sas

sas

1943 smock above 

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

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

Operation Helsby, February 1952, series of deep penetration operations in Malaya.Malayan Emergency

• Operation Hive

Jebel Akhdar War

• In 1958 two squadrons of 22 SAS were deployed to Oman to put down a rebellion. In January 1959 the SAS carried out a successful assault on a large guerrilla force on the Sabrina plateau.

Indonesian Confrontation

• Operation Claret, June 1964 – 1966, series of high risk cross-border patrols into Indonesia.

Aden Emergency

• "Keeni-Meeni Operations", 10 December 1963 – 1967, the search for Yemeni-trained assassins.

Dhofar Rebellion

• Operation Storm, 1970–1977, deployment of the SAS to support the Sultanate of Oman; operating under the auspices of a British Army Training Team (BATT). Included the well documented attack on the SAS outpost at Mirbat.

Lufthansa Flight 181

• Operation Feuerzauber (Fire Magic), October 18, 1977, supplemented German GSG9 commando operation.Lufthansa Flight 181 was a Boeing 737–230 Adv aircraft named Landshut, hijacked on 13 October 1977 by 4 militants who called themselves Commando Martyr Halime. On 18 October, the aircraft was stormed by the West German counter-terrorism group GSG 9 in Mogadishu, Somalia, and all 86 passengers rescued. The rescue operation was codenamed Feuerzauber(German term for "Fire Magic"). The objective of the hijacking was to secure the release of imprisoned Red Army Factionleaders and is considered to be part of the German Autumn.

1980s–1990s

Iranian Embassy Siege

• Operation Nimrod, 5 May 1980, successful rescue of hostages from the Iranian embassy in London.

Falklands War

• Operation Corporate, 2 April-14 June 1982, the overall British operation to recover the Falkland Islands. The SAS alongside the SBS carried out numerous reconnaissance missions and diversionary raids in East and West Falkland to support the campaign. SAS forward observers also directed British artillery and aircraft
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  • Operation Paraquet, 25 April 1982, successful recapture of the Island of South Georgia.
  • Pebble Island Raid, 14–15 May 1982, successful attack on Argentinian-held airbase in West Falkland.
  • Operation Sutton, 21–23 May 1982, landings in East Falkland.
  • Operation Mikado, May 1982, abortive operation to destroy the three remaining Exocet missiles in Argentine possession.
  • Mount Kent, 29–31 May 1982, D Squadron of 22 SAS seized and then held the vital Mount Kent high ground for three nights against repeated Argentine assaults until being reinforced by 42 Commando.

The Troubles

• Operation Banner, 1969-1997, deployment of the British army in Northern Ireland, the official SAS deployment from 1976.
  • M60 gang, 1980, eight IRA members arrested, SAS Captain Herbert Westmacott killed.
  • Loughgall, 1987, ambush of eight IRA members.
  • Flavious, 1988, operation against three IRA members in Gibraltar.^[15]
  • Coagh, 1991, ambush of three IRA members.
  • Clonoe, 1992, ambush of six IRA members.
  • Coalisland, 1997, one alleged IRA member shot and wounded after a grenade attack on RUC barracks.

Gulf War

• 
  Bosnian WarOperation Granby, January 1991, the deployment British forces during the Gulf War, the SAS component included the well documented Bravo Two Zero patrol. The SAS adopted its classic deep penertration role behind enemy lines, being deployed in numerous reconnaissance missions and raids on Scud launchers and communications sites. They also acted as observers for Coalition artillery and aircraft.
  • Operation Victor Two, February 1991, a successful assault on a Scud communications installation.

• Operation Joint Endeavor, 16 July 1992 – 2 December 2004, NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • Operation Tango, 10 July 1997, the arrest of two suspected war criminals.
  • Operation Ensue, November 1998, the arrest of a Serbian War criminal.

