David Stirling

This article is about the Scottish laird, mountaineer, and army officer. For the Scottish-Canadian architect, see David Stirling (architect).

Sir David Stirling
Statue of David Stirling near Doune, Scotland
Born	15 November 1915 (1915-11-15) Lecropt, Perthshire, Scotland
Died	4 November 1990 (1990-11-05) (aged 74) Scotland
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1937-1945
Rank	Colonel
Commands held	Special Air Service[SAS]
Battles/wars	World War II North African Campaign
Awards	Knight Bachelor Distinguished Service Order Officer of the Order of the British Empire Mention in Despatches (2) Distinguished Flying Cross

Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling, DSO, DFC, OBE^[1] (15 November 1915 – 4 November 1990) was a Scottish laird, mountaineer, World War II British Army officer, and the founder of the Special Air Service.

Life before the war

Stirling was born at his family's ancestral home, Keir House in the parish of Lecropt 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 of Charles II, King of Scots). His cousin was Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, and his grandparents were Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, 9th Baronet and Lady Anna Maria Leslie-Melville. He was educated at Ampleforth College and Trinity College, Cambridge. A tall and athletic figure (he was 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) tall), he was training to climb Mount Everest when World War II broke out.

World War II and the founding of the SAS

Stirling was commissioned into the Scots Guards from Ampleforth College Contingent Officer Training Corps on 24 July 1937.^[2] In June 1940 he volunteered for the new No. 8 Commando under Lieutenant-Colonel 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 (under a fence) in an effort to see Commander-in-Chief General Claude Auchinleck.^[3] Hiding in an office from a number of guards who had seen him break into the building, Stirling came face to face with Deputy Commander Middle East General Ritchie. Stirling explained his plan to Ritchie, the latter immediately convincing Auchinleck (in the office next door) to allow Stirling to form a new Special Forces unit. The unit was given the deliberately misleading name "L Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade" to reinforce an existing deception of a parachute brigade existing in North Africa.

Short of equipment at the outset, particularly tents and related gear, the first operation of the new SAS was to relieve a well equipped New Zealand unit of small tents, a large tent and contents including a bar and a piano. A truck and a series of bluffs managed to convince curious onlookers and the New Zealand unit that all was well.sas men

After a brief period of training, an initial attempt at attacking a German airfield by parachute landing in support of Operation Crusader was disastrous. A high percentage of his men were killed, wounded or captured far from the target after being blown off course or landing in the wrong area. Escaping only with the help of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) Stirling decided that approaching by land under the cover of night would be safer and more effective. As quickly as possible he organised raids on ports using this simple method, often bluffing through checkposts at night using the language skills of some of his soldiers. Under his leadership, the Lewes bomb was invented, the first hand-held dual explosive and incendiary device. American jeeps, which were able to deal with the harsh desert terrain better than other transport, were adapted and fitted with obsolete RAF machine guns. He also pioneered the use of small groups to escape detection. Stirling often led from the front, his SAS units driving through enemy airfields to shoot up aircraft and crew rather than stopping to attach bombs to enemy aircraft. These hit-and-run operations proved Stirling's undoing; he was captured by the Germans in January 1943. Although he escaped, he was subsequently re-captured by the Italians, who took great delight in the embarrassment this caused to their German allies. A further four escape attempts were made, before Stirling was finally 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, wrecked railways and telecommunications, and had put hundreds of enemy vehicles out of action. Montgomery of Alamein described Stirling as 'mad, quite mad' but admitted that men like Stirling were needed at time of war.

Mercenary work

Worried that Britain was losing its power after the War, Stirling organised deals to sell British weapons and military personnel to other countries, like Saudi Arabia, for various privatised foreign policy operations.^[4] Stirling along with other associates formed Watchguard International Ltd, formally with offices in Sloane Street (where the Chelsea Hotel now stands) before moving to South Audley Street in Mayfair. Business was chiefly with the Gulf States. He was also linked along with an associate Denys Rowley in a failed attempt to overthrow Gaddafi of Libya in 1970/71. Stirling was the founder of private military company KAS International (aka KAS Enterprises).^[5]

Television

Stirling also ran another of his companies, Television International Enterprises, from the same offices as Watchguard International. T.I.E was responsible for bringing the children's program Sesame Street to Britain. Peter Orton, working at T.I.E., developed the Muppet Show and a couple of decades later Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder.

Later life

Stirling was the founder of the Capricorn Africa Society - a society for promoting an Africa free from racial discrimination. Founded in 1949, while Africa was still under colonial rule, it had its high point at the 1956 Salima Conference. However, because of his emphasis on a qualified and highly elitist voting franchise, Africans opposed it. Conversely Caucasian settlers believed it to be too liberal. Consequently the society was ineffective, although surprisingly the South African Communist Party used Stirling's multi-racial elitist model for its 1955 "Congress Alliance" when taking over the African National Congress of South Africa.^[6] Stirling resigned as Chairman of the Society in 1959.

Stirling was concerned about the political power of trade unions in Britain, and planned to establish an organisation GB75, which he described as "an organisation of apprehensive patriots" which would help the country in the event of strikes.^[7] In August 1974, before Stirling was ready to go public with GB75, the pacifist magazine Peace News obtained and published his plans, and eventually Stirling - dismayed by the right-wing character of many of those seeking to join GB75 - abandoned the scheme.

He was knighted in 1990, and died later that year aged 74.

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.

The current Laird of the Keir estate is his nephew Archie Stirling, a millionaire businessman and former Scots Guards officer.

Other

Stirling House at Welbeck college is named after him, as well as the former headquarters at Hereford.

References

1. ^ London Gazette Issue 37787 published on the 12 November 1946. Page 1 of 6
2. ^ London Gazette Issue 34420 published on the 23 July 1937. Page 10 of 80
3. ^ Ken Connor, Ghost Force The Secret History of the SAS, Orion Books, 1998, p.10
4. ^ Adam Curtis, The Mayfair Set
5. ^ "Pretoria inquiry confirms secret battle for the rhino". The Independent (London). 18 January 1996. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/pretoria-inquiry-confirms-secret-battle-for-the-rhino-1324553.html. Retrieved 2008-02-13. 
6. ^ Bernard Leeman, Mandela, Sobukwe, Leballo and Mokhehle (Azania Press 2008), p. 32.
7. ^ Phillip Whitehead The Writing on the Wall: Britain in the Seventies, Michael Joseph, 1985, p.211

Additional reading

• Significant Scots biography of David Stirling
• Gavin Mortimer, Stirling's Men: the inside history of the SAS in World War Two (Cassell, 2004)

Documentaries

• The Mayfair Set, part I.

Persondata
Name	Stirling, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	15 November 1915
Place of birth	Lecropt, Perthshire, Scotland
Date of death	4 November 1990
Place of death	Scotland