Bravo Two Zero

Author: Andy McNab
Publisher: Island Books
ISBN: 0307831868
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449

Book Description
Their mission: To take out the scuds. Eight went out. Five came back. Their story had been closed in secrecy. Until now. They were British Special Forces, trained to be the best. In January 1991 a squad of eight men went behind the Iraqi lines on a top secret mission. It was called Bravo Two Zero. On command was Sergeant Andy McNab. "They are the true unsung heroes of the war." -- Lt. Col. Steven Turner, American F-15E commander. Dropped into "scud alley" carrying 210-pound packs, McNab and his men found themselves surrounded by Saddam's army. Their radios didn't work. The weather turned cold enough to freeze diesel fuel. And they had been spotted. Their only chance at survival was to fight their way to the Syrian border seventy-five miles to the northwest and swim the Euphrates river to freedom. Eight set out. Five came back. "I'll tell you who destroyed the scuds -- it was the British SAS. They were fabulous." -- John Major, British Prime Minister. This is their story. Filled with no-holds-barred detail about McNab's capture and excruciating torture, it tells of men tested beyond the limits of human endurance... and of the war you didn't see on CNN. Dirty, deadly, and fought outside the rules.

Bloody Heroes

Author: Damien Lewis
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1787461475
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
This is the story of Operation Telic — the opening assault of the Iraq war — undertaken by crack British troops. The mission was to seize the Al Faw peninsula, the transition point for most of the country’s oil supplies, and to take it speedily, to prevent the blowing-up of oil fields.

Zero Six Bravo

Author: Damien Lewis
Publisher: Quercus
ISBN: 1623651387
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 315

Book Description
Damien Lewis has spent twenty years reporting from conflict zones around the world. Zero Six Bravo--a Sunday Times number one bestseller--tells the story of "sixty special forces against 100,000--a feat of arms to take the breath away." (Frederick Forsythe) They were branded as cowards and accused desertion. But nothing could be further from the truth. Ten years on, the story of these sixty men can finally be told. In March 2003, M Squadron--an SBS unit with SAS embeds--was sent 1,000 kilometers behind enemy lines on a true mission impossible, to take the surrender of the 100,000-strong Iraqi Army 5th Corps, an operation so risky it earned the nickname â??Operation No Return' right out of the gate. Caught in a ferocious ambush by Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen, plus the awesome firepower of the 5th Corps' heavy armor, and with eight of their vehicles bogged in Iraqi swamps, M Squadron launched a desperate bid to escape, inflicting massive damage on their enemies. Running low on fuel and ammunition, outnumbered, and outgunned, the elite operators destroyed sensitive information and prepared for death or capture as the Iraqis closed their deadly trap. Zero Six Bravo contains previously unpublished information detailing the essential involvement of American troops in this astonishing military feat. Zero Six Bravo recounts in vivid and compelling detail the most desperate battle fought by British and allied Special Forces trapped behind enemy lines since World War Two.

Maverick One

Author: David Blakeley
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409144143
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
The explosive sequel to the bestselling PATHFINDER. For the first time ever an elite British operator tells the gruelling story of his selection into the Pathfinders - Britain's secret soldiers. Pathfinder selection is a brutal physical and psychological trial lasting many weeks. It rivals that of the SAS and takes place over the same spine-crushing terrain, in the rain-and-snow-lashed wastes of the Welsh Mountains. For two decades no one has been able to relate the extraordinary trials of British elite forces selection - until now. Captain David Blakeley goes on from completing selection to serve with the Pathfinders in Afghanistan post 9/11, where he had a gun held to his head by Al Qaeda fighters. From there he deploys to Iraq, on a series of dramatic behind- enemy-lines missions - wherein he and his tiny elite patrol are outnumbered, outgunned and trapped. Maverick One is unique and extraordinary, chronicling the making of a warrior. It culminates in Blakeley fighting back to full recovery from horrific injuries suffered whilst on operations in Iraq, to go on to face SAS selection.

