21. Horsfall, Fighting Scared, p. 173.
22. De la Billière, Looking for Trouble, p. 335.
23. One possibility is that the dead hostage in the telex room was shot by the sniper while throwing the terrorists’ weapons out of the window. This would explain why the grenade was not primed.
24. Cult of SAS article 2.
25. De la Billière, Looking for Trouble, p. 283.
26. Michael Asher, Get Rommel: The secret British mission to kill Hitler’s greatest general, London, 2004, p. 76.
1. ‘The sort of plan we are looking for’
1. The date of Stirling’s meeting with Ritchie is disputed. The typewritten memo is dated 16 July. The message asking for authority to form the SAS is dated 18 July. Since Stirling said that the meeting with Auchinleck came three days after the initial meeting with Ritchie, process of deduction produces 15 July as the most likely date. If the original memo was written in pencil as Stirling claimed, it will probably have been typed up for the meeting with the C-in-C – hence the date 16 July.
2. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 20.
3. Virginia Cowles, The Phantom Major, London, 1958, p. 15.
2. Bands of brothers, packs of hounds
1. Winston Churchill, The Second World War, London, 1949, pp. 46–7.
2. ibid., p. 466.
3. ‘The landing of small parties by night will clearly be most effective’
1. John Lewes, Jock Lewes: Co-Founder of the SAS, Barnsley, 2000, p. 122.
2. Ernie Bond in BBC radio documentary, 2006, presented by David List.
3. National Archives WO7/122.
4. ibid.
5. ibid.
6. Carol Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, London, 1997, p. 29.
7. Lewes, Jock Lewes, p. 203.
8. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 61.
9. Lewes, Jock Lewes, p. 247.
10. ibid., p. 220.
5. ‘Jock wanted to be sure I was going to stay with it’
1. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 193.
2. Carol Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, London, 1997, p. 53.
3. John Lewes, Jock Lewes: Co-Founder of the SAS, Barnsley, 2000, p. 220.
4. ibid., p. 196.
6. ‘An extremely truculent Irishman’
1. Geoffrey Keyes, personal diary, Lord Roger Keyes Collection.
2. Keyes’s diary proves conclusively that Mayne was not RTU’d for striking Keyes himself, as the accepted myth holds.
3. Michael Asher, Get Rommel: The secret British mission to kill Hitler’s greatest general, London, 2004, p. 100.
4. Martin Dillon and Roy Bradford, Rogue Warrior of the SAS: The Blair Mayne legend, London, 1987, p. 216.
5. ibid., p. 238.
6. ibid., p. xvii.
7. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 28.
8. This wasn’t always the case, though: there are records in the 11 Commando diary of commandos being jailed.
7. Wondering why he should be scared if Lewes wasn’t
1. Gavin Mortimer, Stirling’s Men – the inside history of the SAS in World War II, London, 2004, p. 23.
8. ‘The man is the Regiment’
1. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 468.
2. Peter Ratcliffe, with Noel Botham and Brian Hitchen, Eye of the Storm: Twenty-five Years in Action with the SAS, London, 2000, p. 5.
3. Malcolm James (Malcolm Pleydell), Born of the Desert, London, 1945, p. 30.
4. Robert Pirsig, Lila: An inquiry into morals, New York, 1991, p. 140.
5. Lorna Almonds Windmill, Gentleman Jim: The wartime story of a founder of the SAS & special forces, London, 2001, p. 5.
6. Gavin Mortimer, Stirling’s Men – the inside history of the SAS in World War II, London, 2004, p. 64.
7. Charlie A. Beckwith, Delta Force – the Army’s Elite Counter-Terrorist Unit, San Diego, 1983, p. 12.
8. Roy Close, In Action with the SAS: A soldier’s odyssey from Dunkirk to Berlin, Barnsley, 2005, p. 256.
9. ‘A yellow streak a yard wide’
1. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 36.
2. Lewes, John, Jock Lewes: Co-Founder of the SAS, Barnsley, 2000, p. 199.
3. Stevens, The Originals, p. 36.
4. ibid., pp. 36, 47.
10. ‘We tried not to think about it. But we did’
1. Lewes, John, Jock Lewes: Co-Founder of the SAS, Barnsley, 2000, p. 207.
2. Philip Warner, The Special Air Service, London, 1983, p. 20.
3. Lewes, Jock Lewes, p. 207.
4. ibid., p. 224.
11. ‘A nice little black pudding’
1. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 51.
13. ‘We’ll go because we’ve got to go’
1. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 93.
2. National Archives WO7/122.
3. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 63.
4. ibid., p. 64.
14. Raining so hard it hurt
1. Gavin Mortimer, Stirling’s Men – the inside history of the SAS in World War II, London, 2004, p. 26.
15. ‘Well crikey, if these people can penetrate this far …’
1. John Strawson, A History of the SAS Regiment, London, 1985, p. 30.
2. ibid.
