David Stirling, founder of the SAS on patrol during WWII - he was dubbed the “Phantom Major” by German Field Marshal Rommel, and was rumoured to have personally strangled 41 men The 66 soldiers recruited to the SAS were all commandos, and many came from No 11 Scottish Commando, among them Robert Blair Mayne, from Newtownards. Mayne had played rugby for Ireland before the war, and he was also a champion heavyweight boxer and qualified solicitor. He and Bill hit it off, but David was intimidated and envious of the Irishman. David and Bill fine-tuned their plan at the flat of their brother, Peter, who was also in Cairo working at the British Embassy. One of his colleagues was Charles Johnston, who lodged at the flat. He remembered that David and Bill “acquired military fame in the Middle East as founders of the Special Air Service”. In December 1941, the new SAS unit proved its worth by raiding a German airfield at Sirte, Libya, and blowing up 24 aircrafts. Lieutenant-Colonel David Stirling was “quite, quite mad”. At least, that was the assessment of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. Indeed, while bored in Cairo during the Second World War, Stirling had jumped out of an aeroplane without proper training (or a helmet), tore his parachute on the tail, and hit the ground at such speed he was temporarily blinded and paralysed. Soon after, still on crutches, he sneaked into British Middle East HQ (“I had to use my crutches as a kind of ladder to get over the wire when the guards weren't looking,” Stirling recalled). This one-man mission was carried out for good reason: to evade not only the guards, but also the British army’s bloated administration, and put a proposal directly into the hands of the generals – the proposal that ultimately founded the SAS.

In the 10 years after the war, David had spent most of his time in Southern Africa, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe),” says Gavin, “and he had nothing to do with the SAS. Bill STIRLING penned a blistering letter to Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), explaining exactly how stupid this idea was (among the traits shared by the StIRLING brothers was a talent for extreme epistolary rudeness). Refusing to retract his criticisms, he resigned, to be replaced as commander of 2SAS by his deputy Major Brian FRANKS. David STIRLING believed that his brother had saved the SAS : 'He lost his battle, but the regiment won theirs.' It had been a brave act, supported by many of the men, but it signalled the end of the STIRLING brothers' leadership of the SAS. It was not something people were enjoying at the time very often – well, it was exciting to be shooting off at things, yes, I suppose it was.

David Stirling, by contrast, was the “frontman”. He was “quite charismatic and quite forceful and a very good salesman”. Early: November 1941 – May 1942andIndependent: June 1942 – April 1943theatre selectors in the Western Desertcampaign book. Cost Police probe after plaques stolen from SAS memorial". BBC News. 5 June 2014 . Retrieved 9 May 2018.

Alleyne, Richard (19 February 2007). "SAS founder's life story to be made into a film". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 2 March 2017. This article is an edited transcript of SAS: Rogue Heroes with Ben Macintyre on Dan Snow’s History Hit podcast. The Special Air Service (SAS) is famous around the world. Its highly trained men are renowned for their skills in covert surveillance, close-combat fighting, and hostage rescue.Mostly we didn’t remember killing people because, in our case at any rate in the SAS, we were mostly shooting in the dark at things, or putting bombs on targets and hoping not to disturb the people who were going to be the recipients of them. David was also in Egypt in the summer of 1941. For the last year Bill had looked out for his wee brother. He had brought him to Lochailort to work as his assistant and then arranged for him to join a commando unit in November 1940. David had sailed to North Africa but by June 1941 he was bored and in search of adventure. in 1984 the new base of the SAS was renamed Stirling Lines (from Bradbury Lines) in his honour. [30] Stirling received a knighthood and plaudits from military forces around the world before his death in 1990 aged 74. Mortimer credits him with being “physically brave and charismatic”. What is the SAS? BOOK REVIEW / A place for mad people: 'David Stirling' – Alan Hoe". Independent.co.uk. 12 September 1992.

A heavily armed patrol of L Detachment, Special Air Service troops in North Africa, 1943. David Stirling assiduously (and disingenuously) took credit for the creation of the service. Image: Wikimedia Commons. Gavin claims that what allowed Stirling to “pull off this deceit” was the death of Paddy Mayne in a car crash in 1955. Jellicoe, George (2004). "Mayne, Robert Blair (1915–1955)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. In September 1967 Len Deighton wrote an article in The Sunday Times Magazine about Operation Snowdrop, a raid led by Stirling. The following year Stirling was awarded "substantial damages" in a libel action about the article. [20] Mercenary and arms dealer [ edit ] There’s a mystique that has grown up around them,” he says, “and Stirling in the last decade of his life was able to jump on that bandwagon.”A small group burst into the officers’ mess and gunned down the Germans and Italians inside, then destroyed 24 aircraft, fuel tanks, an ammunition dump and a line of telegraph poles. But Bill had a business career, was married with a young family: he was everything that David wasn’t. Discrete, modest, unassuming. Stirling was depicted by Connor Swindells in the 2022 television historical drama SAS: Rogue Heroes. [33] Gavin Mortimer called the series SAS: Rogue Heroes "David Stirling’s version of how the SAS was born." [34] See also [ edit ] Q Would you regard what you did as more dangerous than what other members of the military were doing?