The SAS (short for Special Air Service) is a special forces unit of the British Armed Forces, established in 1941 by Lieutenant David Stirling with British volunteers. This unit became known during World War II for raids behind German lines in North Africa.
Disbanded after the war, the unit was recreated in the United Kingdom in the 1950s. In 2007, it still exists and is considered by specialists as one of the world references in terms of special forces and counter units. -terrorism.
His motto is:“Who Dares Wins (Who dares wins).
The Second World War
The African Front
In 1941, during the British war against the Afrika Korps commanded by Erwin Rommel in North Africa, a young Scottish lieutenant offered to form a new unit intended to strike the enemy on his rear bases (airfields and supplies, among others) . Made up of small commando units, it would demonstrate agility and precision. Initially, this project was hardly unanimous within the staff. The few men requested, as well as the determination of Stirling and his assistant Paddy Mayne overcome the last reluctance.
The Special Air Service Brigade therefore settled on the base of Kabrit, on the banks of the Suez Canal and was made up of about sixty men who formed the L Detachment.
After raids carried out in collaboration with the Long Range Desert Group commanded by David Lloyd Owen, where SAS men blew up planes on Italian and German airfields (24 planes at Tamet on December 14, 1941, 37 planes on December 20... ), the British high command applied Stirling's idea on a larger scale, and began to think seriously about the use of this new asset. Each raid carried out makes it possible to put more than 20 aircraft out of action and to damage airfields more effectively than bombers, with a lower cost in men (counting all the same the obvious losses due to the enemy and the desert)
The Free French
Very soon after beginning his operations, Stirling realized that the men he needed would have to be trained in commando action. But he had little time and took men who already had advanced training. In Egypt, there were French paratroopers, no longer numerous enough to carry out missions, but who only wanted to participate in the common effort, and who had already participated in destruction operations in France, such as the destruction of the Pessac power plant (May 1941). Stirling therefore asked his superiors that the French be attached to him.
But this unit of free Frenchmen did not depend on the British command. Stirling therefore took it upon himself to ask General de Gaulle directly for “permission” to borrow these few men.
At first, de Gaulle refused to allow any part of his troops to be placed under the direct command of a British officer in a British unit. According to the witnesses, Stirling, furious, would have said in English:“He is as stubborn as an English officer! »
De Gaulle, understanding then that he was Scottish, would have turned around and would have wished him good luck for the rest of the operations.
In January 1942, Captain Georges Bergé's 1st parachute fighter company was sent to Kabrit. Looking for paratroopers to reinforce his brigade, Stirling joined the Free French, who formed the French Squadron of the SAS; the first French or Franco-British sticks were engaged at the end of May 1942. A raid was carried out against the airfield of Candia-Heraklion in June 1942.
Faced with SAS attacks, guards were placed on the airfields to protect the planes, preventing the SAS men from planting their bombs. So Stirling equips the brigade with jeeps equipped with 3 to 5 machine guns each, with which he launches surprise attacks which allow them to momentarily have a firepower superior to the enemy and to destroy the planes, before escape into the desert. In Sidi Hanneisch (July 1942), 18 jeeps destroyed around thirty Heinkel 111s.
Despite the failure of the raid against the port of Benghasi (the forces involved were too numerous by SAS criteria) and the capture of its leader during a mission in Tunisia, the SAS won the right to continue the fight on the European front after the landing of the British and Americans in North Africa. Moreover, even if Bergé was captured shortly after Stirling, and the SAS in North Africa were decimated, the idea of a cosmopolitan corps was acquired.
The European front
The SAS Brigade, despite the capture of Lieutenant-Colonel Stirling, forms an integrated corps in the plans of the general staff. The unit, placed under the command of Brigadier General Roddy McLeod, now has 4 regiments and a company.
