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SAS Daggers Drawn: In For the Kill: The Third in the Blair 'Paddy' Mayne Trilogy
In the summer of 1944, the SAS were charged with the most crucial D-Day missions, taking on the might of the Nazi Reich deep behind enemy lines. Facing Hitler's armoured legions - his fearsome Panzer divisions - with little more than raw courage and their nimble Willys jeeps, it would take maverick thinking and unconventional warfare in the extreme to survive and overcome. Hunted at every turn, theirs would become a bitter struggle to topple the dark power wielded from Berlin.
Increasingly, the war to seize The Fatherland would descend into a bitter and bloody struggle waged between the Nazi Fuhrer, and those he believed hunted him and his most senior commanders - Blair 'Paddy' Mayne's SAS. No greater courage can be written, nor unconventional soldiering envisaged, than that evidenced by these renegade warriors as they dared all to bring the war to its final blood-soaked close.
Increasingly, the war to seize The Fatherland would descend into a bitter and bloody struggle waged between the Nazi Fuhrer, and those he believed hunted him and his most senior commanders - Blair 'Paddy' Mayne's SAS. No greater courage can be written, nor unconventional soldiering envisaged, than that evidenced by these renegade warriors as they dared all to bring the war to its final blood-soaked close.
417 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 24, 2024
88 people are currently reading
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About the author
Damien Lewis
82 books453 followersNot to be confused with the actor, Damian Lewis.
Damien Lewis became an author largely by accident, when a British publisher asked him if he'd be willing to turn a TV documentary he was working on into a book. That film was shot in the Sudan war zone, and told the story of how Arab tribes seized black African slaves in horrific slave raids. Lewis had been to the Sudan war zone dozens of times over the past decade, reporting on that conflict for the BBC, Channel 4 and US and European broadcasters.
His slavery documentary told the story of a young girl from the Nuba tribe, seized in a raid and sold into slavery in Khartoum, Sudan's capital city, and of her epic escape. The publisher asked Lewis if the Nuba girl would be willing to write her life story as a book, with his help as co-author. The book that they co-wrote was called 'Slave', and it was published to great acclaim, becoming a number one bestseller and being translated into some 30 lanc guages worldwide. It won several awards and has been made into a feature film.
Over the preceding fifteen years Lewis had reported from many war, conflict and disaster zones – including Sudan, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, Burma, Afghanistan and the Balkans (see Author's Gallery). He (and his film crew) traveled into such areas with aid workers, the British or allied military, UN forces or local military groups, or very much under their own steam. He reported on the horror and human impact of war, as well as the drama of conflict itself. Often, he worked alone. Often, he filmed his own material over extended periods of time living in the war or conflict zone.
During a decade spent reporting from around the world Lewis lived in deserts, rainforests, jungles and chaotic third world cities. In his work and travels he met and interviewed people smugglers, diamond miners, Catholic priests 'gone native', desert nomads, un-contacted tribes, aid workers, bush pilots, arms dealers, genocidal leaders, peacekeepers, game wardens, slum kids, world presidents, heroin traffickers, rebel warlords, child prostitutes, Islamist terrorists, Hindu holy men, mercenaries, bush doctors, soldiers, commanders and spies. He was injured, and was hospitalised with bizarre tropical diseases – including flesh-eating bacteria, worms that burrow through the skin and septicemia – but survived all that and continued to report.
It was only natural that having seen so much of global conflict he would be drawn to stories of war, terrorism, espionage and the often dark causes behind such conflicts when he started writing books. Having written a number of true stories, in 2006 he was chosen as one of the 'nation's 20 favourite authors' and wrote his first fiction, Desert Claw, for the British Government's Quick Read initiative. Desert Claw tells of a group of ex-Special Forces soldiers sent into Iraq to retrieve a looted Van Gogh painting, with a savage twist to the tale. That fiction was followed up by Cobra Gold, an equally compelling tale of global drama and intrigue and shadowy betrayal.
