:00:06. > :00:16.More from me at 11:00pm but now, it is time for a special about the
:00:16. > :00:20.
:00:20. > :00:26.Mr Schofield spent most of his life as a member of an iconic fighting
:00:26. > :00:36.unit. It is a special group of men. We wanted to get in and finish the
:00:36. > :00:41.war. Every man was -- Every man was keen. That was it. That was what
:00:41. > :00:45.held them together. This month, he and his fellow veterans will
:00:45. > :00:52.remember those who fell during its earliest days, and the spirit that
:00:52. > :00:57.bound them. You were stuck with your friends
:00:57. > :01:02.and they died by your side. years after the regiment was born,
:01:02. > :01:11.its hidden diary has at last revealed the story of young man who
:01:11. > :01:21.defied convention to prove that those who dare we will win. --
:01:21. > :01:33.
:01:33. > :01:41.On the Hill of ruin in central Scotland, a uniformed figure gazers
:01:41. > :01:47.out over the bowling hills he knew so well. A uniformed figure gazing
:01:47. > :01:52.out over the brawling hills. In 1941, Lieutenant David Stirling
:01:52. > :01:57.asked his superiors if he could form a unit behind the line. His
:01:57. > :02:03.leadership inspired the veterans who still come here to pay their
:02:03. > :02:11.respects. He came up with an idea and he was told to shut off. He
:02:11. > :02:21.pursued it and he got it. You have to be remarkable in this unit
:02:21. > :02:21.
:02:21. > :02:31.because no sane person would do it! We were all brothers in the SAS. We
:02:31. > :02:37.
:02:37. > :02:47.were all brothers. We were one big Along the bomb pitted road
:02:47. > :02:47.
:02:48. > :02:57.alongside the Mediterranean... Litter next sterling scare word the
:02:58. > :02:59.
:02:59. > :03:09.area for or... The object was to give him a purpose. From the start
:03:09. > :03:09.
:03:09. > :03:17.we knew we make it to a regiment. We are operated effectively and we
:03:17. > :03:27.succeeded in establishing a new ground. Then the band of vagabonds
:03:27. > :03:29.
:03:29. > :03:37.had to grasp what they had to do in The newly-formed L Detachment was
:03:37. > :03:45.soon in action, staging lightning raids on enemy airfields. I was
:03:45. > :03:52.navigating at that time and the going was quite hurt -- quite
:03:52. > :04:02.horrid. David Stirling was in front and I was behind and at one point
:04:02. > :04:04.
:04:04. > :04:14.he stopped and asked where we were and I said that I thought we had
:04:14. > :04:14.
:04:14. > :04:24.another mile or a two to go. Just at that moment, there was a great
:04:24. > :04:27.
:04:27. > :04:35.moment for me as a navigator. We hit it right in the middle.
:04:35. > :04:45.The we drove along the lines of these transports and a 20 mm gun
:04:45. > :04:46.
:04:46. > :04:50.started firing from the half right position. I said to use one gun and
:04:50. > :04:56.to watch the tracer and I saw the tracer go right into the 20 mm
:04:56. > :05:02.which stopped it. But it had already knocked out a cheap and
:05:02. > :05:08.David had to abandon and take over one of the other jeeps. Then we did
:05:08. > :05:18.another run down the line and I believe that we probably destroyed
:05:18. > :05:28.
:05:28. > :05:34.something like 28 transport One of our vessels is ablaze...
:05:34. > :05:39.Success in Africa at led to a series of operations which saw the
:05:39. > :05:49.SAS island-hopping across the Mediterranean. No longer behind
:05:49. > :05:49.
:05:49. > :05:58.enemy lines but always in the thick of it. The tracers were all around.
:05:58. > :06:08.We lost three men on the beach but we beat all of the records of any
:06:08. > :06:09.
