In 1941, British officer David Stirling saw potential in small, mobile units capable of striking deep behind enemy lines.
Against scepticism from his superiors, he formed L Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade — a handful of volunteers trained for sabotage and deception in the unforgiving deserts of North Africa.

Their mission was simple: hit hard, hit fast, disappear. Operating under cover of darkness, they raided Axis airfields and supply depots, planting explosives, destroying aircraft, and vanishing into the dunes before dawn.

Alongside Stirling stood Blair “Paddy” Mayne, a fearsome leader whose blend of discipline and ferocity would help define the Regiment’s spirit. Mayne became legendary for his audacious raids — once driving straight through enemy airfields, demolishing dozens of planes in a single night.

These desert commandos were misfits, outlaws, and innovators — men who thrived on chaos and turned the tides of war through cunning and endurance. What began as an experiment became a revolution: the birth of modern special operations.

The world first saw the SAS in action during the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege in London. For six days, gunmen held hostages inside; on the seventh, the black-clad troopers struck.

In just 17 minutes, the siege was over — five terrorists dead, 24 hostages rescued, zero SAS losses.
Millions watched live as masked men stormed through windows in a blur of smoke and precision gunfire.

That single operation changed global counter-terrorism forever. Units such as Delta Force (USA), GSG 9 (Germany), and GIGN (France) restructured their own doctrines around the methods of the SAS.

The Regiment had shown the world what quiet professionals could achieve when unleashed.

Today, the Special Air Service (SAS) operates within three regiments: 21st, 22nd, and 23rd.

• 22 SAS — the Regular Army regiment — undertakes most frontline missions.

• 21 SAS and 23 SAS — part of the Army Reserve — provide specialised support and intelligence roles.

Their deployments span continents and decades: the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and countless undisclosed operations.
Most of their victories will never make the news — and that’s precisely how they prefer it.

The Regiment’s mystique lies in its silence: no names, no faces, no glory — only results.

The Regiment’s mythology deepened during the 1991 Gulf War with Bravo Two Zero, an eight-man patrol inserted deep behind Iraqi lines.

When their mission was compromised, they were hunted relentlessly.

• Andy McNab (a pseudonym) was captured, tortured, and held until war’s end.

• Chris Ryan escaped and trekked over 180 miles through hostile desert to reach Syria — one of the longest solo escapes in military history.

The mission became a legend not for its success, but for the raw endurance and refusal to quit — the very traits that define the SAS ethos.

The SAS didn’t just create elite soldiers — they created a blueprint. Their tactics, structure, and selection philosophy became the DNA of modern special forces across the world.

From Delta Force and SEAL Team 6 to Australia’s SASR, Germany’s GSG 9, and France’s GIGN, nearly every special operations unit in existence traces its lineage back to Stirling’s desert raiders.

Their legacy is not just military. The SAS mindset — discipline under chaos, composure under pressure, courage in silence — has influenced leadership, crisis management, and even corporate psychology.

They remain the grandfathers of special operations, the original prototype, and the gold standard by which every modern elite unit is judged.

Their motto says it all:
Who Dares Wins.