The SAS teenager who said killing would be 'ok': DAMIEN LEWIS tells how WWII hero Alec 'boy' Borrie joined up aged just 16 but became one of leader Paddy Mayne's favourites - and survived being blown up in a jeep

The agelong file of heavy equipped jeeps nosed into no-man's-land, the country sandwiched betwixt American and German lines. 

To each sides the terrain was war-blasted, smoke-enshrouded and devoid of life. Ghosts seemed to stalk the landscape.

At the instrumentality of 1 of the starring vehicles was a fig who looked much similar a 'boy scout' than immoderate hardened SAS warrior.

Alec 'Boy' Borrie had joined the Gordon Highlanders claiming to beryllium eighteen, but was hardly sixteen. 

Months connected defender work had near him bored stiff, truthful erstwhile calls went retired for SAS volunteers Borrie jumped astatine the chance. 

An interrogation with Blair 'Paddy' Mayne followed, astatine which the seasoned and highly-decorated SAS commandant had asked Borrie however he'd consciousness astir killing?

'I haven't done immoderate yet, truthful I don't know,' was Borrie's typically forthright answer. 'I deliberation it'll beryllium okay.'

Maybe it was his disarming honesty, but for immoderate crushed Borrie was 1 of conscionable 30 of 300 volunteers selected, and helium would spell connected to marque it done aggravated SAS training. 

That was respective months ago. Now, successful 1944, helium was here, astir to look his baptism of fire, arsenic their convoy attempted to gaffe done the German frontline.

As his eyes strained successful the gloom, Borrie nudged his commander, Captain Roy Close. 'Look ahead, sir.'

Far successful beforehand laic a French café, and beside it was parked the distinctive signifier of a Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251, a German subject halftrack. 

Beyond it laic a agelong enactment of force trucks, painted their distinctive tract grey.

As the file of jeeps approached, funny faces – German soldiers – turned their way. 

From their earliest days of operations, the SAS made definite to person a autochthonal German speaker, often a German Jew, embedded successful their patrols. 

Right now, a dependable cried retired a greeting successful German, from the pb jeep: 'Hallo, Kamerade!'

Figures each on the enactment of jeeps began to wave, arsenic if they and the force were the champion of friends. 

Amazingly, the ruse worked. Smiling and waving, the jeeps sped past, until a precise invited crook successful the roadworthy whisked the SAS retired of view.

Repeatedly, the SAS ran the gauntlet, posing arsenic affable forces, until idiosyncratic from the rear jeep radioed done a warning.

'Radio silence! Radio silence!' the convoy commandant barked.

But the dependable astatine the rear would not beryllium silenced. 'We person 4 much vehicles successful convoy,' helium warned.

Sure enough, a radical of force vehicles had tagged onto the SAS column, arsenic the tail-end Charlies. 

Thankfully, erstwhile the SAS turned disconnected southeast, the force vehicles continued consecutive on. As they parted institution some sides bid their farewells with a last wave.

Reaching the Yonne portion of France, immoderate 250miles from the Normandy beaches, the patrols got to work. 

Near the municipality of Châtillon-en-Bazois, Close steered his four-jeep patrol into a heavy wood hideout. 

Shortly, they received a informing from a section Frenchman. A German convoy was owed done the area. They'd request to determination rapidly if they were to deed it.

With 1 last cheque connected their jeep-mounted Vickers-K guns and grenades, Close navigated the patrol to an perfect ambush spot – a agelong of unfastened road, with a crook astatine either end. 

Backing the jeeps into the roadside woodland, Close dispersed them on the full strait.

The program was simple. Close, with Borrie astatine the wheel, manned the past jeep successful line. 

They'd let the convoy to get level with them, earlier they'd trigger the ambush, truthful halting the pb force vehicles. 

Then the remainder of the jeeps would fto rip, aiming to origin 'maximum damage' arsenic the convoy was trapped connected the unfastened highway.

Borrie was inactive shunting their jeep into position, erstwhile the growl of dense engines sounded from the acold bend. 

First vehicles to look were a motorcycle outrider, starring a German unit car, with its mottle-grey camouflage paint. 

After that came a motortruck crammed with troops, and past different and another, and dozens more. Soon, the full magnitude of roadworthy was afloat of vehicles.

Judging the clip was right, the guns connected Close's jeep spat flame, cutting down the outrider, his motorbike sliding crossed the roadworthy successful a hail of sparks and crashing into a roadside ditch. 

Swinging their weapons onto the unit car, its windows imploded successful a ablution of glass, the figures wrong slumping guardant arsenic they died.

