Who Dares Wins Down Under as Australian SAS celebrates 60-year anniversary

Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

It was established in September 1964, since when its members have served on combat, peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations throughout the world.

The SASR has seen action in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan during its six decades of service, with the elite troops of the Australian armed forces earning themselves a worldwide reputation.

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The force was established on the 21st anniversary of the Lae/Nadzab landings in New Guinea during World War Two.

Australian and US paratroopers defeated the Japanese forces on the island to establish a vital air base in the Pacific theatre.

Based at Campbell Barracks in Perth, Western Australia, the SASR first saw action in Borneo during the Indonesian Confrontation in the mid-1960s.

Since then, the unit has deployed in the Vietnam War, Iraq and Afghanistan, the Somali Civil War, and both the 1999 and 2006 East Timorese crises.

The unit has also been tasked with domestic security in the aftermath of the 1978 Sydney Hotel bombing and during the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

However, the force attracted controversy in the aftermath of war in Afghanistan with members accused of committing war crimes during the conflict.

An Australian military report from 2020 found troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians, and recommended that 19 serving and former soldiers should face criminal proceedings.