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Operation
Tombola into Operation Grapeshot. Lieutenant Colonel John Grosvenor Beevor wrote in his rejection of the award: “It is not disputed that the facts given are correct or that this officer, along with SAS detachment, showed gallantry and enterprise. But in the opinion of 15th Army Group the value of this operation depended on its timing and Captain Lees with the SAS carried it out prematurely and recklessly, in spite of the express orders from 15th Army Group transmitted by this HQ. But for the gallantry displayed and the fact that Captain Lees was wounded in action, it is probably that disciplinary action would have been considered.”
309:, commander of Allied Special Forces in Italy. Hewitt investigated the claim, and found it spurious, writing "“I must emphasise most strongly that he was never promised promotion by me or any officer serving under me, that in no circumstances would I recommend his promotion…” This was partially due to Hewitt learning the claim of promotion had come from Lees himself. “I learnt, after he had been dropped, that (Lees) himself had expressed the view that he should have been granted major’s rank”. Hewitt also noted that Lees had been shielded from disciplinary action, only due to the wounds he sustained in combat.
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Lees became head of SOE Mission 'Envelope' in
January 1945. Shortly after, his relationships with his superiors deteriorated, to the extent he was felt to be a liability. Lees was offered evacuation by his superior Major Charles Macintosh. Lees rejected the offer, and replied vulgarly to Macintosh on
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On July 17, 1945, Major Farran recommended Lees be immediately gazetted with the
Military Cross for his actions during the raid (making no mention of the orders to delay the attack). The recommendation was rejected, owing to both Lees' insubordination, and the squandered opportunity to incorporate
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Despite SOE confirming Lees and Farran had received their orders, the pair disobeyed and attacked the German HQ according to their original timeline. They completely destroyed one of the two villas comprising the HQ, badly burning the other and killing several senior enemy officers. Lees was badly
254:"“by not accepting your invitation to come out I gave you a moral victory, but I did not accept because I realise that the firm would have jumped at the opportunity of putting some British Liaison Officer type who would sit here doing fuckall and give them a peaceful job with FANYs (
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Following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps and joining the Dorset
Yeomanry, as war broke out he volunteered for airborne services and was posted to Egypt where, in 1943, he joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE). He was sent to join Serbian nationalist
285:, the Spring 1945 offensive that would end with the capitulation of Axis forces in Italy. SOE planned for the attack to cause maximum disruption to the German defence, and deprive their planners of the ability to reorganize German headquarters staff outside of battle.
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HQ), and had performed reconnaissance which confirmed their testimony. SOE returned Lees’ message asking him to submit a plan of attack, and not to launch the attack alone, as they hoped to coordinate the action with a broader offensive by the
British 15th Army.
281:. March 28 was the planned date of the operation. SOE responded “wait one week after target date…your scheme will then be correctly timed for maximum effort”.This would have delayed the operation until April 5, immediately proceeding
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wounded during the attack, and wrote in his report to Major
Macintosh "I hope the show was as success…look after the show for me as I will be layed up for a long time, and tell Charles Macintosh to fuck himself.”
305:. While in hospital in Chester, Lees claimed he had been promised a promotion to Major within a week of entering Italy. The report of this claim was passed to Lieutenant-Colonel
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On March 21 Lees’ submitted a plan of attack, which would have been launched jointly with
Italian Partisans and a contingent of
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In
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Signal No. 141 from Tac HQ to
Envelope, March 21, 1945 in HS 9/906/6 SOE Personnel file Michael Lees.
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Owing to his injuries, Lees was eventually smuggled by small airplane from behind enemy lines to
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Michael Lees to
Charles Macintosh, 10 March 1945 in HS 9/906/6 SOE Personnel file Michael Lees.
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Though not disciplined or court-martialed, Lees was blocked from a post-war career with
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Richard Thornton Hewitt, June 12, 1945 in HS 9/906/6 SOE Personnel file Michael Lees.
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John Grosvenor Beevor, July 25, 1945 in HS 9/906/6 SOE Personnel file Michael Lees.
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British soldier and member of the Special Operations Executive during World War II
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Lees was the son of Bernard Percy Turnbull Lees, who served with distinction in
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SAS Italian Job: : The Secret Mission to Storm a Forbidden Nazi Fortress
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The Rape of Serbia: The British Role in Tito's Grab for Power 1943-1944
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193:. The chief planner of
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227:and was awarded the
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258:) on their knees”.
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156:Battles/wars
130:British Army
72:(1993-03-23)
42:Lees in 1943
30:Michael Lees
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609:Nick Lalich
564:Robert Wade
556:Archie Jack
533:Bill Hudson
382:Dorset Live
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213:World War I
199:Wehrmacht's
188:Yugoslavian
56:17 May 1922
670:Categories
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387:2 February
361:2 February
337:References
279:Roy Farran
251:March 10:
100:Allegiance
87:Occupation
263:14th Army
215:with the
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62:, England
701:Chetniks
299:Florence
237:Chetniks
225:Boer War
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140:Captain
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447:ISBN
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186:and
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53:Born
318:MI6
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
