SAS Behind Enemy Lines: Covert operations 1941–91 - Softcover

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Educated at Cambridge, William Fowler served as an officer in the Territorial Army and saw active service in the Gulf War. He is the author of numerous books and articles and defence, military technology and current affairs and contributes to a wide variety of publications. He has reported from Northern Ireland, the Middle East and SE Asia.

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Fighting behind enemy lines means no escape if you are wounded, no way out if the operation goes wrong. But as the SAS have proved, a handful of elite soldiers can inflict damage out of all proportion to their numbers.

From World War II to the Gulf War, the SAS have raided behind enemy lines. In this authoritative account of SAS covert operations, William Fowler investigates both their successes and failures and examines the future role of special forces in today's world of spy satellites and electronic warfare.

• Covert operations in the Middle East, Asia and South Africa
• First account of how the SAS trained to fight the Russians in Eastern Europe
• Complete account of SAS Cold War operations

From its first raids on German bases in World War II to the 1991 Gulf War, the SAS has specialised in fighting behind enemy lines. Early operations in the Western desert proved that a small number of elite soldiers could inflict damage out of all proportion to their numbers. After 1945 the SAS found themselves spearheading counter-insurgency campaigns from the Malayan jungles to the Omani desert.

Yet their primary mission was unchanged. Had Soviet leaders ever put their invasion plans into operation, the SAS was ready to take the flight to the Warsaw Pact on its own ground. For the first time, William Fowler reveals how SAS teams were trained to fight in Eastern Europe. SAS men were to stay behind as enemy tank columns advance: to locate enemy headquarters, call down artillery fire and air strikes and attempt World War II-style assaults on enemy bomber bases.

There have been many studies of the SAS in the last few years, but no previous book has investigated the SAS in its true role. While anti-terrorist operations have attracted the headlines, the Regiment has continued to train hard for special operations in conventional war. In the Falklands conflict and again in the Gulf War, the SAS demonstrated once again that a handful of exceptionally well-trained soldiers can provide vital intelligence and attack the enemy where least expected. In today's world of spy satellites and electronic warfare, some commentators have suggested 'Special Forces' are obsolete. In fact, as William Fowler shows, the Special Air Service has never been more relevant to the operational requirements of the British Army.

Educated at Cambridge, William Fowler served as an officer in the Territorial Army and saw active service in the Gulf War. He is the author of numerous books and articles and defence, military technology and current affairs and contributes to a wide variety of publications. He has reported from Northern Ireland, the Middle East and SE Asia.