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During the allied invasion of Iraq in 2003, SBS teams, working with US Navy Seals, secured and scouted the beaches on the Al Faw Peninsula, paving the way for amphibious landings. Other SBS teams secured the southern oil fields. One Land Rover column of around 60 SBS men, operating in the North, were ambushed by Iraqi forces and had to fight their way out of trouble. Excellent maps and photos. I only wish more had been told about operations in the Aegean and less on Mark Clark's attempted negotiation with the Vichy French to not resist the Operation Torch Allied landings (as the SBS played basically a transport role here). Good accounts of the role British subs played in the Med (a topic that gets little ink vis-a-vis the role of U-Boats in the North Atlantic) Montanaro who, on April 12, 1942, pulled off one of the most astonishing missions of the war. Tasked with sinking a German tanker filled with copper ore in Boulogne Harbour, Montanaro and his paddler Sergeant Freddie Preece were dropped off by motor launch three miles from the harbour entrance just after midnight. It is incredibly refreshing to read of these fabulously daring missions: of men of astonishing courage blowing up bridges, surveying invasion beaches, sinking ships in harbour and making clandestine rendezvous with secret agents – all by canoe and midget submarine …This is a terrific book, written with all the gusto, thrills and heady excitement these SBS operations richly deserve. It really is one of the most enjoyable histories I’ve read in many a year’
An absolute must-read if you are a fan of derring-do and Andy McNab. I am going to be telling everyone to buy it’There were, however, lighter moments. Determined to train his men how to live off the land, Courtney invited an elderly eccentric called Jim Branson, the great-uncle of Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson, to show his men how to survive on plants. A week later, a "gnome-like old gentleman" arrived at Ardrossan on an ancient bicycle. Before the pandemic, I went to Belfast to do a fundraiser for injured police officers. We had a female officer with an MP5 in her bag and a covert convoy," he says. Books introduce us to new worlds, exciting characters and possibilities that ignite our imagination. Whether it’s a dangerous Thriller that gets your heart racing, or a quirky debut with a distinct voice you just can’t put down; a great book can whisk you away somewhere new and stay with you for a lifetime.
The decision had disastrous consequences. "They could have done with that offer of markers," wrote one historian. "The whole assault force set its predetermined course for the unseen shore from its start point 12 miles out to sea. The book is told through the eyes of an SBS veteran with the moniker, 'Grey', who commands a Pinkie driven by 'Moth' and its HMG manned a U.S. SOF embed known as 'the dude'. Nigel Willmott’s Coppists did vital war work, losing several men in the process. But their finest hour was in preparing the ground for D-Day. First, during the night of New Year's Eve 1943, two of Willmott's best men ‑ Major Logan Scott-Bowden and Sergeant Bruce Ogden-Smith ‑ swam ashore in a highly risky mission to take samples from Gold Beach in Normandy to confirm the sand was firm enough for Allied vehicles to land. What does he mean? He answers by telling me about the time he went incognito with Kevin Dutton to Broadmoor: "He [Kevin] was asking this serial rapist about whether he felt confined. And he replied: 'No, you're the one who's in prison, Doctor. I'm free in here' - pointing at his head. And then he looked at me and said: 'Ask him, he knows.' It's true some psychopaths can just spot one another." Although I'm not terribly keen to get on the wrong side of McNab, for obvious reasons, I do feel obliged to mention claims he only carries on with the anonymity stuff all these years on because it's become his trademark.Its members launched in flimsy canoes from submarines and operating at night, though a small force the SBS and its forerunners played a key role in landings in the Mediterranean and of course D-day. McNab's gripping account of the troubled Bravo Two Zero patrol is full of fascinating detail, including insights into the planning and execution of SAS missions. Riveting … Saul David has shown great skill in pulling the disparate threads of unit reports into a cohesive story. The knowledge of those involved, their bravery and jeopardy, will grip the general reader’
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