Hidden diary of derring-do that charts birth of SAS

But “Operation Squatter”, later simply referred to as “Operation Number One”, was a failure. Only 22 of the 65 soldiers who took part returned.

One of the planes was shot down with the loss of 15 parachutists and crew, several other men were injured in the drop, the teams became separated on the ground and their explosives were soaked.

First-hand accounts from the special force unit’s first operation, in November 1941, feature in a new book marking the SAS’s 70th anniversary that reveals the reality of the regiment’s earliest days.

The historic operational order for Operation Squatter noted: “It is most important that the enemy should be unaware of your having landed or of your presence.”

But one SAS soldier, named as “Parachutist Bennett”, gave a grimly dry account of the failed mission the next day.

Before setting off, his team was given a meal “fit for a king” that was “just like having whatever you wished before going to the gallows”.

Bennett recalled that the soldiers were “not at all thrilled” when the pilot informed them the wind was getting up, and described his desperate struggle to release the harness of his parachute after landing as “a job for Houdini”.

He buried his parachute, making “enough noise… to awaken the whole of the Afrika Corps”, and then found the rest of his party.

The soldiers only located two of the 11 containers of supplies and weapons that were dropped, and much of the kit they did salvage was swept away in a further downpour.

Realising they could not carry out the planned attack, they marched 36 hours to their rendezvous point, where they were picked up by the British Army’s specialist Long Range Desert Group, which became nicknamed the “Libyan Desert Taxi Service” for its role in transporting the SAS to and from targets.

The 600-page book, The SAS War Diary 1941-45, was started by an SAS soldier to preserve records and photographs of the regiment’s incredible wartime exploits after it was disbanded in 1945 at the end of hostilities.

Its existence remained a secret even within the SAS for 50 years, but it has now been expanded and it is now being made public for the first time.

The diary also features the succinct orders for an ambitious but unsuccessful mission to “kill, or kidnap and remove to England” German commander Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in France in 1944.

A one-page order in the diary, dated July 1944, sets out a request for the SAS to kill or kidnap Rommel or any senior members of his staff while they were in France.

It notes that capturing and transporting the famous German commander to Britain would have “immense” propaganda value, but adds that it would be easier to kill him.

“Kidnapping would require successful two-way W/T [walkie-talkie] communication and therefore a larger party, while killing could be reported by pigeon,” the order states.

It is not known what steps the SAS took in an attempt to carry out the mission. Rommel committed suicide in October 1944 after being implicated in a failed attempt to kill Adolf Hitler.

The Special Air Service was the brainchild of a young Scottish officer called “David Stirling”, who realised that small, highly skilled raiding parties sent deep into enemy territory could help break the impasse in the Western Desert in Libya and Egypt.

Stirling, born in 1915 at his family’s ancestral home near Stirling, was the son of Brigadier General Archibald Stirling and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. When the war broke out, Stirling, who was 6ft 6in, was training to climb Mount Everest.

He led the men on the failed mission on the night of 16 November, 1941 with the aim of destroying as many German and Italian aircraft as possible at two airfields in Libya.

The diary includes scores of never-before-seen photographs, including one of SAS soldiers practising parachute jump landings by leaping out of moving lorries in the North African desert.

The lavishly produced book is being published in a series of limited editions, including one set of 100 copies signed by Sergeant Jimmy Storie, the last surviving veteran who took part in Operation Number One.

Most proceeds from sales will go to the SAS Regimental Association’s welfare fund, and the work will go on display around the country over the coming months.

Viscount Slim, a former SAS officer and president of the SAS Regimental Association, said: “The SAS War Diary is an icon. The fact that its existence has been a secret for over 50 years – even within the regiment – is incredible.

“I can think of no better way of marking the 70th anniversary of the SAS than allowing it to break cover.”

Colonel John Crosland, executive vice-president of the SAS Regimental Association, said: “It is a very significant step in telling the complete history of the operations in World War Two, which are the foundation for all the operations which followed.

“It is important in that a complete history has been brought together.

“The diary is unique because it is a record of documents, most of which have never been released to the general public.

“The reason for releasing the diary is not to gain coverage. It is to commemorate what these men did 70 years ago at the birth of the regiment.”

Gordon Stevens, a military historian involved with the book’s publication, said: “When I first heard of the diary, then saw it for the first time, I was astonished that it had somehow remained a secret for so many years when it was clearly such an important part of the regiment’s history, and at the sheer volume and intensity of its content.

“It really is a remarkable record.”

l The SAS War Diary 1941-45 is published by Extraordinary Editions, and can be bought at www.saswardiary.co.uk