SAS Rogue Hero was 'lucky to survive'

Major Peter Weaver, a founding member of the SAS, was a "loyal teammate but a trained killer".

The incredible events that Peter took part in will also feature in the next series of the BBC's SAS Rogue Heroes drama.

His wartime exploits stretched from secret bunkers in Dorset, deep behind enemy lines in France and ultimately to the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

"My father was very courageous, totally reliable and had a high expectation of people," reflects his daughter Joanna Burri-Weaver, lives near Swanage in Dorset.

Maj Weaver served in the Dorsetshire Regiment at the start of the war, helping to set up the special Auxiliary Units.

Author Dr Will Ward's has published a new book about The Clandestine Life of Peter Weaver'.

He said he had drawn on an extensive family archive which included "remarkable wartime photos".

He said "I think what's fascinating was how he goes from being very sporty to applying that fitness to military service."

Maj Weaver captained the England hockey team in 1937 and played first class cricket twice for Hampshire in 1938.

A network of secret bunkers were built to house the soldiers who were trained in sabotage and silent killing.

It was those skills that led to Maj Weaver and other members of the Auxiliary Units being recruited by the Special Air Service in the build up to D-Day, the start of the operation to liberate occupied Europe.

Dr Ward said: "They needed men who were trained, and the Auxiliary Units provided an ideal source."

He explained that the first SAS going into France had one man in five from the Auxiliary Units.

Maj Weaver was parachuted into enemy occupied France before D-Day and had a miraculous escape when the Germans attacked a SAS camp.

Joanna said "Only eight of them escaped. 34 of them were captured. 31 were killed three days later. Murdered. He told me how lucky he was and how he escaped."

After his escape, Maj Weaver took part in more operations and was amongst the allied troops involved in the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Dr Ward said: "The SAS were the first troops to enter Belsen and really were stunned by what they saw.

"There was no preparation for this."

Joanna remembered her father describing Bergen-Belsen as "awful" with a "terrible smell".

Recalling her fathers experience of the camp was very emotional for her.

She explained that her father was driving past and he saw these old gates, he said he 'didn't like the look of what was going on behind there'.

So, he sent his man in to investigate and he relayed that it was a concentration camp.

Maj Weaver took photographs to recall the horrors of he had witnessed.

"I think it must have affected him, but he never talked about it," she added.

After leaving the army, Maj Weaver eventually returned to Dorset, choosing to live not far from one of the secret bunkers he helped set up. He passed away in 2007.