Colin served as one of His Majesty’s elite Commandos, in dangerous operations behind enemy lines with 40 Royal Marine Commando. He survived a life-threatening injury to the back of his head and underwent brain surgery in a makeshift field tent, died on the operating table, and was revived. Less than nine months later, utterly determined to fight Hitler again, he returned to his Commando brothers and was back behind enemy lines. I knew Colin Anson and his wife, Alice, for several years before I could persuade Colin that his extraordinary war was worthy of a biography. Like so many of the veterans that I interviewed, he remained humble about his contribution and did not see himself as a hero. Any mention of the word ‘brave’ was immediately dismissed. The Colin that I knew so well was kind; he had a gentle manner and a firm Prussian accent, with which he carefully formed each English word he said. For most of his life, he hid his past from everyone and never spoke about his war to his children. Only Alice knew, because she too had had her own secret war. Finally, I managed to convince Colin that it was important to tell his story, so that future generations would remember, learn the lessons, and understand the sacrifices that were made to restore peace and democracy to Europe. Colin was already approaching his nineties, his body still so toned and super fit that it was obvious he had been in some kind of Special Forces. He would smile at me and say that he could still take someone down to the ground if he had to. 'X Troop Commando' is his story: amzn.to/3WWPMEi