Those Who Dared: A Reappraisal of Britain's Special Air Service, 1950–80

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the United Kingdom embarked upon a policy of rapid demobilisation, reducing its armed forces from a wartime high of 5 million in 1945 to just 375,000 by 1963. Yet in these same years it faced conflict in Palestine, Malaya, Korea, Kenya, Cyprus, Oman, Aden, and Egypt, to name just a few trouble spots where British soldiers were sent. To account for the shortfall between the availability of soldiers and the need, the armed forces turned in part to Special Force units, particularly the army's Special Air Service (SAS). As British formal control receded throughout the world, so the SAS became ever more active. In so doing, it played an integral - if often misunderstood - role in contemporary British history. This paper examines the rebirth of the Special Air Service in post-war Britain and re-evaluates its role from 1950–80.