 Western governments were prompted to form specialist anti @-@ terrorist units following the " Munich massacre " . During the 1972 Olympic Games , a firefight between a group of hostage @-@ takers and West German police left a police officer and all the hostages dead . The British government , worried that the country was unprepared for a similar crisis in the United Kingdom , ordered the formation of the Counter Revolutionary Warfare ( CRW ) Wing of the SAS , which became the UK 's primary anti @-@ terrorist and anti @-@ hijacking unit . The SAS had taken part in counter @-@ insurgency operations abroad since 1945 , and had trained the bodyguards of influential people whose deaths would be contrary to British interests . Thus , it was believed to be better prepared for the role than any unit in the police or elsewhere in the armed forces . The CRW Wing 's first operational experience was the storming of Lufthansa Flight 181 in 1977 , when a small detachment of soldiers were sent to assist GSG 9 — the elite West German police unit set up after the events of 1972 . 
