The Birth of British Special Forces : How the Guards Regiments Helped Forge the SAS, Commandos and Paras

Author: Charles Richard Trumpess

United Kingdom, Great Britain

Published on 30 April 2026 by Pen & Sword Books Ltd in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 208 pages, 21 mono illustrations
242 x 166 x 26 | 446g

This study reveals how the Household Division became the driving force behind Britain's special forces during the Second World War. Drawing on primary sources, Charles Trumpess traces the transformation from parade ground to battlefield, showing how Guards officers like Robert Laycock, David Stirling, and Frederick Browning leveraged social connections to create the Commandos, LRDG, SAS, and Parachute Regiment. Through character portraits, the book follows the evolution from No. 8 (Guards) Commando to modern G Squadron, 22 SAS. It reveals how Caterham's punishing training produced the self-reliance essential for special operations, how White's Club became an unofficial recruiting centre, and why the ‘old boys' network’ proved crucial to wartime innovation.