The SAS have proven their effectiveness and they are known to the German general staff. Hitler himself had issued an order, at the end of 1942, so that all commandos who fell into the hands of his soldiers were considered spies and shot on the spot:
“These men are dangerous, they must be killed. I will make responsible before the Council of war all the commanders and officers who will not carry out this order. Adolf Hitler”
The SAS Brigade
The Brigade was then made up of two British regiments:the 1st SAS under the orders of Paddy Mayne and the 2nd SAS under the orders of Brian Franks. It also includes two French battalions placed respectively under the command of Captain Pierre Château-Jobert alias "Conan" for the 3rd SAS / 3rd RCP and Commander Pierre Bourgoin for the 4th SAS / 2nd RCP. Finally, a Belgian squadron, the 5th SAS, led by Captain Eddy Blondeel. Each regiment consists of 40 “sticks” (groups of 10 men).
The SAS brigade is employed on the European front from the landing for strategic missions. Thus, among the first Allied troops of Operation Overlord, members of the 4th SAS parachuted on June 6 around 00:30 in Brittany in order to harass the means of communication and prevent reinforcements from reaching the bridgehead in Normandy.
Similarly, still on the night of June 5, sticks from the 1st SAS were dropped in the Morvan as part of the Houndsworth mission and in Vienne (Bulbasket mission). In the weeks that followed, the other regiments were deployed in France behind enemy lines to harass the retreating Germans after the landings in Normandy and Provence.
Brittany
The most important theater of the engagement of the SAS in France, Brittany had on the eve of the landing many troops who could reverse the course of the Battle of Normandy. The Allies, anxious to fix these troops, therefore sent the SAS who, helped by the Breton Resistance, were to harass the enemy and force him to stay put. On the night of June 5, 4 precursor sticks (35 men from the 4th SAS) regained contact with French soil, thus becoming the first allied soldiers of the army regrouped for Overlord to set foot in France. Thus, as part of the Dingson mission, the sticks of Lieutenants Marienne and Déplante were parachuted near Plumelec and Lilléran in Morbihan. They lose that evening their first man, Corporal Émile Bouetard, one of the first deaths of Overlord. Further north, as part of the Samwest mission, Lieutenants Botella and Deschamps and their men fell on the edge of the Duault forest where they set up a base.
Contact was quickly made with the Breton Resistance. The guerrillas are numerous, of course, but poorly supervised, poorly trained and almost without equipment. The SAS therefore took charge of training as well as the supply of weapons, while carrying out sabotage actions targeting the means of communication, supply and movement of the Germans. In the Breton forests, very well adapted to the needs of the guerrillas, the Germans felt in danger and only moved in strong columns, not very discreet but safer. This then makes it possible to better monitor these movements and to request the intervention of Allied aviation.
The German command decides to react, because it fears the opening of a second front in Brittany after that of Normandy. The Gestapo, the Militia and "white" Russian elements of the Wehrmacht are deployed and show that they are capable of anything to find the paratroopers and the resistance fighters supported by the civilian population.
The two command bases of the SAS groups, the forest of Duault (Côtes-d'Armor) and the village of Saint-Marcel (Morbihan) were attacked a few days apart. But the Germans, despite severe losses, failed to encircle these bases, and only obtained the dispersion of the fighters.
The SAS (which are then nearly 400) are distributed within the various FFI battalions where they serve as instructors. By radio, large quantities of arms and equipment were requested and made it possible to arm several thousand men. At the beginning of August, when the Americans entered Brittany, the order of general insurrection was given, which facilitated the progression of armored units and the liberation of the region.
The SAS paid dearly for this efficiency:77 killed, 197 wounded out of 450 engaged (not to mention the losses of the Resistance).
Next steps
At the end of July and during the month of August, the 3rd SAS intervened in Vendée, in Finistère, Limousin, the Monts du Lyonnais and in Saône-et-Loire. Operations then continued on the Loire (Operation Spencer), and some SAS took part in the liberation of Paris. During the winter of 1944, the SAS were sent urgently to the Belgian Ardennes (Franklin mission). The 3rd SAS and the 4th SAS then operated in early April 1945 in the Netherlands during Operation Amherst.
