Let's go back to the British SAS photo and take a closer look at just what is there and what's not.
vehicles: 4 stripped down 'jeeps'
no wind screens, just bare sheet metal
(no. 4 with MGs facing right barely visible)
weapons: 7 LMGs, 1 HMg, sidearms assumed and at least 1 Fairbairn-Sykes knife.
Fuel: the poor bastards loaded extra jerry cans on every surface they could find. That's really trading armor for speed and range.
Looks like a swift hit and run/recon team to me. Single mission, no add-ons.
A nd the Somali, Chad, Taliban, et al technicals with Toyota pickups follow that model to a tee. Light force, quick attack, no ROEs against larger heavier armed force.
Don't know much about the skeleton dune buggy types the SPEC OPs were using in the early days of Afghanistan but from what little I gathered they followed the SAS Desert Rat model.
Funny how field expedient solutions work until some underemployed surplus to needs brass decides they see career opportunities and swallow them whole. Whole lot of fat tails looking for a dog to which to attach themselves.
I was a real fan of the SAS as a kid and read several very good books about them.
To take your points in order. By the way I do agree with you.
“Let’s go back to the British SAS photo and take a closer look at just what is there and what’s not.
vehicles: 4 stripped down ‘jeeps’
no wind screens, just bare sheet metal”
The windscreens were removed because after the first raid it was found that their position was exposed by the sun reflecting off of the glass and the Germans spotted them that way.
“(no. 4 with MGs facing right barely visible)”
If I remember correctly those are Lewis guns that were equipped with light armor piercing and incendiary rounds. (Tracers), The Lewis guns were originally used in WW1 Aircraft and were found to be not required by the regular forces and were available, (scrounged), to the SAS blokes.
weapons: 7 LMGs, 1 HMg, sidearms assumed and at least 1 Fairbairn-Sykes knife.”
“Fuel: the poor bastards loaded extra jerry cans on every surface they could find. That’s really trading armor for speed and range.”
Actually it’s about fifty/fifty with fuel and water. There was very little potable water available in North Africa and the Bedouins would not share with anyone, (understandably so).
“Looks like a swift hit and run/recon team to me. Single mission, no add-ons.”
Yes and no on the single mission stuff, they would head deep into enemy territory by going south of the main east/west highway that most of the fighting took place along and set up temporary ‘base’ camps to do their hit and run raids from.
The SAS in north Africa is also credited for destroying more enemy aircraft than the RAF did in North Africa. Of course they did it while on the ground and in the Germans air bases. Unfortunately that chapped a few RAF Generals the wrong way and they refused to give them any ‘air’ medals for destroying enemy aircraft because it wasn’t done while they were in the air.
Lots and lots of good stories about them and the Special-boat teams from WW II.