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We pay our respects today to Major Mike Sadler, the last surviving member of the original wartime SAS (Special Air Service), who has died aged 103. He is pictured here in the North African desert during #WW2. Born in 1921, Sadler joined the Long-Range Desert Group, a reconnaissance unit based in the North African desert, in 1941 and subsequently entered the SAS (Special Air Service) to launch night-time raids in Libya. He became the unit's top navigator, fighting with the SAS in Italy and France before setting up the SAS intelligence unit. In December 1941, Sadler was part of the first successful SAS raid - on Wadi Tamet airfield, where a team of six men destroyed 24 aircraft and a fuel dump. On the night of 26 July 1942, Sadler, without headlights or a map, guided 18 jeeps filled with twin Vickers K machine guns along 70 miles of desert to within 200 feet of Sidi Haneish airfield. The group then opened fire as they drove between planes, wrecking at least 37 aircraft. Sadler was also one of the officers to follow SAS founder, David Stirling, on the last SAS operation during the desert war in January 1943. It involved crossing the Tunisian desert to meet the British-American 1st Army, but a German unit ambushed them. Stirling was captured and would spend the rest of the war as a POW in Colditz. Sadler managed to escape with another SAS soldier and an Arabic-speaking Frenchman. He guided the group on a five-day, 100-mile trek without a map or food provisions to link up with the 1st Army. On 7 August 1944, Sadler was dropped by parachute into the Loire as part of Operation Houndsworth to reach SAS squadrons behind the lines. He helped destroy fuel depots, encouraged local resistance, and prevented Panzer divisions from heading north. Mike Sadler finished the war as a major. He has received the Military Cross, the Military Medal for his role in the Wadi Tamet and Sidi Haneish airfield SAS attacks, and was awarded the Légion d'Honneur, France’s highest award in 2018. Who Dares Wins.

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