Thread: Colonel David Stirling SAS .The Phantom Major

I used to be a big fan of Stirling who, like Wingate, was a complete maverick. Both had ideas about behind the lines disruptions that had as much or more psychological affect as actual destructive affect.

However, I then found out about his postwar activities and have since had a rethink. The guy was a proto-fascist, who was willing to organise and lead a coup d'état in Britain in the 1970s. If you want to know more google GB75:

Another, the former SAS leader David Stirling, set up an organisation called Greater Britain 1975 (GB75), whose members included a Jersey-based arms dealer. Stirling, who was described by his biographer as "well to the right of the Conservative Party", considered the left wing of the Labour Party as "a cancer". His fear, summed up in one of his papers for GB75, was expressed thus: "Why are so many of us blind to an already far advanced conspiracy by the broad Left to topple our democracy? It is now the broad Left which harbours the 'baddies' and which is devoted to creating a privileged class of rulers hell bent on demolishing our individual rights and on creating a totally socialistic and therefore totalitarian state. The near take-over of the Labour Party by its parliamentary left-wing activists in alliance with the trade union extremists poses the most menacing crisis our country has ever faced – more dangerous by far than the worst period of the last World War. This crisis cannot possibly be resolved within parliament alone."

The Airey Neave Files - Independent Online Edition > Profiles

Wow! I did not know this. This makes him the greatest hero to me than ever.
I believe Labor and the trade unions destroyed the Britain that so many gave their lives for.

I hope that kowtowing to this leftwing philosophy isn't the prerequisite for being a successful member here.

Originally Posted by The Aviator

I hope that kowtowing to this leftwing philosophy isn't the prerequisite for being a successful member here.

No kowtowing required - as long as every member respects other members' views and beliefs, be they philosophical, political or religious, then we should all get along great.

But not extremism or offensiveness will allowed from any member.

There is an unwarranted assumption that the war was about keeping the British Establishment going and that war heroes are always going to be right-wing reactionaries such as David Stirling or Ian Smith. If this is true, then all we were fighting the Nazis for was a clash between two different Empires.

What is worth fighting for in Britain is its very tolerance, even though that sometimes comes at a risk to our own safety, as when Karl Marx felt free to write in the British Library, or when today we build a multi-cultural society.

It was the British fighting men and women who booted out Churchill in 1945. And it wasn't only right-wing politicians who had served with distinction in the war. Examples of others include: Edward Heath, Denis Healey, Jim Callaghan, Clement Attlee (in WW1), Tony Benn (trained as a pilot but just too young to see action), Wing Cdr Ian Gleed (homosexual fighter ace) and my particular heroes, Leonard Cheshire VC (a pro-European Union Catholic), and (from WW1) the socialist "Mick" Mannock VC.

Originally Posted by Kyt

No kowtowing required - as long as every member respects other members' views and beliefs, be they philosophical, political or religious, then we should all get along great.

But not extremism or offensiveness will allowed from any member.

I would agree with you there!

Originally Posted by Adrian Roberts

There is an unwarranted assumption that the war was about keeping the British Establishment going and that war heroes are always going to be right-wing reactionaries such as David Stirling or Ian Smith. If this is true, then all we were fighting the Nazis for was a clash between two different Empires.

What is worth fighting for in Britain is its very tolerance, even though that sometimes comes at a risk to our own safety, as when Karl Marx felt free to write in the British Library, or when today we build a multi-cultural society.

It was the British fighting men and women who booted out Churchill in 1945. And it wasn't only right-wing politicians who had served with distinction in the war. Examples of others include: Edward Heath, Denis Healey, Jim Callaghan, Clement Attlee (in WW1), Tony Benn (trained as a pilot but just too young to see action), Wing Cdr Ian Gleed (homosexual fighter ace) and my particular heroes, Leonard Cheshire VC (a pro-European Union Catholic), and (from WW1) the socialist "Mick" Mannock VC.

I agree Adrian. Many many good men and women emerged from the war, who went on to make amazing contributions to society. More often than not it was their very experiences of the war that shaped their beliefs. And their belief that post-WW2 society had to be shaped better than post-WW1 society.

However, I think the Stirling case highlights the fact that no-matter how commendable a persons service during the war, it cannot be used as a excuse if they then end up being involved in questionable activities later in their life. And that goes for any and every famous person. Two men who I used to think were remarkable political dissidents in the 19th century have been tainted by certain revelations. Marx behaved terribly towards women, and his wife in particular. And Bakunin, who used to be one my political heroes, turned out to be an anti-semite of the worst sort.

Originally Posted by Adrian Roberts

If this is true, then all we were fighting the Nazis for was a clash between two different Empires.

Isn't that what the communists said during the period between the signing of the Soviet-German pact, and Barbarossa?

Isn't that what the communists said during the period between the signing of the Soviet-German pact, and Barbarossa?

You mean the communists in the UK? Extremists never seem to understand that there is a middle ground, in this case between Empire and Communism, and that this middle ground is itself worth fighting for.