OSPREY MKelabretee ana The Special Air ServiceMen-at-Arms - 116 OSPREY The Special Air Service barnes G Shortt - Illustrated by Angus McBride 1 Martin WinFirst published in Great Br 1981 by ishing, Midland House, West Way, OPH, UK lew York, NY 10016, USA -publishing.com E |: info@ospr © Copyright 1981 Osprey Publishing Lid. Reprinted 1981 (twice), 198: 1985, 1986 1994. 1996, 2002, 2003, 2005 All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act, ‘988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, ek trical, chemi optical, photocopying, recorcling or otherwi prior permission of the copyright owne1 be addressed to the Publishers. CIP Data for this publication is avail the British Library ISBN 0 85045 396 8 Series Editor; MARTIN WINDROW Filmset in Great Britain Printed in China through World Print Ltd. ‘We are the Pilgrims, Master: We shall go always a little further: Ie may be beyond that last blue mountain barr’d with snow, Across that angry or that glimmering Sea.’ (From the SAS memorial to their dead ; 22 SAS, Bradbury Lines Camp, Hereford) In keeping with security requirements, photographs showing recent and currently serving personnel have been masked to obscure the faces of individual officers and men, FOR A CATALOGUE OF ALL BOOKS PUBLISHED BY Osprey MILITARY AND AVIATION PLEASE CONTACT: NORTH AMERICA Osprey Direct, 2427 Bond Street, University Park, IL. 60466, USA E-mail: [email protected] ALL OTE z Osprey Direct UK, P.O. Box 140, Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 2FA, UK il: [email protected] www.ospreypublishing.comThe Special Air Service Introduction Since its birth at Kabrit in 1941, the Special Air Service has consistently captured the imagination of the military and public alike by the daring and unconventional nature of its operations. Over a period of 4o years the SAS has found itselfin many different theatres of operation, fulfilling many different réles. Like every other special military force throughout the world, it has been charged with being an ‘army within an army’, on the grounds of its methods of selection and training and its diversity of skills. The very evident need for such a force would seem to be a complete answer to this charge. Though its personnel have normally been drawn initially from other units, an SAS regiment, has its own distinctive traditions, dress, methods and equipment. The nature of the tasks and the methods peculiar to the SAS have made it difficult to standardise items of equipment. Apart from issues common to the British Army as a whole, SAS personnel have need of, and access to, various specialised ‘pieces of kit’: often SAS innovations created to meet specific needs. Obvious examples are the ‘Lewis bomb’ devised by ‘L’ Detachment in 1941 to mect the needs of their rdle as saboteurs; and the ‘stun-grenade’ devised by 22 SAS for use in the anti-terrorist role nearly four decades later. Ithas not been possible in all cases to identify the sources of certain items of equipment, In many cases those described or illustrated in this book are of individual choice; their inclusion here should not be taken as meaning that they have been used by, or are available to, every member of the SAS. Finally, because of the nature of the SAS task, it has not been possible to give ‘in-depth’ coverage to certain aspects of operations, organization and equipment; and for the same reason it has at times been necessary to refrain from naming individuals. Since the end of the Second World War members of the SAS have scen service in over 30 different theatres of war and conflict; and 1950 they have scen continuous action, except for a short period from 1960 to 1963. ce Origins ‘The Special Air Service grew from the Commando movement, the philosophy of carrying the war to: the enemy, which itself grew out of the defensive rut into which British military thinking slipped in the aftermath of Dunkirk. The man who lifted it from that rut was a General Staff officer, Lt. Col. Dudley Clarke. In Palestine in 1936 Clarke had seen how small hit-and-run units could tie down an entire army while inflicting damage and demoralising the troops. In June 1940 Clarke prepared a memo for Sir Race photo of am early member af L* Detachment SAS Be in Exypt, 1941: the is kewa ata slant to the khaki aE op imperial ver Meseen)Western Desert, 1942: David Stirling (right), founcler of the SAS, photographed with a raiding patrol of ‘L’ Detachment, SAS Brigade. ‘This famous study shows officers and men bearded and wearing the Arabestyle headcloths they copied from their colleagues in the LRDG., The officer at the wheel of the nearest jeep has a Sykes-Fairbairn commando knife on his left hip, and insignia on his shoulder and left breast, including the ‘operational’ SAS wings. The jeeps all have modified radialor/condenser systema rigged, ‘and many Jerrycans of water and petrol mounted on the bonnet, sides, {nd in the rear of the body. The patrol leader's jeep mounts twin Vickers K-30 gums; the