At the end of the war, the SAS brigade was disbanded. It was reborn from its ashes, at the end of the 1950s, in order to counter the Malay communist guerrillas, while preventing the decolonization of this country from causing the establishment of a communist government. This is a feat that the Americans, with more men and equipment, could not do in Vietnam.
Post-war SAS
Wars against communist guerrillas
The SAS units were disbanded at the end of the Second World War, but the conflict with communist guerrillas in the Malayan jungles led to the creation of the Malayan Scouts (SAS) in 1950, then in 1951 of the 21st SAS Regiment on the basis of 'A Territorial Artists' Rifle Regiment. It was followed the following year by the 22nd SAS Regiment, then by the 23rd Regiment in 1959. After successes that remained discreet in Malaysia, the SAS operated against other anti-colonial or communist guerrillas:in the Sultanate of Oman in 1958-1959, in Brunei to assist the Sultan of Borneo in 1962 and 1963 against the CCO (Clandestine Communist Organization), from 1970 to 1976 again in Oman, as well as in Kenya and Yemen...
Northern Ireland
The SAS were also engaged against the Irish separatists from the 1970s. Officially, it was in 1976 that the first SAS unit was deployed in Northern Ireland, but it was suspected that others had already acted in this theater of operations even before the start of major unrest between the Protestant and Catholic communities, starting with Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972, when British soldiers killed 14 people taking part in a peaceful demonstration.
In reality, the first appearance of the SAS in Ulster dates back to 1969. The streets of Londonderry or Belfast are a very different environment from those of Asia, where the SAS will carry out operations corresponding little to the ethics of the British police officer. In their defense, they face targets that often have significant firepower and, above all, the clear will to use it. The SAS will mainly practice "ambushes on intelligence", targeted eliminations of important people. These will be stopped in 1978 following "blunders" where two civilians, then a 16-year-old girl, died. The SAS refocused on less controversial missions (dealing in particular with the arrests of armed and dangerous individuals), but they resumed "ambushes on intelligence" after the death of an officer of G squadron during an intervention in January 1980. The last known action of this type dates from 1991.
Counterterrorism
Following the catastrophic hostage-taking at the Munich Olympics in September 1972, Western forces addressed the threat of terrorism in various ways, either by creating counter-terrorist units (GIGN in France, GSG 9 in Germany) or by training existing units in anti-terrorism. It was the latter solution that was adopted in the United Kingdom, the SAS being the most suitable for this type of mission.
Among other training, the men were still being trained in handgun shooting since 1966, when A Squadron faced urban guerrilla warfare in Aden. On the basis of this learning was formed the principle of the CRW Wing (Counter-Revolutionary Warfare Wing). This squad is a separate unit from the squadrons, which is made up of experienced instructors training the SAS and developing the tactics to be implemented. In 1972, the CRW consisted of only a small team of four instructors and officers whose mission was to lead the training of a detachment of about twenty men.
In fact, each of the Saber Squadrons of the 22nd SAS Regiment is in charge of anti-terrorist alert in turn for a period of six months, including a transition period of four to six weeks during which the commitment is handed over to the next squadron, who receives the name of Pagoda Troop during these six months. Two major operations in the following years would involve the 22nd SAS Regiment:
* Operation Magic Fire:This involves freeing the hostages held inside an airliner. This GSG 9 operation on 13 October 1977 involved two SAS operators, Sergeant Barry Davies and Major Alastair Morrison. They took care of laying the explosive charges to open the doors of the hijacked plane and provided the Germans with the flashbang grenades which allowed the success of the operation.
* Operation Nimrod:this involves freeing Iranian Embassy personnel taken hostage on April 30, 1980. The Pagoda Troop of Squadron B intervened simultaneously through several windows (abseiling from the roof) and entrances to the building , with a very good result given the lack of experience and the means available at the time:the sixty SAS freed eighteen of the nineteen hostages, including two wounded, while killing five terrorists and taking the sixth prisoner , lossless.
