SAS: The First Secret Wars

The covert, clandestine operations of the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS), from the jungles of Malaya, Borneo and Brunei to the deserts and mountains of the Middle East have always been the focus of intense fascination, stoked by the regiment's 'closed' organization and secretive activities. Yet no period of activity has remained more secret than the vital years in the immediate aftermath of World War Two.



Official histories have it that the SAS was disbanded in October 1945 and it took the Malaya emergency to resurrect it. However, Tim Jones's fascinating history pieces together the evidence to show that while the Malaya emergency undoubtedly re-established the SAS as a unique source of counter-guerilla expertise, the regiment never disbanded, and was covertly involved in the Greek Civil War 1945-49 on the anti-communist side. Here the SAS fought its most important and difficult battle - the battle for survival - when salvation depended on a few dedicated visionaries and persistent champions. The author draws upon a mass of unpublished evidence and also reveals hitherto unknown plans for SAS forces in Libya and Iraq, as well as covert activities in Palestine, Korea and Malaya.



Revealing important military secrets and shedding new light on post-war history, this book will be essential reading for enthusiasts of twentieth-century and military history.