PHANTOM ARMY

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28690, 13 September 1958, Page 3

PHANTOM ARMY

The Phantom Major. By Virginia Cowles. Collins. 320 pp.

Quite early in the course of the last war it became obvious that even if the Allies had the resources, victory was not going to come through the static trench warfare of World War I. And when Rommel’s threat to conquer the whole Middle East became an urgent menace, it was realised that the very mobility of World War II armies made them vulnerable to attacks by little bands of determined, brave and resourceful ‘‘private armies” working with the slenderest of equipment and a handful of men. The story of Popski’s Private Army has already been told, and the newest book on a fascinating subject is this account of how a second lieutenant of the British Army with an idea, and brains and courage to carry it out, achieved results out of all- proportion to the size of the force with which he was entrusted.

David Stirling was an unusual second lieutenant. He forced his way into Middle East ■ Headquarters under what hi» enemies might have described as false pretences, and in circumstances which would have been frowned on in any headquarters. He formed a unit with complete disregard for red tape, and even for the red tabs of senior staff officers in sunlit offices in Cairo, and the success achieved was remarkable by any standards. A subaltern of 25 years of age added a new regiment to the British Army—the first new regiment to be inspired by an individual since the Lovat Scouts had been raised by David Stirling’s uncle in the Boer War nearly 50 years before. And the Work of the regiment he raised—against formidable opposition in Army Headquarters—came to be accepted by General Montgomery as an important instrument of Allied strategy against that very able and determined opponent, FieldMarshal RommeL At one time, Stirling’s men, working in small groups, had destroyed on the ground—in raids on aerodromes hundreds of miles in enemy territory—more aircraft than the Royal Air Force had managed to shoot down in combat (a feat which did not add to Stirling’s popularity in Air Force circles), and as the months went on the Ist Special Air Service Regiment added to its kudos with a series of raids on enemy installations as much as 1000 miles away..

The Germans regarded the work of the S.A.S. as of the utmost importance. While tiny units of

S.A.S. were ranging the desert, no enemy could sleep peacefully 1000 miles from the front, no supplies could be certain of getting to their destination, no retreating enemy force could be sure that on its way back it would not be harassed by S.A.S. units. Some of the exploits were of remarkable daring, relying as much on sheer cheek and bluff as on carefullylaid plans. Some failed, more succeeded, but even the failures were important, since they harassed the enemy and made him employ useful men in guarding installations hundreds of miles behind the ever shifting desert front.

Stirling worked in close»collaboration with the Long Range Desert Group, and the book pays a tribute to the men of that group, including New Zealanders, who used the desert much as Sir Francis Drake used the Spanish Main to harass the enemies of England.

Stirling finished the war as a prisoner of the Axis, which in many ways was a pity, for at the time he was taken prisoner his regiment was in the process of great expansion, and under his leadership it might have achieved even more than it did.

The S.A.S. \yill almost certainly have a place in military textbooks of the future, but the bravery and resourcefulness shown by Stirling and some of his followers are not to be taught by textbook.