The Falklands
Another important field of action is located on the Malvinas Islands (or Falklands for the British), whose conflict in 1982 opposed Argentina, a militarily powerful country, to the United Kingdom for the sovereignty of the Malvinas.
His Majesty's commandos play an important role there, alongside the SBS, in reconnaissance, sabotage and troop support missions, in particular with their snipers who neutralize enemy resistance at long distances.
During a close reconnaissance, a patrol from Squadron G will remain in “close proximity” observation of Argentine troops for 26 days in a row. Raids were also carried out, notably against the Pebble Island airfield on the night of May 14, 1982, where the SAS (infiltrated and exfiltrated by Sea King helicopters) destroyed the base's radar (which was their main objective) and some 14 planes Argentines (light attack Pucaras), thanks to information from a reconnaissance made on the night of May 11 to 12.
Although this war affected only the Falkland Islands, a raid was considered against the airport, on the American continent, from which operated the Super-Etendard of the Argentine navy, which were armed with Exocet missiles which represented a large threat to the British fleet. Indeed, they had sunk the destroyer HMS Sheffield and the helicopter carrier HMS Atlantic Conveyor (with 4 Chinook helicopters, 15 Wessex and heavy equipment, delaying and complicating the planned landing operations on the islands).
The planned raid was modeled on that of Entebbe in 1976:two C-130 Hercules jumbo jets were to land a squadron whose mission was to destroy the base and exfiltrate on foot towards Chile by an 80 km march. This raid, deemed suicidal by the SAS, was never carried out, as it meant losing an entire squadron, which the British could not afford.
The biggest loss is that of May 18, 1982 when the death of 18 SAS took place out of 30 British soldiers killed during the crash of a Sea King helicopter (a bird having been sucked into an engine) carrying out a transhipment from the aircraft carrier Hermes.
The Gulf War
In 1988, an indirect restructuring took place when the British Ministry of Defense created a unified command structure for its special forces named DSF (Directorate of Special Forces), inspired by the American model, the United States Special Operations Command created a few months earlier.
The SAS also distinguished themselves during the Gulf War. Three SAS teams "landed" in civilian clothes in August 1990 in Kuwait City during a technical stopover of the commercial flight British Airways BA 149 departing for Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). The men go unnoticed, leave the airport as simple passengers and disperse in the capital, from where they will organize the Kuwaiti resistance. The results of this mission are unknown, overshadowed by the "CNN" part of Operation Desert Storm and the direct actions of the SAS.
These, aboard powerfully armed Land Rovers, repeat their exploits of the Second World War by sowing hell in the Iraqi desert. Their missions include observing and attacking important points in the desert (command posts in particular), then patrolling the desert in search of mobile Scud missile launchers launched on Israel and Saudi Arabia.
A group of eight operators from B Squadron, named Bravo 2-0, were tasked with locating a Scud missile launch area, monitoring the nearby road from Baghdad to Jordan - which was Iraq's main supply route , - to cut off traffic and neutralize any enemy activity in the area. This team was spotted by a young Iraqi shepherd who gave the alert on the second day of the mission. Falling back, pursued by the enemy, the patrol split into two groups, one of five men and one of three. Three members were killed and four others were captured.
The last, Chris Ryan, left for dead, managed to walk for eight days in the desert to the Syrian border, often in broad daylight and in full view of the enemy. Ryan was awarded the Military Medal for his incredible act. Since leaving the SAS in 1994 after ten years of service, Chris Ryan has written a succession of best-selling books including Land of Fire, and served as an advisor on the video games Project IGI and IGI 2:Covert Strike.
The wars of the former Yugoslavia
The SAS were also present in the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina from November 1992, various units taking place in several places in the country. There was no participation in the fighting, but it should be noted however that an entire squadron was infiltrated in the heart of Sarajevo in May 1995 for an operation aimed at freeing around thirty British soldiers held hostage by the Bosnian Serb forces. -Herzegovina.
