Brave Beyond Their Years: Exploits of the SOE during WWII

Ian Aitken was a consulting actuary with an international firm. He was based in Edinburgh, Reigate and Johannesburg, South Africa. Now, in retirement, he has returned to the picturesque coastal town of North Berwick on the east coast of Scotland.In retirement he researched his family tree and wrote the book 70 years - life changes. During his research he discovered that his father's young brother Alan H Aitken was a pilot flying Halifax Bombers who was killed on 23 March 1945. Naturally his first reaction was to assume that Alan had been involved in standard flying duties. However, further research revealed that Alan had been seconded to special Duties 138 and 161 Squadrons which were assigned to the Special Operations Executive (SOE) flying the agents behind the enemy lines in France and other countries and this discovery inspired Brave Beyond Their Years.