CHURCHILL'S GERMAN SPECIAL FORCES: The Elite Refugee Troops who took the War to Hitler

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During WWII, the British created German-speaking units from among the refugees of Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany. The majority were Jews who had fled persecution. Two examples of these secret units were X Troop Commandos and the Special Interrogation Group (SIG). Churchill's initiative was copied by both the Americans and the Russians. Post-war SIG and X Troop survivors joined British special forces or were used to hunt down Nazi war criminals.

The SIG men deserve their legendary status. They fought, and often died, wearing Wehrmacht uniforms. At one point, after infiltrating Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Korps, one detachment even drew Nazi pay. Inevitably, once the existence of SIG units became known, their immediate execution on capture was ordered, unless their temporary reprieve would reveal intelligence under torture.