The 'Jedburghs' were the best anti-Nazi commandos of WWII

Thank you, my friend CW5 Jack Cardwell for posting
"Wanted: Volunteers for immediate overseas assignment. Knowledge of French or another European language preferred; Willingness and ability to qualify as a parachutist necessary; Likelihood of a dangerous mission guaranteed.
Men who volunteered had a chance to be selected for a Jedburgh Team. The teams typically featured a mix of Canadian, British, French, and American troops, but they were tiny, typically with two to four members. So, obviously, there was just one man of each nationality in each team.
So, that was one reason that knowledge of European languages was preferred, the other was that these tiny teams would fight directly alongside resistance forces in Nazi-occupied Europe, mostly in France but also in the Netherlands and Belgium. Their motto summed up the mission well: "Surprise, kill, and vanish."
Very few people were selected. A post-war accounting put the number at 276 of which 83 were Americans. There were also 90 British and 103 French troops. The most typical team size was three, but all teams were required to have at least a commander and a radio operator.
The most common third member was an officer from the country in which the team was deployed. So, French members rounded out teams in France, Dutch in the Netherlands, and Belgian in Belgium.
The Jedburghs trained hard and wanted to go into Europe two to six weeks before the D-Day invasion, but Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower restricted the Jedburgh insertions until June 5, 1944—the night before D-Day—so the sudden presence of international troops wouldn't clue in the Nazis to the coming invasion.
So, on June 5, the teams began their insertions, and these few hundred men brought lots of extra weapons with them and rallied the resistance fighters of Europe. The Jedburghs and their allies fought far ahead of the invasion forces, in some cases taking and holding key infrastructure that the rest of the Allied forces wouldn't reach for weeks.

William E. Colby: Taking the Fight to the Enemy
"Before assuming the Director's chair at Langley in 1973, Colby got his chops in intelligence as an OSS "Jedburgh." He famously led parachute teams behind enemy lines into France in 1944 and Norway the following year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOnitTy6Xwo


FYI LTC Wayne Brandon LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj Robert Thornton CPT Scott Sharon SSG William Jones SSG Donald H "Don" Bates PO3 William Hetrick PO3 Lynn Spalding SPC Mark Huddleston SGT Rick Colburn CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SSgt Brian Brakke SP5 Jeannie Carle Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey Sgt Albert Castro

A story that is new to me. Thanks so much

I’m very familiar with the Jedburgh teams, CW5 Jack Cardwell. I was fortunate enough to meet Colonel Aaron Bank, a Jedburgh team leader during WWII.

“Colonel Aaron Bank (November 23, 1902 – April 1, 2004) was a United States Army officer, and the father/founder of the US Army Special Forces, commonly known as the ‘Green Berets’. He is also famous for his exploits as an OSS officer [commanding Jedburgh teams] during World War II, parachuting into France to coordinate and activate the French Resistance and organizing an operation intended to capture Adolf Hitler.”

In JUN93, the Special Forces Association held their annual convention in Nashville, TN. COL Bank was there as a special guest and also to promote his new book, ‘Knight's Cross’, a fictionalized account of the Hitler mission. He was 90 years old at the time. I was fortunate enough to meet COL Bank and still have an inscribed copy of his book!

Lt Col Charlie Brown SSG Donald H "Don" Bates PO1 William "Chip" Nagel CPT (Join to see) COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Eric Udouj