Pacino - SAS: Sierra Leone – Deliver A Blow: The True Story of Operation Barras

Sierra Leone:

Deliver A Blow

Andy Pacino

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the author.

Version 17.

nd Edition V 2017

Published by No Ordinary Family

Copyright 2016 Andy Pacino

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9781521339107

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the brave men and women of Britains Armed Forces who, day after day, put themselves in danger in order to protect our shores and our citizens. Recent Governments seem Hell bent on making our Armed Forces tough jobs even more difficult, and demoralise them even further by putting retired soldiers on trial for doing as they had been asked by the very politicians who now aim to shackle them. 2017 saw the release of Sgt Alex Blackman, a serving Marine, after he was erroneously found guilty of murdering an enemy combatant. The same year has seen a threat to former S pecial Air Service (SAS ) soldier, Colin MacLachlan, for a possible double murder charge, and murder investigations into two former Parachute Regiment soldiers who, while serving in Northern Ireland, were open to attack for every second they served.

A number of years ago we saw Martin McGuinness (thankfully now dead), the very man who refused to deny murdering people during his spell as a senior figure in the Provisional IRA, shake the hand of our Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, an act I am certain would have made her flesh crawl. That Britains Prime Minister allowed this to happen must surely rank as one of the most grotesque slaps in the face our Armed Forces has ever taken, which, in my opinion is an act of cowardice in the face of the enemy.

Gone, it seems, are the days when our service men and women are allowed to protect themselves or their country, using their skill and courage without fear of being hauled off before a court in the years following.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Disclaimer

Acknowledgements

Introduction

One: Kenya

Two: Funerals and Dakar

Three: Welcome To Sierra Leone

Four: Life In Camp

Five: Storms Brewing

Six: Corporal Lashley and Sergeant Jeffers

Seven: On Your Marks

Eight: Get Set

Nine: Go

Ten: Heres Johnny

Eleven: The Hostages Are Safe

Twelve: Getting A Foothold

Thirteen: North Side Attack

Fourteen: Demolition

Fifteen: Back In Camp

Sixteen: Home Again

Seventeen: Debriefing

Eighteen: Regimental Secrecy

Epilogue

Disclaimer

Disclaimer

This book was first written in 2007 and has since been amended and updated. The title was initially banned by the MoD for containing material related to me by a former SAS soldier. I have since re-written the book and removed every single word he told me regarding the SAS mission, Operation Barras. The words of former SAS soldier, known as Vinnie Keane, have been removed in their entirety from this book.

Dean Reagan is a fictional character made up of the many armed services men I have met and spoken to, and he bears no resemblance or relation whatsoever to the aforementioned Vinnie Keane or any other single soldier. Vinnie Keane, nor any other soldier have any links to and have nothing whatsoever to do with this book.

Operation Barras has been openly discussed in the TV show, British Special Forces SAS Documentary: Operation Barras , by the disgraced former Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon (sacked for his part in a lobbying scandal), and there have been other TV documentaries made about it, one of which, Special Forces Heroes: Operation Certain Death , I appeared in as a specialist contributor. Both TV shows contained material from former soldiers, officers and other undisclosed sources.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks go out to the men I have spoken to while researching this book. I spent time interviewing former soldiers from both sides of the fight, and I am eternally grateful for their cooperation and willingness to relive and recount their stories.

Introduction

This is an account of the part a number of soldiers played in Operation Barras, the SAS-led mission to rescue British military hostages in Sierra Leone in September 2000. It is made up of research I conducted over a period of years and from interviews from both sides of the fence ex RUF rebel fighters included into the skirmish. Operation Barras is widely recognised as the most daring and outrageous assault in the history of the SAS Regiment, and lets face it, thats no mean feat.

Its true to say that it was daring, some might say even a little gung-ho: it was certainly an outrageous mission and it was also pretty successful. The men of the UK Special Forces (UKSF) and the supporting paratroopers did what they were asked to do with very few British Army casualties sustained, and every one of the soldiers I have spoken to found the fight exciting. Over the coming pages youll see it was more exciting than you could probably imagine; in fact, when the soldiers who have recounted the tale recall the heat of battle, they often smile to themselves at the thought that, maybe they shouldnt be here now.

As I wrote this I often thought about the group of men Britain had on her side who took on the challenge of Operation Barras and I thought also of the men of the Regiment who are no longer with us: those who have been killed in subsequent operations or accidents the world over. Its a crying pity, but its also part of the job and every one of the men knows the risks when they make the decision to try for Selection (the selection process. Selection is a test for mental and physical endurance that soldiers, sailors and marines must complete to qualify for the SAS) to see if they can match up to the best the world (really) has to offer. Make no mistake here: the SAS is the best soldiering force in the world and they continue to perform miracles where it is not possible for miracles to be performed.

I have grouped together the accounts of a number of men on the ground that day who performed their duty and came out of it winners. Some of the soldiers were bruised, some were injured and one gave his life for what he fought for: his Queen and country. This story is compiled of different soldiers accounts and tells different tales, however, I have woven them into a single, first person narrative and given that narrative a name.

This man is my soldier: he is all soldiers and he is no soldier, he is present and he is past. You will see Dean Reagan crop up in other tales from the Gulf war as his voice represents many, but for this mission he was one of the first men to hit the ground in the rebel camp after leaping into the unknown from a hovering Chinook helicopter. He was amongst the first men through the door into the house where British hostages were being held. He was the bringer of rapid death and he also faced death having no qualms about either. Some soldiers will distance themselves from this mans voice and thats fine. Most will recognise at least a little bit of themselves in him. He has served in the UK, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq and Afghanistan, and he has brought much death upon his enemy.

You will find remarks within these chapters that make it seem like these soldiers wanted to fight, like they wanted to shoot and kill, as though they got a kick out of it in some way and that may distress some readers. Again, make no bones about it; that is true of a lot of soldiers, not only those from the Special Forces. Along their journey there are personality changes, personal realisations and character growth, but in essence what do you think a man is going to do when he signs up to join the Army? He wants to fight. He wants the adrenaline. He wants the rush and the thrill of kill or be killed. When a man joins the Special Forces he wants to prove not to others, but to himself that he is amongst the best and the most elite soldiers on the planet. That he is worthy of the sand coloured beret and, believe me, doing that relies far more on mental capacity than physical strength. It also involves him pitting his wits against some of the most dangerous enemy forces on the planet and yes; he also wants to eliminate those enemies. He wants to kill them by any means necessary.