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Wind, sand and stars
Mike
Sadler guided the first SAS raiders through the North African desert
Sadler guided the first SAS raiders through the North African desert
The navigator and last of the SAS “Originals” died on January 5th, aged 103
風、沙和星星
邁克·薩德勒（Mike Sadler）引導第一批SAS突擊隊員穿越北非沙漠
這位航行員——也是SAS“原始成員”中的最後一位，於1月5日去世，享年103歲。
To an American who met Mike Sadler in 1943 his most
remarkable feature was his eyes. They were round and sky-blue, staring out of a
sun-baked face grizzled with beard. They looked like the eyes of a drug-addled French
poet, a man who at any minute might do some crazy thing.
remarkable feature was his eyes. They were round and sky-blue, staring out of a
sun-baked face grizzled with beard. They looked like the eyes of a drug-addled French
poet, a man who at any minute might do some crazy thing.
一個1943年遇到邁克·薩德勒的美國人認為他最引人注目的特徵是他的眼睛。眼睛圓圓的，天藍色的，從一個曬得黝黑、留著絡腮鬍的臉上凝視著。它們看起來像是一個嗑藥的法國詩人的眼睛，似乎隨時會做出一些瘋狂的舉動。
In fact, he just had. For five days he had been
trudging on foot through 100 miles of Tunisian desert. The SAS group he was
with had been caught by the Germans, but he and two others had dropped into
gullies and, by nightfall, got clear away. Knowing the lie of the land, and
reading the stars, he led them through mountains and between salt lakes until
they reached an area controlled by the Free French. A few dates were their only
food, and their water a trickle tied in a goatskin. Now his hair was bleached
and wild, his exposed skin blistered and his feet in tatters. But, as usual, he
had steered his colleagues to safety.
trudging on foot through 100 miles of Tunisian desert. The SAS group he was
with had been caught by the Germans, but he and two others had dropped into
gullies and, by nightfall, got clear away. Knowing the lie of the land, and
reading the stars, he led them through mountains and between salt lakes until
they reached an area controlled by the Free French. A few dates were their only
food, and their water a trickle tied in a goatskin. Now his hair was bleached
and wild, his exposed skin blistered and his feet in tatters. But, as usual, he
had steered his colleagues to safety.
事實上，他剛剛做了一些瘋狂的事。他連續五天徒步穿越了100英里的突尼西亞沙漠。他所在的SAS小組被德國人抓住了，但他和其他兩人跳進溝壑中，到了夜幕降臨時便成功擺脫了。憑藉對土地的瞭解和觀察星象，他帶領他們穿過山脈和鹽湖之間，直到他們到達了自由法國控制的區域。他們僅有的食物是幾枚棗子，水是用山羊皮囊紮起來的一小股涓涓細流。如今，他的頭髮被曬得又白又狂野，暴露的皮膚起了水泡，雙腳破爛不堪。但像往常一樣，他又一次將同事們安全地帶了出來。
In the fledgling SAS, founded only two years before,
his skills were essential. Their top-secret task was to destroy the Axis bases
and airfields strung out along the North African coast. Their modus operandi
was to lurk deep in the desert to the south, presumed empty, and attack from
behind the enemy lines. His job was to get them there in their customised
Willys Jeeps (no top, no windscreen, open to wind, sand and sun) through a
pathless landscape littered with boulders and creeping sand dunes hundreds of
feet high. Without him, they would have been completely lost.
his skills were essential. Their top-secret task was to destroy the Axis bases
and airfields strung out along the North African coast. Their modus operandi
was to lurk deep in the desert to the south, presumed empty, and attack from
behind the enemy lines. His job was to get them there in their customised
Willys Jeeps (no top, no windscreen, open to wind, sand and sun) through a
pathless landscape littered with boulders and creeping sand dunes hundreds of
feet high. Without him, they would have been completely lost.
