Special Air Service Troops
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The Special Air Service Troops or SAS Brigade was a brigade-sized formation of the
Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...
(SAS) which was founded on 7 January 1944 in the United Kingdom during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The brigade was a multi-national force of British, French, and Belgian units. On formation, the brigade commanded the 1st and 2nd Special Air Service regiments, the French
2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...
and 3rd Parachute Battalions (also known as the 3rd and 4th SAS Regiments), and the Belgian Parachute Company. In March 1944, F Squadron,
GHQ Liaison Regiment GHQ Liaison Regiment (known as Phantom) was a special reconnaissance unit of the British Army first formed in 1939 during the early stages of World War II. The regiment's headquarters were at The Richmond Hill Hotel in Richmond, Surrey (now i ...
was added to the brigade. In 1945, the Belgian parachute company was redesignated as 5th Special Air Service. The French units were also redesignated as the 2nd Parachute Chasseur Regiment and the 3rd Parachute Chasseur Regiment (abbreviated as 2 RCP and 3 RCP). The brigade was initially commanded by
Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...
Roderick McLeod until 14 March 1945, when Brigadier Mike Calvert took command. The brigade was stationed in the United Kingdom until May 1945, then moved to Norway, returning to the United Kingdom in June for the duration of the war. Until April 1944, the brigade was assigned to Airborne Troops, before being placed under the command of the I Airborne Corps on 17 April for the duration of the war. The brigade's units took part in various operations as part of the Northwest Europe Campaign of 1944–1945, which included operations Amherst, Bulbasket, Cooney, Dingson, Houndsworth, Lost, Loyton,
Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...
, Samwest, and Tombola.


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* {{British Commando units of the Second World War Special service brigades of the British Army Special Air Service 1944 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in the 1940s