Sas The First Secret Wars

The covert, clandestine operations of the Special Air Service (SAS) regiment, from the jungles of Malaya, Borneo and Brunei to the deserts and mountains of the Middle East and Afghanistan have always been the focus of intense fascination, stoked by the regiment's 'closed' organization and secretive activities. However, no period of activity has remained more secret than the vital years in the immediate aftermath of World War II when the regiment seemingly expired, only to rise miraculously from the dead to fight communism in the Malaya Emergency. Tim Jones' fascinating history pieces together the evidence to show that while the Malaya Emergency re-established the SAS as a unique source of counter-guerilla expertise, the regiment was not disbanded in 1945 and was, in fact, covertly involved in the Greek Civil War of 1945-49, a war unmatched in savagery until the Bosnian conflict in the 1990s. Revealing important operational secrets and shedding new light on post-war history, this book will be essential reading for enthusiasts of military history, and those interested in the world of intelligence.

The historian and author of Postwar Counterinsurgency and the SAS reveals the full story of how the Special Air Service Regiment began during WWII. Britain’s elite Special Air Service Regiment is one of the most revered special-ops units in the world. Its high-profile operations include the storming of the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980 and the hunt for Osama bin Laden in southern Afghanistan following 9/11. Since its inception during the Second World War, the SAS has become a byword for the highest possible standards in both conventional and unorthodox methods of warfare. In SAS Zero Hour, military historian and SAS expert Tim Jones offers fascinating new insight into how this elite regiment began. It is commonly held that the unit was the brainchild of just one man, David Stirling. While not dismissing Stirling’s considerable contribution, Jones’s historical investigation reveals many other factors that played a part in shaping the SAS, including the roles of military deception specialist Dudley Clarke, Field Marshals Archibald Wavell and Claude Auchinleck, and others. Drawing extensively on primary sources, as well as reassessing the more recent regimental histories and memoirs, SAS Zero Hour is “The most comprehensive and enlightening version of these seminal events yet” (Sir Ranulph Fiennes, from the Forward).

In 1970 the SAS was called in to support the Sultan of Oman's armed forces in their bitter struggle against a Communist-backed insurrection. The task in hand was not to obliterate the enemy, for these were the Sultan's subjects, but to persuade the rebels to join the Omani government's side, as well as encouraging the independently-minded peoples of the Jebel Dhofar to abandon their support for the insurgents. If necessary, these objectives were to be achieved by demonstrating that the insurgents could never win the armed struggle. This is the gripping story of the part played in the conflict by the men and squadrons of the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment, the first full SAS squadron in the region. Written by the man who commanded that unit and who successfully raised the first bands of Dhofari irregulars to fight for the Sultan, SAS: Secret War provides a unique and personal insight into what was to become one of the most successful counter-insurgency campaigns of the twentieth century.

From 1963 to 1966 Britain successfully waged a secret war to keep the Federation of Malaysia free from domination by Soekarno's Indonesia and by Chinese Communists. At the forefront of this campaign were the men of the Special Air Service the SAS an elite branch of the British military whose essence is secrecy and whose tools are boldness, initiative, surprise, and high skill.Working in four-man patrols, the SAS teams first made friends with the head-hunting border tribes and even trained some of them as an irregular military force. As the conflict continued, SAS teams went beyond the borders into Indonesia, where they tracked down enemy camps, fired on supply convoys, staged ambushes, and attacked enemy soldiers in their riverboats.By talking to those who were there, Peter Dickens has recreated what it was really like to fight in the jungles of Malaysia. He also captures the bravery and relentless pursuit of excellence that make the SAS the elite and prestigious regiment it is.

In February 1942, intelligence officer Victor Jones erected 150 tents behind British lines in North Africa. "Hiding tanks in Bedouin tents was an old British trick," writes Nicholas Rankin. German general Erwin Rommel not only knew of the ploy, but had copied it himself. Jones knew that Rommel knew. In fact, he counted on it--for these tents were empty. With the deception that he was carrying out a deception, Jones made a weak point look like a trap. In A Genius for Deception, Nicholas Rankin offers a lively and comprehensive history of how Britain bluffed, tricked, and spied its way to victory in two world wars. As Rankin shows, a coherent program of strategic deception emerged in World War I, resting on the pillars of camouflage, propaganda, secret intelligence, and special forces. All forms of deception found an avid sponsor in Winston Churchill, who carried his enthusiasm for deceiving the enemy into World War II. Rankin vividly recounts such little-known episodes as the invention of camouflage by two French artist-soldiers, the creation of dummy airfields for the Germans to bomb during the Blitz, and the fabrication of an army that would supposedly invade Greece. Strategic deception would be key to a number of WWII battles, culminating in the massive misdirection that proved critical to the success of the D-Day invasion in 1944. Deeply researched and written with an eye for telling detail, A Genius for Deception shows how the British used craft and cunning to help win the most devastating wars in human history.

The real story of how Winston Churchill and the British mastered deception to defeat the Nazis - by conning the Kaiser, hoaxing Hitler and using brains to outwit brawn. By June 1940, most of Europe had fallen to the Nazis and Britain stood alone. So, with Winston Churchill in charge the British bluffed their way out of trouble, drawing on the trickery which had helped them win the First World War. They broadcast outrageous British propaganda on pretend German radio stations, broke German secret codes and eavesdropped on their messages. Every German spy in Britain was captured and many were used to send back false information to their controllers. Forged documents misled their intelligence. Bogus wireless traffic from entire phantom armies, dummy airfields with model planes, disguised ships and inflatable rubber tanks created a vital illusion of strength. Culminating in the spectacular misdirection that was so essential to the success of D-Day in 1944, Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception 1914-1945 is a thrilling work of popular military history filled with almost unbelievable stories of bravery, creativity and deception. Nicholas Rankin is the author of Dead Man's Chest, Telegram From Guernica and Ian Fleming's Commandos. 'This is a story clamouring to be told. We could not have imagined the scope of the inventiveness, the daring of these people's imaginations . . . I could not stop reading this book.' Doris Lessing

This two-volume history of counterinsurgency covers all the major and many of the lesser known examples of this widespread and enduring form of conflict, addressing the various measures employed in the attempt to overcome the insurgency and examining the individuals and organizations responsible for everything from counterterrorism to infrastructure building. How and when should counterinsurgency be pursued as insurgency is growing in frequency and, conversely, while conventional warfare continues to decline as a means by which political rivals seek to impose their will upon each other? What lessons from the past should today's policymakers, strategists, military leaders, and soldiers in the field keep in mind while facing off against 21st-century insurgents? This two-volume set offers a comprehensive history of modern counterinsurgency, covering the key examples of this widespread and enduring form of conflict. It identifies the political, military, social, and economic measures employed in attempting to overcome insurgency, examining the work of the individuals and organizations involved, demonstrating how success and failure dictated change from established policy, and carefully analyzing the results. Readers will gain valuable insight from the detailed assessments of the history of counterinsurgency that demonstrate which strategies have succeeded and which have failed—and why. After an introductory essay on the subject, each chapter provides historical background to the insurgency being addressed before focusing on the specific policies pursued and actions taken by the counterinsurgency force. Each section also provides an assessment of those operations, including in most cases an analysis of lessons learned and, where appropriate, their relevance to counterinsurgency operations today. The set's coverage spans modern counterinsurgencies from Europe to Asia to Africa since 1900 and includes the ongoing counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan today. Its wide, international approach to the subject makes the set a prime resource for readers seeking specific information on a particular conflict or a better understanding of the general theories and practices of counterinsurgency.