central jeep, twin and sin Vickers guns at front und rear; and the furthest one, Browning—apparently an aireraft weapon— at the fro twin Vickers at the rear, (Imperial War Museum) stand John Dill, Ch Staff, outlining a concept for a small, mobile, offensive fighting force: the concept was based in part on the record of the Boer Kommandos who had tied down a quarter of million British troops in South Africa, Winston Churchill gave the idea his approval, and by mid g for ‘Storm ‘Troops’ or ‘Leopards’ to be raised from existing units, equipped with priority issues of the latest weapons. Commands throughout the United Kingdom were circularised for volunteers for special service of an undefined but hazardous nature. By the end of June, 180 officers and men L of the Imperial General june was aski J been assembled, and the trial unit was named ‘No. 11 Commando’. Led by Dudley Clarke, they carried out their first cross-Channel raid success- fully; and the formation of further units was approved. Against Clarke’s wishes the operation was begun under the title Service Battalions’, although the similarity to the initials of the Nazi SS was felt too close for comfort. Churchill’s wish to devise ways of hitting b at the enemy, and the impressive seizure of objectives by German paratroopers during the European blitzkrieg, led the Prime Minister to order the widening of the commando concept to include the training of a corps of paratroops. By July r94o Special Service Troops of No. 2 ‘Commando and some members of No. 1 Com- mando were turned over for parachute training. No. 2 Commando, Special Service Bn, was despatched to Ringway Aerodrome near Man- chester for this purpose. On 21 November 1940, No. 2 Commando was renamed ‘11 Special Air Service Battalion’, ‘This was a reasonable step, given thar it was, as a Commando, a Special Service Bn., and was now hesassigned to airborne duties. As in the case of Clarke’s No. 11 Commando, the title was mis- leading, perhaps deliberately so, since it implied the existence of ten other SAS battalions. Dudley Clarke is credited with the invention of the name ‘Special Air Service’. During February 1941 ‘X’ Troop from 11 SAS Bn. were parachuted into southern Italy to destroy an aqueduct over the Tragino River, in the first ever Bri the large-scale German airborne invasion of Crete in May 1941 caused a change of thinking at high level. The concept of para-commandos was down- graded in favour of plans for the airborne delivery of an army—infantry, artillery, engineers and supporting services—all delivered to the battle- field by parachute or glider. It was decided to form two British parachute brigades, one in the UK and one in the Far East. Thus it was that in September 1941, 11 SAS Bn. became 1st Para- chute Bn., 2nd and 3rd Bns. being formed subsequently as part of 1st Parachute Brigade. The 2nd Parachute Brigade was formed at Willingdon Airport, New Delhi, consisting of 15 1st (British), 152nd (Indian) and 153rd (Gurkha) Bns.; and it happened that a consignment of 50 “X’-type parachutes from Britain, destined for India for the use of this formation, somehow found para-commando raid. However, their into the hands of Lt. Jock Lewis of No. 8 Commando at Alexandria. ‘L’ Detachment, SAS Brigade No. 8 Commando was part of ‘Layforce’, a commando brigade formed in the UK at the end of 1940 to assist British forces in North Africa. brainchild of Lt.Col. Robert Laycock, it consisted of: 7 Commando ... D Formed August 1940 No. 8 Commando... Formed June 1940 (Bri- gade of Guards, Royal Marines and Somerset Light Infantry personnel) ‘ormed Arran, Scotland, in June 1940, with two officers and 15 men, and sent to Middle East with 8 Co. Scottish commando, formed late 1940 ‘wo small forces of mixed raised in ly 1941. Special Boat Section. No. 11 Commando ... Nos. 50 & 52 Cdos. Jeep patrol mounted by members of the Greek ‘Sacred Squadron’ in the Libyan Desert, 1942. The ‘Sacred Squadron’ WR Netarbad By the AS in March of chat year. Gemperial 4‘Acgeam, x4 44 He wenrs the beige beret nd in neon here = ne en knife, oe Mi carbine at his feet. See Plate Ba. (Imperial War Museum) GHQ Middle Bast was hesitant to use Layforee in its raiding réle because of shortage of ships. A young Scots Guards subaltern serving with No. 8 Cdo., David Stirling, felt that if delivery of commandos by sea was not possible, then perhaps delivery by parachute was. When his friend Jock Lewis obtained Laycoc 's permission to experi- ment with parachuting, Stirling applied to join the venture. None of the commandos were parachute- trained, and in June 1941 no parachute school existed in the Middle East. Lewis, Stirling and six other commandos conducted their training at Mersa Matruh airfield, using an ancient Valencia bomber. In due course Stirling, with a damaged spine and temporarily paralysed legs, found himself in the Scottish Military Hospital in Alexandria. He put his enforced idleness to good use, expanding on paper his ideas on airborne