The making of the SAS, the men who dare A new book reveals the early history of the SAS in unprecedented detail and allows us insights into the modern regiment. Founding member Colonel 'Paddy’ Mayne transformed SAS operations Photo: SAS REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION By Tim Collins8:26PM BST 22 Sep 2011Comment Travelling through France this summer on the A6 towards Auxerre, I made a detour to a tiny hamlet called Les Ormes to pay homage to a fellow SAS man. In August 1944, the SAS had dropped into the countryside of central France in an operation code-named “Kipling”. The mission was to disrupt stiff German resistance and to provide information for the advance of General George Patton’s US divisions. At that time the only “behind lines” special forces in the world were British, and they were much in demand. On August 23, a two-jeep SAS patrol was on an administrative move when it encountered a distraught French lady outside Les Ormes. She warned that the SS were in the village and about to shoot 20 French hostages as they sought to curb SAS activity. A Canadian trooper called Fauchois, fluent in French, was the first to insist they did something. Lance Corporal “Curly” Hall agreed the right thing to do was to “have a crack”. So, living up to the regiment’s motto “Who dares wins”, they set off at high speed, the French lady screaming at them to turn back with the words “There are hundreds of them!” As they turned into the village square, they saw drawn up in front of the church the hostages and mobs of SS. The first to die was the SS officer who, pistol in hand, turned to stare in disbelief at the jeeps. He had found the SAS he was searching for. In seconds, the square was a charnel house with dead and dying SS troops moaning as the captives made good their escape. RELATED ARTICLES Afghan Taliban linked to US chopper crash dead, says Nato 22 Sep 2011 The Spitfire: Britain’s Flying Past, BBC Two, preview 22 Sep 2011 Let’s get a tighter grip on defence spending 21 Sep 2011 The Spitfire at 75: fascinating facts about Britain's best-known fighter plane 22 Sep 2011 Spitfire back in the air after 71 years 17 Sep 2011 British Legion faces poppy ban 14 Sep 2011 But it was not without cost. One jeep came to a halt, shot to pieces by the Germans. As the wounded SAS men made for the other jeep, Curly Hall slumped over, dead. As the last surviving jeep left the village, the remaining Germans crowded around Curly. Sixty SS lay dead or wounded. We will never know what they did with his body. This summer, I took a quiet moment in front of the memorial at the spot where he fell. The bullet scars are still visible on the village hall. Curly’s name is also on the village war memorial, recorded as one of their own. The publication of The SAS War Diary, 70 years after the foundation of the regiment, means that stories like that of Operation Kipling can finally be read from contemporary notes. But what does the book tell us of the modern regiment? Today in Afghanistan, the SAS strikes on a nightly basis, sometimes carrying out two or three raids, and the toll on the Taliban, in terms of men lost and on their psychology, is immense. It was the same in Iraq. UK Special Forces won rare American praise from both General Stanley McChrystal and General David Petraeus for being the best in class, even when the overall assessment of the UK military effort was “could do better”. Just as the early SAS raids accounted for more German aircraft than the RAF in North Africa, so today’s operations deliver a disproportionate effect on the enemy and boost the morale of the home team. When I joined the SAS in 1988 as a new troop commander in B Squadron, we were committed as a regiment in Northern Ireland, where once again it was the SAS’s role to terrorise the terrorists. The regiment excelled at this and, crucially, did so within the strict letter of the law. My CO, a legendary figure, had led the raid on Pebble Island in the Falklands, destroying Argentine fighter aircraft on the ground and winning a DSO. We sought to emulate his example. I could not have foreseen that three years later I would be a veteran of Colombia’s drug wars, the first Gulf war and other capers still too sensitive to talk about. The founder of the SAS, David Stirling, was at that time, and still is, revered as the father of the regiment and one of its greatest strategists. But equally revered now is the man who transformed SAS operations, Robert Blair Mayne – “Colonel Paddy” as he became known. Once David Stirling had been captured in 1943 and sent to Colditz Castle, the regiment – and the fighting – took a nasty turn. It needed to. With the “war without hate”, as the Desert Campaign was once characterised, left