Secret Origins of the SAS

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2023

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1974, a pioneer of the SAS and master of military deception, Dudley Clarke, passed away. His death went almost entirely unnoticed by the British public, despite the fact that he carried out some of the most dramatic deception campaigns of World War Two. He waged a covert war of trickery and misdirection across Europe, which ended up getting him arrested by Spanish authorities while dressed as a woman. He also helped to found one of the world's preeminent special forces; the Special Air Service, or the SAS. His contribution is often overlooked, but without it, the SAS may well have never existed.

So who was Dudley Clarke? What were some of the most audacious acts of subterfuge he carried out? And why is he not better known? Dan is joined by former SAS Troop Commander and author of Speed, Aggression, Surprise: The Secret Origins of the SAS, Tom Petch, to answer these questions and more.

Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Make this a summer of unexpected experiences, only at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
0:05.7	The Historic Dockyard is full of family fun!
0:08.7	Step aboard real-life history on HMS Victory!
0:11.5	Discover more about Henry VIII's favorite ship at the Mary Rose Museum, now including the
0:16.2	all-new Dive the Mary Rose 4D, or become a commando at Action Stations, plus nine more
0:22.3	attractions to discover.
0:23.9	Pay once and visit all-year pre-book tickets online to save at historic.co.uk.
0:53.9	8th of September, pre-order from your favorite bookshop or visit historyhit.com slash book!
1:03.6	Hi everybody, welcome to Dan Snow's History Hit.
1:07.7	In 1974, an obscure brigadier died.
1:13.2	The passing of Dudley Clark was largely unnoticed by the British press and public,
1:20.3	but they should have paid attention.
1:22.5	Dudley Clark was responsible for some of the most dramatic deception campaigns in the history
1:28.8	of warfare. Among other things, the birth of the SAS, the Special Air Service, the elite British
1:36.3	unit that still forms the core of Britain's Special Forces SF capabilities. Clark had the most
1:42.3	extraordinary wartime career. It's a story that you wish to write up in a book called The Secret
1:48.4	War, but he was not allowed to publish it. It was thought to contain information so valuable
1:53.7	to the new competitors, the new enemy, the Soviets, that its publication was suppressed.
2:00.1	But now Dudley Clark is finally getting a little slice of the limelight.
2:05.8	He was featured prominently played by Dominic West in the recent smash hit TV show,
2:10.4	SCS Rogue Heroes, and he's been the subject of a book written by Tom Petcher, former soldier,
2:16.4	who's been eight years in the British Army, who's both a tank commander and he was a troop commander
	...

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