No free photograph
William Stirling
British Army officer of the Special Air Service · United Kingdom · On the map · Lived 1911 to 1983 · aged 71
Lieutenant-Colonel William Joseph Stirling of Keir was a Scottish officer of the British Army who served during the Second World War. Initially joining the Special Operations Executive, he would go on to command No. 62 Commando and then the 2nd Special Air Service.
William Stirling is read about 739 times a day, in 2 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 16 June 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?People around William
Family
Parents
Partners
Children
Brothers and sisters
Is this everyone?
Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong. A marriage is drawn as ended only where its end is recorded, so a spouse drawn here may be a former one.
Correct this familyMedia & music
Photos 1
About this person
He was the elder brother of David Stirling, one of the founders of the SAS, but Bill has been described as the "real brains behind the operation". He was, however, removed from his command of 2 SAS by Frederick "Boy" Browning two days before D-Day because they clashed over how best to deploy his unit, thereby ending his army career.