behind, the SAS became involved in a new kind of warfare in Europe. The character of that warfare became, and has remained, brutal. With Hitler’s issuing of the notorious “Commando Order” aimed specifically at the SAS, the expectation from then to the modern day has been that as an SAS volunteer you will never be a prisoner. Death or glory were, and remain, the only rewards of the SAS. At the time, the SAS was not a wholly British affair. Two regiments of Free French SAS were raised, as well as a Belgian squadron. In the post-war world, an Australian regiment and a New Zealand regiment were formed, as was a squadron in Rhodesia (now defunct). Even today these regiments continue to fight at the cutting edge, with the Aussie and NZ SAS regiments winning VCs in Afghanistan. It was the Kiwi SAS that intervened when the Taliban attacked the Intercontinental hotel in Kabul and during the attack on the British Council in Kabul, lost one man, Corporal Doug Grant. The Belgian SAS guard the gate in Kabul International Airport. The spirit of the SAS remains eerily the same, it would appear from the War Diary, as it was at its foundation in 1941. As the secrets of the post-war campaigns are revealed, the threads of DNA are clearly visible. The once secret war in Oman is now being talked of, for instance. A statue to the Fijian corporal Talaiasi Labalaba, late of the Irish Rangers and SAS, has been unveiled in Hereford. His grinning figure, standing proud, symbolises the indestructible spirit of many in the regiment. Laba died at the little-known Battle of Mirbat in Oman in 1972, one of nine SAS men and a few local gendarmes facing down 250 Arab rebels – he single-handedly loaded and fired a field gun, despite serious wounds, before suffering his final, fatal wound. His name is, like that of the others who fell with the SAS, recorded on the regimental clock tower at Hereford. They are those who failed to “beat the clock”. That list includes some who served with me and who were close companions. Those first commanders, Stirling and Mayne, are a reminder of two currents that still exist. Some of their recent successors are recognised as men of vision concerned with long-term strategies. It is they who will ensure that the force remains at the forefront of the UK’s options. Others are seen as mavericks, hell-bent on attack, driven by a hunger to close with the enemy. The former are well thought of by government and top brass. Risk is mitigated. The latter are loved by the troops. Who wants to live forever? But predictably – like Paddy Mayne – they don’t last. He was retired after the war and died in a drunken, violent blur. More recent commanders have been quietly urged to retire. The SAS War Diary is, like the regiment itself, not readily available. Last I heard, all the numbered copies have been accounted for ahead of publication. That comes as no surprise. For like the SAS to the nation, they are something to have and to treasure and pass on to future generations. Colonel Tim Collins OBE served with the SAS and was commanding officer of 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment in Iraq. He is now CEO of the international security company New Century Extraordinary Editions — Launching soon The making of the SAS, the men who dare - Telegraph
For those of you without £975 the majority of the files (less photos) can be found in various file series at TNA Kew or I have the French Operations files that I can let you have on CD
Forgotten SAS diary reveals mission to capture Rommel An SAS mission to kidnap Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the German commander, is disclosed in the first war diary to be authorised by the regiment. Image 1 of 4 German General Erwin Rommel Photo: REX FEATURES By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent6:37AM BST 23 Sep 2011 The SAS War Diary discloses previously unheard accounts of its exploits during the Second World War. It has been hailed as an extraordinary treasure trove for historians as it discloses the secrets of the SAS's wartime raids. The public can now read the reports written by David Stirling, the regiment's founder, and other SAS men that include a mission to kill or capture Rommel at a French chateau in 1944. The SAS Regimental Association has authorised the sale of the books in an attempt to raise thousands of pounds for the dozens of special forces men wounded on current operations as well as older veterans. Each 600–page volume is being sold for £975, with the print run limited to just 1,000 books. The SAS is allowing its archive to be opened up because, a former soldier said, the covert nature of its operations meant it had been impossible to raise money "except through generous individual