The operation was not carried out due to the early release of these soldiers a few days later. After the war, the SAS remained in the country for some time, noticed by missions concerning the arrest of six Serbs accused of war crimes in 1996-1997.
SAS operators will return to the Balkans during the Kosovo war in 1999, for missions whose content remains secret, although it is certain that their mission was to guide air strikes. One of them perished in combat during these operations
The hostage-taking of the Japanese Embassy in Peru
Meanwhile, in 1997, the SAS were also very good advisers during the hostage taking at the Japanese embassy in Lima, Peru, which took place from December 18, 1996 to April 23, 1997, the date of the attack by the Peruvian special forces who freed the hostages.
We now know that the "Peruvian special forces" who stormed through a tunnel dug under the embassy were made up of SAS operators from the Pagoda Troop, while D-Boys from the Delta Force and special forces Peruvians were launching a frontal diversionary assault.
The hostages, and probably some captured terrorists, were handed over to the Peruvian soldiers who could boast of the merit of "their" operation in front of the international press, since at that time the SAS were already in a military plane bringing them back to their base, Hereford.
“Global War on Terrorism”
* Afghanistan:
The SAS were heavily involved in the war in Afghanistan. Two entire squadrons (about 100 men) of the SAS launched an attack, at the end of November 2001, on an Al-Qaeda strongpoint near the Pakistani border. Operation TT is the regiment's largest mission since the Second World War. This mission, which could have (as the intelligence services hoped) resulted in the capture or death of Osama bin Laden, is recounted in detail.
In four hours of combat, the SAS killed 73 enemy, while suffering only light wounds. Another attack led by 80 men from A and G squadrons took place in December against an Al-Qaeda training camp in southern Afghanistan, during which four SAS were injured (including an amputated ankle ) and a dozen enemy combatants killed.
In each of these two missions, the SAS were supported by significant air support. After reconsidering the operation, the SAS realized that any infantry unit could have been engaged for such a mission. In 2006, the SAS also complained of having been in the recent past too employed for non-special missions.
* Iraq:British participation in the war in Iraq since 2003 also includes SAS regiments. The missions are similar to those of 1991:one of them concerns, at the end of January 2003, the reconnaissance by men of the 22nd SAS Regiment and the Delta Force (deposited by a Chinook helicopter having taken off from Azraq al-Shishan, in Jordan) of several Scud missile sites spotted by satellites, to determine whether they were real launchers or decoys, and the surveillance of several Iraqi command posts. At the end of March 2003, operators of the same regiment and "colleagues" of the Australian SASR (SAS Regiment) attacked a storage center suspected of containing "weapons of mass destruction" located 320 km west of Baghdad, and two airbases referenced H2 and H3.
Organization
The SAS Regiments
The SAS Regiments are currently three in number:
* the 21 SAS (Artists’ Volunteer) Regiment (Reserve) based in London
* 22 SAS Regiment, based at Stirling Lines near Hereford
* 23 SAS (Volunteer) Regiment (Reserve), based in Birmingham
The 22, the most famous, is active (belonging to the regular army), while the other two are reserve (Territorial Army). They are supported by an Army Air Corps flight and two Royal Corps of Signals squadrons, made up of personnel with or without SAS training.
The SAS Regiments are divided into saabre squadrons, more often simply called squadrons (which can be translated into "squadrons", an aviation term which designates units equivalent to infantry companies).
The 22 SAS Regiment
The 22nd SAS Regiment is made up of four saaber squadrons numbered A, B, D and G, and support units:
* the 264th (SAS) Signals Squadron,
* the L detachment (former R squadron, reserve to make up for losses although assigned to the Territorial Army),
* the R Troop (reserve to fill the losses among the men of the signals),
* the ASU (Army Surveillance Unit), a logistics squadron,
* the CRW Wing
* units responsible for operational planning, training, intelligence and administration, all commanded by a staff squadron.
