SAS: Rogue Heroes – the Authorized Wartime History

Product Information

I read Ben Macintyre’s book and saw his documentary, and I’m in such admiration of these men and what they were able to accomplish for the time. It’s so remarkable and I’m so glad that this story is being told. I think ultimately they’re fighting for something that’s bigger than themselves, even though there is a lot of ego involved, narcissism and neurotic behaviours, but they are fighting for a cause that is bigger than themselves and they do so very effectively. Filming has just begun on series two of the hit BBC drama SAS Rogue Heroes, created by Steven Knight and made by Kudos (a Banijay UK company) for the BBC with MGM+.

Excellent... accessible yet authoritative. Delivers stories of tremendous adventure and derring-do, but also offers more than straightforward military history. This book has many strengths but perhaps its greatest is how thought-provoking it is (Laurence Rees Sunday Times)

I had a great time, though I missed out on the 50 degrees of the desert unfortunately! I was in minus 4 where we were. It’s a wonderful part, with wonderful scenes.

What also drew me was the fact that I grew up in a military family. My grandfather was a colonel when Algeria gained its independency in 1962, but was a captain under the French military. I grew up very much in a military family, so it just hits home for me. In that way being Algerian, growing up in Paris and having that relationship with France - and so does my character who is Algerian but serves under the French regime under General de Gaulle directly. I was also very proud to play an Algerian character who is considered highly in those kind of areas, who is also educated, and serving a purpose that is bigger than her own. SAS: Rogue Heroes was the sixth most-watched UK drama series of 2022, and the fourth most popular of the year on the BBC. [15] Historical accuracy [ edit ] Members of the ' French Squadron SAS' ( 1ere Compagnie de Chasseurs Parachutistes) in Tunisia. Previously a company of Free French paratroopers, the French SAS squadron were the first of a range of units "acquired" by Major Stirling as the SAS expanded. The series made its premiere on BBC One on 30 October 2022 in the UK. [2] It simultaneously made its US debut on MGM+. [11]

Interview with Dominic West (Lieutenant Colonel Wrangel Clarke)

We had a fortnight of bootcamp type training led by our military advisor, a fellow called Bags. He is an ex-serviceman and knows of what he speaks. It was good. He was a good training officer. We did a fair bit of physical type stuff and tried to feel a little fitter anyway. When we moved to Morocco we had another two weeks of warm weather training. We got up early and did various types of punishment. And some days we would have a morning off and played around together in the sand dunes. That was good for morale, team building, that type of thing. There was a big prep period for this and I’m really grateful that I got to do it. We had a big rehearsal period before filming which was really helpful for all the guys to really get to know each other and just hash out key scenes in person. The bootcamp was intense - we would start at about 7am when it was already about 30 degrees in Morocco, so you could easily burn and get sun stroke even at that time of day. It was hard – lots of marching around in the sand - but it was fun and a real bonding experience. Reading David Stirling’s autobiography gave me a really great insight into his mind, and reading books about people’s perspective on him was informative. It was a ghost regiment, he made it up to scare the Germans and Italians into thinking the Brits had a parachute regiment to destroy their aircraft - and then of course, they did. But, he called it L detachment, meaning that there was A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H… and it was called First Division. Anyway, he was pretending that it was this vast division with thousands of paratroops - in fact it was just From the secret SAS archives and bestselling author Ben Macintyre: The first ever authorized history of the SAS. Mortimer, Gavin (16 December 2022). "Rogues Heroes: What Prince Harry has in common with the SAS's founder". The Spectator.