Jon E. Lewis - The Mammoth Book of Secrets of the SAS and Elite Forces

Constable & Robinson Ltd

5556 Russell Square

London WC1B 4HP

www.constablerobinson.com

First published in the UK as

The Handbook of the SAS and Elite Forces,

by Robinson Publishing Ltd 1997

This revised edition published by Robinson,

an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd 2002

Collection and editorial material copyright Jon E. Lewis, 2002

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in

Publication data is available from the British Library

ISBN 1-84119-585-5

eISBN 978-1-78033-735-7

Printed and bound in the EU

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The SAS began life in the desert. It was founded by David Stirling, a lieutenant in the Scots Guards, who had fought with No.8 Commando in the Mediterranean. Injured during parachute training, he drew up plans for a new type of long-range commando organisation while hospitalized in Cairo. He presented them through General Neil Ritchie to the perceptive commander of British Forces in the Middle East, General Auckinleck, and was rewarded with promotion and command of the L detachment, Special Air Service Brigade. The unit designation was a fiction intended to deceive but the SAS had been born.

Stirling planned the SAS as a strategic force, attacking targets deep in the enemy heartland where they thought they were safe. From air bases in North Africa to the valleys of southern France, the SAS inflicted constant damage and tied down thousands of enemy soldiers guarding installation and sweeping the countryside for these elusive raiders.

The SAS was disbanded after the war, but resurrected within two years. A territorial regiment, 21 SAS, was created and some members volunteered for a new organisation, the Malaya Scouts (SAS). The latter were formed for counter-guerrilla operations against the communist rebels in Malaya. In 1952, this unit was redesignated 22 SAS and spearheaded the jungle war. Stirlings original belief that a small elite force could achieve results out of all proportion to its size was proved correct a second time.

As the British Empire disintegrated, the SAS were involved in guerrilla wars from Asian jungles to the Middle East. From 1969 the regiment was committed to action much closer to home, as handfuls of men were detached to Northern Ireland. SAS involvement was on a small scale until Prime Minister Harold Wilson publicly announced in January 1976 that he was sending in the SAS. This was without reference to the regiment, which had very few men available when this politically inspired statement was issued.

The Heckler & Koch MP5 machine pistol has become one of the most widely used weapons of its type. When the SAS stormed the Iranian Embassy in London in 1981, TV viewers in the UK saw it in action for the first time. British airport police were also issued with the MP5 in 1986 following the terrorist attacks at Rome and Vienna. Firing from a closed bolt, the MP5 is probably the most accurate sub-machine gun in production today. It is manufactured in a number of variants, including silenced or cut-down weapons for clandestine operations and is available with telescoping or fixed stocks. Although the MP5 is more complex and considerably more expensive than most other SMGs, its accuracy means that it is the favoured weapon of special operations and hostage rescue units around the world.

Specification

Cartridge: 9-mm parabellum; Weight:3kg; Length: (stock folded) 49 cm; Cyclic rate of fire: 800 rounds per minter; Magazine: 15 or 30 round box; Effective range: 200m.

Assessment

Reliability *****; Accuracy *****; Age ***; Worldwide users ***.

The SASs counter-terrorist role was developed in response to the massacre of the Israeli athletes in Munich during 1972. In 1980 the world saw for the first time the sinister black combat suits and gas masks of the SASs CRW (Counter Revolutionary Warfare) team. An SAS team stormed the Iranian Embassy in London releasing the hostages and killing all but one of the terrorists a stunning success.

In 1982 the Argentine invasion of the Falklands gave the SAS the opportunity to demonstrate their more traditional skills. SAS patrols ranged behind enemy lines to scout their positions and raid vital targets.