在成立僅兩年的新兵SAS中，他的技能是必不可少的。他們的絕密任務是破壞沿北非海岸線分佈的軸心國基地和飛機場。他們的行動方式是潛伏在被認為空無一物的南部沙漠深處，從敵人後面發起攻擊。他的工作是駕駛定製的無頂篷、無擋風玻璃的威利斯吉普車（暴露在風、沙和太陽下）透過沒有道路、佈滿巨石和數百英尺高的爬行沙丘的地貌，將他們帶到那裡。沒有他，他們就會完全迷失。
Navigation required both geometry and maths, but at
school he was poor at both. He had more of a taste for sheer adventure, whetted
by the stories of a classmate at Oakley Hall Prep who had been brought up in
Africa with elephants and lions. When war broke out in 1939 he was working on a
tobacco farm in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia), and left it to join an
artillery unit. But he was persuaded in a bar in Cairo to join the Long Range
Desert Group (LRDG), which provided transport for the SAS and could train him
to tell by celestial signs exactly where his position was. It seemed to him a
magic art, and the desert like being on the sea in a way. Reading the stars,
you could go in any direction, a great sort of freedom. When the war was over
he became a keen sailor.
school he was poor at both. He had more of a taste for sheer adventure, whetted
by the stories of a classmate at Oakley Hall Prep who had been brought up in
Africa with elephants and lions. When war broke out in 1939 he was working on a
tobacco farm in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia), and left it to join an
artillery unit. But he was persuaded in a bar in Cairo to join the Long Range
Desert Group (LRDG), which provided transport for the SAS and could train him
to tell by celestial signs exactly where his position was. It seemed to him a
magic art, and the desert like being on the sea in a way. Reading the stars,
you could go in any direction, a great sort of freedom. When the war was over
he became a keen sailor.
導航需要幾何和數學知識，但他在學校時這兩門都很差勁。他更喜歡純粹的冒險，而這份熱情是被他在奧克利廳預備學校的一個同學所激起的，那個同學在非洲長大，生活在大象和獅子中。1939年戰爭爆發時，他在北羅得西亞（後來的尚比亞）的一個菸草農場工作，後來離開了農場加入了一支炮兵部隊。但他在開羅的一家酒吧被勸服加入了長途沙漠小組（LRDG），這支小組為SAS提供運輸，並能訓練他利用天體標誌來精確確定自己的位置。這對他而言就像一種魔法，而沙漠在某種程度上就像大海一樣。透過觀察星星，你可以朝任何方向前進，這是一種很棒的自由。戰爭結束後，他成了一個熱心的航海者。
In the desert, he was also given maps. Some
were almost blank, with sparse dotted lines for “suspected camel track”. He
used the sun-compass invented by Ralph Bagnold, founder of the LRDG, which
showed the sun-shadow in relation to the compass points but had to be
constantly adjusted. In any case, they did not travel by day if they could help
it. This meant he was up half the night finding suitable stars, taking
star-readings with his theodolite, carefully recording them and then correcting
the record the next day. Despite his efforts and the group’s successes, he
thought he was only a passable navigator.
were almost blank, with sparse dotted lines for “suspected camel track”. He
used the sun-compass invented by Ralph Bagnold, founder of the LRDG, which
showed the sun-shadow in relation to the compass points but had to be
constantly adjusted. In any case, they did not travel by day if they could help
it. This meant he was up half the night finding suitable stars, taking
star-readings with his theodolite, carefully recording them and then correcting
the record the next day. Despite his efforts and the group’s successes, he
thought he was only a passable navigator.
在沙漠中，他還被給予了地圖。有些地圖幾乎是空白的，上面散佈著“疑似駱駝線索”的點狀線。他使用了由LRDG創始人拉爾夫·巴格諾德發明的日光指南針，這種指南針可以顯示太陽影子與指南針方位的關係，但需要不斷調整。無論如何，如果情況允許，他們不會在白天旅行。這意味著他要半夜起來尋找合適的星星，用經緯儀進行星象測量，仔細記錄，然後第二天再校正記錄。儘管他付出了努力，小組也取得了成功，但他認為自己只是一個及格的導航員。
He had been lured from the LRDG to the SAS (which now
had its own Jeeps) by the thought of “operations”. In practice he kept back.
When the SAS raided the Wadi Tamet air base in Libya, killing 30 German and
Italian pilots in their mess and destroying 24 parked planes, he was waiting on
the perimeter. He had got the chaps there, across 400 miles of desert; now he
had to get them out. A year later he guided a convoy of 18 Jeeps 70 miles
across the Tunisian desert, navigating solely by the stars, to the base at Sidi
Haneish. There they let rip, roaring en masse down the tarmac, firing their
Vickers guns at the maximum rate and setting 37 aircraft ablaze. He counted the
tally as his too, but again, necessarily, he was not in the thick of things.
had its own Jeeps) by the thought of “operations”. In practice he kept back.
