David Stirling: Founder Of The Sas: The Authorised Biography of the Founder of the SAS

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Drawing on interviews with SAS veterans who fought with Stirling and men who worked with him on his post-war projects, and examining recently declassified governments files about Stirling’s involvement in Aden, Libya and GB75, Mortimer’s riveting biography is incisive, bold, honest and written with his customary narrative panache. These hit-and-run operations eventually proved Stirling's undoing; he was captured by the Germans in January 1943 having been dubbed "The Phantom Major" by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. His biggest success was on the night of 26–27 July 1942 when his SAS squadron, armed with 18 jeeps, raided the Sidi Haneish landing strip and destroyed 37 Axis aircraft (mostly bombers and heavy transport) for the loss of two men killed. The answer probably lies in the fact that he was a powerful, influential and litigious man, who had friends in high places and - through his private security company that supplied mercenaries to the world's trouble spots - associates in dark ones.

Hachette Australia acknowledges and pays our respects to the past, present and future Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.Stirling was not training in North America for an attempt on Mount Everest’s summit when war broke out in 1939, as he later claimed, but rather working as a ranch hand because his exasperated family hoped it might give the feckless youth some focus and direction. Permission quickly followed to form and lead the unit, christened L Detachment, Special Air Service. It doesn't denigrate David Stirling's actual achievements, merely points out how he failed to give credit where due (which seems to be the result of a personality flaw).

I let him come reluctantly … I resented the strength of his persuasion and despised a little his colossal confidence. Although it was disbanded after the war, the SAS was re-formed six years later to meet the demands of a host of limited-intensity conflicts. David Stirling was more a huckster than a hero, a man who shamelessly stole the feats of others and passed them off in his memoir as his own. Interestingly, Mortimer suggests Fraser was omitted because he was “gay and a constant reminder to Stirling of his own great secret”. Stirling was born at his family's ancestral home, Keir House, in the parish of Lecropt, Perthshire on 15 November 1915.He can speak the language of soldiers, and has met all the surviving 'Originals' of 'L' Detachment (SAS).

In September 1967 Len Deighton wrote an article in The Sunday Times Magazine about Operation Snowdrop, a raid led by Stirling.

In fact, it was Bill Stirling, working in Cairo at the time, who wrote much of the memo and made sure it was read by senior officers.