France has awarded the last survivor of the original SAS with its highest honour for bravery
Mike Sadler, 98, was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur yesterday, 74 years after he parachuted into Nazi-occupied France during the Second World War
He was given the award at a private event in London with representatives of the French embassy and former members of the SAS included on the guest list
The French defence attaché, Colonel Antoine de Loustal, who presented the red-ribboned medal to one of Britain's last wartime heroes, said: 'We shall not forget
We will never forget.' In 1941, Mr Sadler joined the Long Range Desert Group, a reconnaissance unit based in the North African desert
He was then brought into the arising Special Air Service - introduced by Lieutenant David Stirling to launch night-time raids against Axis airfields in Libya
Mr Sadler quickly became the unit's top navigator as he was able to guide raiding groups across almost bare expanses of desert
Now almost blind, Mr Sadler said: 'I'm afraid I can't give a speech because I can't read any notes as I can no longer see,' reported the Times
Mr Sadler fought with the SAS in Italy and France following his time in the desert war, before setting up the SAS intelligence unit
In August 7, 1944, Mr Sadler was dropped by parachute into the Loire as part of Operation Houndsworth
The aim was to reach SAS squadrons behind the lines and help destroy fuel depots, encourage local resistance, and prevent Panzer divisions heading north
By this time Hitler had given instructions for any captured parachutists to be executed
Share this article Share Germans struck the two-jeep convoy with Mr Sadler returning fire, allowing the other jeep to flee before escaping himself
He was later awarded the Military Cross for gallantry.Those who formed L Detachment SAS named themselves 'the Originals', with Mr Sadler being considered an honorary one
He was given the role of lieutenant by Stirling but this was reportedly never told to the authorities so Mr Sadler finished the war as a major
In December 1941, Mr Sadler was part of the first successful SAS raid - on Wadi Tamet airfield - where a team of six men ruined 24 aircraft and a fuel dump
This was led by Lieutenant Blair 'Paddy' Mayne, a former Irish international rugby star who would become one of Britain's most decorated soldiers
On the night of July 26, 1942, Mr Sadler, without headlights or a map, guided 18 jeeps filled with twin Vickers K machine guns along 70 miles of desert to within 200 feet of Sidi Haneish airfield
The group then opened fire as they drove between planes, wrecking at least 37 aircraft
But one of the SAS jeep drivers was sadly shot through the head during the attack and buried in the sand
'I do remember the people who didn't survive, and who didn't have the chance to receive this great honour,' Mr Sadler said
He was awarded the Military Medal for the Tamit and Sidi Haneish attacks.Mr Sadler was also one of the officers to follow Stirling on the last SAS operation during the desert war in January 1943
This involved trying to cross the Tunisian desert to meet the British-American 1st Army but they were ambushed by a German unit
Stirling was captured and would spend the rest of the Second World War as a prisoner of war in Colditz
Mr Sadler managed to escape along with another SAS soldier and an Arabic-speaking Frenchman
He guided the group on a five-day, 100-mile trek, without a map, or any food provisions, to link up with the 1st Army
American war correspondent A J Liebling witnessed Mr Sadler as he arrived from the desert, and wrote: 'The eyes of this fellow were round and sky blue and his hair and whiskers were very fair
'His beard began well under his chin, giving him the air of an emaciated and slightly dotty Paul Verlaine
'In 2014, the then French president, François Hollande, ordered that all surviving British soldiers who helped in the liberation of France should be awarded the Légion d'honneur
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