The dark, deadly and sinister world of terrorism fears nothing, except perhaps three initials and what lies behind them.... SAS.

The Special Air Service is a group of highly trained, highly motivated individuals who are the elite in their field. Also known as The Regiment they are the worlds most highly respected and feared counter terrorist force ever to see the light of day....or night for that matter.

Originally formed in World War II by David Sterling, the SAS are the topmost and elite Special Forces Team in the world. The need for such as force was never more acknowledged than when eight members of the Palestinian Terrorist group ' Black September ' took eleven Israeli athletes hostage at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Two of the hostages were killed in the first moments whilst attempting to resist the Terrorists and the remaining nine were kept in close captivity in their Olympic village apartment.

Below: One of the terrorists looks out from the apartments where the hostages were held.

The terrorists demanded the release of 234 prisoners from Israeli prisons and two from German prisons. Their demands were not met so instead, the terrorists demanded  two planes to fly themselves and the hostages to Cairo. The authorities agreed if only to get more time and supplied two helicopters to fly them to an airport.  The terrorists along with their hostages were then  transported to Fürstenfeldbruck Military airport . When they arrived there the Police attempted to rescue the hostages but it went terribly wrong and a shoot out ensued. Two terrorists and a Policeman were killed in the gun battle.

Then it all went quiet for a while whilst more negotiations developed. The German Police arranged for armoured cars to arrive at the airport and when the terrorists saw them they knew that they had lost. One of the terrorists immediately shot dead four hostages in the  helicopter with automatic weapon fire then lobbed in a grenade whilst another terrorist machine gunned and  killed the remaining five hostages in the other helicopter.

Police snipers and the armoured cars guns opened fire and in the barrage three of the terrorists were killed. The remaining three were arrested when they surrendered.

The West German Police were insufficiently trained to handle a situation like this and the whole incident kick started the Governments of the World to start thinking about  assembling  counter-terrorism forces.

In particular the British Government realised the prospective terrorist potential and sought a suitable force to counter any eventualities of such threats happening in the UK. The SAS stepped forward and  handed to them a proforma which impeccably outlaid strategies in counter terrorism at every level. Consequently the SAS Regiment were chosen.

The SAS have actually existed since 1941 and there was very little information about them until May 1980 when terrorists forcibly occupied the Iranian Embassy in London. 

The terrorists initially held 26 hostages, 6 were released but after making demands they executed one of the hostages. The SAS were told to go in. They did. 4 terrorists were killed, 1 was captured and 19 hostages were rescued whilst one was killed by the terrorists.  The operations main goal was to save the hostages, the fact that four of the terrorists were killed was not part of the plan but merely a by-product.

Apart from the death of one of the hostages, the operation was seen as a tremendous success, it had been originally estimated that there would be a 40% casualty rate.

The World was watching the drama on TV. The media was having a field day, the  Iranian Embassy siege and its explosive conclusion by these mysterious men clad in black put the spotlight on the SAS and rocketed them  into stardom, whether they liked it or not.

Below: The SAS get ready to absail down the back of the Iranian Embassy.

Below: One of the SAS Troopers got caught up in his rope. Some of the SAS had to buy extra absail ropes from local camping stores before the operation and these untested nylon ropes buckled and knotted from the friction as they slid down them. This caused one of the SAS Troopers to get snagged up right opposite a burning window, he ended up cutting himself free and then rejoined the rest of the squad.

After the evident success of the operation, practically all World Governments wanted such a strike force as the SAS and subsequently the SAS later found themselves teaching foreign armed forces how to go about countering any prospective terrorist attacks.

Terrorists have found out at their peril, you don't mess around with the SAS, because when they go in, it signifies that negotiations are out and the terrorists are then simply body bag candidates.

The SAS have an entire arsenal of weapons available to them and members of the SAS can choose whatever guns they want, guns they fell comfortable with.  The most popular two guns always chosen are the Browning 9mmm pistol and the Heckler & Kock MP5 9mm sub-machine gun. The Colt Armalite M16 is also quite popular.

The MP 5

The Heckler & Kock MP5 is a very reliable and accurate weapon, it is light and easy to handle.  The accuracy comes from the fact that the gun fires from a closed bolt in that the round is already positioned in the breech of the weapon with the integral hammer cocked for each shot.  The old British Army L1A2 Sterling Submachine gun was heavy and obtrusive and fired from an open bolt.  An open bolt has to collect the round from the magazine, position it in the breech and cock the hammer at the same time, this all throws the gun off balance and creates bad accuracy and the ability to jam up easier.  This gun was not desirable and was never adopted for use by the SAS in any operation.

The MP5 comes in all shapes and sizes, from a small compact easily concealable version right up to a big sniper rifle version.  It is a thoroughly modern gun, it is ultra dependable and will stay with the SAS for the foreseeable futre.

The Browning 9 mm

Below is the Browning 9mm Hi-Power.  This pistol was designed in 1935 by John Moses Browning, it has been used in WWII and practically every other conflict since.  It is a 13 round capacity pistol that operates on a single action principle in that the hammer must be cocked before it can fire, unlike modern double action pistols that allow the gun to be fired by pulling the trigger while the hammer is down.

Although the pistol is an old design, it is rugged and reliable and very accurate.  It has been tried, tested and proven since 1935 as a powerful and rapid fire gun that has a dependability that is sworn by, by those that use it.

The Browning "9 milly" will stay with the SAS indefinitely as there is no need to change it.

It works fine so why fix it ?