Home | Veterans | Michael Foot
Michael-Foot

A veteran interview with

Michael Foot

Michael Foot was an SAS intelligence officer serving in Britain & Northern France. He became the official writer of the Special Operations Executive.

Video Coming Soon

Bringing military history to life

Help us tell this veteran's story!

About Michael Foot

Michael Foot (later a professor of history, rather than the labour party leader) was in the Territorial Army before the war, joining up after his first year at Oxford. He spent two (dull, in his words) years in anti-aircraft command before transferring to Combined Operations, where he was later given the opportunity to become Intelligence Officer of the Special Air Service Brigade. He was involved in the planning for D-Day and parachuted into France in August 1944, but was soon captured and later exchanged as he had been too severely injured to be a combatant.

He comments laconically on his capture: he had given his SAS wings to someone else so the Germans had no idea who he was, which contributed to his survival. This also leads him to comment that luck is a predominant element in war. He was later involved in estimating the potential casualties for an invasion of Japan, which contributed to the use of the atomic bomb.

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martyn Cox
Reviewed by:
Andy Voase

Transcripts:
Please note that transcripts and closed captions in the video player are automatically generated by Vimeo.

Copyright:
All video content, web site design, graphics, images (including submitted content), text, the selection and arrangement thereof, underlying source code, software and all other material on this Web site are the copyright of Legasee Educational Trust, and its affiliates, or their content and technology providers. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Any use of materials on this Web site – including reproduction for purposes other than those noted above, modification, distribution, or republication – without the prior written permission of Legasee Educational Trust is strictly prohibited.

Home | Veterans | Michael Foot

A veteran interview with

Michael Foot

Michael-Foot

Michael Foot was an SAS intelligence officer serving in Britain & Northern France. He became the official writer of the Special Operations Executive.

Related topics & talking points

Keep on watching

More veteran stories...

Share this interview on:

https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/michael-foot/

Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Foot, Michael. A Veteran Interview with Michael Foot. Interview by Martyn Cox. Legasee, n.d. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/michael-foot/. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
APA Style:
Foot, M. (n.d.). A Veteran Interview with Michael Foot [Interview by Martyn Cox]. Legasee. Retrieved November 10, 2025, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/michael-foot/
Chicago Style:
Foot, Michael. n.d.. A Veteran Interview with Michael Foot. Interview by Martyn Cox. Legasee. Accessed November 10, 2025. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/michael-foot/
Harvard Style:
Foot, M. (n.d.). A Veteran Interview with Michael Foot. [Interviewed by Martyn Cox]. Legasee. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/michael-foot/ (Accessed: 10 November 2025)
Vancouver Style:
Foot, M. A Veteran Interview with Michael Foot [Internet]. Interview by M. Cox. Legasee; n.d. [cited 2025 Nov 10]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/michael-foot/
An interview with

Phillip Govett

Phillip Govett, a Private, served with the 117 Pioneer Company, landed in Normandy, and supported the Allied advance through Europe.

Phillip Govett served with the 117 Pioneer Company. He landed in Normandy on D plus 6 and moved through France, Belgium, and Holland. His main duties included supporting command supply depots (CSDs), prisoner of war camps, and providing supplies like ammunition and water. The unit experienced a rough time outside of Caen and had to dig in. They faced the dangers of mines, with one sergeant being severely injured by a booby trap. Phillip’s company waited to move up, but the advance was delayed due to the fighting at Caen. Phillip's journey took him near the German-Holland border, where they were in a forward area of a prisoner of war camp holding thousands of German prisoners.
Service:
Interviewed by:
Brig. C Elderton
An interview with

Gilbert Beck

Gilbert Beck: A Veteran’s Voice in Music

Gilbert Beck’s journey into military music began humbly in rural Oxfordshire, where his father brought home a grand piano from a local market, sparking a lifelong passion. Raised in a musical family, Gilbert sang in the church choir and played organ before joining the Army in 1948 as a band boy with the Royal Artillery. Trained at Woolwich and later Kneller Hall, Gilbert played double bass, tuba, and bass trombone, eventually joining the North Staffordshire Regiment. His musical service took him across Europe and into the Korean War, where he played a vital role in maintaining morale. From conducting services with a portable organ to performing for multinational troops, including Canadians and Americans, his music helped bridge cultural divides in a devastated landscape. In Korea, Gilbert played at the dedication of a tented village for displaced civilians and led hymns at makeshift services in Gloucester Valley. His experience highlighted the humanising power of music amid the harshness of war. Later selected for the demanding bandmaster course at Kneller Hall, Gilbert's talent earned him great respect, even as he ultimately chose family life over a full military career. Music remained central to Gilbert’s life, both in and out of uniform - a true servant of harmony in service and in peace.
Photo Gallery icon 44 Photos
Service:
An interview with

Colin Parker

A Coldstream Guard trained to feel invincible has a near death experience in the Middle East and suffers devastating PTSD.

Collin Parker details his experience with PTSD as well as his tragic fall from invincible Coldstream Guard to being left for dead in the Middle East. Slaving away day after day at his foundry job pushed Collin to actualise his childhood infatuation with the Armed Forces and join the Coldstream Guards. This particular regiment had a violent and prideful reputation due to moulding their recruits to feel like nothing could hurt them, something Collin experienced first hand.  Collin initially found it exciting to be on the battlefield until he was surrounded by Middle Eastern tribals and gravely injured by their mortar fire, the two teenagers soldiers under his command at the time not making it. Laying in the crater thinking about his family one last time Collin was fully convinced he had died but miraculously he survived.  After the attack Collin had to relearn how to walk and talk and was then medically discharged and forced to deal with his new found PTSD alone. Having to accept that the army viewed him as expendable was extremely difficult for Collin; he felt so small and powerless after being discharged, he had lost everything and they did not care. Due to the way the Coldstream Guard trained him Collin never believed he would suffer from PTSD but now he was stuck constantly relieving the stress and fear from that day over and over. 
Service:
Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker