[The Aviator]

THE MOST UNDER DECORATED SOLDIER OF WW2

David Stirling was educated at Ampleforth College, and Cambridge University. Stirling joined up when WW11 started. Sterling served in Scots Guards, No. 8 Commando, Layforce. The unit was later disbanded. Sterling took up Parachuting, which was rare at this time.

In 1941, Stirling was bed ridden in Cario, Egypt, afer being injured in a parachute accident. During this time, he came up with the idea of a small unit to strike the enemy fast. He proposed the idea to senior officers.

Stirling called his new unit "L Detachment Special Air Service". The SAS was born working along side of the LRDG (Long Range Desert Group).

During WW 11, Stirling was captured in 1943. Stirling escaped four times, but was caught each time.
Hitler had ordered that all members of the SAS and other special forces should be executed but to his credit Field Marshall Rommel was the only German commander to ignore the order.

Stirling was subsequently sent to the famous Colditz Castle
from which he was released after the war.

It has been said by many, that Stirling was the "most under-decorated soldier of the war". David Sterling was knighted in 1990. He died a few months later at his home in Scotland. He was awarded the OBE and DSO for actions during WWII. He was nicknamed the "Phantom Major" by his peers.

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