The Nazi occupation of much of Western Europe in early 1940 posed many challenges for the British Secret Services. A high priority was to find an effective means of infiltrating and exfiltrating agents and, later, reliable methods for supplying the growing resistance movements with arms and ammunition. The work fell outside the normal duties of RAF squadrons so, in March 1940, RAF Tempsford in Bedfordshire became the base for No.138 (SD) Squadron and No. 161 (SD) Squadrons. Flying mainly by the light of the full moon, these two squadrons operated throughout the length and breadth of Western Europe, delivering agents and supplies. Without the agents the secret services would have been hamstrung, and without the supplies the resistance movements would have been unable to participate in the armed struggle. By the end of the war, the Squadrons had, between them, lost in excess of 600 men. THIS IS THEIR STORY.

The story of the search by the author to discover the truth about the death of his uncle, a pilot in one of Churchill's Special Duties Squadrons during WW2. The parallel descriptions of the RAF career of F/Lt John Menzies and his nephew's dogged determination to find out what happened to him culminate in the discovery of the wreckage of his aircraft. Information discovered along the way raises many questions, not all of which have been answered. In the 10 years that have passed since the first publication of this book many other families have found out the truth of the careers of their relatives in the Special Duties Squadrons, largely through the continuing work of the author, who has become an authority on the subject.