British SAS back from a 3-month patrol of North Africa in 1943

British SAS back from a 3-month patrol of North Africa in 1943

The History of the British Army's Special Air Service or SAS regiment begins with its formation during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, and continues to the present day. It includes their early operations in North Africa, the Greek Islands, and the Invasion of Italy. They then returned to the United Kingdom and were formed into a brigade with two British, two French and one Belgian regiment. The SAS Brigade then conducted operations in France, Italy again, the Low Countries and finally into Germany.

After the war the SAS were disbanded only to be reformed as a Territorial Army regiment, which then led onto the formation of the regular army 22 SAS Regiment. The new regiment has taken part in most of the United Kingdom's small wars since then. However the Ministry of Defence does not comment on special forces matters, therefore little verifiable information exists in the public domain on the regiment's recent activities.[1]

At first, service in the SAS was considered an end to an officer's career progression, however in recent years SAS officers have risen to the highest ranks in the British Army. General Peter de la Billière was the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in the 1990 Gulf War.[2] General Michael Rose became commander of the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia in 1994.[3] In 1997 General Charles Guthrie became Chief of the Defence Staff the head of the British Armed Forces.[4] Lieutenant-General Cedric Delves was the Commander of the Field Army and Deputy Commander in Chief NATO Regional Headquarters Allied Forces Northern Europe (RHQ AFNORTH) in 2002–2003.