In previous articles in the series, we mentioned the famous Soldier of Fortune recruiting firm, founded by Bob Denard. But around the same time, another organization appeared that offered the services of professional mercenaries. It was the world's first private military company, Watchguard International, founded by David Stirling in 1965. This person will become the hero of this article.
Born in 1915, Stirling was the son of a brigadier general in the British army. Before the outbreak of World War II, he took art lessons in Paris and was going on an expedition to Everest, but then volunteered for the Scottish Guards Regiment, with which he later fought in France, and after the defeat was evacuated from Dunkirk. Then, as part of Commando-8, Lt. Col. Laycock, Stirling ended up in North Africa. This sabotage unit was disbanded after several unsuccessful operations, during one of which Stirling suffered an eye injury and broke his leg. In the hospital, he drew up a plan to create a new sabotage group, whose task was to raid the German rear.
Special Air Service
This idea was unexpectedly supported by Major General Neil Ritchie, deputy chief of staff to the commander of British forces in North Africa, Claude John Auchinleck.
So Stirling (who at the time had a modest rank of lieutenant) was in charge of the Special Air Service, a unit that existed only on paper and was created to misinform the enemy: let the adversaries be afraid and try to calculate the length of the tiger's fangs.
In July 1941, 5 officers and 60 soldiers (Detachment L) were at the disposal of Stirling, who in November took the first battle in the framework of Operation Crusader. According to the plan drawn up by Stirling, on the night of November 16-17, 1941, these fighters were to parachute to the airfields in Gazala and Tmimi, destroy aircraft and fuel depots. After completing the assignment, they were to be delivered to the base by units of the Long Range Desert Group, created in June 1940 by Major Ralph Bangold (LRDG, Long Range Desert Group).
But the first pancake came out lumpy: the paratroopers were scattered around the neighborhood, they had to join the battle in small groups, the surprise effect was lost and only 22 people managed to return to the base.
The beginning was depressing. It seemed that Squad L was destined to repeat the fate of the disbanded Commando-8. But Stirling did not give up. He decided to change tactics and use vehicles in raids - jeeps and trucks. There was no continuous front line, and therefore night raids of mobile columns promised to be effective. And, in the end, if long-range reconnaissance groups could make long-range raids towards the enemy, then why not use their experience with saboteur squads?
This decision turned out to be successful, and on December 12, Captain Main's group had already successfully attacked the airfield in Tameta, destroying 24 aircraft and returning to base without loss.
During the following operations at two German airfields in Libya, another 64 aircraft were destroyed, and the loss of SAS fighters was only three people.
On January 23, 1942, the attack on the port of Buerat was successful, where army depots and fuel tanks were blown up, after which Stirling received the rank of major. In March of the same year, SAS fighters destroyed 31 aircraft, and Stirling received the nickname Ghost Major.
The successful actions of the new formation led to the fact that its number increased significantly, and in September 1942, the SAS already included 6 squadrons (4 British, 1 French and 1 Greek) and a boat service department. The SAS motto became the words: “Whoever takes risks wins”, the emblem is a dagger with two wings.
Stirling's career in the SAS was cut short in January 1943, when, during one of the operations in Tunisia, he was captured by the Germans, he was released only after the end of the war. Stirling retired with the rank of colonel.
New idea by David Stirling
In 1959, Stirling created Television International Enterprises (TIE). However, the young veteran was bored in the office, and therefore, in 1962, by order of the Sultan of Oman Qaboos, he formed his first detachment of mercenaries - these were instructors who trained soldiers for action against the rebels of the Dhofar province.
Then, during the civil war in Yemen (which was described in the article "Soldiers of Fortune" and "Wild Geese") British intelligence took advantage of Stirling's services. Then, the well-known French mercenaries Roger Folk (Fulk) and Bob Denard were involved in hostilities against the new republican authorities, to whose help the British sent SAS personnel who were on leave. Funding for these operations went through Saudi Arabia. All this convinced Stirling of the prospects of this direction, and after the curtailment of the operation in Yemen, Stirling created the company Kulinda Security Ltd. (KSL), whose employees were used by the Americans for operations against the drug cartels in Latin America. The same company sent instructors to train special forces to Sierra Leone and Zambia.
But it was just a "test of the pen": it is Watchguard International that is considered the first "real" private military company in the world. In parallel with it, the office for the recruitment of mercenaries Kilo Alpha Services was created. Stirling's partner was the former commander of the 22nd SAS regiment, John Woodhouse.
