Editing David Stirling (section)

== Second World War ==
[[File:Colonel David Stirling, founder of the Special Air Service, with an SAS jeep patrol in North Africa, 18 January 1943. E21338.jpg|thumb|Lieutenant Colonel Stirling with Lieutenant Edward McDonald and other SAS soldiers in North Africa, 1943]]
Stirling was commissioned into the [[Scots Guards]] on 24 July 1937.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34420 |date=23 July 1937 |page=4740}}</ref> When the [[Second World War]] broke out in September 1939.<ref name="Ben" />{{rp|8–10}} Stirling was in Montana, USA, working as a cattle-rancher until returning to Britain on [[SS Manhattan (1931)|SS ''Manhattan'']], from [[New York City]] to [[Southampton]] on 16 September 1939.<ref>{{cite web|title=Archibald David Stirling Migration, United States Border Crossings from Canada to United States, 1895–1956. Manifests of Alien and Citizen Arrivals at Babb, Montana, June 1928 – October, 1956.|website=[[FamilySearch]] |date=5 August 1939|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XP3F-GP6}}</ref>

===Founding of the SAS===
In June 1940, he volunteered for the new [[No. 8 (Guards) Commando]] under Lieutenant-Colonel [[Robert Laycock]], which became part of Force Z (later named "[[Layforce]]"). On 1 February 1941, Layforce sailed for the Middle East, in support of the capture of [[Rhodes]], but were soon disbanded after suffering heavy casualties in the [[Battle of Crete]] and the [[Battle of the Litani River]]. Stirling remained convinced that due to the mechanised nature of war, a small team of highly trained soldiers with the advantage of surprise could attack several targets from the desert in a single night.<ref name="Ben" />{{rp|7,12–13,23–24}}

Believing that taking his idea up the chain of command was unlikely to work, Stirling decided to go straight to the top. On crutches following a parachuting accident, he stealthily entered Middle East headquarters in [[Cairo]] (under, through, or over a fence) in an effort to see [[Commander-in-Chief]], [[Middle East Command]] General [[Claude Auchinleck|Sir Claude Auchinleck]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Connor |first=Ken |date=1998 |title=Ghost Force: The Secret History of the SAS |location=London |publisher=[[Orion Publishing Group|Cassell Military Paperbacks]] |page=10 |isbn=0-304-36367-7}}</ref> Spotted by guards, Stirling abandoned his crutches and entered the building, only to come face-to-face with an officer with whom he had previously fallen out. Retreating rapidly, he entered the office of the deputy chief of staff, Major General [[Neil Ritchie]]. Stirling explained his plan to Ritchie, immediately after which Ritchie persuaded Auchinleck to allow Stirling to form a new special operations unit. The unit was given the deliberately misleading name "L Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade" to reinforce [[Dudley Clarke]]'s deception of a parachute brigade existing in [[North Africa]].<ref name="Ben" />{{rp|25–28}}

===SAS operations===
Stirling's new special operations unit was, at the outset, short of equipment (particularly tents and related gear) when the unit set up at [[Kibrit Air Base]]. The first operation of the new SAS was to steal from a nearby well-equipped New Zealand regiment various supplies including tents, bedding, tables, chairs and a piano. After at least four trips, they had a well-stocked camp.<ref name="Ben" />{{rp|34–35}}

After a brief period of training, an initial attempt at attacking a German airfield by parachute landing on 16 November 1941 in support of [[Operation Crusader]] proved to be disastrous for the unit. Of the original 55 men, some 34 were killed, wounded or captured far from the target, after being blown off course or landing in the wrong area, during one of the biggest storms to hit the region. Escaping only with the help of the [[Long Range Desert Group]] (LRDG) – who were designated to pick up the unit after the attack – Stirling agreed that approaching by land under the cover of night would be safer and more effective than parachuting. As quickly as possible he organised raids on ports using this simple method, bluffing through checkpoints at night using the language skills of some of his soldiers.<ref name="Ben" />{{rp|51–61,114–115,138}}

Under Stirling's leadership, the [[Lewes bomb]], the first hand-held dual explosive and incendiary device, was invented by [[Jock Lewes]]. American Jeeps, which were able to deal with the harsh desert terrain better than other transport, were cut down, adapted and fitted with [[Vickers K machine gun]]s fore and aft. Stirling also pioneered the use of small groups to escape detection. Finding it difficult to lead from the rear, Stirling often led from the front, his SAS units driving through enemy airfields in the Jeeps to shoot up aircraft and crew.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gavin |last=Mortimer|title=Stirling's Desert Triumph: The SAS Egyptian Airfield Raids 1942|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AECVCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA37|date=20 April 2015|publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4728-0764-9|page=37}}</ref>