Damien Lewis's work, books and films have won the Index on Censorship (UK), CECRA (Spain), Project Censored (US), Commonwealth Relations (UK), Discovery-NHK BANFF (Canada), Rory Peck (UK), BBC One World (UK), BBC-WWF Wildscreen (UK), International Peace Prize (US), Elle Magazine Grande Prix (US), Victor Gollanz (Germany), and BBC One World (UK) Awards. He is a Fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Damien Lewis became an author largely by accident, when a British publisher asked him if he'd be willing to turn a TV documentary he was working on into a book. That film was shot in the Sudan war zone, and told the story of how Arab tribes seized black African slaves in horrific slave raids. Lewis had been to the Sudan war zone dozens of times over the past decade, reporting on that conflict for the BBC, Channel 4 and US and European broadcasters.
His slavery documentary told the story of a young girl from the Nuba tribe, seized in a raid and sold into slavery in Khartoum, Sudan's capital city, and of her epic escape. The publisher asked Lewis if the Nuba girl would be willing to write her life story as a book, with his help as co-author. The book that they co-wrote was called 'Slave', and it was published to great acclaim, becoming a number one bestseller and being translated into some 30 lanc guages worldwide. It won several awards and has been made into a feature film.
Over the preceding fifteen years Lewis had reported from many war, conflict and disaster zones – including Sudan, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, Burma, Afghanistan and the Balkans (see Author's Gallery). He (and his film crew) traveled into such areas with aid workers, the British or allied military, UN forces or local military groups, or very much under their own steam. He reported on the horror and human impact of war, as well as the drama of conflict itself. Often, he worked alone. Often, he filmed his own material over extended periods of time living in the war or conflict zone.
During a decade spent reporting from around the world Lewis lived in deserts, rainforests, jungles and chaotic third world cities. In his work and travels he met and interviewed people smugglers, diamond miners, Catholic priests 'gone native', desert nomads, un-contacted tribes, aid workers, bush pilots, arms dealers, genocidal leaders, peacekeepers, game wardens, slum kids, world presidents, heroin traffickers, rebel warlords, child prostitutes, Islamist terrorists, Hindu holy men, mercenaries, bush doctors, soldiers, commanders and spies. He was injured, and was hospitalised with bizarre tropical diseases – including flesh-eating bacteria, worms that burrow through the skin and septicemia – but survived all that and continued to report.
It was only natural that having seen so much of global conflict he would be drawn to stories of war, terrorism, espionage and the often dark causes behind such conflicts when he started writing books. Having written a number of true stories, in 2006 he was chosen as one of the 'nation's 20 favourite authors' and wrote his first fiction, Desert Claw, for the British Government's Quick Read initiative. Desert Claw tells of a group of ex-Special Forces soldiers sent into Iraq to retrieve a looted Van Gogh painting, with a savage twist to the tale. That fiction was followed up by Cobra Gold, an equally compelling tale of global drama and intrigue and shadowy betrayal.
Damien Lewis's work, books and films have won the Index on Censorship (UK), CECRA (Spain), Project Censored (US), Commonwealth Relations (UK), Discovery-NHK BANFF (Canada), Rory Peck (UK), BBC One World (UK), BBC-WWF Wildscreen (UK), International Peace Prize (US), Elle Magazine Grande Prix (US), Victor Gollanz (Germany), and BBC One World (UK) Awards. He is a Fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 5, 2024
As would be expected from the author’s previous works, this is a meticulously researched book and having access to previously unseen archive material makes it unique. Quite fitting for the writer who has done the most to document and preserve the memory of the SAS with his clear and cogent prose. More than that though, he has the real storyteller’s ability to bring the incredible exploits of the band of mavericks to life. Their daring-do needs no embellishment; he manages to tap into their psyche to bring greater understanding of the men, their courage, fears, humanity and morals.