According to Stirling's plan, his organization should, while remaining private, maintain close contacts with the British government and act exclusively in its interests, or in the interests of countries friendly to Britain. Thus, his people were guaranteed payment for their "labor", assistance in providing weapons and equipment, and even some cover and some assistance at the state level. The government, on the other hand, received high-class professional military personnel, ready at any time to undertake various "delicate" missions abroad, in which it was undesirable to employ military instructors, specialists in military equipment, and even more an army or intelligence unit, and could lead to a diplomatic scandal. …
There was no shortage of the right specialists. And a very interesting question arises: why in the rather prosperous 60s, and even more so in the even more prosperous 70s, 80s and today, the citizens of "well-fed" countries voluntarily went to fight on the territory of states where they were shot from the present weapons? And where from some exotic disease you can easily die even without outside help. Nevertheless, they went: to the French Foreign Legion, to the "teams" of Hoare and Denard, to various private military companies. But in the USA, France, Germany, Great Britain and other states of the “golden billion” it is very difficult to die of hunger even for professional parasites and marginalized people.
The first category of such volunteers is a kind of "adrenaline junkies" such as the successful businessman Michael Hoare or the wealthy aircraft collector Lynn Garrison. There are not many such people, but they exist. They are the ones who voluntarily go on various extreme expeditions to the mountains or jungle, because it is “better to die like this than from vodka and colds” (V. Vysotsky). As a last resort, they jump with a parachute and queue up for the most extreme attractions in PortAventura. The best option for them would be a "toy war" of big sport, but only a few become professional athletes.
Another example of this kind is Mark Thatcher, the son of the famous Margaret, the 71st Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Mark Thatcher did not have the abilities and talent of Hoare, Denard or Stirling, but you cannot hide character in your pocket, and therefore, instead of becoming a member of parliament or taking a warm seat in the Foreign Office (British Foreign Office), he became a small-scale adventurer. He started as an unlucky race car driver: in three races in a row (1979, 1980 and 1981) his crew left the race, and in 1982 it was completely lost during the Paris-Dakar rally, and after three days of searching it was discovered by an Algerian plane 50 km away from the track. Then, for the first and last time, journalists managed to take pictures of the crying "iron lady" M. Thatcher.
In the future, he did not have enough stars from the sky, but, using the name and influence of his mother, in the 80s he received large commissions, lobbying two major transactions: for the construction of a hospital and a university in Oman and for the purchase of aircraft by Saudi Arabia. These contracts aroused great suspicion in parliament and became the reason for the creation of commissions, which, of course, looked for incriminating evidence against Margaret Thatcher, and not her unlucky son, but even then she managed to get out of the water.
In 2004, Mark Thatcher decided to raise the ante: together with former officer Simon Mann, he tried to orchestrate a coup d'état in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. However, the plane with the weapon, in which Mann was, was detained at the Zimbabwe airport, Mark was arrested in South Africa, but thanks to the influence of his mother, he was released on bail and was sentenced only on probation (in 2005). All these scandals did not prevent him from becoming a baronet - after the death of his father in 2003.
If the "adrenaline junkie" is still an idealist, we get Ernesto Che Guevara's version.
But most legionnaires and "soldiers of fortune" are restless and unhappy people who do not find a place for themselves in modern society. There are especially many of them after the wars. They have learned to fight very well, but the state no longer needs soldiers and former heroes are dismissed, where all the best places have already been taken by cowards and opportunists - rear officials who laugh at these “losers” and say phrases like: “I will I did not send to fight”. And until recently, people who felt needed, even irreplaceable, face a simple choice: to become a small impersonal cog of an incomprehensible soulless mechanism or try to find a place where they will find themselves in an environment that is understandable and familiar to them.
But back to Stirling and his PMCs.
The main task of Watchguard International at first was the training of security personnel and guardsmen of the third world countries, friendly to Great Britain. Until 1970, Stirling avoided orders related to the organization of military raids on the territory of other states, and even more so with the participation of his people in coups d'état. This was the fundamental difference between WI and mercenary firms like "Soldier of Fortune" by Bob Denard. But in 1970, Stirling signed a $ 25 million contract with Libyan royalists and almost started a "little war" against Gaddafi.
Then Stirling was approached by MI-6 officers, who suggested that he conduct an operation to free family members and associates of the Libyan king Mohammed Idris al Senussi, who was overthrown in September 1969. This operation was named "Hilton" because that was the name of the central prison in Tripoli, which should have been taken by storm. The British intelligence leadership believed that this high-profile action would lead to a monarchic uprising in Libya. The operation was financed by a former king who was in exile in Egypt.