:06:09. > :06:15.Olympic runner! One of the many people caught me up and was walking
:06:15. > :06:25.along beside me and then he fell down and he was gasping and I could
:06:25. > :06:33.see his gun. We were walking through water. I took his shirt and
:06:33. > :06:42.put him on one of the racks. By now, the SAS included raiding parties
:06:42. > :06:49.from the Special Boat Squadron. were in the shadows and we had to
:06:49. > :06:57.turn our boats. They were following us. I had to carry on past the
:06:57. > :07:07.house with the sergeant and another marine and we had to stop German
:07:07. > :07:07.
:07:07. > :07:13.reinforcements reaching us while the officer did the raid. We
:07:13. > :07:18.managed to find the soldiers and we said to hell with it. We saw
:07:18. > :07:25.bullets flying everywhere. I felt a twinge and I had a bullet in the
:07:25. > :07:31.arm and went through the back that went up the other side. Under the
:07:31. > :07:39.tree I felt that my hand was all wet and sticky with blood. I said
:07:39. > :07:48.that I thought I had cooked it. could see that someone was hit very
:07:48. > :07:57.badly. He had gutted his knee. He had a hole in his back as well. He
:07:57. > :08:05.kept asking me to shoot him because he was in so much pain. We made our
:08:05. > :08:11.way and got back to our mud flat and they came in ones and twos.
:08:11. > :08:19.Someone casually said that our friends had died and we accepted it
:08:19. > :08:28.as a way of life. It was just another casualty. Littlejohn was
:08:28. > :08:32.one of ours, wasn't he? He got executed. Those who had fallen --
:08:32. > :08:42.followed David Stirling on his adventures were facing a much more
:08:42. > :08:42.
:08:42. > :08:48.brutal war. I was a bit upset to think my mates were all in the SAS.
:08:48. > :08:52.We were all brothers and we were one big family. Four of my
:08:52. > :09:02.schoolmates that was in the same class as me at school, they got a
:09:02. > :09:24.
:09:24. > :09:31.one-way ticket. I remember them. The countryside in southern France
:09:31. > :09:35.hold -- holds more painful memories for those willing to return. On a
:09:35. > :09:45.perfect late-summer day, Joe Schofield has travelled with his
:09:45. > :09:47.
:09:47. > :09:53.son to meet an old friend and to follow a very personal trail.
:09:53. > :10:03.Every one of the soldiers was your friend. You knew them all. You did
:10:03. > :10:10.
:10:10. > :10:16.everything you could and I want to This trail begins in the hours
:10:16. > :10:24.after D-Day. The period when Allied troops were fighting their way off
:10:24. > :10:34.the beaches. Ahead of them, the SAS had parachuted far inland to wage
:10:34. > :10:38.
:10:38. > :10:44.war fare alongside the parties and Great to see you again. Good to see
:10:44. > :10:48.you to come up mate. Albert Dupont was one of the -- is one of the
:10:48. > :10:56.last survivors of the the Maquis Group that was caught up alongside
:10:56. > :11:06.Joe's squadron. We got taken and I thought we must
:11:06. > :11:07.
:11:07. > :11:12.not be taken. If you were taking a new order roast. -- if you were
:11:12. > :11:22.taking you were roast. An incident a few miles to the north has
:11:22. > :11:28.
:11:28. > :11:34.In the pages of the SAS war diary, there is a code name, Bulbasket.
:11:34. > :11:37.Just one mission amongst dozens whose details were once classified
:11:37. > :11:47.as top secret and which have now been revealed to the world for the
:11:47. > :11:55.
:11:55. > :12:00.Operation Bulbasket had to Margaret different aims, to monitor traffic
:12:00. > :12:07.for the -- two different aims, to monitor traffic and to stabilise
:12:07. > :12:17.the Maquis Group. We had to prevent the book away systems operating
:12:17. > :12:21.
:12:22. > :12:26.from north to south. They would attack those and keep them out.
:12:26. > :12:34.It was stopping any reinforcements from the sap getting up to the
:12:34. > :12:39.beach and. Torfaen from the South. -- from the south. We were in a
:12:39. > :12:48.small parties. We talked all through the night and day if
:12:48. > :12:53.possible. The message is being passed to you would say that they
:12:53. > :12:58.knew you were there and they were looking for you. At dawn one July
:12:58. > :13:03.morning, a unit came under sustained attacked. -- attack. The
:13:03. > :13:13.SAS tried to break out but 35 men were captured as they were
:13:13. > :13:21.outnumbered. Quite a number of people were wounded. They were all
:13:21. > :13:31.swept up by the Germans and 33 SAS men and two officers were captured
:13:31. > :13:32.
:13:32. > :13:42.that day. Four days later, we went into the forest and -- they went
:13:42. > :13:50.
:13:50. > :14:00.into the forest and all of them So we stayed in this forest for
:14:00. > :14:04.
:14:04. > :14:14.about three years until all was quiet. There were six, five in the
:14:14. > :14:20.
:14:20. > :14:30.SAS when we arrived. I dream about it at night. I cannot believe it.
:14:30. > :14:34.
:14:34. > :14:41.They were lined up and shot. How men can ain't a rifle at these boys
:14:41. > :14:45.I do not know. -- can aim a rifle at these boys. These grave markers
:14:45. > :14:49.on a stark reminder that the SAS units were unlikely to survive
:14:49. > :14:59.capture. It was a threat which pursued them day and night and
:14:59. > :15:03.which lead to decisions that we might find unacceptable. As a
:15:03. > :15:13.colonel of the first SAS, he proved his troops before we left for
:15:13. > :15:13.
:15:13. > :15:18.France and he said her trust has to go to war. -- he briefed his troops.
:15:18. > :15:28.If you are captured, and you most like to will be shot out and out.
:15:28. > :15:31.
:15:31. > :15:36.So if you are in a firefight with the Germans, do not take prisoners.
:15:36. > :15:39.The SAS units also witnessed even harsher treatment, meted out by the
:15:39. > :15:47.French communities which had suffered at the hands of the
:15:47. > :15:55.occupying forces. You had to cruise around an area at stop at different
:15:55. > :15:59.farms. We stopped at one from one day -- one farm one day and the
:15:59. > :16:07.farmers and one of his hands down to one of the buildings and he came
:16:07. > :16:15.back with about eight or nine Germans. He just brought these
:16:15. > :16:20.Germans as -- up to show us. I was talking to my mate and one of these
:16:20. > :16:28.Germans, he obviously hurt me speaking English, and his face
:16:28. > :16:32.lightened up. He spoke excitedly to his friends and started pulling out
:16:32. > :16:38.photographs of his wife and children. But you couldn't feel
:16:38. > :16:41.sorry for them. We said goodbye to the farmer and left and called
:16:41. > :16:48.their two days later and of course they had gone. But I suppose the
:16:48. > :16:56.difference between us and them was the French had made them tick their
:16:56. > :17:06.own graves and shoot them that would be it. By the end of their
:17:06. > :17:08.
:17:08. > :17:18.war, after five and six years of war. We all thought that if we were
:17:18. > :17:22.
:17:22. > :17:26.The SAS would have to wait almost a year to seek justice for the
:17:26. > :17:33.massacre. By then, they have fought their way across Europe and into
:17:33. > :17:41.Germany. Only then could they begin the hunt for those responsible,
:17:41. > :17:47.working with official war crimes investigators. The fascists are all
:17:47. > :17:54.around but they are getting back to Germany as fast as they can. We
:17:54. > :18:02.send out these little groups of chaps, a driver, an interpreter, an
:18:03. > :18:09.officer. And maybe one of the ordinary chap. A soldier. They
:18:09. > :18:16.would go out if there was a war criminal somewhere and beat him up
:18:16. > :18:22.and interrogate him. That is why we had -- and pick him up. We had
:18:22. > :18:31.Eastern European, Jewish chaps come through. They were our interpreters
:18:31. > :18:35.and they were very good at interpreting as well. One group,
:18:35. > :18:39.gathered intelligence from returning German prisoners of war.
:18:39. > :18:43.In the months following the German surrender, they delivered dozens of
:18:44. > :18:48.alleged war criminals to the courts. Many were subsequently executed,
:18:48. > :18:58.including those who had ordered and carried out the murders of SAS
:18:58. > :19:08.
:19:08. > :19:18.In a tiny village cemetery, a row of sun-dappled headstones stand
:19:18. > :19:27.
:19:27. > :19:37.memorial to 31 of those executed in We will remember them. These
:19:37. > :19:45.
:19:45. > :19:51.communities have never forgotten There were no volunteers. They were
:19:51. > :19:55.in the army. They have been this conscripted or they had drawings.
:19:55. > :20:01.And I think it is because they just wanted to get into the wall and get
:20:01. > :20:11.it over with. I think most of them were like that. I just felt the
:20:11. > :20:20.same way. From North Africa, right through Sicily and Italy, I left a
:20:20. > :20:25.stream of comrades who died. You buried them quickly and you moved
:20:25. > :20:35.on. It is only years later when you go back and you search for them,
:20:35. > :20:41.
:20:41. > :20:48.where their graves are, that you Long kitchen combat reports tell of
:20:48. > :20:53.events which remain vivid. -- belonged hidden combat reports.
:20:53. > :21:01.Some recall that first sense of adventure. Others were forever
:21:01. > :21:11.scarred by their experiences. were young. I was 20 or something.
:21:11. > :21:13.
:21:13. > :21:19.21. And it was an adventure. I think we thought that it was
:21:19. > :21:25.something completely different from anything we had ever done before. I
:21:25. > :21:30.had gone to Rhodesia to learn to be a farmer so all this was utterly
:21:30. > :21:33.different. And the great sense of freedom, in a way, because you knew
:21:33. > :21:41.you were choosing way you were going and how you were going to get
:21:41. > :21:46.there. War is not fun. I go around the schools with the British Legion
:21:46. > :21:52.talking to the kids. The first thing I say is, let's get this
:21:52. > :21:57.straight, war is not fun. It is blimmin' nasty. But then I try to
:21:57. > :22:02.tell them about it. That is what we have got to remember. We have to
:22:03. > :22:08.tell the next generation, do not go looking for war. But if it comes
:22:08. > :22:18.along and you cannot avoid it, then you have to get stuck in. But it is
:22:18. > :22:21.
:22:21. > :22:26.still not fun. Nobody is ever likely to know about it because the
:22:26. > :22:36.people who knew about it, like myself, passed on. But a lot went
:22:36. > :22:43.
:22:43. > :22:53.A lot of young chaps, after their first rate, they went a little bits
:22:53. > :22:53.
:22:53. > :22:59.of a round the twist and was sent away. But for me, all I wanted was
:22:59. > :23:03.silence, peace and quiet. I worked for the Southern Electricity Board.
:23:03. > :23:12.I tried to tell them my story and experiences but no one would
:23:12. > :23:17.believe it. No one. And after a while, I was so frustrated and I
:23:17. > :23:24.have had to live with it. And even to this day, even as I tell you, I
:23:24. > :23:31.do not know where they you believe me or not. -- whether you believe
:23:31. > :23:35.me. If you can hear them reaching out, I do find it deserving
:23:35. > :23:45.sometimes. Joe Schofield had one last call to make before he left
:23:45. > :23:51.for home. Do you forget it after a 67 years? No, it is still with me
:23:51. > :24:01.now. 24 lieutenant Tom Stephens was separated from his men and beaten
:24:01. > :24:01.
:24:01. > :24:05.to death. -- 24-year-old. He lies in a French family vault. Joe
:24:05. > :24:12.Schofield has vowed that he and every other member of the SAS
:24:12. > :24:20.family will not be forgotten. part of us, part of the SAS. We
:24:20. > :24:26.never forget them. I have been back to Italy and Sicily and Germany and
:24:26. > :24:36.I will continue to do that. I will be here as long as I can draw
:24:36. > :24:39.
:24:39. > :24:45.breath. O valiant heart to your glory came. Through dust of