The Elite

Author: Ranulph Fiennes
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471156648
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 494

Book Description
"Riveting stuff. Through the prism of his experience of the military elite, Fiennes presents a dazzling history of the world's best fighting units to amaze and enthral the reader." Damien Lewis, Bestselling author of Zero Six Bravo Inspired by the heroic war time escapades of his father, as well as drawing on his own experiences in the special forces, acclaimed adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes thrillingly explores the history of elite military units, from ancient Sparta to the War on Terror. The best of the best, these elite units have frequently been immortalised on the big screen, and in computer games, for their daring deeds. Whether it be fighting on the battlefield, storming forts and castles, rescuing hostages, high stakes reconnaissance missions or the dramatic assassination of enemy leaders, these are the men who are relied upon to undertake dangerous missions of the highest stakes. While celebrating the heroics of groups such as the SAS and Navy Seals, Sir Ranulph also reveals the true stories of infamous organisations such as The Assassins and Templar Knights. Uncovering their origins, and examining their weapons and tactics, Sir Ranulph showcases these units most famous missions, and reveals the men behind them. Showing incredible courage, often in the face of impossible odds, these units have also changed the course of history along the way. Sir Ranulph discusses the reasons behind their success and failures, with many notorious conflicts often being decided by these elite units facing off against each other, with the victor not only evolving warfare, but also consigning their opponent to history. While these units traditionally prefer to operate in the shadows, Sir Ranulph brings their remarkable histories to the fore, told with his trademark ability to weave a story which has seen him become one of Britain’s most beloved bestselling authors.

The Nazi Hunters

Author: Damien Lewis
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504055551
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388

Book Description
The gripping “untold story” of the Secret Hunters, deep-cover British special forces who pursued Nazi fugitives from justice after World War II (Daily Mail). In the late summer of 1944, eighty British Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers undertook a covert commando raid, parachuting behind enemy lines into the Vosges Mountains in occupied France to sabotage Nazi-held roads, railways, and ammo dumps, and assassinate high-ranking German officers, undermining the final stand of Hitler’s Third Reich. Despite their successes, more than half the men were captured, tortured, and executed. Although the SAS was officially dissolved when the war ended, a top-secret black ops unit was formed, under Churchill’s personal command, to hunt down the SS commanders who had murdered their special forces comrades, as well as war criminals from concentration camps who had eluded the Nuremberg trials. Under the cover of full deniability, “The Secret Hunters” waged a covert war of justice and retribution—uncovering the full horror of Hitler’s regime as well as dark secrets of Stalin’s Russia and the growing threat of what would become the Cold War. Finally revealing the fascinating details of the secret postwar mission that became a central part of the SAS’s founding legend, Damien Lewis “delves into some of the darkest days of the regiment’s history to tell a story of tragedy, valor and revenge . . . [a] remarkable story” (War History Online).

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Author: Damien Lewis
Publisher: Quercus
ISBN: 1623659191
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388

Book Description
From the award-winning historian, war reporter, and author Damien Lewis (Zero Six Bravo, Judy) comes the incredible true story of the top-secret "butcher-and-bolt" black ops units Prime Minister Winston Churchill assigned the task of stopping the unstoppable German war machine. Criminals, rogues, and survivalists, the brutal tactics and grit of these "deniables" would define a military unit the likes of which the world had never seen. When France fell to the Nazis in spring 1940, Churchill declared that Britain would resist the advance of the German army--alone if necessary. Churchill commanded the Special Operations Executive to secretly develop of a very special kind of military unit that would operate on their own initiative deep behind enemy lines. The units would be licensed to kill, fully deniable by the British government, and a ruthless force to meet the advancing Germans. The very first of these "butcher-and-bolt" units--the innocuously named Maid Honour Force--was led by Gus March-Phillipps, a wild British eccentric of high birth, and an aristocratic, handsome, and bloodthirsty young Danish warrior, Anders Lassen. Amped up on amphetamines, these assorted renegades and sociopaths undertook the very first of Churchill's special operations--a top-secret, high-stakes mission to seize Nazi shipping in the far-distant port of Fernando Po, in West Africa. Though few of these early desperadoes survived WWII, they took part in a series of fascinating, daring missions that changed the course of the war. It was the first stirrings of the modern special-ops team, and all of the men involved would be declared war heroes when it was all over. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare focuses on a dozen of these extraordinary men, weaving their stories of brotherhood, comradely, and elite soldiering into a gripping narrative yarn, from the earliest missions to Anders Lassen's tragic death, just weeks before the end of the war.