Japanese embassy hostage crisis

• Operation Chavín de Huántar, 22 April 1997, supplemented Peruvian Army operation

2000s–2010s – the War on Terror[edit]

Sierra Leone Civil War

• Operation Palliser, May 2000, deployment of British forces in Sierra Leone.
  • Operation Barras, 10 September 2000, rescue of 6 captured members of the Royal Irish Regiment in Sierra Leone.The United Kingdom began a military intervention in Sierra Leone in May 2000 under the codename Operation Palliser. Although small numbers of British personnel had been deployed previously, Palliser was the first large-scale intervention by British forces in the Sierra Leone Civil War. In early May 2000, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)—one of the main parties to the civil war—advanced on the country's capital, Freetown, prompting the British government to dispatch an "operational reconnaissance and liaison team" (ORLT) to prepare to evacuate foreign citizens. On 6 May, the RUF blocked the road connecting Freetown to the country's main airport, Lungi. The next day, British soldiers began to secure the airport and other areas essential to an evacuation. The majority of those who wished to leave were evacuated within the first two days of the operation, but many chose to stay following the arrival of British forces.

War in Afghanistan

• Operation Enduring Freedom, 7 October 2001–ongoing, NATO deployment in Afghanistan. The SAS were involved in the initial invasion and remain actively involved in the conflict.
  • Operation Trent, November 2001, attack on an Al Qaeda opium plant and command centre.
  • Tora Bora, 12–17 December 2001, failed attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden.
  • Operation Condor, May 2002.
  • Rescue of Stephen Farrell, 9 September 2009, successful SAS-SBS operation to rescue Times journalist Stephen Farrell after he was captured by the Taliban.
  • Operation Moshtarak, March 2010, a part of a U.S.-led operation in Helmand Province, operating with Navy SEALs striking against and capturing Taliban leaders.
  • Rescue of Helen Johnston, July 2012, SAS conducted and led a joint operation with American Delta Force in a night time raid in the Shahr-e-Bozorg district, in a large forested area near the Tajikistan border called Koh-e-Laran. SAS and Delta Force arrived by helicopter and undertook a "long march" to a cave system where 4 aid workers (1 British, 1 Kenyan, 2 Afghan) were being held. There was a moment of alarm when the US troops reported that the cave they assaulted did not contain any hostages. The tension was broken when the SAS commander on the ground reported that his team had successfully rescued all four hostages and killed 11 kidnappers within minutes. There were no SAS fatalities or injuries.

Iraq War

• Operation Telic, 19 March 2003 – 30 April 2009, the British deployment in Iraq. It is not clear whether the SAS were involved in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, however they were involved in later operations during the occupation.
  • Operation Row, 18 March 2003, the Daily Mail alleged in February 2013 that the SAS were deployed in Iraq two days before the Coalition invasion, in an operation named "Row" to destroy scud launchers. B & D Squadrons of 22 SAS were tasked to assault the town of Al Qa’im in Northwest Iraq where it was believed chemical weapons were ready to be deployed.
  • Basra prison incident, 2005, two undercover Special Air Service soldiers were captured by Iraqi police after it was alleged they opened fire on a police check point. The British army used tanks to encircle the building they were being held and after nightfall the SAS stormed the prison and rescued the captured operatives. According to the governor of Basra province, Mohammed al-Waili, the British had used "more than ten tanks backed by helicopters" to carry out the raid. After the British army left, around 150 other prisoners fled the prison.
  •  On 25 December 2006, the SAS again raided the Al Jameat station, killing seven gunmen and freeing 127 prisoners being held by Shia militias there. They then blew up the building.
  •  A British Army spokesperson stated that the 127 prisoners freed had been tortured and that there were fears that they were about to be executed.
  • Task Force Black, 2005-2008, an SAS team worked jointly with American Delta Force as a unit known as "Task Force Black" in a secret war against Al Qaeda and other insurgents based in Iraq. The "Black Ops" operation claimed to have cleared 3,500 insurgents off the streets with "several hundred" of them believed to have been killed. 6 SAS soldiers had also been killed and 30 injured in the Operation.
  • General Stanley McChrystal, the American commander of NATO forces in Iraq, has commented on A Squadron 22 SAS Regiment; that when part of Task Force Black and Task Force Knight, carried out 175 combat missions during a six-month tour of duty.
    • Operation Marlborough, July 2005, SAS sniper teams of Task Force Black killed 3 insurgents.
    • Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis, 23 March 2006, SAS-led operation as part of Task Force Black to free British and Canadian peace activists.
    • On 6 September 2007, a 30-man SAS team of Task Force Black assaulted a house that intel had pinpointed as the location of a senior Al-Qaeda figure. The mission was a success but it cost the life of one of the SAS servicemen.

Libyan Civil War

• 2011 military intervention in Libya, an early operation was conducted by E-Squadron of UK special forces; consisting of elements from the SAS, SBS and MI6.^[35] This was to contact the Libyan rebel and opposition leaders, however the mission was a failure after the team was captured and held prisoner for 72 hours by Libyan rebels
  • Operation Ellamy, a BBC news broadcast on 19 Jan 2012 revealed that the SAS had, in fact been redeployed to Libya as part of the larger British deployment, in a joint operation with French and Qatari special forces. The programme explained that 22 SAS were in the East of Libya, operating in small groups in places like Misrata andBrega by August. They assisted in training, coordinating and commanding opposition groups on and off the front line, and they were very active directing NATO airstrikes. It was also alleged that 22 SAS were leading the hunt for Gaddafi after the Battle of Tripoli.

Military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

• Operation Shader,In August 2014, the SAS were reported to be on the ground gathering intelligence and helping with the evacuation of Yazidi refugees from the Sinjar mountains^[At least one full squadron have been deployed to Iraq.and have reportedly been helping Kurdish forces in northern Iraq

montrose

Graham was the only son of the six children of John Graham, fourth earl of Montrose (1573-1626) and his wife Margaret Ruthven (d.1619), daughter of the Earl of Gowrie. James inherited the earldom of Montrose when his father died in 1626. Aged only 14, he was was placed under the guardianship of his uncle Lord Archibald Napier.

In 1627, Montrose enrolled as a student at the University of St. Andrews where he first became inspired by the classical ideal of military glory, as well as enjoying a wide range of sporting pursuits, including hawking, golf, chess and archery. In November 1629, Montrose married Magdalene Carnegie, daughter of Lord Carnegie of Kinnaird. After the birth of his first two sons, Montrose went to France and Italy to complete his education, which included a period at the French military academy at Angers.

Montrose and the Covenanters

Montrose returned to Scotland in 1637 and became active in the revolt against the imposition of Archbishop Laud's prayer book on the Scottish Kirk. He was among the first to sign the Scottish National Covenant at Greyfriars, Edinburgh, in February 1638. The following July, Montrose went with covenanting lairds and clergymen to Aberdeen, where they tried unsuccessfully to persuade the "Aberdeen Doctors" of the university to sign the Covenant. In November 1638, Montrose attended the Glasgow Assembly, which defied King Charles by abolishing Episcopacy and establishing Presbyterian church government in Scotland.

Montrose gained his first military experience leading Covenanter troops against Scottish Royalists in the First Bishops' War. He drove the Marquis of Huntly out of Aberdeen in March 1639 and campaigned against Huntly's clan the Gordons. In June, Huntly's younger son Viscount Aboyne sailed into Aberdeen harbour in one of the King's warships and occupied the town. Montrose returned with artillery and bombarded the Royalists at Brig of Dee, forcing Aboyne and the Gordons to flee.

After the signing of the Pacification of Berwick, Montrose came into conflict with Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyll, whom he suspected of trying to usurp the power of the King in Scotland for his own ends. He also distrusted the Marquis of Hamilton, who appeared to be in league with Argyll. Montrose drew up a secret agreement with like-minded Covenanters known as the Cumbernauld Bond. Adherents undertook to defend the true principles of the Covenant against the machinations of Argyll and his supporters. Some suspected that Montrose had become a Royalist sympathiser, but he was granted the honour of leading the first regiment of Covenanters across the River Tweed when the Scots invaded England in the Second Bishops' War (August 1640).

When the war was over, Montrose's criticisms of Argyll and his intercepted correspondence with King Charles resulted in his arrest on charges of conspiracy against the ruling Committee of Estates. In June 1641, he was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle. When King Charles visited Scotland to finalise the treaty with England, Montrose demanded an open trial. Anxious to maintain their new alliance, neither the King nor the Estates would agree to this, but Montrose was released on bail in November 1641. He then retired from public life until the outbreak of the English Civil War when he attempted to rally Scottish support for the King. Montrose opposed the Solemn League and Covenant, which secured an alliance between Scotland and the English Parliamentarians, and joined King Charles at Oxford in 1643. His loyalty to the King and the Royalist cause was passionate and unwavering throughout the rest of his career.

