A cowboy, a one-eyed boxer and a parachuting priest…. meet the original SAS who struck terror into Nazi troops

THEY were some of the bravest, toughest soldiers of World War Two, trained killers who struck terror into Nazi troops in North Africa.

But they were also wildly unconventional pirates in a private army — oddballs who didn’t fit into the traditional ranks.They included a former cowboy, a one-eyed boxer, a parachuting priest and a rugby international.

Some were natural warriors, nerveless and calm. Some were surprisingly gentle. Many were eccentric. And a few were close to being psychotic.

These were the real SAS, the men who founded Britain’s most famous fighting force, in North Africa in 1941, and went on to fight behind the lines in Italy, Nazi-occupied France and Germany.read more