Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling, was a Scottish officer in the British Army and the founder and creator of the Special Air Service (SAS). Under his leadership, the SAS carried out hit-and-run raids behind the Axis lines of the North African campaign. He saw active service during the Second World War until he was captured in January 1943. He spent the rest of the war in captivity, despite making several attempts to escape.
Juno and or Juno Beach was one of five beaches of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 during the Second World War. The beach spanned from Courseulles, a village just east of the British beach Gold, to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, and just west of the British beach Sword. Taking Juno was the responsibility of the First Canadian Army, with sea transport, mine sweeping, and a naval bombardment force provided by the Royal Canadian Navy and the British Royal Navy as well as elements from the Free French, Norwegian, and other Allied navies. The objectives of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on D-Day were to cut the Caen-Bayeux road, seize the Carpiquet airport west of Caen, and form a link between the two British beaches on either flank.
Operation Dingson was an operation in the Second World War, conducted by 178 Free French paratroops of the 4th Special Air Service (SAS), commanded by Colonel Pierre-Louis Bourgoin, who jumped into German occupied France near Vannes, Morbihan, Southern Brittany, in Plumelec, on the night of 5 June 1944 with Captain Pierre Marienne and 17 men, then advanced to Saint-Marcel.
Operation Archway was the codename for one of the largest and most diverse operations carried out by the Special Air Service during the Second World War.
The 2nd Canadian Division, an infantry division of the Canadian Army, was mobilized for war service on 1 September 1939 at the outset of World War II. Adopting the designation of the 2nd Canadian Division, it was initially composed of volunteers within brigades established along regional lines, though a halt in recruitment in the early months of the war caused a delay in the formation of brigade and divisional headquarters. With questions concerning overseas deployment resolved, the division's respective commands were formed in May and June 1940, and at British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's request, the division was deployed to the United Kingdom between 1 August and 25 December 1940, forming part of the Canadian Corps.
Popski's Private Army, officially No. 1 Demolition Squadron, PPA, was a unit of British Special Forces set up in Cairo in October 1942 by Major Vladimir Peniakoff who was a Belgian Jewish officer of Russian extraction. Popski's Private Army was one of several raiding units formed in the Western Desert during the Second World War. The squadron also served in Italy, and was disbanded in September 1945.
The 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards is an inactive armoured regiment of the Canadian Militia / Canadian Army. It is currently on the Supplementary Order of Battle.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair Mayne,, better known as Paddy Mayne, was a British Army officer from Newtownards, capped for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions at rugby union, lawyer, amateur boxer, and a founding member of the Special Air Service (SAS).
Friesoythe, in Saterland Frisian language Ait or Äit, is a town in the district of Cloppenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, on the river Soeste, 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Cloppenburg, and 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Oldenburg.
Major Roy Alexander Farran was a British-Canadian soldier, politician, farmer, author and journalist. He was highly decorated for his exploits with the Special Air Service (SAS) during the Second World War. Farran became widely known after his court-martial on a charge of murdering an unarmed 17-year-old member of the Jewish underground militant group Lehi during his command of an undercover Palestine Police special squad. After his brother was killed in a revenge attack, Farran emigrated to Canada where he forged a successful business and political career, holding a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1971 to 1979 sitting with the Progressive Conservative caucus. He served as a cabinet minister in the government of Premier Peter Lougheed during that period.
Major-General Christopher Vokes was a Canadian Army officer who fought in World War II. Born in Armagh, Ireland, he commanded the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade during the Allied invasion of Sicily. Promoted to major-general, Vokes led the 1st Canadian Infantry Division through several battles of the Italian campaign, which included fierce house-to-house fighting in the Battle of Ortona and the advance north to the Hitler Line.
The history of the British Army's Special Air Service (SAS) regiment of the British Army begins with its formation during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, and continues to the present day. It includes its early operations in North Africa, the Greek Islands, and the Invasion of Italy. The Special Air Service then returned to the United Kingdom and was formed into a brigade with two British, two French and one Belgian regiment, and went on to conduct operations in France, Italy again, the Low Countries and finally into Germany.
II Canadian Corps was a corps-level formation that, along with I (British) Corps and I Canadian Corps, comprised the First Canadian Army in Northwest Europe during World War II.
The 8th Reconnaissance Regiment , commonly abbreviated to 8 Recce, VIII Recce or 8 Canadian Recce, was the reconnaissance arm of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division during World War II. The core of the regiment was formed from the militia unit the 14th Canadian Hussars.
John Wiseman, MC was a British Army officer and Second World War Special Air Service (SAS) veteran, where he saw action in the long range desert raiding parties of the North African Campaign, then in front line support of the invasion of Sicily and Italy during which he was awarded the Military Cross, followed by commando operations deep behind German lines following the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
The razing of Friesoythe was the destruction of the town of Friesoythe in Lower Saxony on 14 April 1945, during the Western Allies' invasion of Germany towards the end of World War II in Europe. The 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division attacked the German-held town of Friesoythe, and one of its battalions, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, captured it.
Operations Wallace and Hardy I were two British Special Air Service operations during the Second World War that took place from 27 July to 19 September 1944. Initially two sets of operations by 2nd Special Air Service, they were eventually amalgamated into one. Their objective was to disrupt German lines of communication, coordinate the activities of the French Resistance and prevent German reinforcements moving to the Normandy beachheads.
The Raid on Sidi Haneish Airfield was a military operation carried out the night of 26 July 1942. A British Special Air Service unit commanded by Major David Stirling attacked a German-held airfield in Egypt during the Western Desert Campaign of Second World War. Several Luftwaffe aircraft used to ferry supplies to the Axis forces were destroyed or damaged with machine-gun fire and explosives. Axis front line units were diverted to reinforce the garrisons in the rear vulnerable to attack.
SAS: Rogue Heroes is a 2022 British historical drama television series created by Steven Knight, which depicts the origins of the British Army Special Air Service (SAS) during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. The storyline is a broadly accurate representation of real events, as described by Ben Macintyre in his 2016 book of the same name.
Operation Kipling was a British special forces operation that took place during the Second World War in German-occupied France between 13 August to 26 September 1944. Originally supposed to be part of a larger airborne operation (Transfigure), 'C' Squadron, 1st Special Air Service commanded by Major Tony Marsh, was air dropped in an area near Orléans to disrupt German communications and troop movements. The operation was a success with minimum casualties, and was the last SAS mission to be carried out as part of Operation Overlord.
United Kingdom
Germany