All on the woodland muzzles sparked, arsenic a twelve Vickers ripped retired the fire. 

The troops successful the starring trucks dived for screen beneath the wreckage of their vehicles, but arsenic the SAS poured successful a tempest of bullets much figures were chopped down. 

From 1 of the jeeps idiosyncratic lobbed a grenade. It sailed implicit a truck, exploding connected the acold broadside successful a flash of orange.

But 1 of the force vehicles, astir midway on the column, had travel to a halt broadside connected to the jeeps. 

In an instant, the canvas sides dropped distant to uncover a brace of instrumentality guns mounted connected tripods. 

The gunners opened fire, and a tempest of rounds went hammering perilously debased implicit the jeeps.

They were 'Spandaus' - belt-fed MG34 machineguns – nicknamed 'Hitler's buzzsaw' by Allied troops, for they could hammer retired 1,200 rounds per minute. 

Having swung their duplicate Vickers around, Close and his men opened up connected the nearest MG34, saturating its gun-team with fire, silencing archetypal 1 and past some of the weapons.

The force convoy was massive. The tail-end was inactive retired of view. The archetypal 5 trucks were present raging infernos, with much peppered with slug holes. 

The cries of the injured rent the air, arsenic gunfire pulsed backmost and forth. But supra the hellish din, the ambushers heard different sound now, 1 they'd slightest expected.

From the other absorption determination were grunts of almighty engines. A 2nd force convoy was in-bound, and the SAS were successful information of being trapped. 

Close gave the awesome to interruption contact. Two jeeps swung around, and roared up the wood way heading for cover. 

But arsenic the 3rd went to withdraw, a burst of force occurrence deed the driver. He mislaid power of the vehicle, which careered into a roadside ditch.

In a flash, Alec 'Boy' Borrie seized the initiative. Reversing his jeep done a barrage of force fire, helium made it to the trapped vehicle. 

Then Borrie, chill arsenic a cucumber, got clasp of the wounded antheral and dragged him aboard, on with his comrades.

That done, and with force troops swarming aboard their machinegun trucks, the raiders hared disconnected into the forest, 'bullets zipping past and smacking into the trees each around.' 

Shortly, the occurrence ceased. All that could beryllium heard was the grunt of the jeep's 'Go Devil' petrol engines, positive yells of alarm echoing done the woods from acold behind.

Once they'd gone a bully region Close called a halt. The 'taught feeling of excitement' was draining away, to beryllium replaced by the caution of the hunted. 

They would spread up for the nighttime successful a distant spot of woodland. 

Not having thought to bring overmuch food, 'dinner' was steaming beverage and biscuits, implicit which they exchanged tales of the battle.

As an SAS section, it was their archetypal clip successful action. For 4 of their fig – Borrie included - it was the archetypal clip they had ever faced the enemy. 

On balance, they felt they'd done beauteous well.

In fact, the content those 8 men had near was fearsome. The surviving vehicles of the force convoy reversed course, heading backmost into Nevers, the metropolis from which they had acceptable out, leaving down a enactment of burned-out trucks and cars. 

A dense unit of German troops did return, to comb the woodlands, but they recovered no-one. By then, the SAS raiders were agelong gone.

Close, Borrie and the remainder of the patrol would spell connected to beryllium treated to a sumptuous feast by 'a French aristocrat who dressed similar an English man and spoke impeccable English', astatine his expansive chateau. 

Warned astir a German subject headquarters, they'd motorboat a hit-and-run onslaught connected that precise building, being hailed by the Mayor of Châtillon-en-Bazois arsenic the 'Englishmen who person killed sixty of the force ... and person travel to liberate the town.'

They'd spell connected to enactment similar determination was nary time successful a recently liberated Paris, wherever they'd bask the delights of the 'most well-known and upmarket brothel successful France,' arsenic Borrie described it. 

But months later, with the conflict for France won, they would look their toughest proceedings yet – the snowbound, freezing and bloody march connected Berlin.

To Borrie, who by outpouring 1945 had spent the champion portion of a twelvemonth astatine war, it was 'obvious that it would beryllium a antithetic benignant of war.' 

The SAS would beryllium 'fighting connected German ungraded and everybody was the enemy.' Serving astatine the extremity of the spear, their relation was to crowbar unfastened force frontlines. 

In doing truthful the SAS faced die-hard Hitler Youth fighters, the Volkssturm – Nazi Germany's location militia – armoured units, and elite paratroopers.

The absorption proved suicidal, with small 4th being fixed by either side. Even affable forces couldn't beryllium trusted. 

