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 Zero Six Bravo contains previously unpublished information detailing the essential involvement of American troops in this astonishing military feat.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.

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.

Cobra Gold

Author: Damien Lewis
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504076478
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
A rogue band of SAS commandos rob a bank in war-torn Beirut—and return decades later to find the gold—in this military thriller based on a true story. Beirut, 1976. As war ravages the country, an unknown band of armed men blast their way into the Imperial Bank of Beirut. Over the next forty-eight hours, they load three trucks with gold bullion and then disappear without a trace. Two weeks earlier, a new SAS Major had tasked his men with planning such a Beirut bank robbery—strictly as an exercise. But when veteran Luke Kilbride has his heist plan rejected as “useless,” he decides to prove the Major wrong by pulling the job off for real. The heist goes perfectly . . . until it doesn’t. Kilbride and his men are forced to hide the loot and make their getaway. Thirty years later, Kilbride and his team are planning their return. The only problem is that a powerful enemy is hell-bent on finding the gold before they do. Kilbride dreams up an audacious mission, and the race is on to reach the gold before the ruthless Black Assassins can catch up with them.

Apache Dawn

Author: Damien Lewis
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1429918373
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Book Description
Damien Lewis's Apache Dawn tells the true story of the brutally intense combat missions of two Apache helicopters over a 100-day deployment in Afghanistan in the summer of 2007. The Apache attack helicopter is one of the world's most awesome weapons systems. Deployed for the first time in Afghanistan, it has already passed into legend. The only thing more incredible than the Apache itself are the pilots who fly her. For the first time, Apache Dawn tells their story—and their baptism of fire in the unforgiving battle of Helmand province. Their call sign was "Ugly"—and there was no better word for the grueling hundred-day deployment they endured. Day after day, four of England's Army Air Corps' finest pilots flew right into the heart of battle, testing their aircraft to the very limit. Apache Dawn takes the reader with them on a series of unrelenting and brutally intense combat missions, from daring, edge-of-the-seat rescues to dramatic close-air support in the white heat of battle. Bestselling author Damien Lewis has been given unprecedented access to these heroic aircrews and to the men on the ground whose lives they saved. It is an astounding story of bravery, skill, and resilience in the face of unbelievable odds. And it is the story of the Apache itself—the ultimate fighting machine.

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.

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 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