π§ Secret Origins of the SAS
π§ Dan Snow's History Hit
•
28m
In 1974, a pioneer of the SAS and master of military deception, Dudley Clarke, passed away. His death went almost entirely unnoticed by the British public, despite the fact that he carried out some of the most dramatic deception campaigns of World War Two. He waged a covert war of trickery and misdirection across Europe, which ended up getting him arrested by Spanish authorities while dressed as a woman. He also helped to found one of the world's preeminent special forces; the Special Air Service, or the SAS. His contribution is often overlooked, but without it, the SAS may well have never existed.
So who was Dudley Clarke? What were some of the most audacious acts of subterfuge he carried out? And why is he not better known? Dan is joined by former SAS Troop Commander and author of Speed, Aggression, Surprise: The Secret Origins of the SAS, Tom Petch, to answer these questions and more.
Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.
Up Next in π§ Dan Snow's History Hit
-
π§ Charlie Chaplin
The Golden Age of Hollywood was a place of pioneers, storytellers, ideas, westward expansion, money, politics and scandal- the story of Hollywood is the story of America itself.Β At the turn of the 20th century, Hollywood in Los Angeles was a dusty country hamlet, but soon bright young things came...
-
π§ Explorers: First Polynesians
In small wooden canoes and with just the stars for navigation, how did the first Polynesians conquer the largest ocean on Earth? For centuries this has perplexed scholars and anthropologists. The Polynesian Triangle is drawn by connecting the points of Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island and e...
-
π§ WWII Britain: The Home Guard's Sile...
WWII Britain's Home Guard wasn't a bumbling dad's army but in fact included factions of highly trained silent killers and spies hiding out in secret bunkers, caves and safe houses all over the country. The Auxiliary Unit was given a deliberately boring name to disguise the top secret mission they...