SAS – Speed Aggression Surprise – Tom Petch
This is undoubtedly one of the best SAS books I have read for a long time. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases) Tom Petch’s SAS Speed, Aggression, Surprise: The Untold Origins of the SAS considers the roles played by several men who often get little mention in the usual narrative.
While walking the dog and listening to the We Have Ways podcast earlier this month there was an interview with Tom Petch. As I have read many SAS history books, I listened with interest to the discussion the author, himself a war historian, had with James Holland.
Despite the absence of Al Murray, Holland’s usual co-host, many a preconception I had about the origins of the SAS was potentially destroyed. Whilst listening to the podcast, I went to my usual bookstore, Amazon, and discovered I had purchased it several months ago but had not yet gotten around to reading it.
A little bit about the author
Tom Petch is an interesting man himself. He is a film director and producer, winning the Raindance Film Festival, for his debut film ‘The Patrol’. Maybe more importantly for the purposes of authoring this book, he was a troop commander in 22 SAS serving a total of eight years in the British Army.
In addition, he is also a descendant of the founder of the Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo, Samuel Shepheard. Important because this is where the idea for the SAS was born.
A little bit about the story
Sometimes I feel that the author is the best person to summarise a book.
‘The British response [to Blitzkrieg] was unique because it targeted the minds of men and women, rather than a country or army. This led to a revolutionary method of warfare which shapes the way the West fights today. The real story of the SAS’s origins, told here, introduces two characters, Dudley Clarke and William Fraser, who have bit parts in the traditional narrative: Clarke was the mastermind of those ideas, Fraser, their most successful frontline operator. Without them, there would never have been an SAS.’
Petch, Tom. Speed, Aggression, Surprise (p. xxv). Ebury Publishing. Kindle Edition.
A little bit about Dudley Clarke
The story of Clarke dominates the beginning of the book and focuses on the development and application of what he thought of as his ‘subliminal methods’. It was his very British response to the defeats caused by Blitzkrieg. Whereas Blitzkrieg was hugely psychological in impact due to its speed and concentration of force, Dudley’s schemes were far more subtle.
He was fascinated by the idea that the actions of small groups of people could create ideas in their enemies’ heads that were just as fundamentally important. His methods may have been subtle but they were also strategic in nature and initially used throughout the Middle East.
This is not the first time that Clarke is mentioned in literature or film, for that matter. He is discussed in several paragraphs of Ben Macintyre’s SAS Rogue Heroes: The Authorised Wartime History and has a somewhat minor part in the subsequent TV adaption, where he first appears dressed as a lady. However, he was far more than a cross-dressing spy, and the book explains why,
What did he do that was so important?
Ironically, each TV series episode begins with the caption: ‘The events depicted, which seem most unbelievable… are mostly true,’ this could so easily be applied to Dudley Clarke’s life and especially his time in the Middle East in the Second World War.
Sorry for the spoilers, but he had fake plans left on trains, a similar idea to the more famous Operation Mincemeat. He created fake regiments with complete orders of battle and wooden aircraft. He also had dummy parachutists dropped behind the lines. This he called K Detachment, Special Air Service.
When David Stirling ‘came up’ with his idea for a behind-the-lines raiding force, Dudley gave him the name so his SAS could have real teeth and continue the subterfuge. L Detachment was the obvious next unit, hopefully creating the idea that there were detachments A through to J somewhere in the Middle East, too.
The other unsung hero
William Fraser was involved in many operations from the creation of the SAS and throughout the war. As with Clarke, much of whose influence was overshadowed by David Stirling, much of Fraser’s contribution is overshadowed by those made by other SAS heroes like Paddy Mayne. However, his success in a raid rather than Mayne’s arguably put the SAS firmly in the minds of high command.
After listening to the We Have Ways episode and discovering I had actually already purchased it, I immediately began reading the book. Yet I have to admit that I have not finished it and have just begun reading about Fraser’s story. I will update this review when I have finished the book.
Conclusion
I have read several books regarding the history of the SAS. This is a different take on the narrative. I guess my rebellious nature draws me to such books. Some other bit players in the piece are the actor David Niven and the authors Evelyn Waugh and Ernest Hemingway to add a bit of glitz and glamour, as well as the grit and determination of David Stirling, his brother Bill and Paddy Mayne.
As with any history of such an organisation, the information must often be taken with a not-insignificant pinch of salt, but I like what I have read so far. I have seen a few negative reviews on Amazon by people who appear to know the story in depth. Some of Petch’s research is maligned, as is his focus on just a couple of people, and seems to rush through the later SAS campaigns in the war. I will endeavour to check both as soon as possible.
In the next post, I will begin to discuss two books, Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell and Natural Born Heroes by Christopher McDougall.
Thank you
bigT