When the SAS raided the Wadi Tamet air base in Libya, killing 30 German and
Italian pilots in their mess and destroying 24 parked planes, he was waiting on
the perimeter. He had got the chaps there, across 400 miles of desert; now he
had to get them out. A year later he guided a convoy of 18 Jeeps 70 miles
across the Tunisian desert, navigating solely by the stars, to the base at Sidi
Haneish. There they let rip, roaring en masse down the tarmac, firing their
Vickers guns at the maximum rate and setting 37 aircraft ablaze. He counted the
tally as his too, but again, necessarily, he was not in the thick of things.
他被“行動”的想法從LRDG吸引到了擁有自己吉普車的SAS。實際上，他始終留在後方。當SAS突襲利比亞的武萊泰美特空軍基地，殺死了30名德國和義大利飛行員，並摧毀了24架停放的飛機時，他在外圍等待。他已經帶領他們穿越了400英里的沙漠到達那裡；現在他必須要將他們帶出來。一年後，他引導一隊18輛吉普車穿越70英里的突尼西亞沙漠，僅憑星象導航，到達了錫迪哈奈什基地。在那裡，他們瘋狂地衝向停機坪，全力射擊維克斯機槍，點燃了37架飛機。他也將這些戰績算在自己頭上，但他又一次不得不置身事外。
In truth he was not gung-ho, despite his blond
daredevil appearance. (He wore no headdress, letting the wind and sand blow
through him.) In daytime dead-reckoning navigation he refused to go by hunches,
but carefully plotted out velocity over distance to measure the convoy’s
progress towards its target. When it came to fighting he had no wish to kill
anyone, only to outwit them. A few of the chaps, including some he greatly
admired, were a bit too fond of shooting off at things. But he still relished
the occasional adrenalin rush of firing his Jeep’s guns into the dark. And in a
later job, escorting SAS paratroopers to their planes, he liked to hitch a ride
himself, in the bomb-aimer’s seat.
daredevil appearance. (He wore no headdress, letting the wind and sand blow
through him.) In daytime dead-reckoning navigation he refused to go by hunches,
but carefully plotted out velocity over distance to measure the convoy’s
progress towards its target. When it came to fighting he had no wish to kill
anyone, only to outwit them. A few of the chaps, including some he greatly
admired, were a bit too fond of shooting off at things. But he still relished
the occasional adrenalin rush of firing his Jeep’s guns into the dark. And in a
later job, escorting SAS paratroopers to their planes, he liked to hitch a ride
himself, in the bomb-aimer’s seat.
事實上，儘管他金髮魔鬼般的外表，他並不好戰。（他沒有戴任何頭巾，讓風沙穿過他。）在白天的推算航行中，他拒絕憑直覺行事，而是仔細計算速度和距離以測算車隊向目標的進展。當涉及到戰鬥時，他沒有殺死任何人的願望，只希望智勝他們。有幾個小夥子，包括他非常敬佩的一些人，對射擊有點過於熱衷了。但他仍然享受偶爾的腎上腺素激增，這時他會在黑暗中射擊吉普車上的槍。後來在為SAS傘兵護送到飛機的工作中，他喜歡自己也搭個便車，在投彈手的座位上。
What pleased him greatly about the SAS was its
informal structure. It was not like the regular army, with all that pointless
marching up and down. He liked to keep his army uniform reasonably smart, but
high-polished militarism repelled him. It reminded him of the young
land-workers he had seen as a teenage tourist in Nazi Germany, marching with
their spades like rifles over their shoulders. He never sought promotion,
either, preferring to stay with his friends. When he was made a sergeant in
1941, and fell out marginally with an officer who insisted that his men slept
in their boots (quite impractical in sleeping bags), he reduced himself to the
ranks rather than apologise. In the SAS, a good lot of chaps who got on well
together, he felt much more at home.
informal structure. It was not like the regular army, with all that pointless
marching up and down. He liked to keep his army uniform reasonably smart, but
high-polished militarism repelled him. It reminded him of the young
land-workers he had seen as a teenage tourist in Nazi Germany, marching with
their spades like rifles over their shoulders. He never sought promotion,
either, preferring to stay with his friends. When he was made a sergeant in
1941, and fell out marginally with an officer who insisted that his men slept
in their boots (quite impractical in sleeping bags), he reduced himself to the
ranks rather than apologise. In the SAS, a good lot of chaps who got on well
together, he felt much more at home.
