Operation Certain Death: The Inside Story of the SAS’s Greatest Battle by Damien Lewis hits the £1 shelf in my shop.
Century, 2004, Hardback in dust wrapper.
Illustrated by way of: Colour Photographs;
From the cover: As a purely military operation it knocks into a cocked hat the lifting of the Iranian embassy siege Brigadier Andrew Stewart
This, then, is the untold, epic story of the single most daring Special Forces operation since World War Two: the rescue by the SAS of British Forces who were being held captive by the guerrilla gang, The West Side Boys, in the Sierra Leone jungle.
The West Side Boys wear pink shades, shower caps, fluorescent wigs and voodoo charms. They believe these make them invulnerable to bullets -an impression re-enforced by ganja, heroin, crack cocaine and gallons of sweet palm wine. They terrify the local inhabitants by dressing up in monkey skins and abducting children for rape, torture and mutilation. Their motto was: What makes the grass grow? Blood. Blood. Blood.
In 1999 a 12 man patrol of Royal Irish Rangers, who were training government troops in Sierra Leone, were captured by The West Side Boys. They were held prisoner in a fortified jungle hideaway, defended by over 400 heavily armed soldiers.
Operation Barras, the mission to rescue them was a combined force of 100 paras, 12 members of the Special Boat Squadron, helicopters from the Navy and RAF and, spearheading the operation, the 40-strong D squadron of the SAS.
Extensive interviews with the participants and survivors of Operation Barras have produced this blow-by-blow account, in which Lewis recounts the sights, the smells, and the soul-shattering confrontations. Against amazing odds the hostages were rescued. And rather than succeeding in Operation Kill British and Kill All Your Family, the rebels were annihilated bringing an end to ten years of Africas most brutal civil war.
This is the story of the rescue mission of the century in Africas heart of darkness.
Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. Leans slightly otherwise a very well presented copy.
Black boards with Silver titling to the Spine.
[XIV] 459 pages. 9½” x 6¼”.
This book will be listed, sooner or later, for £6.50 on my delightful website… (added to my Military History category.) but get 50% off buying from my blog… below…
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