What do the initials ‘SAS’ stand for in relation to the elite regiment of the British Army?

The Special Air Service (SAS) is an elite military unit within the British Army. The outbreak of WW11 created a need for specialist skills to operate in covert and dangerous war situations. The SAS regiment was formed in 1941 as a response to these needs. The name ‘Special Air Service’ was devised to deliberately mislead German intelligence into thinking the unit was solely involved in Parachute regiment operations.

Since their inception the SAS have been involved in a range of missions including hostage rescue, intelligence gathering, covert direct action and counter-terrorism. Most of their operations are clandestine but they are known to have been deployed in conflicts in Korea, the Middle-East, Europe, Afghanistan and Africa amongst others.

The SAS was very publicly involved in a hostage rescue in London at the Iranian embassy in 1980. 5 gunmen from the DRFLA terrorist group held 26 hostages at the embassy and made demands for the release of DRFLA prisoners in the Middle-East.

After 6 days of stand-off, and the release of 5 hostages, the world’s media filmed the SAS storm the embassy in dramatic fashion. They rescued 20 of the 21 remaining hostages, killed 4 DRFLA gunmen, and captured the 5th.

The recruitment process to join the SAS is notoriously difficult with a very low success rate of only 10% due to the high standards set for entry. The SAS have the regiment motto ‘Who Dares Wins’ which underscores the ethos of their work.