Operation Certain Death

Author: Damien Lewis
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 150405556X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 574

Book Description
The terrifyingly true tale of a daring British special forces rescue mission and all-out assault on a savage Sierra Leone guerrilla gang: “What a story!” (Frederick Forsyth, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Day of the Jackal). Officially, the SAS mission was called Operation Barras. The men on the ground called it Operation Certain Death. In 2000, the British Special Air Service (SAS) attempted its riskiest rescue mission in more than half a century. A year before, an eleven-man patrol of Royal Irish Rangers who were training government troops in Sierra Leone was captured and held prisoner by the infamously ruthless rebel forces known as the West Side Boys. Their fortified base was hidden deep in the West African jungle, its barricades adorned with severed heads on spikes. Some four hundred heavily armed renegades were not only bloodthirsty—they were drink-and-drugs crazed. The guerrillas favored pink shades, shower caps, and fluorescent wigs, draping themselves in voodoo charms they believed made them bulletproof—a delusion reenforced by the steady consumption of ganja, heroin, crack, and sweet palm wine. This was the vicious and cutthroat enemy British special forces would confront in order to rescue their own. Featuring extensive interviews with survivors, this gritty, blow-by-blow account of the bloody battle that brought an end to ten years of Africa’s most brutal civil war is “as good as any thriller I have ever read. This really is the low down” (Frederick Forsyth).

Churchill's Hellraisers

Author: Damien Lewis
Publisher: Citadel Press
ISBN: 0806540761
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Book Description
From award-winning war reporter Damien Lewis, the untold story of the heroic hellraisers who stormed a Nazi fortress—in one of the most daring raids of World War II . . . Winter, 1944. Allied forces have liberated most of Axis-occupied Italy—with one crucial exception: the Nazi headquarters north of the Gothic Line. Heavily guarded and surrounded by rugged terrain, the mountain fortress is nearly impenetrable. But British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is determined to drive a dagger into the “soft underbelly of Europe.” The Allied’s plan: drop two paratroopers into the mountains—and take the fortress by storm . . . The two brave men knew the risks involved, so they recruited an equally fearless team: Italian resistance fighters, escaped POWs, downed US airmen, even a bagpipe-playing Scotsman known as “The Mad Piper.” Some had little military training, but all were willing to fight to the death to defeat the Nazi enemy. Ultimately, the mission that began in broad daylight, in the enemy’s line of fire, would end one of the darkest chapters in history—through the courage and conviction of the unsung heroes who dared the impossible . . . “One of the most dangerous and effective attacks ever undertaken by this Regiment against the enemy.” —Lt Col Robert Walker‐Brown, MBE DSO, senior SAS commander “Action-packed . . . Battleground history buffs will be entertained.” —Publishers Weekly

Stranger In My Heart

Author: Mary Monro
Publisher: Unbound Publishing
ISBN: 1911586696
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 275

Book Description
Stranger In My Heart is about the search for understanding oneself, answering the question “Who am I?” by seeking to understand the currents that sweep down the generations, eddy through one’s own persona and continue on – palpable but often unrecognised. My father fought at the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941, was taken prisoner by the Japanese and then escaped in February 1942, making his way across 1200 miles of inhospitable country to reach China’s wartime capital at Chongqing. Seventy years later I retraced his steps in an effort to understand a man who had died when I was 18, leaving a lot of unanswered questions behind. My book is the quest that I undertook to explore my father’s life, in the context of the Pacific War and our relationship with China. A picture of a man of the greatest generation slowly unfolds, a leader, a 20th Century Great, but a distant father. As I delve into his story and research the unfamiliar territory of China in the Second World War, the mission to get to know the stranger I called ‘Dad’ resolves into a mission to understand how my own character was formed. As I travel across China, the traits I received from my father gradually emerge from their camouflage. The strands of the story are woven together in a flowing triple helix, with biography, travelogue and memoir punctuated with musings on context and meaning.