Operation Certain Death

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Over the coming days and weeks, there was plenty of time to reflect on events of recent weeks and months. The day before 846 squadron left the UK, they took delivery of seven sets of NGV's which worked with a system called ANVIS. As I struggled my way to the top of the sleeping bag and managed to extricate myself and sit up, I was greeted by the sight of a very sheepish looking Lieutenant Commander who said, 'terribly sorry 'Royal', can I buy you a beer?' You're so focussed on what you had to do, you didn't have much time to think about the other aspects of war." Richard Hutchings, former RNAS Yeovilton pilot Although they only had to travel eleven miles towards Punta Arenas this had to be done under cover of darkness, while keeping an eye out for hostile forces.

Although that offer was politely declined on behalf of the aircrew by the British Embassy, they did face the world's media. You haven’t seen these people in action. I have. Believe me, if British forces have to come in and rescue us, this place is finished. There won’t be a building left standing.’ ‘Then that, Major, will be a very good thing.’

Not sure whether to classify this as historical fiction or history. Lewis claims much research and reality behind the story at the same time he admits to fictionalizing much of it. Some of those who surrendered went on to volunteer for the new Sierra Leone Army and those who were accepted went into the British-run training programme. Kallay, the gang's leader, recorded a message for broadcast on Sierra Leonean radio urging the remaining West Side Boys to surrender to UNAMSIL. He also identified the bodies of West Side Boys killed in Magbeni and Gberi Bana, which were subsequently buried in a mass grave. [44] But troops who served under him in the SAS – motto: Who Dares Wins – were “delighted” at his promotion.

In his book he describes how Night Vision Goggles were used for the first time in combat and of his role in the failed mission Operation Mikado to mainland Argentina. The deranged killers – known as the West Side Boys – wanted medicines, the release of prisoners taken during a 10-year civil war and an amnesty ­before they would free the peacekeepers from the Royal Irish Regiment. His book is called "Special Forces Pilot: A Flying Memoir of the Falklands War" and is published by Pen and Sword Books. Dorman, Andrew M. (2009). Blair's Successful War: British Military Intervention in Sierra Leone. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9780754672999. COBRA is a British government committee convened to handle national crises. The committee is named after the room in which it meets—the Cabinet Office Briefing Room—and usually known as "COBRA" or "Cobra" or sometimes "COBR". Similarly to the SAS, COBRA first became known to the public during the Iranian Embassy siege. [29] [30]Several members of A Company were new recruits who had only completed basic training two weeks prior. Lowe decided that replacing them with more experienced soldiers would risk undermining the cohesion and morale of the company, but several specialist units from elsewhere in 1 PARA were attached to A Company to bring the company group up to the required strength, including a signals group, snipers, heavy machine gun sections, and a mortar section. [18] [19] The additional firepower was included to maximise the options available to the planners, given that the West Side Boys had a numerical advantage and that additional resources would not be immediately available should the operation run into difficulties. [20] Speaking to Dodge Woodall on the Eventful Lives podcast, Phil said the plan to get them out - officially called Operation Barras - was deemed so deadly as "the only real option was to fly a helicopter straight into the middle of the village at first light". I felt something of how a condemned man must feel in the hours before his execution; the minutes seemed like hours. Well-told of a successful SAS rescue mission in Sierra Leone. Multiple points of view and roughly straight timeline increases drama. American readers are reminded that other parts of the world are in crisis and other major powers are doing something about it. Other nations, especially UN peacekeepers, don’t come off so well.

During that short time, a war had been fought and won over 8,000 miles from home.' State of the art technology The returning Chinook, carrying the remainder of the A Company group including second-in-command (2IC) Captain Danny Matthews, came under fire from a heavy machine gun in Magbeni. It then returned fire from its door-mounted M134 Miniguns before being promptly joined by one of the 657 Squadron Lynx helicopters which strafed the HMG until it ceased firing. The soldiers in Matthews' helicopter exited and joined the first half of the company group on the ground. As the company group moved forward, an explosion—possibly a mortar fired by the British fire support group—injured seven men, including company commander Major Matthew Lowe, one of the platoon commanders, a signaller, and two of Lowe's headquarters staff. [42]

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Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth The SAS located the captive British soldiers from the latter's shouts of "British Army, British Army!", though Bangura had been held separately and proved more difficult to locate. He was found in a squalid open pit, which had been used by the West Side Boys as a lavatory, [37] and had been starved and beaten during his captivity, and thus had to be carried to the helicopter. Less than 20 minutes after the arrival of the SAS, the remaining members of the Royal Irish patrol, including Bangura, had been evacuated from the area. [36]

Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2009). Who Dares Wins: The SAS and the Iranian Embassy Siege 1980. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781846033957. The Falklands War was also the first time Night Vision Goggles (NGV's) were used by the Royal Navy, something that was untested state of the art technology at the time. The bomb-maker has bigger plans in place, designed for maximum destruction. Plans that are personal to Riley - and his family. And he has no qualms about how many innocent bystanders are caught in the firestorm. Negotiators secured the release of six of the soldiers, but were unable to gain the freedom of the remaining five and their SLA liaison officer before the West Side Boys' demands became increasingly unrealistic. Negotiators concluded that these were delaying tactics rather than an effort to resolve the crisis. By 9 September, the soldiers had been held for over a fortnight. Fearing that the soldiers would be killed or moved to a location from which it would be more difficult to extract them, the British government authorised an assault on the West Side Boys' base, to take place at dawn the following day, 10 September. It seemed almost incomprehensible that the Squadron had embarked in HMS Hermes as recently as just over 100 days earlier.Richard Hutchings was one of a handful of flight commanders who flew patrols of SAS and SBS patrols into the Falklands.