3. ibid.
4. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 18.
5. ibid., p. 76.
17. ‘You’ll like him, and he’s well placed to help’
1. Bryan Perrett, Desert Warfare: from its Roman origins to the Gulf conflict, Wellingborough, 1988, p. 126.
2. David List, private collection.
3. ibid.
4. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 107.
18. ‘Advance and attack any suitable objectives’
1. H. W. Wynter, Special Forces in the Desert War 1940–43, London, 2001, p. 199.
19. Swallowed up by the huge dimensions
1. Philip Warner, The Special Air Service, London, 1983, p. 36.
20. ‘I saw him rip the instrument panel out with his bare hands’
1. Martin Dillon and Roy Bradford, Rogue Warrior of the SAS: The Blair Mayne legend, London, 1987, p. 3.
2. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 66.
3. ibid.
4. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 111.
21. ‘Rommel must have had a headache’
1. Ian Wellsted, SAS with the Maquis: In action with the French resistance June–September 1944, London, 1994, p. 26.
2. Gavin Mortimer, Stirling’s Men – the inside history of the SAS in World War II, London, 2004, p. 31.
3. J. V. Byrne, The General Salutes a Soldier: With the SAS and Commandos in World War Two, London, 1986, p. 16.
4. ibid.
5. Mortimer, Stirling’s Men, p. 32.
6. ibid., p. 33.
7. Byrne, The General Salutes a Soldier, p. 17.
8. Mortimer, Stirling’s Men, p. 33.
9. Virginia Cowles, The Phantom Major, London, 1958, p. 70.
10. ibid.
22. ‘When they went up, they went’
1. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 83.
2.
ibid., p. 144.
23. ‘The only one to be killed and it had to be him’
1. Lorna Almonds Windmill, Gentleman Jim: The wartime story of a founder of the SAS & special forces, London, 2001, p. 99.
2. In some versions it was Lilley.
3. Almonds Windmill, Gentleman Jim, p. 101.
4. Malcolm James (Malcolm Pleydell), Born of the Desert, London, 1945, p. 17.
5. ibid., p. 287.
6. ibid., p. 27.
7. John Lewes, Jock Lewes: Co-Founder of the SAS, Barnsley, 2000, p. 23.
24. ‘The day the SAS was truly born’
1. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 116.
2. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 123.
3. This may be another myth: the original Airborne colours were blue – representing the sky – and only became maroon in 1944. The SAS at one point wore field caps with blue facings: the blues incorporated into the wings may be simply a reflection of this.
25. ‘Surrounded by bottles, reading James Joyce’
1. Cooper, Johnny, One of the Originals: The Story of a Founder Member of the SAS, London, 1991, p. 39.
2. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 100.
3. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, 1992, p. 158.
4. Lorna Almonds Windmill, Gentleman Jim: The wartime story of a founder of the SAS & special forces, London, 2001.
5. Martin Dillon and Roy Bradford, Rogue Warrior of the SAS: The Blair Mayne legend, London, 1987, p. xvi.
6. Gavin Mortimer, Stirling’s Men – the inside history of the SAS in World War II, London, 2004, p. 72.
7. Dillon and Bradford, Rogue Warrior, p. 89.
8. Mortimer, Stirling’s Men, p. 116.
9. Hoe, David Stirling, p. 138.
26. ‘You can get away with it by sheer blatant cheek’
1. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 148.
2. Fitzroy Maclean, Eastern Approaches, London, 1949, p. 177.
3. ibid., p. 180.
4. Johnny Cooper, One of the Originals: The Story of a Founder Member of the SAS, London, 1991, p. 50.
5. ibid., p. 50.
6. ibid.
27. The most ambitious SAS project yet
1. Malcolm James (Malcolm Pleydell), Born of the Desert, London, 1945, p. 295.
28. ‘Give them something to remember us by’
1. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 125.
2. Anthony Kemp, The SAS at War 1941–1945, London, 1991, p. 52.
3. ibid., p. 53.
4. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 166.
5. ibid.
6. Martin Dillon and Roy Bradford, Rogue Warrior of the SAS: The Blair Mayne legend, London, 1987, p. 135.
7. Kemp, The SAS at War, p. 52.
29. ‘The lorry kept spluttering to a halt’
1. Gavin Mortimer, Stirling’s Men – the inside history of the SAS in World War II, London, 2004, p. 51.
31. ‘We had finally emulated Paddy Mayne on our own’
1. Malcolm James (Malcolm Pleydell), Born of the Desert, London, 1945, p. 297.
2. Virginia Cowles, The Phantom Major, London, 1958, p. 154.
3. ibid., p. 155.