W

hen Lord Leven's Covenanter army invaded England on behalf of Parliament in 1644, the King appointed Montrose his lieutenant-general in Scotland. Montrose planned to start a war against the Covenanters north of the border that would distract their forces in England, but no significant numbers of Royalist troops could be spared for the venture. In July 1644, a small band of Irishmen landed on the west coast of Scotland. Led by Alasdair MacColla, they had been sent by the Earl of Antrim, who had promised to supply King Charles with Irish troops for an invasion of Scotland. MacColla's band marched into the Highlands, terrorising the covenanting Campbell clan as they went. Montrose located MacColla at Blair Atholl where he raised his standard as the King's deputy on 28 August 1644. With MacColla's Irishmen and a motley band of clansmen as the nucleus of his army, Montrose began a spectacular campaign against the Covenanters in the Highlands. He defeated Lord Elcho at Tippermuir in September 1644 then captured and sacked Aberdeen. King Charles created him Marquis of Montrose and Earl of Kincardine in November 1644. The Covenanters put a price on his head, dead or alive.

Early in 1645, Montrose and MacColla mounted a guerrilla campaign against the Campbells and their chief, the Marquis of Argyll. They struck deep into Campbell territory and inflicted a grievous defeat on the clan at the battle of Inverlochy in February 1645, breaking their power in the western Highlands. According to plan, Covenanter regiments were withdrawn from Lord Leven's army in England and returned to Scotland to counter Montrose. The Covenanter army in England was effectively immobilised and Scottish political credibility in London was undermined. After plundering Dundee in April 1645, Montrose was pursued back into the Highlands by Major-General Baillie. Constantly outwitting the Covenanters, he defeated Colonel Hurry at Auldearn in May 1645 and Baillie at Alford in June. In August 1645, Montrose achieved his greatest victory when he defeated Baillie and the Covenanter Committee of War headed by Argyll at the battle of Kilsyth, which left him for a short time master of Scotland.

Montrose's victories in Scotland kept up the morale of the Royalists in England. The King's main strategic objective after the defeat at Naseby was to join forces with him. When Montrose moved into the Lowlands, however, his troops began to desert. He was defeated by superior Covenanter forces under Major-General David Leslie at Philliphaugh in September 1645 and his followers were massacred. Montrose remained in Scotland for another year but he was unable to pose a serious threat to the Covenanters again. In July 1646, King Charles, having surrendered himself to the Covenanters, ordered Montrose to cease hostilities. Montrose sailed into exile on 3 September 1646.

Defeat and Betrayal

An account of his victories, written in Latin by George Wishart, made Montrose a hero throughout Europe. He was offered an appointment as lieutenant-general in the French army; the Emperor Ferdinand III awarded him the rank of field marshall, but Montrose remained devoted to the service of King Charles. He swore vengeance after the King's execution in January 1649 and immediately transferred his loyalty to Charles II, who was proclaimed King of Scots in February 1649. Charles appointed Montrose his captain-general in Scotland and authorised him to negotiate for military aid with European powers. Montrose travelled through Germany, Poland and Scandinavia attempting to raise forces for the King.

...He either fears his fate too much,
Or his deserts are small,
That puts it not unto the touch
To win or lose it all...From Montrose's poem: My Dear and Only Love

To Montrose's dismay, Charles also entered into negotiations with the Covenanters. When talks broke down in May 1649, Charles attempted to coerce the Covenanters by ordering Montrose to take control of Scotland by military force. Montrose sent a small force of German and Danish mercenaries as an advance guard to occupy the Orkneys in September 1649 and joined them with reinforcements in March 1650. By the time Montrose landed on the Scottish mainland, Charles had re-opened negotiations with the Covenanters. Charles wrote to Montrose ordering him to disarm, but the orders never reached him. The Covenanters moved swiftly against him and Montrose was defeated at the battle of Carbisdale by Colonel Strachan in April 1650. A few days later, Charles disavowed Montrose under the terms of the Treaty of Breda.

Montrose escaped into the mountains after Carbisdale. He fled to Ardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt where he was betrayed to the Covenanters by Neil MacLeod, laird of Assynt. Montrose was taken to Edinburgh and led through the streets in a cart driven by the hangman. Already under sentence of death for his campaign of 1644-5, Montrose was hanged at the Mercat Cross on 21 May 1650, protesting to the last that he was a true Covenanter as well as a loyal subject.

