Stirling, Sir Archibald David, born 15-11-1915 in Keir House, Perthshire, Scotland 
into an aristocratic Scottish family with a proud military heritage. However, The Scotsman newspaper of 20-11-1915 and The Stirling Observer of 23-11-1915 both published announcements that “The Hon Mrs Keir gave birth to a son on Monday 15th at 15 Cambridge Square, London”. His birth was recorded several months later, in 1916 [Apr-May-Jun Quarter] in Paddington (Registration district), London, He was the son of Brigadier-General Archibald Stirling, of Keir, and Margaret, born Fraser, daughter of Simon Fraser, the Lord Lovat (a descendant of Charles II).
Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat was a first cousin. His paternal grandparents were Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, 9th Baronet 
and Lady Anna Maria Leslie-Melville. Stirling was educated in England at the Catholic boarding school Ampleforth College alongside his elder brother Lieutenant Colonel William Joseph “Bill” Stirling of Keir.
He was part of the Ampleforth Officer Training Corps. He briefly attended Trinity College, Cambridge, before being “sent down” (i.e. expelled) for 28 transgressions of which the master of the college asked him to select three which would be the “least offensive to his mother”. He then went to Paris to unsuccessfully attempt to become an artist. Bill also a WW2 veteran died 01-01-1983 (age 71).
When the Second World War (1939-45) broke out, Stirling was in America. He had been working there as a cowboy in an interlude to his mountaineering training. He promptly returned to Britain and re-joined the Scots Guards. 
Despite his military background, Stirling found Army life intensely disagreeable. Keen to get involved in the action and escape the tedium of regimental discipline, he joined the Commandos, Britain’s new raiding and reconnaissance force. In early 1941, he was despatched to the Middle East as part of the Commando group known as Layforce Formed in February 1941 under the command of Colonel Robert Laycock,
after whom the force was named, it consisted of approximately 2,000 men and served in the Middle Eastern theatre of operations. .
However, Stirling’s frustrations continued during his time in the Commandos. Many operations were cancelled and, as a result, his wayward behaviour returned. He was nearly put on a charge of malingering that would have landed him in serious trouble. A conversation with one of his comrades, Lieutenant ‘Jock’ Lewes,
about the military potential of parachuting was to provide Stirling with a way out. He joined Lewes on an experimental parachute jump, the first to be made in the Middle East. It went badly wrong for Stirling, who suffered a serious spinal injury, but he remained undeterred. While convalescing in hospital, Stirling seized the opportunity to work up the ideas he had discussed with Lewes to create a new parachute raiding force. This would operate on small-unit principles, and utilise stealth and guile to undertake acts of sabotage behind enemy lines.
Stirling used his social connections and charm to get his ideas endorsed by Middle East Headquarters. He then drew in brave and adventure-hungry recruits from the Commandos of the recently defunct Layforce. His new unit of just 67 officers and men was designated ‘L Detachment Special Air Service Brigade’.
The name was part of an intelligence bluff to exaggerate its small numbers. SAS. 
Believing that Lewes’s knowledge and professionalism would be indispensable to the fledgling unit, Stirling worked hard to bring him on board as his deputy. Together, these two very different men formed a formidable partnership. While Lewes trained the men, Stirling – now with a firm object and ideal to pursue – worked tirelessly to overcome the opposition from the military bureaucracy of Middle East HQ and provide the material and administrative support that the new unit required. 
By November 1941, L Detachment SAS was ready for action. Its ethos was encapsulated in its motto, ‘Who Dares Wins’, personally chosen by Stirling. For its first mission, codenamed Operation Squatter, the SAS was tasked with parachuting behind the lines in Libya to destroy enemy aircraft on the ground in support of a forthcoming British offensive. Launched into a dreadful storm, the mission ended in disaster. Only 21 of the 55 men who took part returned.
But Stirling and his surviving men showed enormous resilience. Just one month later, they were ready to attack again. This time they developed their partnership with another special force, the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), 
under command of Major General David-Lanyon-Lloyd-Owen 
, using their vehicles not only for collection, as they had done previously, but to deliver them to their targets as well. This negated the many hazards of parachuting into the desert. From here on, the SAS enjoyed great success. Over the next year, they wrought havoc behind enemy lines, destroying hundreds of aircraft in a string of hit-and-run raids. From the summer of 1942, their tactics evolved to include the use of heavily armed jeeps to storm airfields, guns blazing.
In September 1942, the SAS achieved regimental status. Stirling’s daring and unorthodox methods had been brilliantly vindicated.
In January 1943, Stirling was captured during a mission in Tunisia. By this time, he had become a legend in the desert, earning the nickname ‘The Phantom Major’ from his German adversaries. After capture, he undertook many escape attempts, resulting in his eventual transfer to the supposedly escape-proof Colditz Castle in Germany 
. 
Such was Stirling’s importance, there were widespread fears among his men that his capture would mean the end of the unit. But these proved unfounded. The SAS went on to enjoy great success under the command of his comrade, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne, 
while his brother, Lieutenant Colonel William Stirling, established the 2nd SAS Regiment in Algeria.Stirling retired with the rank of colonel and Stirling left the Regular Army in 1947.
Death and burial ground of Stirling, Sir Archibald David “The Phantom Major”.
David Stirling, statue near Doune, Scotland.
He founded the Capricorn Africa Society, 
which aimed to fight racial discrimination in Africa, but Stirling’s preference to a limited, elitist voting franchise over universal suffrage limited the movement’s appeal. He subsequently formed various private military companies and was linked with a failed attempt to overthrow the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the early 1970s. He also attempted to organise efforts to undermine trades unionism and to overthrow the British government, none of which made significant headway. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1990, and died later the same year.on 04-11-1990, age 74 in London, Great Britain and is buried at the St Cumin’s Church, Loch Morar, Scotland, Chapel House, Morar, Mallaig PH40 4PB United Kingdom.
Leave a Reply