donations made over the years". A senior officer from the SAS Regiment Association said that having read the remarkable stories "it would be wrong to let them fester in some back room". RELATED ARTICLES The SAS: an elite force like no other 25 Apr 2011 Libya: SAS leads hunt for Gaddafi on the ground 24 Aug 2011 "They are the essence of what started up special forces," he said. "They should not be able to gather dust. They belong to the nation and the nation should be proud of them." One of the more daring exploits is the targeting of Rommel, arguably the Third Reich's finest commander, at a French chateau shortly after D–Day in 1944. In a document marked "Secret" and under the heading "Method" the orders state: "The following points should be borne in mind: "If it should prove possible to kidnap Rommel and bring him to this country the propaganda value would be immense and the inevitable retaliation against the local inhabitants might be mitigated or avoided. Such a plan could involve finding and being prepared to hold for a short time if necessary a suitable landing ground. "To kill Rommel would obviously be easier than to kidnap him and it is preferable to ensure the former rather than to attempt and fail in the latter." However, the day before the SAS team was due to parachute in, Rommel returned to Germany having been seriously injured when his staff car was hit by RAF planes. It is understood that more than two dozen SAS soldiers have suffered "lifechanging" injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade. With a growing number of wounded and bereaved, the SAS Regimental Association's funds have come under pressure and was not helped after money invested in Icelandic banks was lost during the banking crash. The diary was put together by a former SAS soldier shortly after the original regiment was disbanded in 1945. He preserved as much documentation as he could, compiling a scrapbook of photographs, operational orders and afteraction reports from its origins in North Africa through Italy, France and the drive on Berlin. The diary, which weighs 25lb and was bound in leather "liberated" from the Nazis, was locked away for half a century with no one aware of its existence. Shortly before the unnamed soldier's death a decade ago he handed it over the SAS Regimental Association. Working with Extraordinary Editions, the publisher, other archive material was used to fill out the 600–page volume into the first full picture of the SAS in the Second World War. The book is also being released to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first SAS raid — a commando assault in the North Africa campaign — which will be celebrated later this year. The officer from the association spoke of the need for funds. "Because of our profile it is difficult to stand on a street corner with a bucket and banner and we would not really do a sponsored car wash in Hereford," he said. "Inevitably we have large numbers of wounded from the current wars. We have suffered more or less the same as other regiments. "The MoD does look after them but it's the aftercare and ensuring that no one falls down the cracks that needs to be addressed." The SAS Association is accepting donations. Cheques can be made payable to the SAS Regimental Association, PO Box 35051 London NW1 4WF Forgotten SAS diary reveals mission to capture Rommel - Telegraph
There will be extracts presented on the BBC News programme all next week from this diary.A pity that the extracts cannot be presented as one programme rather than require those interested to be glued to the TV. Trooper James "Curly" Hall, 1st SAS Regt is buried at Les Ormes Communal Cemetery.It looks as if his parent unit was the A.A.C. Had the second half of a Burgundy holiday in the autumn of 1997 based at Charny, a short distance from Les Ormes after being on holiday in the area further south in the autumn of 1995.Beautiful weather and ample time to revisit the history of the SAS in this region.From these two holidays I learnt a great deal about the wonderful Burgundy wines.Bought two cases of St Bris which had been recommended locally and was not recognised as a brand,I gather, it is now.The elderly lady who owned the vineyard thought I was German.It must have been my French accent. Saw a quality property with swimming pool at Meursault,often wished we had pursued it. Again a first class reference of SAS operations in the Morvan is Ian Wellsted's SAS with the Maquis. Thanks Steven for revisiting history behind the lines.
I've got a book about Blair 'Paddy Maine by Hamish Ross....The man was a complete legend and a pro Rugby player! a real life Arnold Schwartzeneggar from the film 'Commando' I wish they'd make a film about his exploits!