Montrose's head was fixed on a spike at the Tolbooth in Edinburgh, his legs and arms were fixed to the gates of Stirling, Glasgow, Perth and Aberdeen. His dismembered body was buried in Edinburgh, but Lady Jean Napier had it secretly disinterred. The heart was removed, embalmed, placed in a casket, and sent to Montrose's exiled son as a symbol of loyalty and martyrdom. After the Restoration, Montrose's embalmed heart and bones were buried at the High Kirk of St Giles in Edinburgh in an elaborate ceremony with fourteen noblemen bearing the coffin (11 May 1661). Montrose's son James was confirmed in the inheritance of the Montrose titles. The marquisate became a dukedom in 1707.

Aide De Camp Campaign uniform

atlantic 54mm gold prospectors

Nothing to but drink 7th cavalry

The life of a frontier soldier in the American West involved more combat with boredom than forays against hostile tribesmen. Troopers adopted a variety of healthy ways to while away the endless hours of routine garrison duty, but for those with an inclination for alcohol abuse, whiskey offered an easy escape.

In the case of Lt. Lovell Hall Jerome, accounts of heavy drinking are evident in many parts of his service record. Jerome’s 1875 report of the “battle” of Blackfoot Pass brings to light his possible skirmish with the bottle rather than braves.

Born on August 6, 1849, into a wealthy New York family, Jerome grew up enjoying a life of ease. In addition to money, the Jeromes also had tremendous political influence. Some family members became especially prominent, such as his cousin Jennie, who married Lord Randolph Churchill and became mother to future British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. As a member of such a privileged family, Jerome gained a coveted appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in 1866. We can only guess if he began his apprenticeship as a heavy drinker at West Point, but after Jerome’s graduation in 1870, he certainly began his lifelong battle with booze.

Jerome received his commission as a second lieutenant and orders to join the 2nd U.S. Cavalry at Fort Ellis in Montana Territory along with classmates Charles B. Schofield and Edward J. McClernand. En route to their various assignments, many of the 1870 graduates passed through Omaha barracks in Nebraska. The three Montana-bound shavetails also stopped at the garrison where, in McClernand’s words, the “hospitality...for our preceding classmates continued to flow in our honor, and the post was indeed a merry place.”

The new officers consumed so much of the liquid cheer that they delayed their departure for days. The commanding officer had to order them to leave.

The military had established Fort Ellis in 1867 as a response to settlers’ imagined fears of an Indian invasion. Although the nearby hamlet of Bozeman never experienced an Indian attack, residents harped on the danger while also cheerfully selling whiskey to the idle soldiers every payday. Troopers didn’t even need to ride to town because the post sutler offered refreshment in a barroom inside the fort.

Peter Koch, the sutler’s clerk, described the situation as Jerome found it: “It is inspection day at the fort today, and the officers are here now on that duty, inspecting a few bottles of Champagne and some cigars, which is altogether one of their most important duties every day. They have never anything to do, except when officer of the day, drilling is something unknown, and consequently they have to drink whisky and play cards to kill time.”

Jerome’s defeats in his skirmishes with liquor are well documented. While on leave in 1872, he made New Year’s Eve visits to more than 100 New York City families and, according to a later newspaper interview, “does not remember if he took a drink at every house he visited, but thinks it very likely.”

Like most alcoholics in the 19th century, Jerome tried to fight alone what he perceived as a weakness, once reflecting that “as the habits of dissipation...grew upon me, my associates dropped off.”

Trying to hide the effects of his drinking from his superiors, and the cost of it from his father, became increasingly difficult for Jerome. Bozeman resident William W. Alderson recalled a bartender once confronted Jerome with a liquor bill that exceeded $500 and threatened to send the bill to the lieutenant’s father. After Jerome begged the man to send it to his mother instead, the invoice was quietly paid.

Desperate for money on another occasion, Jerome turned to gambling with humiliating results. He was slapped and kicked by an outraged Bozeman faro dealer when he discovered the young wastrel lacked the money to back any of his bets.

seamus wade

Shamus Wade, who has died aged 86, was, from the late Sixties through to the Nineties, one of the world’s leading authorities on, and dealers in, lead toy soldiers .

Wade was a young advertising copywriter in London when he began collecting toy soldiers — an enthusiasm that led to his renting a tiny Saturday morning stall on the Portobello Road. It proved a magnet for young collectors, including James Opie, the author and Bonhams expert. “Toy soldier dealer, collector, author, military historian ... Shamus Wade was a man of many attributes,” Opie said.

