GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY


Survivors of the Nofilia Raid: Bob Lilley (front right) seated next to Jim Almonds


A mainly French SAS party was nearly wiped out by a full German company after being betrayed, despite putting up a fierce resistance, but Stirling’s group wreaked havoc at Benghazi, blowing up numerous aircraft and spare engines in hangars and workshops. Other SAS groups of raiders destroyed more aircraft and stores and inflicted casualties in savage firefights, but were soon hotly pursued by large enemy forces intent on tracking down the British phantoms and annihilating them. A brief passage in Philip Warner’s superb history The Special Air Service makes it abundantly clear that the raiders could not always use their weapons to fight their way out to freedom and that sometimes more sinister, silent methods had to be employed. These unconventional methods were often frowned upon in regular Army circles where a code of chivalry still existed, even in the heat of battle. But behind-the-lines raiders were often forced to live, or die, by different rules. The iron-hard Lilley was one of the prime exponents of this deadly art of self-defence:


In making their exit, the SAS ran into different problems, but one of the most interesting escapes was that of Sergeant Lilley. Looking for a way back, he wandered inside the perimeter of a large German camp. After a short time, he realised that it would be impossible for him to slip unnoticed through the German lines, so he stood up and walked for two miles. He was dirty and no one noticed he was not a German until he met an Italian outside the perimeter; the latter unwisely tried to arrest him but had his neck broken for his trouble. Lilley kept on walking. A dozen miles later, he ran into other members of the expedition and soon after linked up with the LRDG at the appointed rendezvous.


It does not take much imagination to conjure up the primeval, life-or-death struggle that must have taken place in the midst of the enemy encampment, as both men grappled violently for supremacy, the enemy soldier desperately trying to bring his weapons to bear, or shout to his comrades to come quickly to his aid and kill the intruder. Lilley had been surprised literally in the midst of the enemy lion’s den, surrounded by numerous foes. Any alarm raised by the guard would almost certainly have spelt his sudden death, preceded probably by some very unpleasant treatment at the hands of his captors. However, his quick reflexes and deadly Commando training gave him a swift, decisive victory.


As Lilley made his way back to the main SAS group, the reunited raiders should have, at this point, returned to base. However, Stirling and Mayne could not resist going to have a look at the extent of the damage done by their men’s deadly bombing attacks. A truck was borrowed from the LRDG’s Capt Robin Gurdon, as their own transport had been destroyed, and off they sped for a recce. However, the raiders were quickly thwarted in their scheme to view the destruction at close hand as they approached Bernina airfield, near Benghazi, which they had earlier devastated. They were halted abruptly by enemy troops at a road block within a few hundred yards of their goal. They were all in British uniform and the heavily armed guards were turned out, headed by a German NCO brandishing a grenade menacingly in one hand and a pistol in the other. He appeared to become suspicious, even though one of the SAS, a German-speaker, was shouting in German that it was OK to let them through. An impatient Paddy Mayne menacingly cocked his pistol as the guard approached to look into the truck. Immediately, the rest of the SAS in the back readied Tommy guns and grenades for what seemed like a desperate shoot-out. But the startled German NCO abruptly changed his mind and quickly withdrew, deciding correctly that, as he was nearest, he would be the first to die and that his life would be preserved longer if he waved the truck on its way.


The SAS men shot up and bombed a few opportunist targets before they headed back into the desert pursued by what appeared to be a German patrol of trucks or armoured cars. To Mayne, always a fast and at times reckless driver, it was like a red rag to a bull and he floored the accelerator as the LRDG truck attained a speed over rough ground that it had never reached before. At a breakneck rate of knots, the SAS band lost their pursuers and luckily found the wadi they were aiming for, or they could have been helplessly stranded, away from their intended route. Then suddenly, Lilley shouted a desperate warning for everyone to jump out of the truck.


Lilley had detected the distinctive smell and heard the click as acid started to eat through one of their time pencils – not a recommended occurrence as they were still carrying upwards of 40 lb of high explosive. All the raiders jumped out and ran frantically to reach a safe distance away from the truck when, just seconds later, the bomb went up, setting off a tremendous explosion and blowing the borrowed LRDG truck to smithereens. The rest of the journey back to base had to be covered on foot until they met some Senussi Arabs who sent a message to the LRDG, who motored out to collect the dishevelled SAS party, minus, unfortunately, their shiny LRDG truck.


The SAS men returned via the Siwa oasis, with Stirling planning to make amends for the loss of the precious LRDG transport by ordering a gigantic round of drinks for his fellow desert raiders in the bar at the famous Shepheards Hotel in Cairo!’


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