At Close Quarters: SOE Close Combat Pistol Instructor Colonel Hector Grant-Taylor - Softcover

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was the paramount Allied sabotage force of the Second World War. Its job - in Churchill's words - was to "set Europe ablaze" through the use of sabotage, insurrection and assassination. One of its "shining Stars" and "legends" was the close-combat pistol instructor, Colonel Hector Grant-Taylor. Grant-Taylor taught the commandos, secret agents and irregular soldiers the art of how to kill at close quarters. He taught them how to be ruthless, lethal and covert, and yet his own life was itself a mystery worthy of a John Buchan thriller novel. Misinformation, deception, bravery, murder, and ultimately redemption, all play a part in his story. At Close Quarters finally puts to rest the myths and legends that surrounded his life, and unravels the mysterious truth behind the enigma that was Colonel Hector Grant-Taylor!

David Armstrong works as a freelance security consultant and investigator. It is during this career that he studied what is known as the "Grant-Taylor shooting method." Five years ago he began by researching who Grant-Taylor was, and as of now, is the only person who has managed to gather together all the pieces of his life accurately and present it in a comprehensive work.