The following is a list of known Special Air Service (SAS) operations.

Second World War Operations

The Special Air Service began life in July 1941, the brainchild of Lieutenant David Stirling of No. 8 (Guards) Commando. His idea was for small teams of parachute trained soldiers to operate behind enemy lines to gain intelligence, destroy enemy aircraft and attack their supply and reinforcement routes. The SAS carried out this role until the end of the war serving in a number of theatres and campaigns. By the end of the Second World War on 8 May 1945, the SAS had suffered 330 casualties, but had killed or wounded 7,733 and captured 23,000 of their enemies.

North Africa

Mediterranean

Northwest Europe

The below operations were overseen by the brigade formation known as Special Air Service Troops:

Known Postwar Operations

Immediately following the conclusion of the Second World War the SAS was disbanded; however the continued necessity for a commando unit was recognised and they were reformed again in 1947. In 1950 an SAS squadron trained to be deployed in the Korean War, however they were eventually transferred to Southeast Asia to serve in the ongoing Malayan Emergency. The SAS continued to serve successfully in a variety of theatres and roles throughout the Cold War, and following the September 11 attacks the SAS deployed in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, it has continued its diverse selection of roles to the present day.

1950s–1970s – the Cold War

Malayan Emergency Jebel Akhdar War Indonesian Confrontation Aden Emergency Lufthansa Flight 181

1980s–1990s

Iranian Embassy Siege Falklands War The Troubles Persian Gulf War Bosnian War Japanese embassy hostage crisis Sierra Leone Civil War

2000s–2010s – The War on Terror

War in Afghanistan Iraq War Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa Libyan Civil War Military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Citations