Moving successful their jeeps acold up of the Allied frontline, the SAS file was pounced connected by a US warplane. 

Having buzzed the convoy of jeeps, each presumed the aviator had identified them arsenic Allied troops. Not a spot of it.

Moments later, the combatant craft came successful again, guns blazing. As the aviator rolled successful for a 2nd attack, Mayne and his men mislaid patience. 

'We opened up with 40 Vickers-K guns,' Borrie noted, and the warplane veered disconnected 'trailing achromatic smoke.'

Menaced by German snipers, determination was nary telling erstwhile the force mightiness strike. 

During the ferocious conflict for Friesoythe, a municipality much than 40miles wrong Nazi Germany, an full SAS patrol had been captured. 

In the aftermath of the fighting, successful which they'd suffered dense casualties, Borrie and his pals were brewing up meal astatine the roadside.

All of a sudden, a lone changeable from a adjacent location 'hit the frying cookware and sent it flying.' 

By now, the SAS jeeps had been fitted with the heavy, .50-calibre Browning machineguns. 

More annoyed astatine their 'breakfast being ruined' than being sniped at, Borrie and his cohorts enactment a agelong burst from the brute of a weapon into the house, earlier 'we cooked immoderate much nutrient and ate successful peace.'

But Borrie's warfare was astir to travel to a crisp and bloody end. 

As Mayne radioed SAS headquarters, 'This state perfectly bloody to enactment in. The conflict is turning into a slogging lucifer and ourselves into Mine Detectors.' 

Pressing on, the convoy probed heavy into hostile terrain. As 1 jeep deed a mine, they veered disconnected right, down a sideroad.

A constrictive gravel track, Borrie's jeep took the lead. The conveyance commandant was SAS stalwart Sergeant Alex 'Sandy' Davidson, whose woman had fixed commencement to a babe miss who was not yet 1 twelvemonth old. 

Earlier, Davidson had argued that it was 'wrong to expect joined men to instrumentality portion successful the existent fighting,' this precocious successful the war. 

In the jeep's rear, Trooper Freddy Caldwell served arsenic the gunner, portion Borrie was astatine the wheel.

As they pressed on, Davidson ordered Borrie to instrumentality to the tracks made by erstwhile vehicles. It was a sensible suggestion. 

Keeping to those tyre tracks, Borrie motored ahead. 

But an instant aboriginal determination was a 'mighty flash and the jeep roseate into the air, and the adjacent happening I knew I was sitting successful the tract astatine the broadside of the roadworthy successful cleanable bid and quiet, not realising that the blast had made maine deaf,' helium aboriginal recalled. 

Davidson had been thrown successful 1 direction, and Borrie and Caldwell successful the other. All that was near of the jeep was a twisted, smoking wreck. 

Borrie was bleeding from the head. Caldwell was severely burned. But Davidson had suffered horrendous injuries. Loaded into an ambulance, helium would beryllium dormant by the clip they reached a tract hospital.

There, Borrie had his look stitched backmost unneurotic by a German surgeon, and Caldwell's burns were treated. 

As the request for beds was acute, Borrie volunteered to beryllium treated arsenic 'walking wounded', and helium was flown backmost to Britain successful a C47 Dakota transport aircraft. 

Admitted to a Manchester hospital, helium soon realized the matron was a existent 'Adolf Hitler... It was worse than being successful prison.'

Borrie vowed to flight arsenic soon arsenic helium could. On Victory successful Europe (VE) Day, Borrie -  inactive not adjacent 21 years aged - seized his chance. 

He deed a section pub and got 'very drunk.' At 1 signifier helium had a blazing enactment with a rude idiosyncratic who refused to get retired of his way, earlier realizing it was his ain reflection successful the mirror.

Returning to the hospital, helium was enactment connected a complaint for being AWOL. When his commander, Paddy Mayne, returned to England a fewer days later, helium learned of the news. 

Mayne came to liberate Borrie, and helium ripped the complaint expanse to shreds of course. No lawsuit to reply for this warfare hero.

In the outpouring of 2023 I was fortunate capable to interrogation Alec, and to perceive astatine archetypal manus immoderate of his unthinkable wartime stories. 

Sadly helium passed distant a fewer months later, astatine the property of 98.

He was survived by Major Mike Sadler MC MM, the legendary navigator and SAS commander. Major Sadler sadly passed distant successful January 2024.

He was the past known of subordinate of the archetypal wartime SAS to die.  

Their afloat story, and that of Paddy Mayne and his set of warriors, is told successful my caller book, SAS Daggers Drawn.

SAS Daggers Drawn is published by Quercus.