22 SAS Baty, Brian Richard Mark

[John Robertson]

• SURNAME

Baty ​

• FORENAME

Brian Richard Mark​

• UNIT

A Squadron (CO) ​

• RANK

Major ​

• NUMBER

480027 ​

• AWARD

Mention in Despatches ​

• PLACE

Northern Ireland 1976 ​

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

parent unit General List​

born 21.03.1933 Camberwell, London, UK​

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Sgt 22548546) (award MM)​

1953 married Shirley Grose​

2 daughters​

commissioned 21.9.1963​

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 1963-75​

General List 1975-82​

Parachute Regiment 1982 (Lt Col)​

retired 1984​

award M.B.E. ​

died 27.02.2020 Aged 86​

​

• OBITUARY

Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Baty, who has died aged 86, served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the SAS; commissioned in the field, he won a Military Medal in Borneo in 1964.

In 1964 – during the Confrontation with Indonesia – Baty, then a sergeant, was serving in Sarawak, Borneo. He was in charge of an Argyll tracker team and had under his command five regimental soldiers, a Royal Army Veterinary Corps corporal, two dogs, and two police force field trackers.

During the night of August 2, an Argyll platoon position at Pa Butal was fired on by an Indonesian mortar unit. Baty and his team were flown to the position at first light the next morning. They had orders to find the enemy and had half a platoon in support.

At about 08.00, Baty established that the Indonesians were some six hours ahead of him. He followed fast, and at midday the dog, Desmond, pointed to an enemy position and was replaced by visual trackers.

The Indonesians had crossed the river that they mistakenly thought formed the border to the British side, and had the advantage of higher ground. Baty’s lead scout killed an Indonesian sentry and then wounded a second man.

Machine-gun fire then pinned down the tracker team and Baty sent the half platoon on a flanking movement which overran the enemy position. The enemy fled straight into another Argyll ambush further up the track. Overall, the enemy had six men killed and left behind 27 complete sets of equipment.

Baty was awarded an MM. The citation stated that the success of the operation was entirely due to his speed of movement, determined leadership and aggressive action, and his ability to get the best out of his men late in the day and after a hard chase.

Brian Richard Mark Baty was born at Camberwell in London on March 21 1933. His father was a taxi driver who had served in the Royal Navy and the Fleet Air Arm during the First World War, while his mother was a seamstress.

In 1940, during the Blitz, he was labelled and at the station ready to be evacuated when his mother decided she could not bear to let him go. His father loaded up the London taxi cab with his mother, elder brother and sister, the cat and the sewing machine and drove them down to St Just in Cornwall.

At first the only accommodation they could find was an abandoned chip shop. The congealed fat was still in the fryers and the family slept on the floor. After a week, they moved to Fowey and, a year later, to Ilsington in Devon, where his father rejoined the forces but this time served in the Army.

It was there that young Brian met Shirley, his future wife, who was aged eight at the time. She held his coat while the local boys tried to beat him up. He won, and all the boys remained friends for many years.

He left school aged 14 and in 1951 enlisted in the Argylls. He was posted to Hong Kong because he wanted to join the 1st Battalion in Korea but he was under-age and took no part in the conflict.

Baty volunteered for the SAS but failed the selection test twice because he had broken his ankles and did not report this until he was unable to walk. He passed in 1955 at the third attempt and served with D Squadron in Malaya as a signaller and interpreter. A good linguist, during his career he learnt Malay, Arabic and German.

In 1958, operations in Malaya were winding down and his squadron was deployed to Oman. The Jebel Akhdar, or Green Mountain, was in the hands of a large rebel group who lived in caves and came down at night to harry the forces of the Sultan of Oman.

The Sultan asked for help from the British Government in dislodging them. On a moonlit night in January 1959, Baty was one of the small force that climbed the 9,000ft mountain and, after a brisk firefight supported by the RAF, defeated the rebels.

He returned to the SAS base, initially at Malvern, then at Hereford, for three years. In 1962 he rejoined the Argylls and his family moved to Singapore. He was commissioned while on active service in Borneo; the award was gazetted in October 1965.

On his return to England, Baty was based at Plymouth with the Argylls and accompanied the 1st Bn on a nine-month tour in Aden. He commanded the recce platoon before becoming the intelligence officer. In July 1967, the Battalion reoccupied the Crater district of Aden – which had been taken over by police mutineers and rebel forces – under the command of Lt Col Colin Mitchell.

Baty returned to Plymouth as second in command of a company before accompanying the Argylls to Berlin. At the end of the two-year tour, the Bn was in danger of being disbanded, and Baty rejoined 22 SAS Regiment as adjutant. During the following four years, he took part in tours in Oman, carrying out operations against the communist rebels.

In April 1976 he moved to Northern Ireland to command D Squadron. Shortly after his arrival, eight of his men based in South Armagh were arrested and accused of crossing the border carrying arms. Baty defended them in a Dublin court and explained that they had made errors because they were using inadequate maps; they were let off with a fine. At the end of an exacting tour, he received a Mention in Despatches.

From 1977 to 1979 he was OC Training Wing. During that period he reorganised the SAS selection procedure. Promoted acting lieutenant-colonel, for the next four years he commanded an individual training unit at a camp close to Hereford.

He was appointed MBE in 1984. The citation paid tribute to his outstanding leadership qualities, meticulous administration and scrupulous supervision. Baty retired from the Army and moved to Sri Lanka, where he worked for the private company Saladin Security for the next four years.

He eventually settled in a village in Herefordshire. He kept in touch with his old comrades and was a stalwart supporter of the British Legion.

Brian Baty married, in 1953, Shirley Grose, who survives him with their two daughters. A daughter predeceased him.

Source : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituar...el-brian-baty-sas-officer-won-military-medal/

 

[BlackRatJan]

Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Baty, SAS and Argylls officer who won a Military Medal in Borneo – obituary

His citation praised his speed of movement, determined leadership and his ability to get the best out of his men

www.telegraph.co.uk