John "LOFTY" Wiseman - who is he?

[Thomas Linton]

John “Lofty” Wiseman joined the Parachute Regiment in 1958 and applied for service with the Special Air Service Regiment in 1959. He set a record as the youngest person ever to pass selection at the age of 18. Lofty served with 22 SAS for 26 years and saw active service worldwide in every theatre of operations and special operations required of the British Army between 1959 and 1985.

Lofty ran the Survival Training School for 22 SAS at Hereford, specialising in all areas of survival training (land, sea, wilderness, arctic, jungle, desert… wherever special forces or a civilian might find themselves).

He was Sergeant Major 22 SAS Training Wing, set up the SP Team (Counter Hi-Jack), Sgt Maj B Squadron (Sabre Sqn) 22 SAS, Head of Operational Research 22 SAS and set up the SAS Counter-Terrorist Team. Lofty also trained the first members of the US Green Berets who returned home to form US Special Forces (Delta Force). Lofty also re-developed and managed SAS Selection, deciding who made the grade and joined the Regiment.

Upon retirement in 1985, it was said of him, to directly quote the Commanding Officer of 22 SAS at the time, “Lofty is a legend in this Regiment”.

Lofty's book, 'The SAS Survival Handbook' was first published in 1986. It has since been translated into 18 different languages and has sold almost two million copies. It is undoubtedly the seminal work on survival available today. His much respected publications include:
- The SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea
- The Ultimate Survival Guide
- Outdoor Survival
- The SAS Urban Survival Handbook
- City Survival
- And a number of other publications dealing with military and self-defence subjects.


After retiring from 22 Special Air Service Regiment, John set up the Survival School at Hereford. John has trained survival instructors and consultants, expedition members, overseas survival training specialists, military and civilian.

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[scruffuk]

Hey, great videos, cheers for the link.

I've enjoyed watching them this evening. Lofty IS a legend indeed.

I really liked the look of that Oakwood survival knife when I was younger. Sadly my paper round money got spent all too easily on sweets to get one.