David Stirling

David Stirling (born 1915, died 1990) was a Scottish man, a keen mountaineer, a soldier in the British Army during World War 2, and the founder of the Special Air Service.

He joined the Scots Guard as a subaltern in 1939, and soon after transferred to the special forces unit 8 Commando, also known as Layforce after Captain Robert Laycock. After this unit was dismantled, he convinced the army high command to allow him to create a new Special Forces unit - the deliberately misleadingly named "L Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade". He was captured by the Italians and spent the rest of the war at Colditz prisoner of war camp.

He was knighted in 1990, and died later that year.