Cover of Silent Boat Service – Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History
Silent Boat Service – Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History back cover

SBS – Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History

£10.99

Free UK delivery on orders over £60.00
Standard UK delivery from £5.95

International delivery cost can be calculated here and at checkout
£10.99

Britain’s SBS – or Special Boat Service – was the world’s first maritime special operations unit. Founded in the dark days of 1940, it started as a small and inexperienced outfit that leaned heavily on volunteers’ raw courage and boyish enthusiasm. It went on to change the course of the Second World War – and has served as a model for special forces ever since.

The fledgling unit’s first mission was a daring beach reconnaissance of Rhodes in the spring of 1941. Over the next four years, the SBS and its affiliates would carry out many more spectacular operations in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Channel and the Far East. These missions – including Operation Frankton, the daredevil attempt by the ‘Cockleshell Heroes’ to paddle up the Garonne river and sink Axis ships in Bordeaux harbour – were some of the most audacious and legendary of the war.

Paddling flimsy canoes, and armed only with knives, pistols and a few sub-machine guns, this handful of brave and determined men operated deep behind enemy lines in the full knowledge that if caught they might be executed. Many were.Yet their many improbable achievements – destroying enemy ships and infrastructure, landing secret agents, tying up enemy forces, spreading fear and uncertainty, and, most importantly, preparing the ground for D-Day – helped to make an Allied victory possible.Written with the full cooperation of the modern SBS – the first time this ultra-secretive unit has given its seal of approval to any book – and exclusive access to its archives, SBS: Silent Warriors allows Britain’s original special forces to emerge from the shadows and take their proper and deserved place in our island story.

Members

Museum Members receive 10% off* shopping both online and at the museum sites.

Join as a Member today

Subscribers

Sign up to our newsletter for a 10% discount* off your next order.

Subscribe now

*Exclusions apply, please see our Terms and Conditions

Important update to delivery: Due to the volume of Solar Eclipse Glasses currently being ordered, Royal Museums Greenwich fulfilment times are being processed with delays. We truly apologise for the longer wait times in receiving your order and appreciate your patience and understanding during this time. We are a very small team at the museum working through a large volume of orders. We appreciate our customers supporting the work of the museums through every purchase. Your order will be with you as soon as possible. We will get all Solar Eclipse Glasses to our customers in time for the partial eclipse on 12 August 2026.

Our standard processing and fulfillment time is 1-3 working days. Excludes Custom Prints and customised clothing.

Please read here for important US customs information.

We hope you will be pleased with your purchase. Should you wish to return anything bought from us, we will be happy to refund or exchange a product provided it is in fully resellable condition.

Please read our Delivery and Returns page for the latest delivery updates more detail.

Please be aware, across June and July 2026 our e-commerce department will only be dispatching orders from Tuesday - Thursday due to staff
absences. Over these months we will be extending our fulfilment times to 3-5 working days. We thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. 

 
SBS – Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History
£10.99

Frequently asked questions

Our standard processing and fulfillment time is 1-2 working days from the time you placed your order, excluding Custom Prints, online-only telescopes and personalised clothing.

All UK orders (excluding personalised clothing) are sent using a tracked service.

Custom Prints (those which are customised by choosing a size and frame) and personalised clothing take a little longer to fulfill due to being made to order.

Please see our Delivery and returns page for more information and last order dates.

Online-only telescopes are shipped directly from Celestron.

FREE Standard UK delivery for all orders over £50 (Royal Mail)

For all other orders, we offer Standard UK delivery for £4.95 per order (Royal Mail).

Delivery rate varies by country and value of order, and starts from as little as £6.95. 

Please allow 5-7 working days for standard orders to be dispatched.

Custom Prints (those which are customised by choosing a size and frame) and personalised clothing take a little longer to fulfill due to being made to order. Please see our recommended last order dates for these items on our  Delivery and returns page.

We send using a Royal Mail/FedEx tracked delivery service (excluding personalised products). Please allow 7-10 working days to receive after we have dispatched.

Please see our Delivery and returns page for all information.

For all returns, please contact us as soon as possible using the contact form, expressing your wish to return. Please wait for confirmation from one of our team before returning.

Custom Prints (those which are customised by choosing a size and frame) and personalised clothing are made to order and therefore we are unable to offer a refund or exchange, unless they are faulty.

Please see our Delivery and returns page for full information.