Operation Certain Death

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Officially, the SAS mission was called Operation Barras. The men on the ground called it Operation Certain Death. 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] But after holding the five for 17 days, the rebels stepped up their demands and insisted on a new government. One of his deployments was in the Falklands War, as a pilot which involved taking SAS and SBS patrols to the Falkland Islands and Argentine mainland.

The military veteran said Operation Barras - or 'certain death' - gave him a real buzz Credit: Peter Jordan - The Sun

That night they were flown to Santiago and even invited to spend the night at the General's palace. Memorial to 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery (Tinnion's unit prior to being attached to the SAS) in Plymouth, bearing Tinnion's name Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth But our fate is in the hands of a man who has his own demons to face. And they might just push him over the edge . . . Out of the car stepped a captain of the Chilean carabineros - who came up to us in spanish and said, 'Are you the three British airmen?' It was just like the moment of out of the TV programme, 'Allo 'Allo.

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. 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]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. Richard Hutchings was one of a handful of flight commanders who flew patrols of SAS and SBS patrols into the Falklands. Although Richard's part of the mission was successful, overall it failed because the Special Forces team encountered a difficulty on the ground that prevented them from completing their task. Breathtaking. Kim Hughes is the man who stands between us and oblivion' Andy McNab (author of Bravo Two Zero) This is the point in the operation where dog sees rabbit, and dog is most definitely going to go for it. It is at this moment that Operation Certain Death has become Judgement Day for the West Side Boys.’

Some parts of the book where hard going when he was trying to capture the different accents by writing like they sound but once your used to this it becomes easier to understand. It was decided that the best way to proceed was to mount an operation to destroy the Super Etendards, which carried the Exocet missiles at the Argentinian base on Rio Grande, 400 miles west of the Falkland Islands. In his new job as Director of Special Forces he will report to David Cameron and liaise with MI5 and MI6 .A powerful docu-novel, which conveys the danger of the operation and the courage of those who went in to successfully rescue their colleagues. Sunderland Echo 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?' Perfect for fans of Ollie Ollerton, Andy McNab and Mark 'Billy' Billingham - a breathless, edge-of-your-seat thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author and bomb disposal expert, Kim Hughes GC.