Having been forged in the desert, spearheaded the invasion of Sicily and the Italian campaign, they are bringing their unique talents to the D-Day invasion and onwards into the heartland of Germany. A journey that will require them to adapt their method of operation to new war environments and ultimately a role that they were neither equipped for nor envisaged. Battle casualties had been remarkably low but as the war was ending would increase significantly. Men who had almost believed in their own invincibility, would no longer be reticent, becoming fearful of death in the final days, some having premonitions of it happening.
The SAS were now experiencing the dirty war first hand. The Germans had been conducting a savage war in the east, leaving behind a trail of atrocities in their wake, such as Babi Yar, some of which were barely covered up. Now the massacre of innocents would come to rural France where whole villages were wiped out as reprisal for resistance activities. Civilians were executed at a rate of 10 for each solider killed (in a macabre reversal of the Roman ‘decimate’) and 30 for each officer. Perhaps best known are those by 2nd SS Panzer Division ‘Das Reich’ but they were widespread and together with Hitler’s Kommandobefehl (commando order) caused great moral dilemma for the fighters. Capture meant torture and certain death, but each successful action against the enemy would lead to more innocent civilians killed. The ultimate test would come with the liberation of Bergen-Belsen.
The reader is given a feel for how the near constant vigilance needed when deployed shredded the nerves of men, when even periods of rest are mentally exhaustive, draining resolve and courage. Yet they returned time and again, driven by duty but also the incredible camaraderie that they had built up. These were men who would face danger to rescue or support their colleagues. Lighter moments were few, quite understandably, but vital to raise spirits. There is a fabulous story involving a wild goose and the bizarre story of how one man managed to be shot in the backside on three occasions. The work hard, play hard ethos comes to the fore back in the UK when on R and R with some wild parties and crazy challenges.
When it comes to lasting impressions, for me it is the fact that these men managed to hold onto their decency and humanity in the face of the madness surrounding them. Yes, they were ferocious fighters, but they balked at the senseless loss of life, taking prisoners of war when they faced execution if captured and the ultimate test faced at Belsen. This section demonstrates the depraved madness some of the German’s descended to and the refusal of civilians to believe what had been done in their name. On the spot executions of SS guards would have been understandable, yet they managed to control their obvious anger. They had seen both sides of the German people, a couple of captured men becoming their willing helpers, they didn’t subscribe to the ‘only good German is a dead one’ feeling of some of the top brass.
An excellent addition comes at the end, with a section on what the men did following the war. Some thrived, but many suffered psychologically from what they saw and experienced during the war. Various manifestations of PTSD causing some to shut themselves off from the world, whilst others would resort to excessive drinking or reckless behaviour. Something that sadly accounted for Paddy Mayne’s early death.
Having been forged in the desert, spearheaded the invasion of Sicily and the Italian campaign, they are bringing their unique talents to the D-Day invasion and onwards into the heartland of Germany. A journey that will require them to adapt their method of operation to new war environments and ultimately a role that they were neither equipped for nor envisaged. Battle casualties had been remarkably low but as the war was ending would increase significantly. Men who had almost believed in their own invincibility, would no longer be reticent, becoming fearful of death in the final days, some having premonitions of it happening.
The SAS were now experiencing the dirty war first hand. The Germans had been conducting a savage war in the east, leaving behind a trail of atrocities in their wake, such as Babi Yar, some of which were barely covered up. Now the massacre of innocents would come to rural France where whole villages were wiped out as reprisal for resistance activities. Civilians were executed at a rate of 10 for each solider killed (in a macabre reversal of the Roman ‘decimate’) and 30 for each officer. Perhaps best known are those by 2nd SS Panzer Division ‘Das Reich’ but they were widespread and together with Hitler’s Kommandobefehl (commando order) caused great moral dilemma for the fighters. Capture meant torture and certain death, but each successful action against the enemy would lead to more innocent civilians killed. The ultimate test would come with the liberation of Bergen-Belsen.
