The Phantom Major: The Story of David Stirling and the SAS Regiment

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stars. Great subject, but the book could have used something more. I’d like a different author to do it. a b c d e f Macintyre, Ben (2016). Rogue Warriors. New York: Crown Publishing Group. pp.48–49, 143–146, 149–154. ISBN 978-1-101-90416-9.

Mayne, who had survived some of the SAS’s most daring raids, died in 1955 after being hit by a farmer’s vehicle as he walked home near Bangor, Northern Ireland. Stirling died, aged 74, in 1990, shortly after he had received a knighthood. Favorite parts? Fun stuff, political stuff, clever stuff, like when David proved the worth of his new brainchild. He made a bet with some head honcho at the Britsh RAF that the SAS could sneak into the RAF airfield at Heliopolis and paper-mark their planes without getting caught. 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 ] In 15 months, the SAS put hundreds of enemy vehicles out of action and destroyed more than 250 aircraft. Stirling was educated in England at the Catholic boarding school Ampleforth College. He was part of the Ampleforth Officer Training Corps. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge for a year before going to Paris to become an artist. [2] Second World War and the founding of the SAS [ edit ] Lieutenant Colonel Stirling with Lieutenant Edward McDonald and other SAS soldiers in North Africa, 1943

Disaster in the desert

This was narrated by Robert Whitfield aka Simon Vance in 2001. He did a good job, but at times he spoke a little too fast for me. I wonder if he was shortening the time for cd purposes. The lieutenant saw that there was no time to lose. He did not, in fact, have an appointment with anyone, but his intention was to pay a call on the Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in the Middle East. Now it was obvious that he could not afford to be particular, for the commotion outside was growing louder. He lurched down one corridor and around another. Then he came to a door marked Adjutant-General. This, he decided, must do. He pushed it open and walked in. The major was too annoyed to be impressed, and without asking the lieutenant to be seated replied coldly, “Are you sure you can spare the time to explain ?” Mike Sadler had been captured along with Stirling in 1943 while trying to cross the Tunisian desert to meet the British-American 1st Army.

Alleyne, Richard (19 February 2007). "SAS founder's life story to be made into a film". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 2 March 2017. The audiobook needs a pdf file with pictures and maps. There are maps in the book but none for the audiobook. I think a glossary of some of the military terms would also be good (put in the pdf).

Narrow escape

The Rommel Papers: edited by B. H. Liddell Hart. Rommel’s account of Stirling’s recapture is not accurate. Stirling faced many obstacles within the British Army when he brought his idea of this clandestine outfit to the General's office. Fortunately he was determined and when someone finally listened, he began his recruitment, training, and put into action plans that hampered the Afrika Korps' drive to the Suez. This brings one to the conclusion that the devotion David inspired in his men was based on confidence. This was repeatedly justified by the amazingly small casualties suffered by the unit; and it was further fortified by the fact that David never asked his men to undertake anything he himself would not do.

The SAS ("roaming along the enemy's desert flank and darting in to strike at the right moment") did not have an easy path to get established within the British armed forces: And do you know why you don’t remember me? And why on the other hand I remember you only too clearly?” Told in 3rd person, this account covers from 1941-1944, from the origins of the British SAS to the capture of its "Phantom Major"— Lieutenant Colonel David Sterling.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. Virginia Cowles. The Phantom Major: The Story of David Stirling and the SAS Regiment (Collins, 1958) ISBN 1848843860 ISBN 978-1848843868