[[File:French sas north africa 1943.jpg|thumb|Members of the '[[1st Airborne Marine Infantry Regiment|French Squadron SAS]]' (1ere Compagnie de Chasseurs Parachutistes) in [[French protectorate of Tunisia|Tunisia]]. 
Previously a company of [[Free France|Free French]] paratroopers, the French SAS squadron were the first of a range of units 'acquired' by Major Stirling as the SAS expanded.]]
The first Jeep-borne airfield raid occurred soon after acquiring the first batch of Jeeps in June 1942, when Stirling's SAS group attacked the Italian-held Bagush airfield along with two other Axis airfields all in the same night. After returning to Cairo, Stirling collected a consignment of more Jeeps for further airfield raids. His biggest success was on the night of 26–27 July 1942 when his SAS squadron, armed with 18 jeeps, [[Raid on Sidi Haneish Airfield|raided the Sidi Haneish]] landing strip and destroyed 37 Axis aircraft  (mostly bombers and heavy transport) for the loss of two men killed. After a drive through the desert, evading enemy patrols and aircraft, Stirling and his men reached the safety of their advance camp at Qaret Tartura on the edge of the [[Qattara Depression]].<ref name="Ben">{{cite book|last1=Macintyre|first1=Ben|title=Rogue Warriors|date=2016|publisher=Crown Publishing Group|location=New York|isbn=978-1-101-90416-9|pages=48–49,143–146,149–154}}</ref> He was promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-colonel]] in September 1942.<ref>{{cite book|last=[[Ben Macintyre|Macintyre]]|first=Ben|date=2016|title=SAS Rogue Heroes|publisher=[[Viking Books]]|page=167|isbn=9780241186626}}</ref>

In North Africa, in the 15 months before Stirling's capture, the SAS had destroyed over 250 aircraft on the ground, dozens of supply dumps, wrecked railways and telecommunications, and had put hundreds of enemy vehicles out of action.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1990/11/07/sir-david-stirling-74-dies/176edce1-adf2-4230-9bdc-483b64d04625/|title=Sir David Stirling dies|date=7 November 1990|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=15 October 2023}}</ref> 

Field Marshal [[Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein|Bernard Montgomery]] said ''"The boy Stirling is quite mad, quite, quite mad. However, in a war there is often a place for mad people."''.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/david-stirling|title=David Stirling: The Phantom Major &#124; National Army Museum|website=www.nam.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/hair-raising-adventures-david-stirling-madman-behind-sas/|title=The hair-raising adventures of David Stirling, the madman behind the SAS|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=31 October 2022|access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref>

===Capture by Germans===
These [[Hit-and-run tactics|hit-and-run]] operations eventually proved Stirling's undoing; he was captured during one in Tunisia<ref name="auto"/> by the Germans in January 1943 having been dubbed "The Phantom Major" by Field Marshal [[Erwin Rommel]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Alleyne |first=Richard |date=19 February 2007 |title=SAS founder's life story to be made into a film |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1543115/SAS-founders-life-story-to-be-made-into-a-film.html |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=2 March 2017}}</ref> Although Stirling escaped from the Germans, he was subsequently re-captured by the Italian [[Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Monferrato" (13th)|III Armored Group "Cavalleggeri di Monferrato"]] and the Italians took great delight in the embarrassment this caused their German allies.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/06/obituaries/sir-david-stirling-74-the-founder-of-britain-s-elite-commando-unit.html |title=Sir David Stirling, 74, the Founder of Britain's Elite Commando Unit |last=Saxon |first=Wolfgang |date=6 November 1990 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Stirling|title=Sir David Stirling {{!}} British officer|newspaper=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2017-02-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Stirling, Sir (Archibald) David (1915–1990)|last=Mclean|first=Fitzroy|encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004}}</ref> He made four further escape attempts, before he was sent to [[Colditz Castle]], where he remained as a prisoner for the rest of the war.<ref name="britannica.com" /> He arrived on 20 August 1944 and was given the task of setting up the Colditz British Intelligence Unit by a Stay-Behind Order ([[Stay-behind|SBO]]) which was in place in the area.<ref name="Colditz">{{cite book|last1= Reid |first1=P.R.|title=Colditz, The Full Story|date=1984 |pages=258–262 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-00578-8 | url=https://archive.org/details/colditzfullstory00reid}}</ref> Following Stirling's capture, [[Paddy Mayne]] took command of the SAS.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Mayne, Robert Blair (1915–1955)|last=Jellicoe|first=George|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography}}</ref>