The men were tasked with creating mayhem until the First Canadian Army pushed north to meet them and liberate the last part of the country under occupation.
Another professor of defence and security, Andrew Neal from Edinburgh University, presented his research into published government security assessments showing that Europe's countries perceive increasingly complex and wide-ranging threats."Even 10 years ago, European states weren't considering any territorial or offshore threat," he says.
"There's a lot of unprotected infrastructure on land as well, and it doesn't need a ship or submarine to access it - data cables, pipelines, data cables, some of it buried under one or two feet of soil."You could go to Shetland with a shovel and cut off the internet to the Faroe Islands fairly easily if you wanted to."But a lot of the focus on investment and design is in hardening some of the infrastructure, protecting it under the water, burying it, and detecting interference as well as attributing it."
The high-voltage cables being laid on the seabed are now equipped with sensors which warn of unexplained visits by subsea vessels.Listening devices on the seabed can detect the unique sound signature of passing ships on the surface. The conference heard how artificial intelligence, drawing on vast data sources from underwater and from satellites, can identify which ships are where and when.
While the offshore energy sector may be vulnerable, its subsea maintenance technology offers some such solutions for its protection. Drones can also be deployed to check for the tracks of unwelcome drones.
Honuworx, an Aberdeen firm, is now under contract to Nato to develop its autonomous underwater vehicle for defence purposes. The Loggerhead has the range and capability to operate remotely for long periods, using a buoy to transmit data and not requiring an expensive surface ship.They can hand out fixed-penalty notices and take alcohol from a person under the age of 18, but must ask a police officer to arrest someone.
Policing Minister Dame Dianna Johnson has said the increase in funding would "allow police forces to kick start" the recruiting process.Asked on the Today programme about forces making cuts, Dame Diana said she wouldn't "pretend it's not challenging for police forces" but overall an "extra £1.1bn was going" into policing.
The money will come alongside a major police shake-up in spring. Forces will be asked to work together more and cut waste, like merging IT systems, Dame Diana said."We recognise that the current way policing is structured is not the most efficient or best way of providing a police service in England and Wales," Dame Diana said.