David Stirling: The Phoney Major: The Life, Times and Truth about the Founder of the SAS

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Atkin, Ronald (1990). Pillar of Fire: Dunkirk 1940. Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited. p.29. ISBN 1-84158-078-3. It’s a controversial question posed by best-selling writer, historian and TV consultant Gavin Mortimer in his new book ‘David Stirling The Phoney Major: The Life, Times and Truth about the Founder of the SAS’. From September 1939 to May 1940, apart from a few brief skirmishes, both sides were content to remain behind their defences. This contrast with the blitzkrieg ('lightning war') tactics of the Polish campaign resulted in the war being labelled as the 'sitzkrieg' and the 'Bore War'. The Stirlings were friends of the royal family. He was a very powerful figure and no one was wishing through his lifetime to challenge his version of events.” ‘Mystique’ of the SAS

One can feel a degree of sympathy for Stirling because he was an ideas man and he was someone who found himself in a situation ie commanding officer of the SAS, who clearly wasn’t cut out for this role.

Research began with Paddy Mayne

a b McNaughton, Frank (19 September 1939). Edward T. Leech (ed.). "Roosevelt Deplores German Bombings". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Press Company. United Press. p.8. ISSN 1068-624X . Retrieved 9 September 2015. "There is something phoney about this war," [Senator William E. Borah (R. Idaho) in an interview] told questioners yesterday, explaining that he meant the comparative inactivity on the Western Front. "You would think," he continued, "that Britain and France would do what they are going to do now while Germany and Russia are still busy in the East, instead of waiting until they have cleaned up the eastern business." He did not expect an early end to hostilities. Ellis, L. F. (2004). The war in France and Flanders. London: Naval & Military Press. p.4. ISBN 1845740564. in 1984 the new base of the SAS was renamed Stirling Lines (from Bradbury Lines) in his honour. [30] October 1939, the British battleship HMS Royal Oak was sunk in the main British fleet base at Scapa Flow, Orkney (north of mainland Scotland) by U-47. The death toll reached 833men, including Rear-Admiral Henry Blagrove, commander of the 2ndBattleship Division.

In August 1974, before Stirling was ready to go public with GB75, the pacifist magazine Peace News obtained and published his plans. [25] His biographer Alan Hoe disputed the newspaper's disparaging portrayal of Stirling as a right-wing ' Colonel Blimp'. [26] Undermining trades unionism [ edit ] There were also several air raids on British cities, most notably the bombing of Scapa Flow in October 1939, which killed four civilians. A German submarine sank the ship SS Athenia on the first day of the war, killing 117 civilian passengers and crew. Police probe after plaques stolen from SAS memorial". BBC News. 5 June 2014 . Retrieved 9 May 2018. This is not a phoney war". News-Chronicle. London. 19 January 1940. cited in Safire, William (2008) [1968]. "Phony War". Safire's Political Dictionary (Updated and expandeded.). New York: Oxford University Press. p.539. ISBN 978-0-19-534334-2. OCLC 761162164.

The Baltic Sea at war 1939–1945". 20thcenturybattles.com. WorldPress.com. 2016 . Retrieved 5 June 2016. September 1939, the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous was sunk by U-29. She went down in 15minutes with the loss of 519 of her crew, including her captain. She was the first British warship to be lost in the war.