The British Special Air Service

The British SAS, or Special Air Service, is a British Army special forces unit that has played a crucial role in the United Kingdom’s military history. The elite soldiers of the SAS are known for their ability to carry out reconnaissance, sabotage and counter-terrorism missions. Since its creation during the Second World War, the British SAS has been deployed in many conflicts, including in North Africa, in Korea during the Cold War, in Northern Ireland, in Iraq and in Afghanistan. For more than 80 years the SAS has been one of the most renowned special units in the world.

The history of the SAS

The Special Air Service was created in July 1941 by a young Scottish lieutenant, David Stirling, in response to the defeats suffered by British forces in North Africa. The unit’s initial aim was to carry out reconnaissance and sabotage missions behind enemy lines to disrupt the movements of the German Afrika Korps. The SAS’s first mission took place in November 1941 in Libya, with a team of five soldiers parachuted in to carry out reconnaissance operations in the Benghazi area.

These first missions disrupted German troop movements and relieved the pressure on British forces in North Africa. The SAS played a key role in the taking of Tobruk in June 1942 and in the capture of Sirte in September 1942. Thanks to these successes, the SAS forged a solid reputation that quickly inspired the creation of specialist units in other Allied armed forces.

The SAS also carried out reconnaissance missions on behalf of the Allied forces, providing valuable intelligence on enemy troop movements and conditions on the ground. The unit was made up of volunteers selected for their endurance, courage and ability to work as a team. They were trained to survive in harsh conditions and to carry out missions using unconventional means.

The Special Air Service after the war

After the Second World War, the SAS continued to evolve and expand. In the 1950s and 1960s, with the Cold War in full swing, the British commandos were involved in counter-espionage and sabotage operations in Eastern Europe. During the Suez crisis in 1956, the unit carried out a sabotage operation in Egypt to disrupt Egyptian forces’ communications and movements. In Malaya the British were involved in the fight against communist insurgents. They carried out counter-insurgency operations in rural areas, using guerrilla tactics to track them down and eliminate them.

The SAS were also present during the Korean War (1950-1953). The unit was involved in reconnaissance and sabotage missions behind enemy lines. SAS members worked with American special forces to gather information on enemy positions and to sabotage North Korean communications and supply lines. A few years later SAS units were found in Vietnam, again alongside American elite units, for sabotage and intelligence operations.

In the 1960s, the SAS also took part in the war against communist insurgents in Malaya. The unit carried out counter-insurgency operations in rural areas, using guerrilla tactics to track down and eliminate the insurgents. The SAS was also involved in the Biafran War in Nigeria, providing assistance to the Nigerian army against the Biafran rebels.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Special Air Service took part in several counter-terrorism operations, notably during the hijacking of the Lufthansa aircraft in 1977 and the assault on the Iranian embassy in London in 1980. During the Falklands War in 1982, the SAS played a key role in reconnaissance and sabotage operations, helping to neutralise Argentine defences before British troops arrived.

The SAS and Northern Ireland

The SAS was deployed to Northern Ireland as early as 1969, at the start of the Troubles. The detachments operated in plain clothes and focused on gathering intelligence. Their deployment in plain clothes was exceptional, but it allowed them to test the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism techniques they were developing. In 1971, 39 Brigade created a unit dedicated to plain-clothes surveillance, the Military Reaction Force (MRF), but this unit was reorganised in 1972 after an MRF soldier was killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). Operations were then placed under more centralised control and accompanied by better training, with the creation of a Special Reconnaissance Unit (SRU) in which the SAS was heavily involved. In January 1976, the British government publicly announced the deployment of the SAS to Northern Ireland, where it operated by setting up observation posts to gather intelligence, ambushing PIRA arms caches and arresting dangerous suspects. SAS actions were sometimes badly conducted and led to failures. On 2 May 1980, an SAS unit went to the wrong house during a hastily prepared raid on a house in Belfast, resulting in the death of an officer. As a result, the deployment system was reviewed and a troop specially trained for Northern Ireland was set up. In the 1980s, SAS operations in Northern Ireland were criticised for their cost and ineffectiveness, as well as for the human rights violations they led to. SAS operations in Northern Ireland finally ended in 1998, after the signing of the Good Friday peace agreement.

The SAS in modern conflicts

Like all special forces units, the SAS is regularly employed before or during the deployment of its country’s conventional forces. Since the 1980s the Special Air Service has been present in many theatres of operations.

The SAS during the Gulf War

In 1988, the British Ministry of Defence created the Directorate of Special Forces (DSF), a unified command structure for the special forces, inspired by the American model. The SAS was involved in the Gulf War in 1990, when mysterious men suspected of being SAS slipped off a British Airways commercial aircraft before the passengers were arrested by the Iraqi military.