The reader is given a feel for how the near constant vigilance needed when deployed shredded the nerves of men, when even periods of rest are mentally exhaustive, draining resolve and courage. Yet they returned time and again, driven by duty but also the incredible camaraderie that they had built up. These were men who would face danger to rescue or support their colleagues. Lighter moments were few, quite understandably, but vital to raise spirits. There is a fabulous story involving a wild goose and the bizarre story of how one man managed to be shot in the backside on three occasions. The work hard, play hard ethos comes to the fore back in the UK when on R and R with some wild parties and crazy challenges.
When it comes to lasting impressions, for me it is the fact that these men managed to hold onto their decency and humanity in the face of the madness surrounding them. Yes, they were ferocious fighters, but they balked at the senseless loss of life, taking prisoners of war when they faced execution if captured and the ultimate test faced at Belsen. This section demonstrates the depraved madness some of the German’s descended to and the refusal of civilians to believe what had been done in their name. On the spot executions of SS guards would have been understandable, yet they managed to control their obvious anger. They had seen both sides of the German people, a couple of captured men becoming their willing helpers, they didn’t subscribe to the ‘only good German is a dead one’ feeling of some of the top brass.
An excellent addition comes at the end, with a section on what the men did following the war. Some thrived, but many suffered psychologically from what they saw and experienced during the war. Various manifestations of PTSD causing some to shut themselves off from the world, whilst others would resort to excessive drinking or reckless behaviour. Something that sadly accounted for Paddy Mayne’s early death.
November 21, 2024
Another excellent and fast moving account of the SAS in WWII by Damien Lewis. This time the focus is on France and Germany in the period leading up to the end of the war. The heroics of Paddy Mayne, which unbelievably, did not result in a VC are fully documented as is the discovery of Belsen concentration camp and its horrors.
I have enjoyed reading all of Damien’s books and this one is particularly interesting in relation to the way in which he has woven the issue of PTSD into the many tragic and horrible events experienced by the SAS. Not properly recognised at the time, it is obvious that so many of these heroes were badly suffering from PTSD. I know that Damien has an interest in this and well done for bringing to light an issue which is frequently overlooked.
I have enjoyed reading all of Damien’s books and this one is particularly interesting in relation to the way in which he has woven the issue of PTSD into the many tragic and horrible events experienced by the SAS. Not properly recognised at the time, it is obvious that so many of these heroes were badly suffering from PTSD. I know that Damien has an interest in this and well done for bringing to light an issue which is frequently overlooked.
November 10, 2024
This is a fantastic read by a great author which details the heroism and ingenuity of the SAS in northern Europe. There are detailed accounts based on interviews and access to Paddy Maynes papers that reveal the bravery of the men, the deprivation and horrors. It shows what was done to protect our democracy. #wewillrememberthem #lestweforget
July 15, 2025
The final chapter
The end of the trilogy and just as bloody but with more dreadful acts from the enemy. A different theatre and not one designed for the SAS. However they again rose to the challenge and demonstrated their skill-set.
The end of the trilogy and just as bloody but with more dreadful acts from the enemy. A different theatre and not one designed for the SAS. However they again rose to the challenge and demonstrated their skill-set.
December 11, 2024
An excellent concluding book in the “Paddy Mayne” trilogy.
February 3, 2025
Brilliant
February 6, 2025
Well researched and written. Loved the read.
March 20, 2025
A really good read, very enjoyable, well written like all of his books. The courage and tenacity of the young men of this era is astonishing.
April 16, 2025
Yet another gripping tale from Damien Lewis, historically accurate and written in a way that makes it more fun to read than most adventure stories. Love it.
August 18, 2025
Couldn’t put it down . As good as his other books and never dull . You get the fuller picture of what the SAS were doing from D Day to the end of the war .
September 23, 2025
Another excellent read from a great author If this was fiction you think it was too far fetched but in reality these stories are true and we have to thank them for their part in winning war
December 26, 2025
Excellent. Didn't know much about this part of SAS history.
April 4, 2025
I needed a 15 min mental break after Eoin was mentioned.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews