Band of Vagabonds - The Birth of the SAS

More from me at 11:00pm but now, it is time for a special about the

Mr Schofield spent most of his life as a member of an iconic fighting

unit. It is a special group of men. We wanted to get in and finish the

war. Every man was -- Every man was keen. That was it. That was what

held them together. This month, he and his fellow veterans will

remember those who fell during its earliest days, and the spirit that

bound them. You were stuck with your friends

and they died by your side. years after the regiment was born,

its hidden diary has at last revealed the story of young man who

defied convention to prove that those who dare we will win. --

On the Hill of ruin in central Scotland, a uniformed figure gazers

out over the bowling hills he knew so well. A uniformed figure gazing

out over the brawling hills. In 1941, Lieutenant David Stirling

asked his superiors if he could form a unit behind the line. His

leadership inspired the veterans who still come here to pay their

respects. He came up with an idea and he was told to shut off. He

pursued it and he got it. You have to be remarkable in this unit

because no sane person would do it! We were all brothers in the SAS. We

were all brothers. We were one big Along the bomb pitted road

alongside the Mediterranean... Litter next sterling scare word the

area for or... The object was to give him a purpose. From the start

we knew we make it to a regiment. We are operated effectively and we

succeeded in establishing a new ground. Then the band of vagabonds

had to grasp what they had to do in The newly-formed L Detachment was

soon in action, staging lightning raids on enemy airfields. I was

navigating at that time and the going was quite hurt -- quite

horrid. David Stirling was in front and I was behind and at one point

he stopped and asked where we were and I said that I thought we had

another mile or a two to go. Just at that moment, there was a great

moment for me as a navigator. We hit it right in the middle.

The we drove along the lines of these transports and a 20 mm gun

started firing from the half right position. I said to use one gun and

to watch the tracer and I saw the tracer go right into the 20 mm

which stopped it. But it had already knocked out a cheap and

David had to abandon and take over one of the other jeeps. Then we did

another run down the line and I believe that we probably destroyed

something like 28 transport One of our vessels is ablaze...

Success in Africa at led to a series of operations which saw the

SAS island-hopping across the Mediterranean. No longer behind

enemy lines but always in the thick of it. The tracers were all around.

We lost three men on the beach but we beat all of the records of any

Olympic runner! One of the many people caught me up and was walking

along beside me and then he fell down and he was gasping and I could

see his gun. We were walking through water. I took his shirt and

put him on one of the racks. By now, the SAS included raiding parties

from the Special Boat Squadron. were in the shadows and we had to

turn our boats. They were following us. I had to carry on past the

house with the sergeant and another marine and we had to stop German

reinforcements reaching us while the officer did the raid. We

managed to find the soldiers and we said to hell with it. We saw

bullets flying everywhere. I felt a twinge and I had a bullet in the

arm and went through the back that went up the other side. Under the

tree I felt that my hand was all wet and sticky with blood. I said

that I thought I had cooked it. could see that someone was hit very

badly. He had gutted his knee. He had a hole in his back as well. He

kept asking me to shoot him because he was in so much pain. We made our

way and got back to our mud flat and they came in ones and twos.

Someone casually said that our friends had died and we accepted it

as a way of life. It was just another casualty. Littlejohn was

one of ours, wasn't he? He got executed. Those who had fallen --

followed David Stirling on his adventures were facing a much more

brutal war. I was a bit upset to think my mates were all in the SAS.

We were all brothers and we were one big family. Four of my

schoolmates that was in the same class as me at school, they got a

one-way ticket. I remember them. The countryside in southern France

hold -- holds more painful memories for those willing to return. On a

perfect late-summer day, Joe Schofield has travelled with his

son to meet an old friend and to follow a very personal trail.

Every one of the soldiers was your friend. You knew them all. You did

everything you could and I want to This trail begins in the hours

after D-Day. The period when Allied troops were fighting their way off

the beaches. Ahead of them, the SAS had parachuted far inland to wage

war fare alongside the parties and Great to see you again. Good to see

you to come up mate. Albert Dupont was one of the -- is one of the

last survivors of the the Maquis Group that was caught up alongside

Joe's squadron. We got taken and I thought we must

not be taken. If you were taking a new order roast. -- if you were

taking you were roast. An incident a few miles to the north has

In the pages of the SAS war diary, there is a code name, Bulbasket.

Just one mission amongst dozens whose details were once classified

as top secret and which have now been revealed to the world for the

Operation Bulbasket had to Margaret different aims, to monitor traffic

for the -- two different aims, to monitor traffic and to stabilise

the Maquis Group. We had to prevent the book away systems operating

from north to south. They would attack those and keep them out.

