This is an important book that properly explains the early history of the SAS and David Stirling’s true role. It finally gives justified credit to Bill Stirling, Paddy Mayne, and others – not least the influence of the Long Range Desert Group, another one of the ‘private armies’ that sprung up in North Africa. It is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the SAS or the campaign in North Africa. David Stirling: the Phoney Major the life, times and truth about the founder of the SAS But Bill had a business career, was married with a young family: he was everything that David wasn’t. Discrete, modest, unassuming.

He was sent to America by his mother and Bill who were at their wits end because he was so aimless. He was actually ranching. They had a family friend in El Paso. Hattersley, Giles (4 March 2007). "Playboy trying to keep the kingdom united". The Times . Retrieved 1 February 2021. Pretoria inquiry confirms secret battle for the rhino". The Independent. London. 18 January 1996 . Retrieved 13 February 2008. In the biography, Mortimer analyses Stirling’s complex character: the childhood speech impediment, the pressure from his overbearing mother, his fraught relationship with his brother, Bill, and the “jealousy and inferiority” he felt in the presence of his SAS second-in-command, Paddy Mayne.

The SAS: Savage Wars of Peace: 1947 to the Present, by Anthony Kemp, John Murray, 1994, pp. 88–89 [ ISBNmissing] There were numerous examples in the 1940s and the years immediately after when Bill and David were referred to as the co-founders of the SAS. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 8,942 articles in the main category, and specifying |topic= will aid in categorization.

a b McNaughton, Frank (19 September 1939). Edward T. Leech (ed.). "Roosevelt Deplores German Bombings". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Press Company. United Press. p.8. ISSN 1068-624X . Retrieved 9 September 2015. "There is something phoney about this war," [Senator William E. Borah (R. Idaho) in an interview] told questioners yesterday, explaining that he meant the comparative inactivity on the Western Front. "You would think," he continued, "that Britain and France would do what they are going to do now while Germany and Russia are still busy in the East, instead of waiting until they have cleaned up the eastern business." He did not expect an early end to hostilities. BOOK REVIEW / A place for mad people: 'David Stirling' – Alan Hoe". Independent.co.uk. 12 September 1992. Stirling left the Regular Army in 1947. He founded the Capricorn Africa Society, which aimed to fight racial discrimination in Africa, but Stirling's preference to a limited, elitist voting franchise over universal suffrage limited the movement's appeal. He subsequently formed various private military companies and was linked with a failed attempt to overthrow the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the early 1970s. He also attempted to organise efforts to undermine trades unionism and to overthrow the British government, none of which made significant headway. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1990, and died later the same year.Firstly, let me say the book is impeccably written and has obviously been thoroughly researched. Gavin has, over time, interviewed approximately 150 veterans and What Stirling excelled at was drinking and gambling. He spent much of his time in Cairo, whiling away the time in exclusive clubs and bars. He also had a rare talent for self-promotion, which led to his name becoming familiar to Winston Churchill, after Stirling recruited his son, Randolph, into the SAS. Recruiting from the old boy network brought Stirling men he was comfortable with. Mayne preferred to recruit men who were good fighters; it didn’t matter whether they were born well or dragged up from the gutter. Mortimer, Gavin (20 April 2015). Stirling's Desert Triumph: The SAS Egyptian Airfield Raids 1942. Bloomsbury. p.37. ISBN 978-1-4728-0764-9. Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal" (PDF). Library of Congress. Nüremberg. 1948. p.350. Aristocrat, gambler, innovator and special forces legend, the life of David Stirling should need no retelling.

Aristocrat, gambler, innovator and special forces legend, the life of David Stirling should need no retelling. His formation of the Special Air Service in the summer of 1941 led to a new form of warfare and Stirling is remembered as the father of special forces soldiering. But was he really a military genius or in fact a shameless self-publicist who manipulated people, and the truth, for this own ends? In this gripping and controversial biography Gavin Mortimer analyses Stirling’s complex character: the childhood speech impediment that shaped his formative years, the pressure from his overbearing mother, his fraught relationship with his brother, Bill, and the jealousy and inferiority he felt in the presence of his SAS second-in-command, the cold-blooded killer Paddy Mayne. Business was chiefly with the Gulf States. He was linked, along with Denys Rowley, to a failed attempt to overthrow the Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 1970 or 1971. Stirling was the founder of “ private military company” KAS International, also known as KAS Enterprises. [23] The Baltic Sea at war 1939–1945". 20thcenturybattles.com. WorldPress.com. 2016 . Retrieved 5 June 2016.One can feel a degree of sympathy for Stirling because he was an ideas man and he was someone who found himself in a situation ie commanding officer of the SAS, who clearly wasn’t cut out for this role.