David Stirling at that time was undergoing rehabilitation after injuries sustained in a car accident, and therefore former SAS Major John Brooke Miller and Warrant Officer Jeff Thompson became the immediate leaders of the operation. Under the guise of tourists, they went on exploration to Libya, found a beach suitable for disembarkation and a road along which they could get to the prison in the shortest possible time. After that, a detachment of 25 former SAS employees was created (each of them cost the customer 5 thousand pounds sterling) and a ship was hired to deliver them from the island of Malta to Libya. These plans were not implemented, since the British Foreign Office decided that foreign policy risks outweigh the possible benefits. Stirling demanded that the king pay at least the mercenaries and achieve the fulfillment of this requirement, after which he stepped aside.
However, his assistant James Kent and the aforementioned Jeff Thompson decided that $ 25 million (the equivalent of $ 170 million in modern dollars) was not lying on the road, and on their own initiative continued preparations for Operation Hilton. Now the role of performers was to be played by 25 French merseneurs. However, at first they were deceived by the intermediary Steve Reynolds from South Africa, who, having taken the money, did not purchase either a ship or a weapon with them, and then, in March 1971, the ship, the Conquistador XIII, was nevertheless bought, was arrested in Trieste, from where it was going to Yugoslavian port of Pleche - for weapons purchased in Czechoslovakia. Experts are sure that the British intelligence, which has never liked competitors, "handed over" the conspirators to the Italians.
In 1972 PMC Watchguard International was closed.
John Woodhouse focused on working for a brewery that his family owned but specialized in non-alcoholic beverages, and even created a new soda brand under the Panda Pops brand. He also served as Chairman of the Association of Former SAS Members.
David Stirling returned to the management of TIE and started creating new programs. Among other projects, his company TIE was involved in the creation of the British version of "The Muppets Show". In 1988, he suddenly tried to return to the "military business", recreating the already familiar recruiting bureau Kilo Alpha Services, but with the functions of a private military company. In the same year, he signed a contract with two princes (Briton Philip and Dutchman Bernard), representing the International Wildlife Fund (since 1984 - World Wide Fund for Nature) to protect the national parks of South Africa from poachers. In parallel, agreements were concluded on the training of the commandos of the Zulu movement "Inkata" and the opposing fighters of the Kosa people (to which Nelson Mandela belonged).
Then, under an agreement with David Walker, Stirling headed the private military company Saladin Security Ltd, which supplied bodyguards for British diplomats and members of the Saudi royal family.
David Stirling died in 1990, having become a knight of the British Empire.
Stiling's ideas and projects were extremely successful and outlived their author.
Special Air Service today
SAS, which was liquidated after the end of World War II (October 8, 1945), like a phoenix from the ashes, was revived in 1950 to fight the Malay rebels, then conducted operations in Oman, Indonesia (Borneo island), in Aden.
Since 1969, the main enemy of the Special Air Service has been the terrorists of the IRA (Irish Republican Army). In 1976, SAS fighters carried out illegal operations on the territory of this country twice in order to kidnap fighters who had taken refuge in Ireland. The first experiment was successful, but 8 people from the second group of special forces were detained, accused of illegal carrying of weapons and deported to Britain.
Now the SAS includes three regiments (21st, 22nd and 23rd) and two signal battalions.
The 22nd regiment is considered elite, which, we recall, was previously commanded by John Woodhouse. It was he who inherited the SAS motto of the Stirling era: "Those who take risks wins," and enjoys a reputation as a very effective special forces unit with extensive experience in successfully countering terrorists.
On May 5, 1980, the soldiers of this regiment became famous throughout the world during Operation Nimrod, the storming of the Iranian embassy in London seized by Arab militants. With the permission of Margaret Thatcher, who wanted to show everyone how effective British special forces are, the assault was broadcast live on the BBC. Results of the operation: 5 out of 6 terrorists were killed, the rest was captured, one hostage was killed and two were wounded.
Soldiers of the 22nd SAS regiment storm the Iranian embassy, May 5, 1980
In 1982, SAS units took part in the war for the Falkland Islands, in 1989 - in the "Anti-cocaine war" in Colombia. In the 90s. XX century, SAS units were used during the Gulf War and the Balkans, and in 1997, 6 SAS employees and several fighters of the American Delta Group participated in the operation of the Peruvian special services to liberate the residence of the Japanese Ambassador in Lima, which was seized by the militants of the Tupac Revolutionary Movement Amaru.
Another idea of Stirling, about private military companies, turned out to be successful. We will try to talk a little about them in the next article.