During the offensive against Iraq in 1991, the SAS carried out observation missions and attacks on important command posts in the desert, as well as hunting for mobile Scud missile launchers. An eight-man team, called “Bravo Two Zero”, was spotted by the enemy while watching the road linking Baghdad to Jordan, and several members were killed or captured. Chris Ryan, the last member, managed to walk for seven days through the desert to the Syrian border, losing 16 kg on the way, and received the Military Medal for his incredible feat.

The SAS in the former Yugoslavia

The SAS took part in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from November 1992, with various units present in several parts of the country. Although they did not take part in the fighting, a full squadron is said to have been infiltrated into Sarajevo in May 1995 to free some thirty British soldiers held hostage by Serb forces, but the operation did not go ahead because the soldiers were released a few days later.

General Michael Rose, a former SAS member and commander of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) from January 1994, wanted SAS teams at his disposal. These teams, dressed as British blue helmets for discretion, were tasked with locating the lines of the various factions and providing Michael Rose with intelligence on the ground.

In April 1994, an SAS team infiltrated the Bosnian enclave of Goražde, but one SAS soldier was killed during the operation. During a Serb offensive, the team guided air strikes. A Fleet Air Arm Sea Harrier was shot down and its pilot, Nick Richardson, managed to eject and join the SAS team, which exfiltrated the area on foot before being picked up by helicopter.

An SAS pair was also inserted into Srebrenica in March 1995 and was present when the town fell. Reservists from 21 and 23 SAS were employed in Bosnia in a detachment called “V Squadron”, supporting peacekeeping operations.

After the war, the SAS remained in the country to capture people indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 1997-1998. The SAS also saw action during the Kosovo War in 1999 on missions whose nature remains secret, but they certainly guided air strikes. During this war, Sergeant Robert Lyon was killed in action and the other members of his team were exfiltrated to Bosnia, where two of them were treated at the Siporo hospital before being repatriated to Britain.

The SAS in Afghanistan

Special Air Service forces were heavily involved in the war in Afghanistan. In November or December 2001, A and G Squadrons (about 100 men) launched an attack on an al-Qaeda training camp near the Pakistani border, as part of Operation TT. This mission was the regiment’s largest since the Second World War and was intended to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.

The operation lasted about four hours and allowed the SAS to claim up to 73 enemies killed, with four SAS members wounded, one of whom lost a leg at the ankle. However, after examining the operation more closely, the SAS realised that any infantry unit could have been used for this mission. In 2006, the SAS complained of being used for non-special purposes.

By August 2010, the human toll for SAS forces in Afghanistan was one officer and three reservists killed, as well as several dozen wounded.

The SAS in Iraq

The SAS was involved in the Iraq War from 2003, carrying out missions similar to those of the 1991 Gulf War, such as reconnaissance of Scud missile sites and surveillance of Iraqi command posts. In March 2003, SAS operators attacked a storage centre suspected of holding weapons of mass destruction, as well as two air bases. During this period, seven SAS members were killed and around 30 others were seriously wounded.

SAS recruitment and training

At the start of 22 SAS operations in Malaya, it became clear that many soldiers were not suited to this type of mission. As a result, the commanding officer tasked Major John Woodhouse with setting up a selection process to keep only candidates with the necessary endurance and self-discipline. Selection is held twice a year, each time with around 150 candidates at the start.

The first phase, called the Aptitude Phase, lasts four weeks and aims to weed out soldiers who are not sufficiently motivated or fit, while training them in navigation for the next phase. Soldiers take the Basic Infantry Battle Fitness Test, which consists of a 12.8 km march with a 25 kg pack to be completed in two hours. The first week includes navigation lessons and various marches in the Brecon Beacons, with a final march over Pen y Fan mountain. The second and third weeks include five navigation marches, supervised and unsupervised, which must be completed within a set time at an average speed of 4 km/h. Candidates who fail to meet this limit receive a warning and are returned to their original unit after three failures. The fourth week includes further timed marches, followed by a final endurance test: a 64 km march over very rough terrain with a 25 kg pack and a rifle, to be completed in under 20 hours.

After this phase, candidates receive weapons training and complete a six-week jungle course in Borneo or Belize. The third phase is a four-week SERE (survival and evasion) course, which includes a 24-hour interrogation.

The organisation of the SAS

The SAS has several active and reserve units. These have changed a great deal since the 1950s. The Special Air Service can also rely on several units dedicated to specialist functions such as intelligence, logistic support, signals and tactical transport.

22 Special Air Service Regiment (22 SAS)

Also known as the “SAS Regiment”, this unit is the best known and largest of the British SAS. It is made up of four squadrons, lettered A, B, D and E, each with different specialities such as reconnaissance, special operations and unconventional warfare. Each squadron is itself divided into four troops (Troop)

• The Mobility Troop, specialising in desert terrain and motorised mobility
• the Air Troop (sometimes called the HALO troop), made up of military freefall parachutists who master both HALO and HAHO techniques
• The Boat Troop, specialising in waterborne infiltration (kayaks, fast boats, etc.) and underwater infiltration (mini-submarines, combat swimmers)
• The Mountain Troop, responsible for operations in mountainous terrain and in winter

The troops are divided into four patrols, and each member of these patrols has a speciality: signals, explosives, medicine or languages.

