Former SAS Officer Dies
15.10.2012
Clive Fairweather, a former SAS officer, has died aged 68. Fairweather was second in command of 22 SAS when it carried out Operation Nimrod, the storming of the Iranian Embassy in 1980.
Fairweather had a distinguished militart career. He was a reservist in the Parachute Regiment and an officer with the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, seeing action in Borneo. He joined the Special Air Service in 1968 and went on to carry operations in Sharjah, Northern Ireland, Oman, Iran, Dhofar and Jordan. Fairweather rose to the position of second in command of 22 SAS in 1979.
Operation Nimrod was a defining moment in the Special Air Service's history. In broad daylight and in the full glare of the world's media, B Squadron, 22 SAS blasted its way into the Iranian Embassy at Princes Gate, London, in an operation that killed 4 out of 5 terrorists and rescued all but one of the remaining hostages.
After 34 years in the Army, Clive Fairweather went on to have a prestigious career in the civilian world. In 1994 he became Scotland's Chief Inspector of Prisons, a position he held until 2002. He was a tireless fundraiser for Combat Stress, a veteran's charity. He was made a CBE in 2003 for public service.
more info / further reading:
- Tributes for SAS officer Clive Fairweather
(the telegraph)
- Iranian embassy SAS hero turned prison reformer dies
(daily record)
- Former SAS soldier and Chief Inspector of Prisons Clive Fairweather dies aged 68
(scotsman.com)
