Gus March-Phillipps
British Army officer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Gustavus Henry March-Phillipps, DSO, MBE (1908 – 12 September 1942; sometimes spelled "March-Phillips"[1]) was the founder of the British Army's No. 62 Commando, also known as Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF), one of the forerunners of the Special Air Service (SAS).[lower-alpha 1] He was also noteworthy as being one of Ian Fleming's main inspirations for the character of James Bond.
Gustavus Henry March-Phillipps | |
---|---|
Born | 1908 England |
Died | 12 September 1942 (aged 34) Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes, France |
Buried | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Rank | Major |
Service number | 39184 |
Battles/wars | Second World War |
Awards | Distinguished Service Order Member of the Order of the British Empire Mentioned in Despatches |
In the Daily Telegraph, Max Hastings noted: "In January 1942 he launched Operation Postmaster, a picaresque 'cutting-out expedition', which seized two Italian merchantmen from the neutral Spanish colonial port of Santa Isabel in West Africa, and towed them triumphantly to Lagos."[2] After the raid March-Phillipps was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.