachhead in March 1944. The SAS supported the landings in January with operations to impede German reinforcements. THE FULL story of Britain???s elite Special Forces??? operations in Italy during World War Two has been told in a new book. In the summer of 1943, the Special Air Service came out of Africa to carry the fight to the Germans and Fascists in Sicily and on the mainland. At the time, the originator of the SAS, Colonel David Stirling, was held in Italy???s high-security Prisoner of War Camp Five at Gavi in Piedmont. But his work continued. The idea of small groups of parachutists operating behind enemy lines to attack strategic targets and to obtain intelligence was realised in the daring missions carried out in Italy by the men of the 2nd SAS Regiment and the Special Raiding Squadron. In the first phase, they mounted island raids, took part in the invasion of the mainland, rescued escaped prisoners of war and supported the Anzio landings. In the second phase, they helped to breach the Gothic Line and to secure the victory, this time in concert with the Italian Resistance. The SAS carried out over twenty operations in wartime Italy and they are all covered in Anglo-Italian historian Malcolm Tudor???s new book, SAS in Italy: 1943-1945, published by Fonthill Media. Malcolm Tudor / mediadrumimages.com