Hello all,
Just had my membership registration cleared up, and I wanted to post a request concerning Willis Michael "Mike" Sadler, who became most well known for serving as a navigator for David Stirling's SAS forces. I am in the middle of research (towards a book) on Sadler, and hopefully someone can assist by naming the men in this iconic photo. More importantly, is Sadler the man highlighted?:
More background to the project can be found here: http://mikesadlerproject.blogspot.com/ It is a work in progress, and some days I wonder if it is truly headed anywhere, but it gives me great pleasure to be making the attempt.
I'd also like this post to serve as an introduction. I am an active duty US Marine Corps infantry officer, serving in a light armored reconnaissance billet. I have served for close to 16 years, and been on a few deploys to crappy places . I've been researching things LRDG, Rhodesian, and L Det, SAS, for some time now as a sideline hobby, and just won an auction of a first edition 1945 copy of Long Range Desert Group: The Story of its Work in Libya, 1940-1943, by Shaw. Other books in my collection span the range of texts dealng with special operations forces in Northern Africa during WWII.
Other interests include shooting, working retrieving skills with my Lab/Spaniel mix, and keeping up with my three pre-teen daughters.
Request for Information re: Mike Sadler of the SAS
Moderator: John W. Howard
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Re: Request for Information re: Mike Sadler of the SAS
As you know, it's one of a series from that roll of film - unfortunately in the first your man's face is well obscured by the Vickers' K twinmount here...
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." - Malcolm Reynolds
Re: Request for Information re: Mike Sadler of the SAS
A better close-up is here:
I neglected to add in my first post that my name is Jon. Happy to be here!
I neglected to add in my first post that my name is Jon. Happy to be here!
- Doktor Krollspell
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Re: Request for Information re: Mike Sadler of the SAS
Hello Jon and welcome to Feldgrau!
About your close-up in you second post, this man is captioned as Corporal Bill Kennedy (Royal Scots Grey) in an identical photo/still from the film, in the book "A History of the SAS Regiment" (1984) by Major General John Strawson.
Good luck with your research,
Krollspell
About your close-up in you second post, this man is captioned as Corporal Bill Kennedy (Royal Scots Grey) in an identical photo/still from the film, in the book "A History of the SAS Regiment" (1984) by Major General John Strawson.
Good luck with your research,
Krollspell
"Wie es eigentlich gewesen ist"
Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886)
Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886)
- Doktor Krollspell
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Re: Request for Information re: Mike Sadler of the SAS
Hello again Jon!
Most photographs in the Strawson book comes from the Imperial War Museum in London so try to contact them for a positive identification on the men in these famous photographs and on Mike Sadler.
Regards,
Krollspell
Most photographs in the Strawson book comes from the Imperial War Museum in London so try to contact them for a positive identification on the men in these famous photographs and on Mike Sadler.
Regards,
Krollspell
"Wie es eigentlich gewesen ist"
Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886)
Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886)
Re: Request for Information re: Mike Sadler of the SAS
Hmm...I'm a bit perplexed by the captioning you reference. I cannot find references within the literature as to whether Kennedy ever performed any navigator duties. The vehicle "Kennedy" is shown on clearly has a sun compass mounted, so I am now left to research if all of the SAS transport carried a sun compass mounted in that position, or if they were only mounted on vehicles crewed by a trained navigator, like Sadler.Doktor Krollspell wrote:Hello Jon and welcome to Feldgrau!
About your close-up in you second post, this man is captioned as Corporal Bill Kennedy (Royal Scots Grey) in an identical photo/still from the film, in the book "A History of the SAS Regiment" (1984) by Major General John Strawson.
Good luck with your research,
Krollspell