21 Special Air Service Regiment (21 SAS)

Also known as the “SAS Regiment (Reserve)”, this unit is made up of reservists, who are part-time soldiers. 21 SAS reinforces 22 SAS when needed and provides instruction and training for potential recruits.

23 Special Air Service Regiment (23 SAS)

23 SAS is similar to 22 SAS in role and operation, but it is specially trained for reserve operations, which means it provides additional capacity when needed, particularly for reconnaissance and surveillance missions.

In terms of recruitment and selection, 23 SAS follows the same process as 22 SAS, with demanding and rigorous training to ensure that only the most capable and motivated soldiers are selected to serve in the unit.

The units supporting the SAS

• Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR): responsible for carrying out reconnaissance and surveillance missions in hostile environments. It is made up of experienced soldiers from the SAS and other special forces regiments.
• Special Forces Support Group (SFSG): this unit’s mission is to provide logistic and operational support to special forces units, including the SAS. It is made up of soldiers with specialist skills such as combat medicine and explosives.
• 262 Signals Squadron : 262 is the communications support specialist for the British special forces, including the SAS. It is made up of soldiers with specialist skills in communications and IT.
• 658 Squadron is a British Army unit operating in the field of light aviation. It was created in 1942 during the Second World War and was involved in reconnaissance, support for ground troops and the transport of personnel and equipment. After the war, 658 Squadron was disbanded and re-formed several times over the years to meet the British Army’s operational needs. In the 1990s, it was converted into an air observation unit equipped with Gazelle helicopters. In 2009, 658 Squadron was transferred to the command of the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, which is responsible for providing air support to the British special forces, notably the SAS and the SBS. The role of 658 Squadron was expanded to include reconnaissance, surveillance and night reconnaissance operations.

The missions of the SAS

Since its creation in 1941, the British SAS has always been involved in high-level missions all over the world. Although some of the SAS’s most famous operations took place during the Second World War, the unit remains an elite force capable of carrying out complex missions in a wide range of contexts.

Today, the British SAS is involved in a variety of missions, including:

• Reconnaissance inside enemy lines using several means of infiltration (land, air, sea)
• Offensive action, notably the destruction of objectives and the search for and capture, or neutralisation, of high-value targets.
• Protecting British interests abroad, notably at sites such as embassies and diplomatic missions. The SAS can also intervene to protect and evacuate British citizens abroad, as was the case in Kabul in 2021.
• Training and advising foreign military units
• Counter-terrorism (see next section)

The SAS’s counter-terrorism missions

The Special Air Service counter-terrorism unit was created after the deadly hostage-taking at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Unlike other Western countries, the SAS formed its own counter-terrorism team by adapting its existing squadrons. The Counter-Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) Wing is responsible for developing tactics and techniques to deal with new terrorist threats. In 1972, the Special Projects (SP) team, also known as the counter-terrorism team or the Pagoda team, was tasked with forming a counter-terrorism team. The unit was on permanent standby to respond to any incident. Each SAS squadron was responsible for providing the counter-terrorism team for six months. The team was divided into two groups, called the Red Team and the Blue Team, and alternated periods of training, deployments to Northern Ireland and exercises abroad.

The SAS counter-terrorism unit’s best-known operation is Operation Nimrod in 1980, to free the hostages at the Iranian embassy in London. The SAS SP team abseiled down from the embassy roof while simultaneously entering the building through several windows and entrances. They freed 18 of the 19 hostages, killed five terrorists and captured the sixth, suffering only one serious burn injury. The operation was widely covered by the media and was a significant success.

In addition to Operation Nimrod, the SAS counter-terrorism unit was called out for several incidents, including the hijacking of an aircraft at Stansted in 1975, the siege of an IRA group in Balcombe Street in 1975, the siege of the Libyan embassy in London in 1984 and the hijacking of Ariana Afghan Airlines flight 805 at Stansted in 2002. SAS troops are also said to have played a part in the arrest of the alleged perpetrators of the 21 July 2005 attacks in London, by providing experts in explosive door-breaching techniques to the Metropolitan Police intervention team.

The SAS also carried out a “debriefing” of the French GIGN gendarmes (the Gendarmerie’s elite intervention unit) who took part in the Ouvéa hostage-taking. SAS members attended the Waco siege in 1993 and asked to send observers to Marignane during the hostage-taking on Air France Flight 8969 in 1994. SAS observers were also present during the hostage-taking at the Japanese embassy in Lima by the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, as well as at the Moscow theatre and Beslan.

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