Britain's SAS heroes: Battles of the brave behind the lines The courage and cunning of the newly formed wartime SAS are revealed in a new book. Into Africa: members of 1 Special Air Service Regiment between operations early in the war Photo: SAS REGIMENT ASSOCIATION By Thomas Harding7:30AM BST 24 Sep 201131 Comments While David Stirling was a junior officer serving in the commandos, he devised the idea of the SAS. He was convinced that that the tactic of using small groups of well-trained, well-armed troops to raid behind enemy lines was a key element in defeating the Nazis. His unswerving conviction was such that he pulled every string and used every contact to get his way. His persistence paid off and he was finally given leave to form 1 Special Air Service Regiment. Now, the first war diary authorised by the regiment is to be published, disclosing the secrets of the SAS’s raids during the Second World War. Here, we publish exclusive extracts, written by both Stirling and regimental colleagues – men who had been “drawn from ordinary walks of life”, including a shop assistant, ice-cream maker, bank clerk, plumber and carpenter. Operation Squatter In orders for the first-ever SAS action – Operation Squatter, on November 17, 1941 – marked “secret and personal”, Stirling was instructed to destroy “as many aircraft as possible” at an Axis airfield in Libya. RAF transport aircraft flew 65 SAS men to Gazala. One plane was shot down by enemy fighters with the loss of 15 parachutists and aircrew. The rest were dropped in a strong gale, with several injured on landing. Parachutist (as SAS troopers were first known) Bennett wrote: “We sat down to a dinner [the night before] which was fit for a king, the kind of scoff which the average solider sees only when in the arms of Morpheus. An officer waited on us at the table, and he looked at us in such a way that we could imagine him saying, 'I will give them all that I can, as the poor chaps may not be coming back again!’ It was just like having whatever you wanted before going to the gallows.” Then he turns to the operation. “On hitting the ground, I immediately found myself being dragged by the wind. I could not stop myself, but made desperate efforts to release my harness, this being a job of Houdini. I don’t know just how far I was dragged, but after being used as a human bulldozer for what seemed an age, a lull in the fury of the gale allowed my chute to collapse. “Three bottles of water were handed to the injured members of the party together with a few rations. We set out to find our objective. The time for leaving our hideout and proceeding to 'fix’ the drome [aerodrome] was laid down as 1830hrs, but at 1800hrs the elements intervened – it rained as I have never seen it before – and our nice dry little wadi was transformed into a lake. We had to try to keep out some of the rain by deciding to use one blanket per three men, having only managed to save three blankets for nine of us.” By morning, they were “in no position to mount attack” and walked for 36 hours to rendezvous with the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). “The first things to greet us were cigarettes. It was the finest fag I have ever tasted.” Parachuting into the desert had proved ineffective and, to a great extent, disastrous. Stirling hid the 22 survivors at Jalo Oasis, south of Benghazi, and ordered them to acquire more explosives and weapons. “Then without informing anyone, and carried by the LRDG, the 22 went back into the desert to finish their mission.” 'It was all over in a minute’ On December 14, 1941, the Irish rugby international Lt Blair “Paddy” Mayne, who became the most decorated officer of the war with four awards of the Distinguished Service Order, led a daring attack on another Libyan airfield, destroying aircraft, ammunition and petrol dumps as well as killing dozens of enemy soldiers. The diary describes the attack on a group of 30 Germans and Italians who sat “drinking, laughing and talking” in the officers’ mess near Sirte. “A British lieutenant, a famous international sporting figure before the war, walked into the mess with one man. They pushed the door open and pressed the triggers of their Tommy guns. It was all over in a minute. A burst from a Tommy-gun swept the card players and drinkers. German drinking songs turned into shouts of horror. Those who weren’t killed or wounded tried to make for the door. They were mown down. They were 500 miles behind the front line, but a British patrol was in their midst. Not one left the room alive. “They threw a time-bomb on to the roof of the mess for luck, then on to the next job. Thirty seven brand new German