David Stirling
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Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling DSO, OBE (November 15, 1915 - November 4, 1990) was a Scottish laird, mountaineer, World War II British Army officer, and the founder of the Special Air Service.
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[edit] Life before the war
Stirling was born at his family's ancestral home, Kier House near Doune in Perthshire (near Stirling). He was the son of Brigadier General Archibald Stirling of Keir and Margaret Fraser, daughter of Simon Fraser, the Lord Lovat (a descendant from King Charles II of England). His cousin was Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat. He was educated at Ampleforth College and Trinity College, Cambridge. A tall and athletic figure (he was 6 ft 6 in [1.98 m] tall), he was training to climb Mount Everest when World War II broke out.
[edit] World War II and the founding of the SAS
He joined the Scots Guards as a subaltern in 1939, and in June 1940 volunteered for the new No.8 Commando under Lt. Col. Robert Laycock which became part of Force Z (later named "Layforce"). After Layforce (and No.8 Commando) were disbanded on 1 August 1941, Stirling remained convinced that due to the mechanised nature of war a small team of highly trained soldiers with the advantage of surprise could exact greater damage to the enemy's ability to fight than an entire platoon.
Aware that taking his idea up through the chain of command was unlikely to work, Stirling decided to go straight to the top. On crutches following a parachuting accident he sneaked into Middle East headquarters in Cairo in an effort to see Commander-in-Chief General Claude Auchinleck.[1] Taking cover in an office, Stirling came face to face with Deputy Commander Middle East General Ritchie. Stirling explained his plan to Ritchie and Ritchie convinced Auchinleck to allow Stirling to form a new Special Forces unit. The unit was given the deliberately misleadingly name "L Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade" to reinforce an existing deception of a parachute brigade existing in North Africa.
His initial attempts at attacking by parachute landing were disastrous and resulted in a high percentage of his men being killed or wounded. Escaping only with the help of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) he decided that approaching by desert under the cover of night would not only be the safest but also the most effective means of approach. As quickly as possible he organised raids on ports using this simple method, often driving through checkposts at night using the language skills of some of his soldiers to bluff the guards. Stirling was captured by the Germans in January 1943. He escaped on four occasions, before being sent to Colditz Castle, where he remained for the rest of the war. After his capture his brother Bill Stirling and Blair 'Paddy' Mayne took command of the SAS.
In the fifteen months before Stirling's capture, the SAS had destroyed over 250 aircraft on the ground, dozens of supply dumps, roads, and railway communications wrecked, and they had put literally hundreds of enemy vehicles out of action.
[edit] Later life
Stirling was concerned about the power of the trade unions so in 1975 he set up the organisation GB75, which he described as 'an organisation of apprehensive patriots' which would help the country in the event of strikes.[2]
He was knighted in 1990, and died later that year.
In 2002 the SAS memorial, a statue of Stirling standing on a rock, was opened on the Hill of Row near his family's estate at Park of Keir.
[edit] Other
Stirling House is a house at Welbeck college where all 5 houses are named after prominent military figures.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Ken Connor, Ghost Force The Secret History of the SAS, Orion Books, 1998, p.10
- ^ Phillip Whitehead, The Writing on the Wall: Britain in the Seventies (Michael Joseph, 1985), p. 211.
[edit] References
- Significant Scots biography of David Stirling
