Operation Agreement ─ Jewish Commandos and the Raid on Tobruk

Although ultimately unsuccessful, Operation Agreement was one of the most dramatic raids of the war in North Africa. This dramatic retelling of the events emphasizes the often-overlooked story of the Jewish volunteers of the Special Interrogation Group.

The Special Interrogation Group (SIG) was the most exceptional of Special Forces. Created to raid behind enemy lines posing as German troops, the SIG was largely made up of German Jews who were all too aware of the dangers they faced -- capture meant either death or deportation to a concentration camp. In 1942, Operation Agreement saw the SIG tasked with taking part in a raid on Tobruk, where they were to make up the land-based element of the attack. Disguised as POWs under escort by German-speaking SIGs the group covered close to 1,700 miles of desert to reach their target. The ruse worked perfectly and the SIG went on to destroy a number of coastal guns before eventually being overwhelmed by Axis forces.

This is the history of the SIG, revealing startling details about the group and offering moving insights into the Jewish volunteers putting their lives on the line to fight against the evils of Nazism.

Douglas John Sadler, a military historian, lectures at the Centre for Lifelong Learning at Sunderland University and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. A well-traveled battlefield tour guide covering most major conflicts in the UK, Europe, and North Africa, he knows the ground over which the Desert War was fought. He is married with two grown-up daughters, and lives in Mid-Northumberland.