The War That Never Was Book

For the very first time "The War That Never Was" tells the fascinating story of a secret war fought by British mercenaries in the Yemen in the early 1960s. In a covert operation organised over whisky and sodas in the clubs of Chelsea and Mayfair a group of former SAS officers - led by the irrepressible Corporal Jim Johnson - arranged for a squadron of British mercenaries to travel to the remote mountain regions of the Yemen to arm train and lead Yemeni tribesmen in their fight against a 60 000-strong contingent of Egyptian soldiers. It was one of the most uneven running battles ever waged; the Egyptians fielded a huge professionally-trained army. The British fought back at the head of a ragtag force of tribal warriors and ultimately won. Egypt's President Nasser described the battle in the Yemen as 'my Vietnam'. It's a fascinating forgotten and rip-roaringly entertaining pocket of British military history much in the spirit of Ben MvIntyre's bestselling "Agent Zigzag" and "Operation Mincemeat".