commando operations. He felt that the current concept of force ofsome 200 men landing without warning from the sea was unsound, since the size of the force often meant that the clement of surprise was lost, and a third of the force was immediately tied down in securing the landing area He proposed that instead of mounting attacks o from the sea on the long coastal plain where most of the fighting was taking place, strikes should be mounted on enemy airfields and installations from the southern, desert flank. Instead of a large force, Stirling visualised a maximum force of 60 men divided into four-man units, parachuted into the desert close to an objective. They would hide until nightfall, and then carry out their sabotage raid, falling back into the desert to rendezvous with a patrol which would transport them back to Allied lines. After his discharge from hospital in July, Stirling took his plan to HQ. Middle East Com- mand, and by guile and determination managed to reach the office of the Deputy Gommander, Gen. Ritchie. His plan appealed to both Ritchie and the C-in-C, Gen, Auchinleck. New to his command, Auchinleck was under pressure from Churchill to mount an offensive, and operations of the kind outlined by Stirling would both ease this pressure and materially assist his general offensive when he was ready to launch it. Layforce was earmarked for disbandment; the shortage of ships had not been overcome. Of its component units, 11 Cdo. had lost 25 per cent of its strength in Syria in June rgq1, and rearguard actions on Crete had aiso cost 7, 50 and 52 Cdos. and clements of 8 Cdo. dearly; 8 Cdo. had also been used at Tobruk. Some personnel were being shipped home, while others were retained as iddle East Commando’ after Layforce was finally disbanded at the end of rgqt. (The un- successful raid to kill or capture Rommel mounted by 59 men of 11 Cdo. under Lt.Col. Geoffrey Keyes on 17/18 November was the last example of Dudley Clarke’s original commando concept; henceforth commandos would be used as Special assault troops in the van of general offensi ) Auchinleck authorised Stirling to recruit 66 commandos from Layforce, from which formation they would take their title, ‘L’ Detachment. Since they would be para-commandos, their ‘higher formation’ would be known as the Special Air Service Brigade, although no such formation actually existed. Brigadier Dudley Clarke was the British had paratroop capability in the Middle East, by planting dummy gliders for enemy air reconnaissance to photograph, and by droppingdummy paratroops near Axis POW camps and in ht of pro-Axis Arabs, At this time—July 1941 the paratroops in the UK were still called ‘11 Special Air Service Bn.’, so the use of the SAS title by Stirling was logical. The general promoted Stirling to captain, and parted from him with the words: ‘Whatever comes from your project, your presence will greatly relieve Clarke's burden.’ With this limited objective, the SAS was born. From ‘L’ Detachment to rst SAS Capt. Stirling set out to recruit his 66 men; and within a week the six officers, five NCOs and 55 men— most of them from Layforce—assembled at Kabrit, at the edge of the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal Zone. The original officers were Lewi Thomas, Bonnington, Fraser, McGonigal and ‘Paddy’ Mayne. When recruited Mayne was under close arrest for striking his commanding officer. The same uninhibited attitude was evident in ‘L’ Detachment's first raid. Kabrit proved to consist of three tents, a few chairs, a table and a painted sign. A large camp of New Zealanders two miles away quickly but involuntarily provided a more realistic scale of issue, packed into a 3-ton truck under cover of darkness Training started immediately, aimed at promoting a high level of skill at navigation and night movement, and the handling of Allied and Axis weapons. There was also improvised ‘jump’ training. Since no timber was available from the QM department for making a para-training platform, Stirling and his men trained by perform- ing backward rolls off the back of the 3-tonner at gomph, Several appeals to Parachute ‘Training School One at Ringway for advice on various aspects of parachute training went unanswered, so the SAS was unable to draw on Ringway’s experience. This may have contributed to the deaths of two troopers during subsequent training: when the SAS started making jumps from an RAF Bristol Bombay, two men died when the static of their ‘chutes failed—an accident of which Ringway already had experienc ‘L’ Detachment was, predictably, the target of some sniping from elements of GHQ who considered such ‘side shows’ a waste of time. When an RAF officer voiced this opinion, Stirling bet him that the SAS could penetrate Heliopolis, the nies RAF airbase outside Cairo. In a useful dummy-run for their raids against Luftwaffe and Reggia Acronautica bases, 4o SAS men set off across the desert by different routes, ‘They reached the base go miles away, penetrated