British WWII Secret Aegean Special Boat Service Documents

A rare and historically significant set of original wartime documents relating to covert naval operations in the Aegean, authored by the distinguished Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve officer, Alexander McCloud, DSC. The primary piece is a large-format typed discussion paper, marked SECRET AND PERSONAL, dated 14th June 1944, and bearing the impressed Royal Coat of Arms. It outlines a proposal to arm a small local Greek caique with torpedo tubes and additional weaponry for clandestine operations in the Aegean Sea. The paper spans two typed pages and is signed by McCloud.

Accompanying this is a remarkable four-page handwritten operation order, also penned by McCloud, detailing raiding missions by the caiques of the Small Boat Squadron. McCloud played a critical role in Mediterranean naval warfare—first as 1st Lieutenant on MTB 264 conducting SOE landings and rescues around Crete, and later as a founding member of the Levant Schooner Flotilla in 1943, using native vessels to infiltrate German-held islands and deploy Special Forces.

Fluent in German, French, Greek, and Swedish, McCloud earned the Distinguished Service Cross for his role in the 1943 evacuation of British forces from the Island of Cos. These documents offer a rare insight into the secret naval war waged in the Aegean by one of its most remarkable commanders.

Ref; 91404