David Stirling: The Phoney Major: The Life, Times and Truth about the Founder of the SAS

by Gavin Mortimer

Aristocrat, gambler, innovator and special forces legend, the life of David Stirling should need no retelling. His formation of the Special Air Service in the summer of 1941 led to a new form of warfare and Stirling is remembered as the father of special forces soldiering. But was he really a military genius or in fact a shameless self-publicist who manipulated people, and the truth, for this own ends? In this gripping and controversial biography Gavin Mortimer analyses Stirling's complex character: the childhood speech impediment that shaped his formative years, the pressure from his overbearing mother, his fraught relationship with his brother, Bill, and the jealousy and inferiority he felt in the presence of his SAS second-in-command, the cold-blooded killer Paddy Mayne.

Stirling lived until old age, receiving a knighthood and plaudits from military forces around the world before his death in 1990. Yet as Mortimer dazzlingly shows, while Stirling was instrumental in selling the SAS to Churchill and senior officers, it was Mayne who really carried the regiment in the early days. Stirling was at best an incompetent soldier and at worst a foolhardy one, who jeopardised his men's live with careless talk and hare-brained missions.

Drawing on interviews with SAS veterans who fought with Stirling and men who worked with him on his post-war projects, and examining recently declassified governments files about Stirling's involvement in Aden, Libya and GB75, Mortimer's riveting biography is incisive, bold, honest and written with his customary narrative panache. Impeccably researched and with the courage to challenge the mythical SAS 'brand', Mortimer brings to bear his unparalleled expertise as WW2's premier special forces historian to dig beneath the legend and reveal the real David Stirling, a man who dared and deceived.

Genres: Biography, History

464 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 30, 2022

About the author

For a detailed biography, to learn more about all the books I have written and to discover my forthcoming projects, please visit my website at the above link.

Reviews

[simon payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book, war time escapades fascinating, a different perspective and more believable. The post war activities went on a bit, however it gave perspective. Worth a read for those interested in the real history of the SAS. Without Paddy Mayne it would not exist today, the real leader of this legendary organisation.

[Robert Youngjohns · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious

Well researched but the obvious dislike of Stirling that comes across in every page becomes repetitive and tedious.

So let me save you having to read the book. Stirling is capricious, erratic and a dilettante. Mayne is brilliant, steadfast and courageous. Repeat endlessly.

[Simon Pitman · Rating 5 out of 5]

After watching the TV series rogue heroes I wanted to know more about the men.
Bill Sterling and Paddy Mayne are incredible individuals. Men to look up to. True legends.

David Sterling not so much. Reminds me a bit of the feckless shallow and deluded Boris Johnson.

Worth a read and a fascinating update insight into the wartime SAS.

[Karlen Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is interesting as I have all my left been a victim of the deceit by Stirling to be the Father of the SAS and only learned about Paddy Mayne in the last few years. Mayne was the quiet professional.

[Mark Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting expose!

[Lyle Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

“David Stirling: The Phoney Major” by Gavin Mortimer appears to be a well researched book. It offers another viewpoint to the actions of the renown David Stirling. I read it cover to cover.