the perimeter, stuck labels on the aircraft, and slipped out without det In the months leading up to Auchinleck’s November offensive Stirling and Lewis spent hours at a time studying elligence reports and logistic problems. The plan was for a parachute attack on five German forward airfields holding the bulk of the Luftwaffe’s fighters. For the raid Jock Lewis invented a special sabotage weapon, a combined blast and incendiary charge, calculated to do the maximum damage to aircraft; made of thermite and plastic explosive, it was called the Lewis bomb. main ‘ction, Tragically, the first operational jump against the airfields on 16 November 1941 was a disaster. A moonless night and high desert winds completely disrupted the jump. The plan was for 62 officers and men in five parties to be dropped from Bristol Bombays near the five airfields; after destroying the aircraft on the fields they were to rendezvous with the Long Range Desert Group for ferrying SBS soldier in ‘woolly pully’ and beige beret with SAS badge, photographed outside HQ Raiding Forces Middle East; the SBS operated under this headquarters from November 1943. (Imperial War Museum)Rhodesian members of the British SAS regiments pose witha jeep modified for use by SAS in NW Europe. The front seats and twin Vickers K gun mount are armoured and have armour-glass windshields. A Bren is mounted on the wing beside the driver. The gunner wears a maroon beret; a Denison smock; despatch rider's boots with turned-down socks anda commando knife stuckin the top; anda holstered pistol slung low on the hip. Tank driver's gauntlets ai by two of this group. (SAS Rege. Assoc.) back to Allied lines. In the event, only 22 officers nd men returned from the raid, including ing. He abandoned the idea of parachuting into the desert, and devised instead the idea of ‘infiltration’ and ‘exfiltration’ by the LRDG. The Long Range Desert Group was born in June 1940, primarily as an intelligence-gathering it, and was the brainchild of Ralph Tts members became experts at living navigating acro rt at great ranges and inder all conditions, The primary means of transport was the specially modified goewt Chevrolet truck, and heavy machine gun arma- ment was carried, since the LRDG not in- frequently found itself fighting it out with the enemy on the ground and in the air. In November 1941 Gen. Ritchie, now C-in-C 8th Army, approved the move of ‘L’ Detachment SAS to Jalo Oasis, where it operated with a squadron of the LRDG, It was obviously necessary to wipe out the failure of the first raid with a quick success, if the hostile elements at GHQ were not to succeed in burying the whole concept. In December Stirling’s men were ferried to and from raids on three enemy airfields at Sirte, Agheila and Agedabia; the raids were a total success, and ‘L? Detachment were credited with destroying some 61 aircraft and 30 vehicles with Lewis bombs. Just before Christmas 1941 another attack was 8 Bagnold. and the des mounted: Stirling and Mayne would attack airfields at Sirte and Tamit, while Lewis attacked ‘one at Nofilia. Both Mayne’s and Lewis’s parties were successful in blowing up aircraft, though Lewis was killed during the return trip. Stirling’s group reached Sirte late, and were unable to plant their bombs, Their improvised © to this situation was to prove so successful that it was used in the future: a motorised charge down the aii strip, blazing away at the aircraft with machine guns and grenades from the back of the LRDG trucks. By the time they returned to Kabr Detachment had destroyed go aircraft Promoted major in January 1942, Stirling was empowered to enlarge, re-organize and re-equip ‘L’ Detachment. Among other recruits he ranged to acquire the services of a company of Free French paratroopers, 50 men under Capt. Bergé, who had begun life as the 1° Compagnie d’Infanterie de l'Air in Britain, and who were now designated 1° Compagnie de Chasseurs Para- chutistes (1® CCP). Stirling now consolidated the identity of his SAS by having unit insignia designed and made up—the hostility of GHQ to such a step being side-stepped by obtaining the blessing of the C-in-C himself, The colours chosen for insignia were dark blue and light ‘Pompadour’ blue, refer- ring to the Oxford and Cambridge rowing back- ground of two of the original officers, Lewis and Langton. The cap badge was originally designed as a flaming ‘sword of Damocles’ over a motto sum- ming up Stirling’s SAS concept: ‘Who Dares Wins’, Made up by a Cairo tailor, the flaming sword actually appeared as a winged dagger, and the wings were retained and formalised as a fitting element in the unit’s heraldry. A pair of parachute qualification wings in white and two tones of blue were also manufactured, and issued afier seven jumps; they were worn on the right upper arm. For conspicuous operational service certain SAS men were allowed to transfer them to the left breast.' Jock Lewis is credited with the design of these insignia before his