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War Grave from Jimmy "Curly" Hall in Les Ormes (Yonne, France)

Who Dares Wins (Latin: Qui audet adipiscitur; Greek: Ο Τολμών Νικά, O tolmón niká; French: Qui ose gagne; Italian: Chi osa vince; Portuguese: Quem ousa vence; German: Wer wagt, gewinnt; Dutch: Wie niet waagt, die niet wint; Hebrew: המעז מנצח) is a motto made popular in the English-speaking world by the British Special Air Service.[1]

The German: Wer wagt, gewinnt is attested from at least the 18th century.[2] Slight variations go back further. The same is likely true of other languages.

As the motto of the SAS, it is normally credited to its founder, Sir David Stirling.[3] Among the SAS themselves, it is sometimes humorously corrupted to "Who cares [who] wins?".[4]

The expression appears in a medieval Arabic book of fairy tales, translated and published in 2014.[5]

The catchphrase "He Who Dares Wins" was commonly used by Del Boy in British sitcom Only Fools and Horses. The shortened form "Qui Audet" is also heard on the second episode of Pennyworth.

The motto has been used by twelve elite special forces units around the world that in some way have historical ties to the British SAS.

The phrase is the motto of Baron Alvingham of Woodfold in the County Palatine of Lancaster, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[6]

Nation Unit Notes
 United Kingdom Special Air Service The SAS, created during WWII, is the first special forces unit to use the motto
 France 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (French: 1er Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine or 1er RPIMa) Heirs to the traditions of the 3rd and 4th squadrons of the WWII SAS whose members were Free French paratroopers. Their motto remains the same as the British one ("Qui ose gagne", meaning "Who dares wins")
 Belgium 1st Parachutist Battalion
Special Forces Group		 During the Second World War, many of its personnel were part of the British 5th Special Air Service and retained the SAS badge, motto and traditions after the war. They were all inherited by the newly formed Special Forces Group when the battalion was disbanded in 2011.
 Australia Special Air Service Regiment
 New Zealand 1st New Zealand Special Air Service Regiment
 Tunisia Unité Spéciale – Garde Nationale
 Rhodesia Rhodesian Special Air Service . 'C Squadron (Rhodesia) Special Air Service' Mil. Abbrev. 'C Sqn SAS'. Later 'Rhodesian Special Air Service Regiment' in Kabrit Barracks, Salisbury (now Harare)
 Greece 1st Paratroopers Brigade Ο Τολμών Νικά (pronounced O tolmon nika)
 Cyprus Special Forces Command Ο Τολμών Νικά (pronounced O tolmon nika)
 Israel Sayeret Matkal Hebrew: המעז מנצח. HaMe'ez Menatzeakh
 Latvia Latvian Special Tasks Unit Latvian: Drošais Uzvar!
 Oman Sultan's Special Force Arabic: من يتجرأ ينتصر!
 Serbia Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (Serbia) Serbian: Ко сме, тај може, ко не зна за страх, тај иде напред

References

  1. ^ Tsouras, Peter G. (2005-10-24). The Book of Military Quotations. Zenith Imprint. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-7603-2340-3. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  2. ^ Carl Friedrich Cramer (1777). Klopstock (In Fragmenten aus Briefen von Tellow an Elisa). Hamburg. p. 141.
  3. ^ Ferguson, Amanda (March 2003). SAS: British Special Air Service. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-8239-3810-0. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  4. ^ Thompson, Leroy (1994). SAS: Great Britain's Elite Special Air Service. Zenith. p. 9. ISBN 978-0879389406.
  5. ^ al-hikayat al-'ajiba wa'l-akhbar al-ghariba [Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange]. Translated by Malcolm C. Lyons. Penguin. 2014. p. 76. ISBN 9780141395036.
  6. ^ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 84. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
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