Popski's Private Army, officially No. 1 Demolition Squadron, PPA, was a unit of British Special Forces set up in Cairo in October 1942 by Major Vladimir Peniakoff. Popski's Private Army was one of several raiding units formed in the Western Desert during the Second World War. The squadron also served in Italy, and was disbanded in September 1945.
Vladimir "Popski" Peniakoff
Vladimir Peniakoff with his jeep during the raid on Barce.
British troops in Italy, 1945.
John Hackett (British Army officer)
General Sir John Winthrop Hackett, was an Australian-born British soldier, painter, university administrator, author and in later life, a commentator.
John Hackett (British Army officer)
King George VI inspects paratroops of 1st Airborne Division, 16 March 1944. Standing just a bit behind the King, with swagger stick and maroon beret, is Brigadier "Shan" Hackett, commanding the 4th Parachute Brigade, while Lieutenant Colonel K. B. I. Smyth, commanding the 10th Parachute Battalion and in maroon beret, stands just in front of him.
St Elizabeth Hospital
18 September 1994, John Hackett receives a medal of honour in Ede, the Netherlands