4. Johnny Cooper, One of the Originals: The Story of a Founder Member of the SAS, London, 1991, p. 54.
5. Cowles, The Phantom Major, p. 156.
6. Hamish Ross, Paddy Mayne: Lt. Col. Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne, 1 SAS Regiment, 2003, p. 79.
7. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 103.
8. Cowles, The Phantom Major, p. 171.
9. Ross, Paddy Mayne, p. 79.
10. Gavin Mortimer, Stirling’s Men – the inside history of the SAS in World War II, London, 2004, p. 53.
11. Cooper, One of the Originals, p. 56.
12. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 169.
13. ibid.
14. Mortimer, Stirling’s Men, p. 159.
15. Ross, Paddy Mayne, p. 180.
16. H. W. Wynter, Special Forces in the Desert War 1940–43, London, 2001, p. 320.
17. Cooper, One of the Originals, p. 57.
18. ibid.
32. ‘The target was a fat and sitting bird’
1. H. W. Wynter, Special Forces in the Desert War 1940–43, London, 2001, p. 412.
2. ibid.
3. ibid., p. 411.
33. ‘I suppose you’ve had a good time then’
1. John Keegan, The Second World War, London, 1999, p. 276.
2. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 171.
3. Gavin Mortimer, Stirling’s Men – the inside history of the SAS in World War II, London, 2004, p. 54.
4. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 126.
34. ‘Our job was to constantly invent new techniques’
1. Carol Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, London, 1997, p. 82.
2. Stephen Hastings, The Drums of Memory: An autobiography, London, 1994, p. 49.
3. John Connell, Auchinleck: A Biography, London, 1959, p. 302.
4. Hastings, The Drums of Memory, p. 49.
5. H. W. Wynter, Special Forces in the Desert War 1940–43, London, 2001, p. 330.
6. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 183.
7. Johnny Cooper, One of the Originals: The Story of a Founder Member of the SAS, London, 1991, p. 65.
8. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 148.
9. Wynter, Special Forces in the Desert War, p. 330.
10. Hoe, David Stirling, p. 186.
11. Cooper, One of the Originals, p. 60.
12. Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, p. 91.
13. Cooper, One of the Originals, p. 60.
14. Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, p. 91.
15. Hastings, The Drums of Memory, p. 64.
16. ibid., p. 65.
17. ibid., p. 66.
18. Malcolm James (Malcolm Pleydell), Born of the Desert, London, 1945, p. 160.
19. Cooper, One of the Originals, p. 65.
35. ‘Mort au Champ d’Honneur’
1. Malcolm James (Malcolm Pleydell), Born of the Desert, London, 1945, p. 159.
2. ibid., p. 162.
3. ibid., pp. 242, 163.
4. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 190.
5. ibid., p. 196.
36. ‘It looks rather that we are expected’
1. Fitzroy Maclean, Eastern Approaches, London, 1949, p. 189.
2. Malcolm James (Malcolm Pleydell), Born of the Desert, London, 1945, p. 233.
3. ibid., p. 242.
4. Maclean, Eastern Approaches, p. 190.
5. James, Born of the Desert, p. 242.
6. ibid.
7. ibid.
8. ibid.
9. Maclean, Eastern Approaches, pp. 190–91.
10. Carol Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, London, 1997, p. 139.
37. ‘Let battle commence’
1. Carol Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, London, 1997, p. 138.
2. Lorna Almonds Windmill, Gentleman Jim: The wartime story of a founder of the SAS & special forces, London, 2001, p. 150.
3. Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, p. 141.
4. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in t
heir own words, London, 2005, p. 159.
5. Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, p. 142.
6. ibid., p. 143.
38. ‘This is going to be a shaky do’
1. Malcolm James (Malcolm Pleydell), Born of the Desert, London, 1945, p. 249.
2. Fitzroy Maclean, Eastern Approaches, London, 1949, p. 194.
3. Carol Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, London, 1997, p. 145.
4. Gavin Mortimer, Stirling’s Men – the inside history of the SAS in World War II, London, 2004, p. 69.
5. Maclean, Eastern Approaches, p. 197.
6. ibid., p. 199.
7. James, Born of the Desert, p. 265.
8. Gordon Stevens, The Originals: The secret history of the birth of the SAS in their own words, London, 2005, p. 162.
39. Talking out of turn over gin-and-tonics
1. H. W. Wynter, Special Forces in the Desert War 1940–43, London, 2001, p. 339.
40. The Regiment
1. Alan Hoe, David Stirling: The Authorized Biography of the Creator of the SAS, London, 1992, p. 210.
2. ibid., p. 211.
3. ibid., p. 213.
4. Carol Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, London, 1997, p. 200.
41. ‘A one-way ticket with no return’
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