Tactical and technical specialties
The tactical specialties (or implementation specialties), on which the means by which the unit is set up depend, directly influence the organization of the squadrons. Each squadron is indeed itself made up of four troops (sections) each having a tactical specialty:
* the Boat Troop, specialized in aquatic infiltration (kayak, fast boats, etc.) and underwater (mini-submarines, combat swimmers)
* the Mountain &Arctic Troop, in charge of operations in mountainous terrain and in winter seasons
* the HALO Troop, made up of operational skydivers who, despite the name of the troop, have mastered both HALO and HAHO techniques
* the Mobility Troop, specialized in desert terrain and motorized mobility
The staff squadron can draw on these different sections to best carry out a mission. For example, he lines up an intelligence squadron to locate a location where hostages are being held. Once the information has been obtained, an intervention by skydiving specialists completes the operation.
This type of structure was subsequently copied by other special forces, for example the German KSK, each of whose four commando companies are divided into four specialized sections:
* terrestrial infiltrations,
* skydiving techniques,
* aquatic operations,
* fighting in extreme weather conditions.
Similarly, the French 13th RDP underwent a reorganization in the early 2000s. It is now composed of four squadrons specialized respectively in aquatic and underwater infiltration, mountain and winter operations, operations in desert terrain and motorized mobility, and in operations in the 3rd dimension, that is to say any operation that is carried out at height, such as parachute jumping and climbing. It should be noted that the French 13th RDP prefers to regroup the tactical specialties directly in the squadrons, which means that it is not necessary - unlike the SAS and the KSK - to regroup the troops, the sections of each squadron or the company for operations.
On a smaller scale, the troop is made up of basic combat groups, called patrols, which consist of four members. The composition of these patrols depends on the technical specialties, i.e. the specialty of each member. There are four technical specialties:
* military medicine
* demolition-explosives
* transmissions
* linguistics
The mastery of a second specialty by men is officially "encouraged", but is not an essential condition for being able to have a long career in the regiment, like the American "green berets". Moreover, these specialists frequently exchange with their counterparts in other countries. Many SAS specializing in medicine were trained at the United States Army Academy of Health Sciences at Fort Sam, Texas.
Missions
In the 21st century, the SAS functions as both a military special force and an anti-terrorism task force. A rather rare positioning, since these two tasks are usually fulfilled by separate units.
As a military special force, the SAS do
* reconnaissance in enemy territory,
* observation of enemy units and surveillance of strategic areas,
* "commando" type missions (search for and destruction of key objectives in the opponent's system, for example),
* from the capture of enemy warlords,
* ambushes and harassment,
* etc.
With regard to anti-terrorism, it is:
* the release of hostages,
* the infiltration of terrorist groups,
* surveillance of strategic sites or sites threatened by terrorist action,
* the “neutralization” of refugee terrorists (such as those of the IRA). In this case, they often act in a foreign country.
Selection and training
La formation dure environ deux ans, laquelle transforme une recrue en un SAS parfaitement prêt au combat.
La sélection des recrues aptes à postuler au SAS, elle, dure environ six mois et consiste en une série de tests de « dégrossissage » avec un taux d’échec d’environ 90 %. Après cette première élimination, les futurs SAS suivent un deuxième programme où ils reçoivent une formation sur les armements britanniques et étrangers, qu’ils seront amenés à utiliser (ou à subir), et effectuent un séjour en jungle.
Au cours de cette deuxième phase, les recrues suivent un stage SERE (abréviation de « Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape », que l’on peut traduire par « survie, évitement, résistance et fuite ») de trois semaines comprenant un interrogatoire de 24 heures. Lors de la formation proprement dite, le futur SAS apprend une spécialité tactique et une spécialité technique.