death. The new cap badge on its dark blue shield- * ‘This practice continued until stopped after the war by the Army Council, who decreed that only the Army Air Corps and Glider Pilot Regt. should wear breast wings. SAAS wings on the breast were thus sign of very early and distinguished service in the unitshaped patch was sewn on all kinds of headgear— Field Service caps, Service Dress caps, and even French képis—replacing the previously wor insignia of the men’s original parent units, The SAS also sought a new uniform and headgear, An carly scheme to adopt a smart light blue uniform styled on that of the New Zealand Air Force was abandoned. There was some initial use of a white beret, modelled on the headgear of 1° CGP, but this was found to provoke fights in Cairo, particu- larly with ANZACS! In its place a beige-coloured beret was finally adopted. Until January 1944, when the SAS Brigade was formed under 1st Airborne Division, the SAS had no other insignia apart from those described. Stirling’s plans to widen the role of the SAS brought the Special Boat Section of No. 8 Commando into the SAS orbit, when a rai planned on shipping in Bouerat harbour. Sometimes called the Folboat Section (after their collapsible canoes), this unit was raised in July 1940 under Lt, Roger Courtney; the plan ‘was to have a section of some go men with each Commando, for intelligence gathering prior to commando assaults. In February 1941 the SBS. was divided and Courtney took 16 men to No. 8 Gdo. and the Middle East. The remainder were sent to Dover, and in November became ‘SBS 101 ‘Troop’ attached to No. 6 Commando. The SBS wore a black shoulder title with red lettering ‘Commando SBS"; below this was a blue and white shield patch with a motif of Excalibur being held up from the water by the Lady of the Lake, and red lettering ‘SBS’, The Dover troop wore, from November 1941, a red-on-black ‘No. 6 Commando’ title above a blue rectangular patch bearing a white swordfish swimming through a red ‘101°; the swordfish badge was also produced in metal. The Commando Special Boat Section has often been confused with the SAS Special Boat Squadron, and later SAS Special Boat Service, because of the common cypher. (These units should not be confused, equally, with the ‘RM Special Boat Sections’—see later passage under main heading ‘RM Special Boat Squadron’) ‘The joint SAS/SBS raid on Bouerat took place in January 1942; again they were inserted by the LRDG, but unfortunately the canoe was damaged Jews of German orig in transit. Nevertheless, severe damage was done to the harbour, stores and petrol tankers by the SAS party, Late in March Stirling tried a similar attack on Benghazi harbour, again with limited success due to boat damage, although Mayne managed to destroy 15 aircraft at Berka. In March Stirling managed to have the Greek Sacred Squadron’ attached to ‘L’ Detachment. The Helios Lokos was formed from ex-oflicers of t Greck Army who had escaped the Gern occupation of their country; led by Col. Gigantes, they were part of the New Zealand Corps. They were immediately put on the SAS training course which the 1° CCP, now the ‘French Squadron SAS’, had just completed. In June 1942 yet another small unit came under tirling’s ambit: the Special Interrogation Group or SIG. This extremely misleading title concealed a unit of anti-Nazi Germans, mostly Palestinian , formed by a Captain Herbert Buck, an Indian Army officer. The SIG, whose training was up to SAS standards on selection, were dressed and equipped entirely with captured German Army items. They spoke German, carried German documentation, and lived their everyday life exactly like Afrika Korps personnel, Stirling recruited the SIG’s services for ery special raid. To prevent the Luftwaffe from sinking a vitally- needed convoy sailing for Malta, cight groups of ve men were briefed to attack aircraft on fields at Derna, Barce, Benghazi, and Heraklion on Grete. Unfortunately the raid did not go as planned, and Brigadier Mike Calvert (right) with Rhodesian SAS men in NW Europe. A fairly piratical mixture of clothing is evides despatch rider's breeches and boots seem popular, and one soldier (third from right) has acquired a Luftwaile flying Jacket. Note SAS badge painted on rear right body of jeep, far left. (SAS Regt. Assoc.)4May 1945: men of 2 SAS attend an open-air mass to celebrate the end of the war in Europe, in the Italian town of Cunce. Apart from two men (rear left) retaining beige berets, the ‘maroon Airborne headgear is worn, A mixture of Denison smocks and hooded windproof is evident here, and short are clearly preferred to webbing anklets. Pistol s are slung low in most cases, and some are strapped lown to the thigh. (Imperial War Museum) losses were high. The Grete patrol was led by Cat. Bergé, with two other Frenchmen, the Earl Jellicoe, and a Greek Sacred Squadron officer as guide. Enormous damage was done to the airfield, but only Jellicoe escaped, The parties did varying amounts of