page_title: History of the Special Air Service
section_title: 1944
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Special Air Service / Second World War / 1944
caption_attribution_description: English: An SAS jeep manned by Sergeant Schofield and Trooper Jeavons of 1st SAS near Geilenkirchen, Germany, 18 November 1944. A jeep manned by Sergeant A Schofield and Trooper O Jeavons of 1 SAS near Geilenkirchen in Germany. The jeep is armed with three Vickers 'K' guns, and fitted with armoured glass shields in place of a windscreen. The SAS were involved at this time in clearing snipers in the 43rd Wessex Division area.
context_page_description: The History of the British Army's Special Air Service or SAS regiment begins with its formation during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, and continues to the present day. It includes their early operations in North Africa, the Greek Islands, and the Invasion of Italy. They then returned to the United Kingdom and were formed into a brigade with two British, two French and one Belgian regiment. The SAS Brigade then conducted operations in France, Italy again, the Low Countries and finally into Germany.
  After the war the SAS were disbanded only to be reformed as a Territorial Army regiment, which then led onto the formation of the regular army 22 SAS Regiment. The new regiment has taken part in most of the United Kingdom's small wars since then. However the Ministry of Defence does not comment on special forces matters, therefore little verifiable information exists in the public domain on the regiment's recent activities.
  At first, service in the SAS was considered an end to an officer's career progression, however in recent years SAS officers have risen to the highest ranks in the British Army.
context_section_description: In March 1944, the 1st and 2nd SAS Regiments returned to the United Kingdom and joined a newly formed SAS Brigade of the Army Air Corps. The other units in the Brigade were the French 3rd and 4th SAS, the Belgian 5th SAS and F Squadron which was responsible for signals and communications, the brigade commander was Brigadier Roderick McLeod. The brigade was ordered to swap their beige SAS berets for the maroon parachute beret and given shoulder titles for 1, 2, 3 and 4 SAS in the Airborne colours. The French and Belgian regiments also wore the Airborne Pegasus arm badge. The brigade now entered a period of training for their participation in the Normandy Invasion. They were prevented from conducting operations until after the start of the invasion by 21st Army Group. Their task was then to stop German reinforcements reaching the front line, by being parachuted behind the lines to assist the French Resistance.
  In support of the invasion 144 men of 1st SAS took part in Operation Houndsworth between June and September, in the area of Lyon, Chalon-sur-Saône, Dijon, Le Creusot and Paris. At the same time, 56 Men of 1st SAS also took part in Operation Bulbasket in the Poitiers area. They did have some success before being betrayed. Surrounded by a large German force, they were forced to disperse; later, it was discovered that 36 men were missing and that 32 of them had been captured and executed by the Germans.
  In mid June, 178 men of the French SAS and 3,000 members of the French resistance took part in Operation Dingson. However, they were forced to disperse after their camp was attacked by the Germans. The French SAS were also involved in Operation Cooney, Operation Samwest and Operation Lost during the same period.
  In August, 91 men from the 1st SAS were involved in Operation Loyton. The team had the misfortune to land in the Vosges Mountains at a time when the Germans were preparing to defend the Belfort Gap. As a result, the Germans harried the team. The team also suffered from poor weather that prevented aerial resupply. Eventually, they broke into smaller groups to return to their own lines. During the escape 31 men were captured and executed by the Germans.
  Also in August, men from 2nd SAS operated from forest bases in the Rennes area in conjunction with the resistance. Air resupply was plentiful and the resistance cooperated, which resulted in carnage. The 2nd SAS operated from the Loire through to the forests of Darney to Belfort in just under six weeks.
  Near the end of the year men from 2nd SAS were parachuted into Italy, to work with the Italian resistance in Operation Tombola, where they remained until Italy was liberated.
  At one point, four groups were active deep behind enemy lines laying waste to airfields, attacking convoys and derailing trains. Towards the end of the campaign, Italian guerrillas and escaped Russian prisoners were enlisted into an ‘Allied SAS Battalion’ which struck at the German main lines of communications.
caption: An SAS jeep of 1st SAS near Geilenkirchen, Germany, 18 November 1944.
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