'My dad was a milkman - and an SAS hero in WW2'

Rob Hann discovered his father's World War Two mission after being given this photograph of the SAS squad

"I just couldn't believe this was my dad, who was a milkman and just an ordinary bloke."

As a boy, Rob Hann, now living in Nottinghamshire, used to help his father Stanley deliver milk to the "posh houses" around north London.

He knew his dad had served in World War Two, but it was not until Stanley's death in 2001 that it was revealed he had served with the SAS in a daring mission behind enemy lines.

Now Mr Hann, with his own grown-up sons, is planning to retrace his father's steps in the mountains of Italy to raise money for charity.

The original photo, with Stanley Hann front row, second from the right

Mr Hann said he only had a sketchy idea of his father's wartime experiences.

"Like many of his comrades, he rarely went into any detail about what he had done," he said. "Instead, he told me lots of funny stories about the antics he and his mates had got up to while training."

The truth emerged when Mr Hann, from West Bridgford, was given a grainy black and white photograph.

It had the words "Operation Galia, Italy 1944-45" written on the back and showed Stanley with a squad of SAS parachutists.

The mission involved little more than 30 men being dropped into the Rossano Valley deep in the Apennine Mountains of northern Italy in December 1944.

It was designed to divert German attention from the Allied offensives pushing northwards and it succeeded in getting 6,000 enemy troops diverted to the mountainous region.

The men endured extreme hardship, bitter weather, and constant danger but Mr Hann said his research indicated it "was one of the most successful operations of World War Two".

He added: "What they achieved, they stopped a major offensive, they weakened the front line and although six were captured, they all survived."

Following the war, Stanley Hann returned home and went back to his job as a milkman.

Stanley was an "ordinary milkman" before and after World War Two

When Stanley died in 2001 and Rob received the photograph, he wrote to the SAS association, which then sent him the details of Operation Galia.

Mr Hann said he was "astonished" at what he was reading.

"I just couldn't believe this was my dad, who was a milkman and just an ordinary bloke.

"You wouldn't put him and the SAS in the same breath," he added.

After he discovered more rare wartime photographs of the mission, some of which are believed to have been taken by his dad, Mr Hann wrote a book called SAS Operation Galia.

He was so fascinated by the story he has visited Rossano, the drop zone of Operation Galia, several times since.

He said: "My dad and his comrades were in their early 20s when they did this journey but they also had half the German army chasing them.

"For him and his pals to survive this ordeal, 50 days in the field and four days escaping over the mountains, it's an incredible feat of endurance."

Mr Hann said he was left in awe of his father, second left, and his comrades

Mr Hann tried to walk the most difficult mountainous parts of the escape route to get a flavour of what his dad had to face 80 years ago but could not complete it.

He now plans to attempt the route again, as part of an organised expedition, while raising money for a Nottingham charity, Footprints.

He will be accompanied by his sons William and Joseph, along with the son and daughter of his father's wartime comrade Eric (Lofty) Kennedy.

Mr Hann said it would be a "very physically demanding walk" and imagined it would be "an emotional experience" for all of them.

He described researching his father's story as a "lovely journey of discovery" which has left him in awe of his father and his comrades.

"He's my hero, as are all the Galia squad," he added.