by Major Peter Weaver and Dr. William A. Ward
Hardback (6.3×9.2 inches). 312 pages. 2026.
Subtitle: The Clandestine Life of Peter Weaver
Peter Weaver was a talented cricket player and wanted to be in British Army’s Sandhurst, but was rejected. Yet a chance family meeting led to his joining the Royal Tank Corps, which was supposed to provide the training and Army First Class Education certificate good for officer training. He later joined the Royal Engineers, learning all about explosives, and then the Auxiliary Corps — a commando-style unit expected to be overrun by a German invasion and then engage in guerrilla warfare. All of these led to becoming a lieutenant in the SAS. Much of the book concerns his training, with a focus commando, intel-gathering, and Maquis-coordination actions in 1944 German-occupied France.
Half the book is an autobiography Weaver wrote at some point, with Ward filling in details about organizations and missions, using official sources to correct misremembered facts, and extending the autobiography after WWII to Weaver’s retirement and death.
Weaver’s escapes proved to be the stuff of movies and he spent time with the Maquis rounding up downed Allied airmen and going on various missions. A couple successful ones involved observing where SS troops quartered and calling in a bombing run. He was later sent to Norway at the end of the war, and post-war to Greece, Sudan, and Crete.
The book contains 29 black and white photos and two color photos.
It reads quickly, although you have to get used to bouncing back and forth from italicized autobiography paragraphs to regular text commentary.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
