Today, we uncover a forgotten SAS mission straight out of a war thriller: an elite unit jumps the chain of command and hijacks a 'pirate train', turning it into a weapon against fascist Italy. Their goal? To launch a surprise attack deep behind enemy lines on an Italian concentration camp and free its prisoners. Historian Damien Lewis joins us to reveal the breathtaking tale of WWII’s most cinematic untold raid. Damien is the author of 'SAS: The Great Train Raid' and 'SAS Great Escapes 5'. 0:00 Introduction 1:02 The founding ethos of the SAS 2:29 Modern legacy and Ukraine special forces 3:59 Genesis of the SAS in North Africa 7:45 The Italian campaign and Bill Sterling's vision 11:17 Operation Speedwell and Hugh Pinkney's maverick command 15:53 Horus Stokes and an epic escape via the Vatican 20:36 The Taranto landings and an unexpected message 22:47 Raymond Karud and the French Foreign Legion SAS squadron 27:00 The plan to hijack a pirate train 31:21 The humanitarian raid on Pistici concentration camp 38:37 Prince Filippo and uncovering hidden wartime history Produced by Mariana Des Forges, James Hickmann and McKenna Fernandez, edited by Matthew Wilson & the channel manager is Vilde Øksnes. You can find more Dan Snow's History Hit on the audio podcast here: https://podfollow.com/dan-snows-history-hit/view Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. All music from Epidemic Sounds. #DanSnowsHistoryHit #HistoryPodcast #WW2