Reviews

The Phantom Major: The Story of David Stirling and the SAS Regiment by Virginia Cowles

joestewart's review against another edition

4.0

A retelling of the formation of the British SAS regiment during World War II, specifically the war in northern Africa. Well written and reads well.

bmcraec's review against another edition

This was one of my Christmas presents, along with Unbroken: the Story of a Submarine. My father was career military, and often gave me gifts related to military history. It was a great read, very suitable for a well-read pre-teen.

wilte's review

5.0

Excellent book on David Stirling, who put the S.A.S. ("Who dares wins") on the map in North Africa in World War II.

Stirling was truly a great leader, after two deaths due to faulty materials with the parachutes:

The next day the men were taken up again. Their faces were strained and their fingers yellow from too many cigarettes. This time David was the first man to jump. The others followed in quick, orderly succession. The tests were successful.

And:

The job of the S.A.S. was not to engage the enemy, but to outwit them. David knew exactly what advantage he could derive from both the element of surprise and the protection of the dark. He had all the cunning of the country-bred sportsman, and he also knew the moment to withdraw. His insistence was on achievement, not heroics; and as a result the S.A.S. won a reputation for both.

This brings one to the conclusion that the devotion David inspired in his men was based on confidence. This was repeatedly justified by the amazingly small casualties suffered by the unit; and it was further fortified by the fact that David never asked his men to undertake anything he himself would not do.

The mentality in an unintended joke:

" If you've really got surprise," said David," you can get away with murder." This was an unintended joke but it made everyone laugh.

Training was tough, but Stirling also had a good grasp of psychology:

Although the men never knew it, these night tests were made progressively easier, for David believed a soldier's success in the dark depended largely on self confidence.

The SAS ("roaming along the enemy's desert flank and darting in to strike at the right moment") did not have an easy path to get established within the British armed forces:

Security against the enemy was essential, but security against the British General Staff was vital.

On the other hand, the founding story of the SAS is also typically British:

Perhaps it is a British failing that although it encourages individuality in time of war, it is slow to learn the lessons in time of peace. That the S.A.S. sprang into being at all is a tribute to the inventiveness of the national character. It is inconceivable that this type of organisation could have flourished in any other army in the world. It was British to its fingertips. It was in the classic tradition of high-spirited boldness which has often brilliantly stamped the pages of English history.