Popski's Private Army

Popski's Private Army (PPA), British special forces sabotage unit, the smallest independent unit in the British Army. It was formed by a Belgian émigré of Russian extraction, Vladimir Peniakoff, nicknamed ‘ Popski’ by members of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) with whom he initially worked. Officially designated No. 1 Demolition Squadron, it operated in armed jeeps behind Axis lines during the Western Desert, North African, and Italian campaigns. It initially comprised two officers and twelve other ranks, but by December 1943 had expanded to 6 officers and 80 other ranks. After its formation in November 1942 it did much useful work with the LRDG reconnoitring the route for Montgomery's left hook which outflanked the Mareth Line in southern Tunisia in March 1943. It was then attached to Lt-General Kenneth Anderson's First Army in northern Tunisia and undertook several raids that destroyed 34 aircraft and 118 vehicles before all Axis forces surrendered in May 1943. When the Italian campaign started in September 1943 the PPA landed at Taranto with the British 1st Airborne Division, and from December 1943 operated for the rest of the war with Italian partisans behind German lines.

Bibliography

Peniakoff, V. , Private Army (London, 1950).