Les spécialités tactiques comprennent :
* le parachutisme sous toutes ses formes et ses différentes techniques,
* le combat en montagne,
* la maîtrise du combat sous-marin et des infiltrations par voies aquatiques,
* la mobilité motorisée, c’est-à-dire utiliser et réparer le cas échéant n’importe quel véhicule à moteur.
Les spécialités techniques, elles, sont :
* médecine du champ de bataille, pour pouvoir effectuer des opérations chirurgicales d’urgence,
* explosifs et démolition, où l’on apprend la manipulation des explosifs,
* linguistique, c’est-à-dire l’apprentissage des bases de langues étrangères
* transmissions, qui comprend l’utilisation d’appareil de communications et de radios, qu’ils soient britanniques ou étrangers.
SAS célèbres
* Lieutenant Raymond (John) van der Heyden, S.A.S Belge, premier allié à pénétrer en uniforme en Allemagne, du mauvais coté de la ligne Siegfried avec son escadron de 10 hommes.
World War II
* David Stirling, créateur du SAS
* Paddy Mayne, son adjoint
* Wilfred Thesiger, surtout célèbre pour ses explorations du désert de 1945 à 1950
* André Zirnheld, premier officier parachutiste français tué au combat, le 27 juillet 1942, en Libye. Fait Compagnon de la Libération, médaillé de la Croix de guerre 1939-1945 avec 2 palmes, et de la Military Cross. Célèbre pour son poème qu’on rebaptisera La Prière du para, adoptée depuis par toutes les troupes parachutistes françaises.
Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale
* Andy McNab, pseudonyme d’un des membres de la patrouille Bravo 2-0 lors de la guerre du Golfe(1990-1991), connu pour son livre racontant la mission.
* Chris Ryan, un autre membre de la patrouille Bravo 2-0, également auteur de livres sur la mission et d’autres ouvrages de fiction.
Les théories du major Sirling se sont révélées être si pertinentes que les commandos modernes s’en sont tous plus ou moins inspirés. Désormais, les états-majors ne remettent plus en question la validité des idées de Stirling.
Aujourd’hui, les SAS restent une des plus grandes références mondiales dans leur domaine, ce qui ne peut rendre leur histoire que plus intéressante.
Forces spéciales inspirées des SAS
Bon nombre de forces spéciales de divers pays sont copiées sur les SAS. Dans les dominions britanniques, certaines unités ont conservé le nom de SAS (voir les unités d’Australie, du Canada, de la Nouvelle-Zélande et de la Rhodésie).
* Allemagne :le KSK, forces spéciales de la Bundeswehr, a repris la structure des SAS :chaque compagnie est divisée en quatre sections, chacune chargée d’une spécialité tactique.
* Australie :le SASR (Special Air Service Regiment)
* Canada :une unité SAS fut créée en 1946, mais rapidement dissoute en 1948. L’actuelle unité anti-terrorisme Joint Task Force 2 est calquée sur les unités SAS.
* États-Unis :on peut relier l’idée des SAS à d’autres forces spéciales américaines de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, comme les Marauders de Merril et le First Special Service Force, puis dans les « bérets verts » créés dans les années 1950.
La Delta Force américaine en est également très inspiré, notamment par les structure en squadrons et la sélection avec une hills phase (que l’on peut traduire par « phase des collines », période d’entraînement dans un milieu hostile), car son fondateur, le colonel Charles Beckwith, avait été officier de liaison auprès du 22nd SAS Regiment dans les années 1960.
* France :le 1er RPIMa est l’héritier des unités de SAS français de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il en a d’ailleurs gardé la devise « Qui ose gagne ». Depuis quelques années, la 3e compagnie du régiment comprend des patrouilles SAS (« PATSAS »), qui utilisent des jeeps lourdement armées pour des raids derrière les lignes ennemies.
Le 13e RDP a repris la structure des squadrons SAS :il comprend quatre escadrons spécialisés dans chacune des spécialités tactiques.
