Posted on 01/31/2012 12:38:39 PM PST by naturalman1975
He was in the Special Air Service before it was even called the SAS: a member of the formidable L Detachment who carried out stealth raids and daring missions throughout World War Two.
Jimmy Storie, the last surviving veteran of ‘The Originals’ who went down in history as the founders of the legendary SAS, has died aged 92.
Ayr-born Mr Storie was one of a handful of men brought together as the first raw form of the regiment, born out of fighting Rommel’s Afrika Korps in North Africa.
After a disastrous first mission that claimed two thirds of their original team, L Detachment soon became a byword for bravery and the scourge of the German and Italian forces.
Often, they simply walked on to enemy airfields, planting bombs and blowing up scores of planes. On one mission at Sidi Haneish in Egypt, they drove jeeps on to the airfield, shooting up planes with a range of firepower running to 90,000 rounds a minute.
Mr Storie recalled years afterwards: ‘The planes were all parked up on either side of the field. We drove our Jeeps in a line and went in with guns blazing. Each of us singled out an aircraft, brewed it up and then we swung around and went down the other side.’
Hand-picked by Scots Guards officer David Stirling in 1941, Mr Storie – already a Commando - was one of only 66 men to form the basis for the regiment that would spend the rest of war using stealth, cunning and sometimes downright dirty tactics to beat the enemy.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
gnip
>>was one of only 66 men to form the basis for the regiment that would spend the rest of war using stealth, cunning and sometimes downright dirty tactics to beat the enemy.<<
I wish our military allowed this. Instead our brave men and women have to operate with one hand tied behind their backs.
RIP, Solider. And thank you for your service to the world.
Good thing they didn't have an embed.
Ave atque vale.
Now, we need permission to tap someone’s phone...
Hark when the night is falling
Hear! Hear the pipes are calling,
Loudly and proudly calling,
Down thro' the glen.
There where the hills are sleeping,
Now feel the blood a-leaping,
High as the spirits of the old Highland men.
Towering in gallant fame,
Scotland my mountain hame,
High may your proud standards gloriously wave,
Land of my high endeavour,
Land of the shining river,
Land of my heart for ever,
Scotland the brave.
High in the misty Highlands,
Out by the purple islands,
Brave are the hearts that beat
Beneath Scottish skies.
Wild are the winds to meet you,
Staunch are the friends that greet you,
Kind as the love that shines from fair maiden's eyes.
Towering in gallant fame,
Scotland my mountain hame,
High may your proud standards gloriously wave,
Land of my high endeavour,
Land of the shining river,
Land of my heart for ever,
Scotland the brave.
Far off in sunlit places,
Sad are the Scottish faces,
Yearning to feel the kiss
Of sweet Scottish rain.
Where tropic skies are beaming,
Love sets the heart a-dreaming,
Longing and dreaming for the homeland again.
Towering in gallant fame,
Scotland my mountain hame,
High may your proud standards gloriously wave,
Land of my high endeavour,
Land of the shining river,
Land of my heart for ever,
Scotland the brave.
Murtha would have had them court-martialed. Kerry would have put himself in for a medal even though he he hadn’t been born. Hanoi Jane would have turned them over to the Gestapo.
The Seals used to be like this:secret, until Obama decided to make them part of his PR team.
“Lili Marleen” is the SAS Slow March; which would be appropriate for a funeral.
That said; nothing more stirring than Pipes and Drums in military pageantry. As I recall, the Highland Regiments used Pipers to lead them into battle as late as early WWI; however, the advent of the machine gun caused so many Pipers deaths that the practice had to be discontinued.
In 1965, I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing the massed bands of the Grenadier Guards and the Royal Highland Regt (The Black Watch”/Formerly 42nd Regt of Foot) at the Richmond, Coliseum. Sadly, “The Ladies from Hell” were disbanded in 2006 and are now the 3rd Battalion, Royal Regt of Scotland.
A man born in my own town.
The SAS: still the greatest special forces unit in the world, still the model for all the rest, still the gold standard against which all special forces are mentioned.
RIP James Storie.
Occasionally even later:
Awesome courage of the D-Day piper who the Nazis thought was mad
This seems appropriate to thank him for his service to King and country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlYtlyFSTlU
RIP
RIP.
Thx so much for sharing that amazing story of courage under fire.
Regards,
-Geoff
(An English version was also recorded by the Chad Mitchell Trio entitled “Banks of Sicily”)
Link to words of original version: http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/songs/texts/sicily.html
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