If the reports are right and it was Ukrainian special forces who destroyed as many as 20 Russian aircraft at Saki air base in Novofedorivka, Crimea, on Tuesday, president Volodymyr Zelensky might be minded once more to raise a glass to the British. Earlier this year it was widely reported that British special forces were in Ukraine training local troops – but perhaps they also found time to pass on some of the regiment’s illustrious history.
It was the Special Air Service (SAS) who pioneered the tactic in North Africa, destroying over 200 Italian and German aircraft in a series of devastating raids 80 years ago.
The SAS had been formed in the summer of 1941 as a parachute force, but its inaugural raid in November that year was a costly failure with 34 of the 55 men who jumped into Libya killed or captured.
For their next operation, in December, it was decided to approach their target airfield in the trucks of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), a brilliant desert reconnaissance force.
The six SAS raiders were dropped three miles from Tamet airfield and they walked the rest of the way, led by Lt Paddy Mayne, a rugby international before the war and a born guerrilla fighter.
There were no guards on the airfield and not even any wire. It was an indication of how safe the Italians felt so far inside their own lines. The first destination for the SAS was the airmen’s mess. Mayne kicked open its door. The Italians were relaxing, playing cards or writing letters home. For a moment the Irishman and the puzzled Italians looked at each other without a word being said. ‘Good evening,’ said Mayne, and then he and his men opened fire.
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