It was stopping any reinforcements from the sap getting up to the

beach and. Torfaen from the South. -- from the south. We were in a

small parties. We talked all through the night and day if

possible. The message is being passed to you would say that they

knew you were there and they were looking for you. At dawn one July

morning, a unit came under sustained attacked. -- attack. The

SAS tried to break out but 35 men were captured as they were

outnumbered. Quite a number of people were wounded. They were all

swept up by the Germans and 33 SAS men and two officers were captured

that day. Four days later, we went into the forest and -- they went

into the forest and all of them So we stayed in this forest for

about three years until all was quiet. There were six, five in the

SAS when we arrived. I dream about it at night. I cannot believe it.

They were lined up and shot. How men can ain't a rifle at these boys

I do not know. -- can aim a rifle at these boys. These grave markers

on a stark reminder that the SAS units were unlikely to survive

capture. It was a threat which pursued them day and night and

which lead to decisions that we might find unacceptable. As a

colonel of the first SAS, he proved his troops before we left for

France and he said her trust has to go to war. -- he briefed his troops.

If you are captured, and you most like to will be shot out and out.

So if you are in a firefight with the Germans, do not take prisoners.

The SAS units also witnessed even harsher treatment, meted out by the

French communities which had suffered at the hands of the

occupying forces. You had to cruise around an area at stop at different

farms. We stopped at one from one day -- one farm one day and the

farmers and one of his hands down to one of the buildings and he came

back with about eight or nine Germans. He just brought these

Germans as -- up to show us. I was talking to my mate and one of these

Germans, he obviously hurt me speaking English, and his face

lightened up. He spoke excitedly to his friends and started pulling out

photographs of his wife and children. But you couldn't feel

sorry for them. We said goodbye to the farmer and left and called

their two days later and of course they had gone. But I suppose the

difference between us and them was the French had made them tick their

own graves and shoot them that would be it. By the end of their

war, after five and six years of war. We all thought that if we were

The SAS would have to wait almost a year to seek justice for the

massacre. By then, they have fought their way across Europe and into

Germany. Only then could they begin the hunt for those responsible,

working with official war crimes investigators. The fascists are all

around but they are getting back to Germany as fast as they can. We

send out these little groups of chaps, a driver, an interpreter, an

officer. And maybe one of the ordinary chap. A soldier. They

would go out if there was a war criminal somewhere and beat him up

and interrogate him. That is why we had -- and pick him up. We had

Eastern European, Jewish chaps come through. They were our interpreters

and they were very good at interpreting as well. One group,

gathered intelligence from returning German prisoners of war.

In the months following the German surrender, they delivered dozens of

alleged war criminals to the courts. Many were subsequently executed,

including those who had ordered and carried out the murders of SAS

In a tiny village cemetery, a row of sun-dappled headstones stand

memorial to 31 of those executed in We will remember them. These

communities have never forgotten There were no volunteers. They were

in the army. They have been this conscripted or they had drawings.

And I think it is because they just wanted to get into the wall and get

it over with. I think most of them were like that. I just felt the

same way. From North Africa, right through Sicily and Italy, I left a

stream of comrades who died. You buried them quickly and you moved

on. It is only years later when you go back and you search for them,

where their graves are, that you Long kitchen combat reports tell of

events which remain vivid. -- belonged hidden combat reports.

Some recall that first sense of adventure. Others were forever

scarred by their experiences. were young. I was 20 or something.

21. And it was an adventure. I think we thought that it was

something completely different from anything we had ever done before. I

had gone to Rhodesia to learn to be a farmer so all this was utterly

different. And the great sense of freedom, in a way, because you knew

you were choosing way you were going and how you were going to get

there. War is not fun. I go around the schools with the British Legion

talking to the kids. The first thing I say is, let's get this

straight, war is not fun. It is blimmin' nasty. But then I try to

tell them about it. That is what we have got to remember. We have to

tell the next generation, do not go looking for war. But if it comes

along and you cannot avoid it, then you have to get stuck in. But it is

still not fun. Nobody is ever likely to know about it because the

people who knew about it, like myself, passed on. But a lot went

A lot of young chaps, after their first rate, they went a little bits

of a round the twist and was sent away. But for me, all I wanted was

silence, peace and quiet. I worked for the Southern Electricity Board.

I tried to tell them my story and experiences but no one would

believe it. No one. And after a while, I was so frustrated and I

have had to live with it. And even to this day, even as I tell you, I

do not know where they you believe me or not. -- whether you believe

me. If you can hear them reaching out, I do find it deserving

sometimes. Joe Schofield had one last call to make before he left

for home. Do you forget it after a 67 years? No, it is still with me

now. 24 lieutenant Tom Stephens was separated from his men and beaten

to death. -- 24-year-old. He lies in a French family vault. Joe

Schofield has vowed that he and every other member of the SAS

family will not be forgotten. part of us, part of the SAS. We

never forget them. I have been back to Italy and Sicily and Germany and

I will continue to do that. I will be here as long as I can draw

breath. O valiant heart to your glory came. Through dust of