Ian ‘Bagzar’ Stiles OAM, JP escaped from working-class background to a life of adventure, excitement, and travel. Passing the Australian Special Air Service selection at 18, he was sent to New Guinea. He then saw service in Vietnam at 19 and was leading SAS patrols on his second tour as a sergeant at 22 years of age. Leaving the Australian SAS after a court martial for fighting, he joined the Rhodesian SAS fighting in Zambia and Mozambique. Leaving the military, he took up oil field diving, living, and working in many parts of the world. Retiring from commercial diving he became a dive shop, and charter boat operator and became involved in his community as a shire councillor, justice of the peace, volunteer ambulance driver, and marine rescue volunteer. He co-authored a paper on ‘Euthanising Large Whales with Explosives,’ which was accepted by the International Whale Commission as the preferred method. He has travelled to all seven continents and was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his service to the community. He and his wife Sharon of 48 years have two grown-up daughters and three grandchildren.
Immerse yourself in the riveting true story of a young maverick’s journey from the gritty slums of Melbourne to the elite ranks of Australia’s Special Air Service (SAS) during the tumultuous 1950s and 60s. Witness the struggles of his mother, wed to an abusive man, and how the hardships of his u...