Davies joined the Territorial Army as a teenager just before the Second World War and became a regular soon after, obtaining an officer’s commission in 1941 and joining the Commandos, following his older brother. Davies took part in the allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942 and landed by beach behind German lines in Tunisia to assist in a planned allied attack of the town of Bizerte. The Commandos came under intense fire, suffering casualties, including his own troop commander who was fatally shot. Davies eventually lead his own section back to allied lines where they joined the successful allied push against the Germans. Soon after Davies returned to England for training before being sent to the Far East. In January 1945, Davies, now with 5 Commando landed on the Myebon Peninsula in Burma and took part in the taking of Hill 170 at Kangaw, a desperate battle that lasted 36 hours and which led to the withdrawal of the Japanese Army from the Arakan. Whilst planning for the invasion of Malaya, the war ended and Davies then went to Hong Kong and Shanghai, where he assisted in repatriating British men and women interned by the Japanese. Davies was demobbed in May 1946.

Peter Lee was at the War Office when his superior tried to have him posted elsewhere but he was able to join Special Operation Executive (SOE). Initially he was at SOE HQ in London, in charge of field agent’s security. After this he was posted to north Africa and later Italy, where he worked with secret agents recruited from First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY). He also supervised two Russian agents who were parachuted into German occupied Italy. Peter was responsible for the training many of the FANY’s and ensuring the secrecy of their missions. One of these operations was the destruction of a huge steel press used to make German tanks. It was realised at the time that many agents sent out would never return and this unnerved some of the trainers. He regards the war as the most interesting time of his life and was in some ways sorry when it ended.