Jedburgh Team Operations in Support of the 12th Army Group, August 1944

East, U.S. Special Operations Forces @OF) received accolades from their commanders,
the media, and the public. Given the missions SOF performed in
()perutions Just Cause and Desert Storm, this praise was earned.
In the past, however, special operations have not always been viewed so
positively. Prior to the early l%Xls-when President John F. Kennedy expanded
U.S. Special Forces and made counterinsurgency the cornerstone of his Flexible
Response doctrine-the lot of special operations soldiers was far from satisfactory.
Few in number, they were criticized as elitist and were considered suitable only
for behind-the-lines oporations in a major East-West conflict.
Little has been written about the missions and activities of special forces
in the lS!jOs and even less abaut their predecessors in World War II. The Jedburghs
were one such group, dropped in three-man teams in France during 1944
to sssist the Allied advance from behind German lines. Dr. S. J. Lewis’ study
on the activities of a number of Jedburgh teams operating in northern France
during the last year of the war addresses this often-overlooked aspect of the
war in Europe. This study should udvnnce the understanding of Special Operations
b’orces on the part of military professionals and civilians alike and stimulate
further inquiries into a topic still shrouded in mystery and misunderstanding.