The SAS: 'A new type of force... to extract the very maximum out of surprise and guile'

David Stirling was an unorthodox officer, and the elite special forces unit he created in the deserts of North Africa was equally extraordinary. They would emerge from the night to create mayhem then melt into darkness. Soon even Rommel knew their name

- By Damien Lewis

THE ITALIAN and German pilots sat playing cards and drinking beer in the Nissen hut, the air thick with cigarette smoke and the sound of raucous laughter. Many had only recently arrived at Tamet airbase, having moved their warplanes from Sirte, some 30 miles to the east.

Earlier a convoy of British raiders had been spotted moving through the Libyan desert. Fearing they were on their way to attack, the order was given to evacuate all aircraft and their crews to Tamet.

Believing they had escaped the raiders' clutches, the pilots were enjoying themselves, but not for long...

Suddenly, the door flew open. The laughter stopped. The conversation stilled.

All heads turned to see who had made such an abrupt entry. Standing there silhouetted in the doorway were three men, bearded and with long, unkempt hair, making a peculiar and frightening sight.

All were armed, one brandishing a distinctive Tommy Gun. One figure towered over the rest, being well over six feet tall. He began to speak, in a soft, lilting Ulster brogue: "Good evening, gentlemen."

Before any of the pilots had a chance to react, all hell let loose. The British raiders opened up, the Tommy gun spitting out deadly fire. Again and again, they raked the room with bursts, as bloodcurdling screams and gasps rent the air. Soon the hut was littered with dead and dying men.

Their deadly work done, the trio melted away into the night, but not before "shooting out the lights, and hurling a volley of grenades to add to the confusion". The Special Air Service had just executed its first raid.

One of the standout soldiers of the Second World War had led that blistering attack, someone who would go on to become the most highly decorated British Army soldier.