Depuis 1997, le 2ème Régiment de Hussards, basé à Sourdun, est aujourd’hui le régiment de recherche humaine du Commandement de la Force d’Action Terrestre. Ce régiment novateur est l’unité française qui a le mieux adapté le concept fondateur de Stirling (Long Range Desert Groups) aux conflits contemporains. Unité de la Brigade de Renseignement, il utilise tous les véhicules terrestres, les techniques nautiques et les hélicoptères pour l’infiltration de ses équipes de recherche dans la profondeur ou en zone d’insécurité.
* Hong Kong :la Special Duties Unit de la police de Hong-Kong a été créée en 1973, d’après le modèles des SAS, et elle a été entraînée par les SAS et le SBS.
* Israël :le Sayeret Matkal a repris le modèle des SAS, ainsi que sa devise.
* Japon :le Special Assault Team de la police japonaise a été formée par des SAS britanniques.
* Nouvelle-Zélande :le NZSAS (New Zealand Special Air Service)
* Pakistan :le SSG est en partie basé sur les SAS.
* Pays-Bas :les Korps Commandotroepen sont également inspirés des SAS.
* Philippines :Le Special Action Force de la police philippine semble avoir été copié sur les SAS.
* Pologne :le GROM est en partie basé sur le modèle SAS.
* Rhodésie :le C Squadron du 22nd SAS Regiment était à l’origine composé de troupes rhodésiennes. Après la fin de la guérilla malaise en 1953, ces troupes formèrent le cœur du Rhodesian SAS Regiment, qui fut dissout en décembre 1980 lorsque le pays devint le Zimbabwe.
Culture populaire
Depuis le début des années 1980, les Britanniques ont créé un mythe autour des SAS. Les médias britanniques s’y sont intéressés suite à une opération de sauvetage survenue à l’ambassade iranienne à Londres, alors que la BBC suivait en direct les opérations. En 1981, profitant de l’engouement du public, le film Who Dares Wins sort. L’une des vedettes a suivi quelques entraînements avec des SAS avant de tourner et, en contrepartie, des membres du SAS ont été présentés pendant le film en compagnie de leur famille.
Depuis, il y a un flux régulier de livres de fiction sur les SAS, qu’ils soient rédigés par des membres actifs ou retraités. Ces ouvrages décrivent des situations basées sur des faits réels, mais n’en sont pas une description exacte, les auteurs préférant dramatiser les situations réellement vécues. Les deux ouvrages les plus connus sont probablement ceux rédigés par deux anciens SAS qui ont participé à la mission Bravo Two Zero pendant la première guerre du Golfe en 1991 :
* Bravo Two Zero, par le sergent Andy McNab (adapté en film en 1999 sous le même titre)
* Celui qui s’est échappé (The One that Got Away), par le caporal Chris Ryan
Des experts ont critiqué ces deux ouvrages, notant qu’il s’agit d’un embellissement d’évènements étant réellement survenus. Malgré ces critiques, ils se sont bien vendus, ce qui a amené plusieurs anciens membres du SAS à décrire des missions. Le gouvernement britannique a depuis réagi, rappelant qu’ils ont signé une entente de non divulgation.
Sachant que les opérations du SAS sont secrètes, tous les ouvrages rédigés sur le SAS sont à lire avec une bonne dose de scepticisme. Aujourd’hui, plusieurs auteurs affirment être d’anciens SAS, le plus célèbre d’entre aux s’appelant Walter Mitty.
En 2002 et 2003, la télévision de la BBC a diffusé une série télévisée intitulée SAS :Are You Tough Enough ? qui montrait des citoyens ordinaires qui suivaient des entraînements et des exercices de survie qui, semble-t-il, étaient subis par des candidats pour le SAS. La BBC a aussi diffusé un documentaire intitulé SAS Survival Secrets, dans lequel d’anciens membres du SAS détaillent des techniques de combat et de survie. En 2002, un nouveau feuilleton télévisé a été diffusé, Ultimate Force, avec pour scénariste Chris Ryan.