The hothead Spaniards who served with SAS in WWII

British comrades despaired of their discipline but marvelled at their courage. Graham Keeley speaks to Sean Scullion, whose new book tells the story of the volunteer commandos

- Graham Keeley

In the final days of the Second World War, commandos from the SAS parachuted behind enemy lines to attack a crack German mountain unit in an operation which seems like something out of the pages of a novel.

Rafael Ramos Masens killed six Nazi troops and carried his wounded captain to safety. His actions earned him the Military Medal for “notable bravery during and after the attack” behind enemy lines. Before he reached the attack in Italy, Ramos had walked about 125 miles and fought in two other battles.

This is just one of many extraordinary tales of hundreds of Spaniards who fought across Europe and beyond for the British Army, to defeat fascism. Spanish soldiers fought in every theatre of war, including Tobruk, Crete, Salerno, Normandy, Arnhem and the Ardennes. When victory over Germany finally came, however, Spaniards who had risked their lives were disappointed that the Allies did not try to bring down the Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco.

Their story is captured in dramatic fashion in Churchill’s Spaniards, published this month, which relates the heroism of these men, who were already veterans of the Spanish civil war when they enlisted for Britain.

Sean Scullion, a lieutenant colonel in the British army, who is based in the Netherlands for Nato, spent eight years researching the stories of about 1,200 Spaniards who fought for Winston Churchill. The SAS had at least nine Spanish troopers.