SAS Rogue Hero was 'lucky to survive'

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

The incredible events Weaver took part in during World War Two will 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, who 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 has published a new book entitled'SAS Rogue: The clandestine life of Peter Weaver.

His research has 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 played hockey for the Army and played first-class cricket twice for Hampshire in 1938.

A network of secret bunkers was 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 (SAS) in the build up to D-Day, the start of the operation to liberate occupied Europe in 1944.

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

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. Thirty four of them were captured. Thirty one 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 among the Allied troops involved in the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp near Hanover in Germany in April 1945.

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 father's experience of the camp was very emotional for her.

She explained that her father told her about driving past some old gates, and that he "didn't like the look of what was going on behind there".

After troops investigated, it emerged that it was a concentration camp.

Maj Weaver took photographs to recall the horrors of what 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 died in 1991.