It was only when Wade left the advertising world to become a full-time dealer that his reputation spread internationally.

He was the first to distribute by post comprehensive sale lists of old toy soldiers produced by manufacturers such as Britains, Hill, Heyde, and Ping. The detail and erudition in his cataloguing, and his unfailing honesty in describing the condition of the models (including the most minor repair or retouching) established his name as both the leading, and most trustworthy, authority in his field.

Wade’s lists were also embellished by his own enthusiasms, with additional notes on some of the more obscure fighting forces of the British Empire, such as the Jammu and Kashmir Cuirassiers (mounted cavalry).

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• Tony Hickson 
  05 Sep 2014

However, one of the highlights of his personal collection was a civilian figure: a village idiot. When the celebrated model-makers Britains presented their “farm range” at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924, King George V and Queen Mary noted the lack of a village idiot. One was duly created (by Royal command).

By the early Seventies, the main London auction houses had created their own specialist toy soldier auctions, and Shamus Wade became the bidder to watch. His participation contributed to the growth in prices for toy soldiers as international collecting interest grew.

In 1974, encouraged by this growing interest, Wade created a series of “new old toy soldiers” commissioned from the manufacturers Jan and Frank Scroby. These were made in the style of old toy soldiers — solid-cast and hand-painted — but they were not copies. The “Nostalgia” series re-created in miniature the different regiments of the Empire, including the Indian Princely States, between 1850 and 1910.

More than 100 sets were produced, including forces such as the Truncheon Party of the 2nd Gurkha Rifles, the Sierra Leone Royal Artillery and the Bikanir Ganga Risala Camel Corps.

The Scrobys complained that he was a hard taskmaster, but he insisted that every detail of the uniforms and armaments that he had researched so fastidiously should be included in the models.

The research itself went beyond libraries: Wade managed, for example, to identify the uniform of the Gibraltarian Carreteros del Rey — the transport corps known as the “King’s Cart Drivers” — by discovering the retired tailor who had made them as an apprentice.

Wade’s Nostalgia soldiers became some of the most renowned collectables on the toy soldier market. Today, they are enjoying a considerable revival in popularity, as collectors discover the challenge of putting together complete sets. The number issued varied considerably. Wade used a limited-edition system of taking orders in advance, and having only that number manufactured — after which the moulds were destroyed.

Shamus Otway Davenport Wade was born on April 22 1928 at Pontefract, to Major Roland Wade of the Inniskilling Dragoons, and his wife, Noreen (née Coke). The Wade family of Clonbraney, Co Meath, had lived in Ireland since Cromwell’s time. They had been forced to leave the country during the Troubles, but returned after the end of the Second World War.

Wade attended Bedford School and the Birmingham College of Arts and Crafts. After National Service, including service in Malaya during the Emergency, he was employed in the advertising industry for 20 years.

There is one legacy of Wade’s time as a copywriter. Wade was part of the campaign to persuade the post-war British public that they would be unable to tell the difference between Stork margarine and butter. In the famous “Stork Challenge” television commercials, members of the public were given a taste-test to see if they could tell Stork from its dairy alternative, resulting in the celebrated claim: “Seven out of 10 people can’t tell Stork from butter.”

However, after refusing to provide copy for cigarette advertising, Wade changed tack, embarking on the dealing career that made his name.

After retiring from dealing and manufacturing, Wade established the Commonwealth Forces History Trust to promote better understanding of the role of Commonwealth forces in Britain’s wars.

From the research collection of the Trust, he provided veterans and their families with detailed accounts of the military and policing units established under imperial and colonial rule.

He was a regular contributor to The Bulletin of the British Model Soldier Society, an active member of the Kipling Society, and, as a devotee of the products of the British toy company John Hill and Co, the organiser of its centenary dinner in 1998.

In 2012, the Shamus Wade Toy and Model Figure Collection was sold by Special Auction Services at Newbury.

“I always admired Shamus as a fount of all knowledge,” said Hugo Marsh, director of the auctioneer’s toy department, “an authoritative man, but with a great twinkle and sense of humour.”

On the sale of his collection, Wade derived great satisfaction from the fact that many of the collectors — including some he had known since the Sixties — valued his toy soldiers with the same enthusiasm as he had himself.

Shamus Wade is survived by his wife, Flavia, and their daughter .

berlin