On another raid in the Agheila area, he led a party which destroyed five heavy enemy MT and he participated in shooting up an enemy post in this locality. According to Riley, the boys were all pretty impressed about him having 'smacked' his last CO during an argument, actually knocking him down.

The camp commandant gave Almonds a set of civilian clothes and asked if he could go out to report where the Germans were in the area. An official report from the day from Captain Harry Poat, the SAS second in command who took part in the fierce fight, records.Despite his hunger, he had refused to barter his woollen Red Cross vest for a loaf of bread from a visiting Catholic priest. Without any losses, he redeployed his unit and with no concern for the danger involved, led an attack on the Germans. Mr Almonds, born and bred in Stixwould, near Woodhall Spa, was one of the original members of the fledgling Special Air Service (SAS), who unleashed guerrilla war on enemy airfields and ports. He was a sergeant at the time and the idea was they were to blow up a ship to stop Rommel bringing in supplies.

He told them that there was a naval station just down the road, one of those dry land ships that the Navy took so seriously, where they had to talk about going ashore. Set in wartime England, the western desert, Italy, and France, this book captures the spirit of the young soldiers in the newly emerging Special Air Service, against a dramatic background of love, courage, and high-risk adventure. The two men, at first stupefied, were quickly all smiles and responded with salutes… It was a small gesture, but something about it brought tears to Bateman’s eyes. There, British forces were in a desperate struggle to stop German and Italian forces from overrunning Libya and capturing Egypt, a potentially disastrous outcome which could have had major impact on the path of the Second World War.Almonds and three other Special Forces men comprised the famous “Tobruk Four” who used tactics that would later be carried into the SAS. The decoration was announced in April 1944 after the confidential recommendation had stated: “Captured at Benghazi on 14 September 1942, this NCO was first taken to Campo 51 (Altamura).