Boarding Party

The Secret Mission of the Calcutta Light Horse

Boarding Party tells the extraordinary true story behind one of the most daring and unconventional operations of the Second World War.

In neutral Goa, a German merchant ship was secretly transmitting intelligence that enabled U-boats to attack Allied shipping across the Indian Ocean. The British knew the transmitter had to be silenced, but any overt action risked violating Portuguese neutrality and causing a diplomatic crisis.

The solution came from an unexpected source. More than 1,400 miles away in Calcutta, a group of middle-aged bankers, businessmen and solicitors, veterans of the long-dormant Calcutta Light Horse, were recruited for a covert mission of remarkable audacity. Officially civilians, they would undertake a secret operation that professional soldiers could not.

Drawing on firsthand accounts and extensive research, James Leasor recounts one of the war’s most remarkable special operations, a story of courage, ingenuity and determination against seemingly impossible odds.

First published in 1978, Boarding Party was adapted into the acclaimed film The Sea Wolves, starring Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and David Niven. It includes a foreword by Earl Mountbatten of Burma.

Daily Mirror ‘One of the most decisive actions in World War II was fought by fourteen out-of-conditions middle-aged men sailing in a steam barge…’ New York Times ‘Mr. Leasor’s book is truth far more engrossing than fiction… A gem of World War II history.’