HEREFORD CATHEDRAL AND THE SAS; The Essence of England (23)

[This is the twenty-third of a series of articles giving a brief description of each of the 26 ancient Anglican cathedrals coupled with a sketch of a person, activity or institution connected to the area]

Hereford Cathedral occupies a site with several ecclesiastical predecessors in Anglo-Saxon and Viking times; the last cathedral was destroyed in 1056 by Irish and Welsh raiders under the Welsh prince Gruffydd ap Llewellyn. The Cathedral we now see was built in the Norman manner from 1110 to 1250, though the fabric was not completed until 1535, 400 years later.

Hereford Cathedral

The Cathedral is one of England’s smaller ones and its handsome ball-flower Decorated Gothic tower dominates the modest rural city of Hereford, on the attractive River Wye, famous for its cider. It has a characteristic Norman nave with its round piers and an Early English Lady Chapel, with lancet windows.

The Norman Nave

The North transept is the most admired feature internally, housing the restored shrine of St Thomas Cantilupe whose supposedly healing relics attracted a large cult in the 14^th century. The cathedral suffered significant damage during the Civil War and funds for repair were lacking. Worse, the 14^th century West Tower collapsed in 1786, effectively destroying the West Front. A punitive restoration by Wyatt followed, although his West Front (“Wyatt’s Folly”) was replaced in 1902: later efforts by LN Cottingham and Sir George Gilbert Scott made Hereford structurally stable but left a legacy of much criticised fittings and some “execrable” Victorian glass.  The Cathedral has a valuable library and among its treasures is the fascinating 1300 Mappa Mundi, the largest medieval world map still in existence.

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The Special Air Service (The SAS) is a regiment in the British Army based in Credenhill, Hereford since 1960. The Special Air Service presently comprises 22 Special Air Service Regiment of the Regular Army, 21 Special Air Service Regiment and 23 Special Air Service Regiment from the Territorial Army. It is tasked primarily with counter-terrorism in peacetime and special operations in wartime. The SAS is part of UK Special Forces which also includes the Special Boat Group and the Special Aviation Wing.

The SAS usually operates covertly and the Army does not discuss its activities. Its history is rather convoluted but its founder in 1941 is agreed to be Col. David Stirling who ran raids behind German lines in the Western Desert, working with the Long Range Desert Group. Its first operation by parachute was a disaster, but later the SAS showed its worth disrupting enemy lines of communication and supply, and later undertaking extensive operations helping partisans in Italy.

The SAS badge

SAS in Western Desert 1941-43

     

There were several wartime units fighting covertly, commandos, paratroops and marines but they were not co-ordinated in any way. Indeed the SAS itself was disbanded after the war only to be gradually re-assembled as covert operations became necessary in the likes of Greece and Palestine. The SAS tended to attract tough maverick types like Roy Farran, an experienced and brave officer, accused but not convicted of the murder of a Jewish activist in Palestine, but by 1950 the SAS became formally re-established under Michael Calvert, who had led Chindit units in Burma behind Japanese lines with much distinction. Calvert left the Army under a cloud in 1953 but the SAS was very effectively deployed in the jungle war against the communist insurgents in Malaya during the Emergency there until 1959.

Doubts about the SAS’s continued usefulness lingered in some Army circles but the Regiment greatly enhanced its credibility, initially under the command of gallant Tony Deane-Drummond (who actually only died a week ago, aged 95), with a long if under-reported deployment in Oman assisting the Sultan’s forces against Nasserite and leftist insurgents in Dhofar province, including a decisive engagement known as the Battle of Mirbat in 1972. Guerrilla war in inhospitable terrain was well suited to the skills of the SAS. The war was won, but a new Sultan had first modernised his country and liberalised the regime so it was not simply a military success.

The SAS was also engaged in the murky and deadly war against the Provisional IRA in the Northern Ireland Troubles for the long years between 1969 and 1998. This story has yet to be fully told and there was some controversy over the shooting dead by the SAS of 3 IRA members in Gibraltar, planning a car bomb attack on a military band in 1988.

The SAS really entered UK public consciousness with its spectacular ending of the siege of the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980. 6 heavily armed terrorists, campaigning for autonomy for the Iranian province of Khuzestan, broke into the embassy and held 26 people hostage. After negotiation 5 hostages were released but 2 days later the terrorists murdered a hostage in furtherance of their demands. The government of Mrs Thatcher authorised an SAS assault to be led by Lt-Col. Michael Rose under the command of Brigadier Peter de la Billiere.

General Sir Peter de la Billiere

General Sir Michael Rose

The assault was seen by millions on TV as the SAS abseiled down the building, leapt over balconies, threw stun grenades, burst into the embassy and freed 19 hostages although one had been killed. 5 of the 6 terrorists were shot dead; the one captured was jailed for 27 years. The nation was thrilled and the prestige of the Army and especially that of the SAS soared.

The SAS enter the Iranian Embassy in 1980

The 1982 Falklands conflict with Argentina saw the SAS heavily involved in monitoring enemy air bases and infiltrating enemy formations. Major (later Lieut-General) Cedric Delves distinguished himself by leading an SAS squadron which recaptured South Georgia without any loss of life and destroyed 11 Argentine aircraft on Pebble Island. There were many other SAS feats in this hard-fought campaign.

The 1991 Gulf War also involved the SAS and the story of a failed 8-man patrol whose call-sign was Bravo Two Zero was the subject of a best-seller written by the sergeant leading the patrol “Andy McNab” (a pseudonym). The SAS has been deployed in Iraq and against the Taliban in Afghanistan and no doubt secretly in other places.

The SAS Regiment has won great distinction and many prominent soldiers have served in it including Field Marshal Sir Charles Guthrie. I am far from being a military type (Sir Michael Rose was an exact contemporary at my Oxford college but I never knew him) but I greatly appreciate and admire the qualities of toughness in body and mind possessed by these soldiers. It hugely comforts me and no doubt many of my fellow-citizens that such valiant people exist and I imagine their proud exhilaration at completing a gruelling training course over the Brecon Beacons, not far from peaceful Hereford.

SMD

10.12.12

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2012