damage. The SIG accompanied three French acting as guards escorting French ‘prisoners’. Unfortunately a traitor in the SIG betrayed part of this group, which was targeted on four airfields around Derna, and most of that unit were wiped out. This was a blow from which the SIG did not recover. An important addition to the SAS armoury was the heavily-armed jeep. From the RAF, Stirling managed to obtain a number of Vickers ‘K’ .303 machine guns, a drum-fed weapon which could be other patrols, At about this time a raid on Bagush airfield had nearly failed when half the planted bombs fi the SAS mounted in pairs, led to explode; 10 remedied the situation by driving around the field shooting up the 4o aircraft. Now Stirling managed to obtain numbers of jeeps, and these were fitted with twin Vickers front and rear, and with a modified radiator system for desert use. Later the armament was supplemented by the addition of Browning .5ocal. heavy machine guns. The jeeps gave the SAS their own mobility, and enabled them to raid at will In August 1942 the Special Boat Section of Middle East Commando came under SAS control, and Earl Jellicoe and Fitzroy Maclean organized within the SAS what would emerge as the SAS Special Boat Squadron. SBS members were full members of the SAS, qualified to wear the wings and the sand beret. Maclean was given command of ‘M’ Detachment, SBS, intended for operations behind enemy lines if Germany invaded Persia and Iraq.' When the threat receded Maclean was transferred to other duties—parachuted into Yugoslavia, he was a senior British representative with Tito’s partisans. His detachment of SAS/SBS was taken over by Ian Lapraik; other units were * Phe threat of this was considerably reduced when Fitzroy Maclean calmly kidnapped the pro-Axis chief of the Persian general staff from his office in Teheran,‘L’ (Langton) and ‘S’ (Sutherland) Detachments. In September 1942 the SAS/SBS began operations with an attack on the island of Rhodes, destroying aircraft and stores. In October 1942 the clearly outmoded title of ‘L’ Detachment was dropped in favour of 1st Special Air Service (1 SAS), a regiment in its own right; at that time its strength was 390 all ranks. In November the disbandment of Middle East Commando allowed Stirling to recruit another ten officers and 100 men. From Regiment to Brigade Stirling's command now comprised the following elements <. 500all ranks French SAS Sqn. (1* CCP). g4 all ranks Greek Sacred Squadron se Tiga ranks Special Boat Section all (later, Squadron Plans were now laid for the formation of a second SAS regiment under command of David Stirling’s brother, William; 2 SAS would be formed out of 62 Gdo. in North-West Africa. 2 SAS did not officially exist until May 1943, but it was already training with rst Army, which had landed in Africa in Operation “Torch’ in November 1942. In January 1943 Lt.Col. David Stirling was captured by a German counter-SAS unit in the Sfax-Gabes area. After four escape attempts he eventually ended the war at Colditz Castle. Command of 1 SAS passed to Major Paddy Mayne, as the war in North Africa drew to a close. During the course of its operations the SAS had destroyed nearly 400 enemy aircraft—more than even the April 1943 brought the break-up of what had been Stirling’s North Africa command, and the next year saw a complex pattern of re-organi tion. The French Squadron returned to Britai July, with another company of French para- troopers formed in Africa, it became 1° BIA (Bataillon d°Infanterie de I’Air), and shortly thereafter was redesignated 4° BIA. It was joined by a 3° BIA formed in Africa. Later still, the 3 and 4° BIA were re-named 2° and 3° Régiments "had achieved. de Chasseurs Parachutistes—2° and 3° RCP. 1 SAS was split in two. The 250 men of ‘B’ Squadron under Earl Jellicoe became the Specia Boat Squadron, absorbing the Special Boat Section and also the Small Scale Raiding Force. his SSRF, formed in rg41, had operated under joint control of the Chief of Combined Operations ad the Special Operations action off the coa xecutive, seeing ts of France and Africa; it had become part of No. 62 Ceo. in January 1943.) The SBS were based at Athlit near Haifa. With the Greek Sacred Squadron they raided enemy- occupied Mediterranean and Aegean islands. In November it was one of the units placed under command of Brig. D. J. T. Turnbull's Raiding Forces Middle East as part of XIII Corps. Later retitled Special Boat Service, the SBS was to come under Land Forces Adri continuing operations with the Greck Sacred Squadron in the Mediterranean, Aegean and Adriatic Seas. The former ‘A’ Squadron, 1 SAS became the ‘Special Raiding Squadron’, still led by Paddy Mayne. In July 1943 the SRS played a spearhead réle in Operation “Husky’, the invasion of Sicily; nd during the next few months it was used on commando lines against enemy positions along the tie for L4.Col, Paddy (Blair) Mayne, the Irish commanding officer of 1 SAS, at a parade in 19455 he still retains the beige beret. He ’s No. 2 Dress with a Sam Browne belt, minus lain leather buttons; the blue left shoulder lanyard adopted by this regiment; and ‘operational breast wings. (SAS Regt. Assoc.)