SAS讓他十分滿意的是它非正式的結構。它不像常規軍隊，軍隊裡無意義的來回行進令他厭煩。他喜歡保持軍裝的整潔，但那種過分的軍國主義讓他反感。它讓他想起了他少年時期作為遊客在納粹德國看到的年輕農場工人，他們用鐵鍬肩扛如步槍般行進。他也從不追求晉升，更願意與朋友們待在一起。1941年，當他被提升為中士，並因為一位堅持讓士兵們穿著靴子睡覺的軍官（在睡袋裡非常不切實際）而微微不和時，他寧願自陵軍銜也不願意道歉。在SAS，一群相處融洽的好夥計讓他感覺更像在家。
The desert commanded his love. It also greatly
challenged him. On beautiful smooth patches, the Jeeps could reach 60mph;
elsewhere they lurched through sharp stones that simply tore the tyres. Fleeing
Tamet, he tried to mend a puncture by stuffing in blankets; rather maddeningly,
the wheel disintegrated all the same. Later on that escape, with almost no
water left in the other Jeep, everyone peed into the radiator to assist. At the
very end, a few Stukas tried a bit of a strafe. Dust boiled up, but they got
away.
challenged him. On beautiful smooth patches, the Jeeps could reach 60mph;
elsewhere they lurched through sharp stones that simply tore the tyres. Fleeing
Tamet, he tried to mend a puncture by stuffing in blankets; rather maddeningly,
the wheel disintegrated all the same. Later on that escape, with almost no
water left in the other Jeep, everyone peed into the radiator to assist. At the
very end, a few Stukas tried a bit of a strafe. Dust boiled up, but they got
away.
沙漠贏得了他的愛。同樣，它也對他提出了巨大的挑戰。在平坦光滑的地方，吉普車能夠達到每小時60英里的速度；在其他地方，它們走過尖銳的石頭，胎都被劃破了。在逃離塔米特的過程中，他嘗試用毯子塞住輪胎的釘孔；令人幾乎發狂的是，車輪仍舊徹底散架了。在那次逃跑中的後期，另一輛吉普車幾乎沒有水了，大家都往散熱器裡尿尿以求幫助。最後，幾架斯圖卡轟炸機試圖進行掃射。塵土飛揚，但他們還是逃脫了。
The enemy often missed them, to the point where he and
his comrades often felt they faced no risk at all. That was due less to him, he
thought, than to the terrifically secret nature of the SAS, which suited him.
After sabotage work in France, the rest of his career was in intelligence work
of some sort or another, mostly for MI6. All he would reveal about it was that
it involved a lot of sailing. The SAS, of which he was the last surviving
"Original", had taught him well.
his comrades often felt they faced no risk at all. That was due less to him, he
thought, than to the terrifically secret nature of the SAS, which suited him.
After sabotage work in France, the rest of his career was in intelligence work
of some sort or another, mostly for MI6. All he would reveal about it was that
it involved a lot of sailing. The SAS, of which he was the last surviving
"Original", had taught him well.
敵人經常錯過他們，以至於他和他的同志們常常感覺他們面臨的風險幾乎為零。他認為，這不僅僅是因為他自己，還因為SAS那種極度保密的特性，這非常適合他。在法國的破壞工作之後，他的其他職業生涯主要在情報工作方面，大部分為MI6服務。他所願意透露的，就是這些工作涉及大量的航海。SAS教會了他許多，而他是最後一位在世的“原始成員”。
In very old age his sky-blue eyes were blind. But
endless deserts of sand or sea lay behind them, mapped by the stars.
endless deserts of sand or sea lay behind them, mapped by the stars.
在他晚年時，那雙天藍色的眼睛已經失明。但在它們的背後，是由星星勾畫出來的無盡的沙漠和大海。