Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC has had his latest article published in his bravery series for Britain at War, the country’s best-selling military history monthly magazine.
The theme of the series is Lord Ashcroft’s “hero of the month” and the July edition of the magazine has a four-page write-up on the life and courage of Major Tony Greville-Bell DSO.
Greville-Bell, who was something of a maverick inside and outside the Armed Forces, was a member of the early SAS and his decoration was announced on September 21 1943 for gallantry behind enemy lines in northern Italy.
Despite being badly injured during the parachute jump, he led his SAS sabotage team for 73 days behind enemy lines and completed a 250-mile trek back to Allied forces. One SAS corporal said of Greville-Bell: ‘The great thing about Major Tony is that he doesn’t get you killed unless he absolutely has to.”
Lord Ashcroft is a military historian who had written four books on bravery over the past eight years. He has also lectured extensively on courage and his various medal collections.
His articles for the magazine are largely based on excerpts from Lord Ashcroft’s four books on gallantry: Victoria Cross Heroes, Special Forces Heroes, George Cross Heroes and Heroes of the Skies.
Furthermore, the vast majority of the write-ups are based on gallantry medals owned by Lord Ashcroft. As well as his unrivalled 183-strong VC collection, he has a major Special Forces’ medals’ collection and a substantial collection of decorations awarded for gallantry in the air.
In 2010, Lord Ashcroft also started collecting George Crosses (GCs) for the first time and currently possesses 14 such awards.
Lord Ashcroft’s article appears in the July 2014 issue of Britain at War, which is on sale now.