bombers and fighters just flown in from Europe were destroyed that night. A million pounds’ worth of damage was done and no enemy planes were seen flying that part of Libya for days. “Outside, Hell had broken loose. The fixed defences of the aerodrome were turned on and the British saw a barrage of machine-gun fire sweep the ground. One of our men was out there searching for a petrol dump. Machine-gun bullets were zipping over the ground, ankle-high. He calmly stepped over them upon locating the dump and placed time-bombs in the middle of the exit. The British went from plane to plane. In each one they placed a time-bomb. They did this to 37 planes, then ran out of bombs. There were still 15 planes left. They had no tools so with their bare hands they wrenched instrument panels out. “After that, they legged it to their transport three miles off in pitch darkness, guided by prismatic compasses. They smoked cigarettes and waited for the explosions. The first one was the officers’ mess going sky high, then the petrol dump, then the planes at one-minute intervals. They counted 40 explosions, watched a million pounds’ worth of enemy material burn, then got moving.” A few days later, the SAS patrol, led by a captured Italian Lancia, reached the town of Brega, where 25 German vehicles were parked. “There was a hectic scrap. After 20 minutes, our men withdrew, having killed or wounded 15 to 20 of the enemy. As they raced down the road, our rear truck was laying mines behind. Seven satisfactory explosions were soon heard.” Operation Speedwell In September 1943, following a raid on railways around Florence and La Spezia in Italy, Operation Speedwell saw SAS men behind enemy lines for 73 days. They worked their way down through Italy, derailing trains and ambushing truck convoys, at one period going without food for a fortnight. The patrol was finally betrayed in the village of Scopeta, which was surrounded by two truckloads of Germans. The men escaped but were delayed a week “trying to obtain battledress in exchange for our civilian clothes from prisoners” (escaped British POWs). “I have promised the village of Scopeta that as soon as British troops reach, it will be burnt to the ground,” one SAS soldier wrote. After walking 250 miles, the men finally arrived at British lines on November 16. One of the officers submitted a report on their medical condition during the trek over snow-covered mountains. “Daniels and I both suffered from snow blindness. I contracted slight frostbite where there was a hole in my boot. After I broke my ribs, I used two one-grain syrettes of omnopon (morphine), half a grain at a time, and found that I was able to march almost normally for three hours after each dose and almost without conscious pain. But I could not think straight and became rather querulous.” D-Day and beyond Two years later, the SAS was withdrawn from the Italian campaign to plan for the Normandy invasion. Some returned to Britain after almost four years away. In a series of raids shortly after D-Day, patrols were dropped around central France to sabotage German attempts to reinforce Normandy. Following Hitler’s order, more than 70 SAS men captured by the Germans were immediately executed. The Regiment fought in Germany until the Nazi surrender when they were sent to Norway to “disarm and control 300,000 Germans”. The unbreakable bond After the SAS was disbanded following victory in Europe, an anonymous contributor to the diary makes a final entry. “And it is here for a moment that we must leave the Regiment. Although the German war has been won, there is still fighting in the Far East, and Japan has yet to be conquered. There are also many countries where an army of occupation is required. No historian can foretell whether SAS will be required. Rather we must wait for history to be made and record it afterwards. “Much has been written about the SAS and the daily papers have attempted to glamorise it. However, it has always remained first and last a Regiment composed of officers and men who have fought with the true offensive spirit and outstanding esprit de corps. “Unfortunately, no matter how much is written about the 1st SAS Regiment, the spirit and bond between officers and men can never be expressed. This is the true explanation of its greatness and it is only to be hoped that the Regiment has always lived up to its motto: Who Dares Wins.” 'SAS War Diary’ is published by Extraordinary Editions. Five thousand copies are available to the public and can be bought by visiting SAS War Diary 1941—1945 — Extraordinary Editions or calling 020 7267 4547 Britain's SAS heroes: Battles of the brave behind the lines - Telegraph
