SAS (Special Air Service) is the principal special forces formation of the British army. Formed by Lt (later Lt Col) David Stirling of the Scots Guards in July 1941 at Kabrit, initially as L Detachment SAS Brigade but subsequently redesignated 1st SAS Regiment (1 SAS), it carried out raiding operations behind enemy lines in the North Africa campaign. In April 1943, A Squadron was redesignated the Special Raiding Squadron (SRS) and subsequently redeployed to Sicily, while B Squadron became the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) and departed for the Aegean under the command of Maj The Lord Jellicoe.
April 1943 also saw the formation at Philippeville in Algeria of 2nd SAS Regiment (2 SAS), under Lt Col Bill Stirling, which subsequently took part in operations in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. In early 1944 it returned to Britain to join 1 SAS, reconstituted from the SRS and under command of Lt Col ‘Paddy’ Mayne, with which it formed the SAS Brigade, commanded successively by Brigs Roderick McLeod and Mike Calvert, together with the 3rd and 4th French Parachute Battalions, the Belgian Independent Parachute Company, and F Squadron Phantom. In June 1944 all units were deployed on operations in France, subsequently seeing service in the Low Countries, Germany, and Scandinavia before disbandment in 1945.
In 1946 the SAS was re-formed as a Territorial Army unit: 21st SAS (Artists') Regiment (21 SAS). In 1952 a regular army regiment was raised in Malaya as 22 SAS, being formed from a squadron of volunteers from 21 SAS and the Malayan Scouts, the latter comprising volunteers from British army units on operations in the country at the time.
In 1959 a second Territorial Army regiment, 23 SAS (TA), was formed from the Reserve Reconnaissance Unit. During the early 1960s, Headquarters SAS Group was established and all three regiments, together with two SAS signals squadrons, thereafter came under its direction. More recently, it has been redesignated Headquarters Special Forces with all British special forces, including those of the Royal Marines, placed under it.
C (Rhodesian) Squadron 22 SAS and the New Zealand SAS Squadron were formed in 1951 and 1955 respectively, serving with 22 SAS in the Malayan emergency. After return to Rhodesia and disbandment, C Squadron was later re-formed and subsequently expanded to become the Rhodesian 1st SAS Regiment, ultimately being disbanded in 1980. In 1957 the 1st SAS Company (Royal Australian Infantry) was formed, subsequently being expanded and redesignated the Australian SAS Regiment (SASR) in 1964. Together with the New Zealand SAS, it subsequently served in the Borneo campaign and Vietnam. More recently, the SASR has been deployed in the Middle East and Bosnia alongside 22 SAS.
The 22 SAS, based in Hereford, has had worldwide influence through its intensive and highly practical training system, based on secondment to the regiment itself. These included the founders of the US Special Forces Green Berets, among them the legendary Dick Meadows who married the regimental sergeant major's daughter. It has also seen active service in almost every campaign in which the British army has taken part, prominently in the Falklands and the Gulf wars. In addition it fought a war on its own during the 1970s in Oman against guerrillas in the Dhofar. The regiment has also carried out a number of other roles, including the provision of a counter-terrorist team and the training of similar teams for other armed forces overseas.
In 1980 it performed a copybook assault on the Iranian embassy in London, held hostage by terrorists, which fortuitously appeared on live TV. The commander of the regiment in that operation, previously highly effective against the IRA until the British government lost its nerve, and later in the Falklands, became Gen Sir Michael Rose, UN commander in Bosnia. It is a peculiarity of the regiment that the permanent establishment is NCOs and troops only, the officers being seconded from their parent regiments and returning to them. The result is that special forces' abilities and to a certain extent mentality are more diffused through the British army than any other. Rose, for example, became commandant of the staff college, while the Huguenot descendant Gen Sir Peter de la Cour de la Billière, GOC British forces in the Gulf, always proudly wore his beige SAS beret.
Bibliography
- Baker, W. D., Dare To Win: The Story of The New Zealand Special Air Service (Melbourne, 1987).
- Cole, Barbara, The Élite: The Story of The Rhodesian Special Air Service (Transkei, 1984).
- Geraghty, Tony, Who Dares Wins: The Special Air Service 1950 to the Gulf War (London, 1992).
- Horner, D. M., SAS: Phantoms of The Jungle. A History of The Australian SAS Regiment (Sydney, 1989).
- Kemp, Anthony, The SAS at War 1941-1945 (London, 1991)
— Peter Harclerode
