Ian Lapraik Colonel Ian Lapraik , DSO , OBE , MC & Bar , TD , ( 13 September 1915 – 15 March 1985 ) was a distinguished officer in the Special Air Service Regiment , despite potentially crippling childhood illness . Early life . Lapraik was born in Edinburgh , but lived most of his early life in Glasgow . He suffered from tuberculosis of the knee at age seven and had been crippled for five years including two years with his leg in plaster . When he was at university , he was still thought to be too " fragile " for vigorous sports , although he had worked on his strength by running . He was also excluded from the Officers Training Corps , despite having achieved distinction as a runner in international inter - student games . Lapraik was educated at the High School of Glasgow ( 1927 – 1934 ) and Glasgow University . He then qualified as a lawyer . Military career . Lapraik enlisted in the Highland Light Infantry on 3 September 1939 , the day that war was declared against Germany . After training at the reputedly tough Officer Cadet Training Unit at Dunbar , he was commissioned in the Cameron Highlanders in 1941 . In the same year he saw action with 51 Commando in Ethiopia , then known as Abyssinia , and won the Military Cross and the Ethiopian Lion of Judah . In June 1943 , he joined the newly formed Special Boat Squadron ( SBS ) , based near Haifa , commanded by Lord Jellicoe . In 1943 he commanded an SBS unit operating from bases in Turkish waters . Notable among his successes was an attack with the Greek Sacred Squadron on Symi , when the German garrison was decimated and all their installations destroyed . For this and other actions , he was awarded a bar to his Military Cross . In 1944 , the Squadron was expanded to Regimental status , though still part of the SAS group . The unit was now styled the Special Boat Service , and the three operational Detachments were likewise expanded into Squadrons : Major Lapraik commanded M Squadron . In 1945 , he was awarded the DSO , in recognition of his courage and leadership . He was then attached to the Greek Sacred Regiment Sacred Squadron , which had also been expanded from its original Squadron status , and remained with them until the end of the war . This was a very difficult period in Greek history and his service was further recognised by the award of Officer of the Order of the British Empire from Britain , and the Order of the Phoenix from Greece . He also received the Greek War Cross , 2nd Class ( Β ' τάξεως ) for his earlier operations . His skill in watermanship was legendary . He once paddled a canoe from Malta to Sicily , a distance of 70 miles , and on one occasion even managed to control a canoe in a force - nine gale . He was six times mentioned in despatches ; wounded six times ; captured three times but always escaped . After the war , the SAS and the SBS were disbanded from the regular establishment , but in 1947 the SAS returned , as a unit of the Territorial Army . This unit was 21 SAS ( V ) and Major Lapraik now commanded B Squadron , whose senior ranks were composed mostly of veterans of the SBS . Between 1973 and 1983 , Ian Lapraik was the Honorary Colonel of 21 SAS . In his civil life , Ian Lapraik worked in publishing . He died in Buckinghamshire on 15 March 1985 . Honours and awards . ( details ) < br > Distinguished Service Order 18 October 1945 < br > Officer of the Order of the British Empire 9 August 1945 < br > Military Cross 19 August 1941 , and Bar 3 February 1944 < br > Territorial Efficiency Decoration 14 September 1956 < br > Mentioned in Despatches 25 January 1945 < br > Lion of Judah ( Abyssinia ) < br > War Cross ( Greece ) , 2nd Class ( 14 October 1949 )