+ October 1945: Brigadier Mike Calvert, Commandant SAS ‘the ceremony marking the passing of 3 and 4SAS (2" and 3° RCP) from the British to the French Army. A‘miature of insignia can be seen here; see also Plate By. Some soldiers wear Free Freach para wings on the right breast, others SAS left. The maroon berets are worn (pulled right) and the French (palled left). The Pega itish rse Airborne Biv. can beseen in the menrest rank (Imperial War Museu) Mediterranean coasts, and on mainland Italy. SRS suffered heavy losses in October 1943 at Termoli, when, alongside 3 Cdo. and 4o RM Cdo., they ran into the German rst Parachute Divis Meanwhile 2 SAS was officially inaugu May 1943, based at Philippeville in Alger y raided Sardinia, Sicily, and the Italian mainland, led by Lt.Col. William Stirling. Stirling com- plained to his superiors that the SAS was not being used for the job for which it had trained, suggesting that small sabotage groups parachuted behind enemy lines would be more effective. 2 SAS progressed up Italy, eventually meeting up with SRS (e: S) at Termoli, At the end of 1943 Special Raiding Squadron erted to the title 1 SAS; with 2 SAS it was pulled out of its commando réle and placed under command of rst Airborne Division, In January 1944 the idea of an SAS Brigade was approved; and in March, after further action, in the Italian theatre, 1 and 2 SAS were sent back to Britain. e would consist of: ish and Commonwealth) 2 SAS (British and Commonwealth 2 —French designation 2° RCP 4 SAS (French)— French designation 3° RCP Independent Belgian Squadron (subsequently 5 SAS) * Sqn., GHQ Regt. (HQ, signals and nunications ‘The Brigade was formed in Ayrshire in January 1944, only the French and Belgian elements being present before the arrival of and 2 SAS from the Mediterranean: command Brig. Roderick McLeod. ‘The Belgian squadron had led the chequered career common to many exile units. They had started life as ‘B’ Coy., and Belgian Fusilier Bn. in May 1.942. Sent for para-training in October, they were subsequently attached to 3rd Bn., Regiment. January 1943 saw them redesig Belgian Independent Parachute Compary, and August 1943, 4 Coy., 8th Bn., Regiment. F* Sqn. came from a unit known the GHQ Liaison Regiment, or ‘Phantom’. Founded by Lt.Gol. G. F. Hopkinson, ‘Phantom’ was an intelligence, reconnaissance and signals unit; its task was to gather intelligence in forward areas and behind enemy lines, and to radio the information back to GHQ, Its members included several names later to become famous, among them HM ministers Maurice Macmillan and Hugh Fraser, and the film actor David Niven was held iously as the future Government F* Sqn. of the regimentthe SAS Brigade commanded by Major J. J- Asior ussigned to and 2 SAS. The French Two pate and Belgian unite had their own signallers, but these were retrained along ‘Phantom’ lines and then returned to their units to work directly with P Sqn. All *F” Sqn. personnel wore a white *P Phantom’) shoulder fash, By March 1944 all components Sas Brigade, 2,000 strong, were asecmbled in Ayrshie The SAS were o ard theirbeige berets in favour of airborne maroon. They were ieuod with battledres shoulder tiles for 1, 2, 3 and 4 SAS in the airborne colours of pale blu CO of t SAS, wa are by stub- 1 SAS al dark blue lanyard on the 1. Most SAS men wore ther parent regiments ‘maroon, Col. Mayne of many SAS men who risked beige beret bornly retaining the sms to have adopt let shoulder at this lanyards in the co The French and Belgians, wh Airborne or tothe Brigade the Pegasus’ arm patch, dot, forthe my der til black ‘France es pr creation of the also wore the light-blue-on-maroon The two French regiments SAS wwhite-on- titles. ‘They wore a Free French style of brevet’) on the right parachutist’ wings ast—white parachute and wings supporting a yellow shield with a blue Cros of L The Belgians wore the British SAS wings. In theearly daysof the Brigade Lt.Col, William Stirling, CO wf 2 SAS, resigned. He felt that the SAS was and his brather’s concept ignored. He had seen his tued as commando assault troops in Sicily Tealy ‘once more being misused, and and now they were being tured into something ite different from c al para ‘ded by SAS. On se with aps was being | Li.Col, Brian Fra operations, HQ, SAS Bae series of different headquarters RAF, SOE HQ (Special Force Divis The new style of peratio mainland Europe was danger, During the height of thee Hitler had had to 46 or 38 Group and 1s Airborne planned forthe SAS attended by anew mmando raids issued orders that captured com: were tobe shot. As a result ofthe scree Sali enkrete atera tte tenor tt a rir raat ten (Are of SAS operations the Fuhrer issued a special order that captured SAS troops were tobe handed over to the Gestapo, interrogated, and then ‘ruthlesly ‘exterminated The SAS was not again committed to action il the invasion of Normandy in June 1944 Neither SHAEF nor 21st Army Group primarily responsible for the ‘Overlord’ operations—were prepared to take direct command of the SAS, despite the Brigade’s vast experience. Infact 218 Army Group blocked the use ofthe SAS until afer ‘Overlord’ had begun. very limited re for SAS was outlined: the Brigade's job would be to prevent German reserves reaching the front line, Initially only half the brigade would be com- mitted, the remainder being held in reserve. After D-Day the SAS carried outa number of operations behind enemy lines which disrupted Germ supplies and communications and ted down large rhurmbersof enemy troops ne of the war tion ofthe fro ‘enemy-oceupied The early operations in this pl involved both clandestine penet ‘and airdrope deep 4 country. Bases were set up in remote wooded countryside, and all resupply wae by air, There was close liaison with local resistance groups. A great deal of damage was done to enemy com- ‘munications, sometimes for litle cos and on other ccasions at the price of heavy SAS casualties. There was bound to bea strong element ofchance, since the parties worked ima fluid situation with very variable intelligence information, and their ‘compromised. Examples of successful operations included Operation “Houndsworth’, carried out between D-Day and 6 September 1944 by 144 officers and men of 1 SAS. Railway lines between Lyons and Chalon- Saone, Dijon and Paris, and Le Oreusot and Nevers were cut 22 times, and some 950 casualties were inflicted on te Germans. In the tame period Operation ‘Bullbasket’, launched by 56 men oft SAS and g Phantom Pateol south of Chateauroux, achieved a good measure of succes; but the group, were betrayed to the enemy, and 96 men died before the survivors could be extracted by air carly in August. Inthe second and third weeks of {Jane 159 men of the French SAS battalions co- ‘operated with up to 3,000 Maquis fighters i ‘Operation “Dingson’; the SAS base was heavily attacked by the enemy, and the group was forced to disperse on 18 June. Whileaudacious use of the armed an Jeeps ith which the SAS groupe were normally armoured‘equipped achieved excellent results through the clement of surprise, it must be recorded that some ‘roups got carried away by their own bravado, bringing down on themselves and on the local population severe enemy reaction, Tnlate 1944 members of SAS were parachuted imo Italy in Operation *Tombola' to work with Italian partisans; they remained there ntl Italy was liberated. The remainder of the SAS were to work with local resistance groups in a. series of ance, Belgiurn, India, his post as Commandant of SAS Brigade passing to Brig. ‘Mad Mike’ Calvert. A former ‘Chineli’ brigadier under Maj.Gen. Orde Win- gate behind Japanese Lines in Burma, Calvert was fn expert on guerilla warfare and long-range penetration In April 1945, their ranks swelled with recruits from liberated Belgium, the Belgian Squadron became 5 SAS. Their three squadrons worked with and Canadian Corps in a reconnaissance tdle in northern Holland and Germany The war in Europe ended on 8 May 1945. By this date some gg0 casualties had been sufered by the Brigade, which had killed or seriously ‘wounded 7,733 ofthe enemy, and captured nearly 23,000. In May, 1 and 2 SAS were sent to Norway to supervise the surrender of 300,000 German troops; at the same time 5 SAS were involved in tlligence work in Denmark and against Japan was sill raging, how- ever, and under Brig. Calvert the SAS looked to South-East Asia for its new deployment. David Stirling had now been freed from Colditz, and was back with the SAS planning for operations against the Japanese along the Manchurian Railway. The lant of SAS Bde. Brig. McLeod, was now Ditector of Military Operations at GHO. New Delhi, and would certainly appreciate the ‘we of the SAS in the East. The surrender of the Japanese in August pre-empted thisplan, however. For clarity, a short note is relevant here on two SSAS-syle" units which did see action in the Far East, The French had raised a unit entitled Special Air Service Batallon Bin India and Ceylon, Under its initial ttle of Light Interve former Corps (CLI), part of into Japanese-held Laos to assist guerillas against the enemy. ‘The CLL was based in Ceylon in May 1945, and, renamed SAS Ba. ‘Bit became part of an ad hie formation entitled 5th Colonial Infantry Regiment. This also included nav including a para unit had been dropped personnel, -commando group named after its commander, ‘Po These French troops, used for the re-oecupation of French Indo- China, were never linked in any way to the British SAS, ‘Commando Special Boat Sections alo operated in the Far East ffom June 1944 until VJ-L part of Small Operations Group, whieh had bee formed by Lt.Col. Hasler of the Royal Marines, and was commanded in the Far East by Col. Tollemache. ‘The renjemping' he wend n Malaya: Noe cop unc