Bravo Two Zero (novel)

Last updated

Bravo Two Zero
Bravo Two Zero.jpg
First edition
Author'Andy McNab'
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Special Forces / Gulf war
Publisher Bantam Press
Publication date
October 1993
Media typePrint (hardback and paperback)
Pages411
ISBN 0-552-14127-5
OCLC 31377154
Followed by Immediate Action  

Bravo Two Zero is a 1993 book written under the pseudonym 'Andy McNab'. [1] [2] The book is a partially fictional account of an SAS patrol that becomes compromised while operating behind enemy lines in Iraq, in 1991. The patrol was led by the author and included another future writer, 'Chris Ryan'.

Contents

Controversy

The content of the book was criticised by fellow Bravo Two Zero patrol member Malcolm MacGown, who stated that "incidents such as teeth extraction and burning with a heated spoon did not happen. It is inconceivable that any such incidents could have occurred without them being discussed or being physically obvious". [3]

Michael Asher's investigative book The Real Bravo Two Zero criticised McNab's estimation of the number of soldiers the patrol encountered. According to Asher, the patrol never actually encountered soldiers, only police and armed civilians. [4]

According to the book, at one stage, the patrol evicted all of the occupants from a taxi and drove until they reached a military checkpoint, where Lane shot and killed one soldier, while the others in the group killed two more. [5] According to patrol member Chris Ryan's second-hand account (presumably taken from the Regimental debrief), the group were actually driven to a police checkpoint by one of the Iraqi occupants of the taxi. They discreetly exited the vehicle with plans to rendezvous on the other side of the checkpoint, but the driver alerted the police, and the group was forced to continue on foot. [6] Asher's investigation supported Ryan's version of events, with no reported soldiers, no reported armed contact, and no reported Iraqi casualties. [7]

The SAS's Regimental Sergeant Major at the time the book is set, and fellow Gulf War veteran Peter Ratcliffe said of the book (and of The One That Got Away (1995), "[It is] insensitive on [Ryan's] and [McNab's] parts to hide behind pseudonyms when they named their dead colleagues in their books, in deliberate contravention of the Regiment's traditions". [8]

Ratcliffe further wrote in his own book, Eye of the Storm, "I was somewhat taken aback by many of [McNab's] anecdotes. He made no mention of the meetings he had with the CO and myself [in] which we tried to persuade him to take a vehicle or cut down on the amount of kit the patrol would be carrying". [9] As with Asher, Ratcliffe also cited McNab's estimate of 250 enemy casualties as counter to any proven theory of military kill ratios, but most importantly, the figure was never mentioned in any of the Regimental debriefs given by McNab at the time. [10]

Subsequent introduction of confidentiality agreements

One of the effects of the book's publication and other memoirs resulted in the MoD introducing confidentiality agreements. These meant that serving members could no longer publish memoirs or accounts without the prior agreement of the MoD. Soldiers who refused to sign these agreements faced being RTU'd: the author of Soldier Five was pursued through the New Zealand courts to stop the publication of his book. Those who did publish their experiences, or were suspected of having been sources for journalists, were blacklisted and cut off from any association with Hereford. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special Air Service</span> Special forces of the British Army

The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, direct action and covert reconnaissance. Much of the information about the SAS is highly classified, and the unit is not commented on by either the British government or the Ministry of Defence due to the secrecy and sensitivity of its operations.

Bravo Two Zero was the call sign of an eight-man British Army Special Air Service (SAS) patrol, deployed into Iraq during the First Gulf War in January 1991. According to Chris Ryan's account, the patrol was given the task of gathering intelligence, finding a good lying-up position (LUP), setting up an observation post (OP), and monitoring enemy movements, especially Scud missile launchers on the Iraqi Main Supply Route (MSR) between Baghdad and North-Western Iraq; however, according to Andy McNab's account, the task was to find and destroy Iraqi Scud missile launchers along a 250 km (160 mi) stretch of the MSR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade</span> Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army

The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles". It is believed to have drawn its membership from across the eastern side of County Tyrone as well as north County Monaghan and south County Londonderry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artists Rifles</span> Unit of the British Army Reserve

The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles is a regiment of the Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R).

Steven Billy Mitchell, usually known by the pseudonym and pen-name of Andy McNab, is a novelist and former Special Air Service soldier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Ryan</span> British special forces sergeant and author

Colin Armstrong,, usually known by the pen-name Chris Ryan, is a British author, television presenter, security consultant and former Special Air Service sergeant.

<i>Bravo Two Zero</i> (film) 1999 British television series

Bravo Two Zero is a 1999 two-hour television miniseries, based on the 1993 book of the same name by Andy McNab. The film covers real life events – from the perspective of Andy McNab, patrol commander of Bravo Two Zero, a British SAS patrol, tasked to find Iraqi Scud missile launchers during the Gulf War in 1991. The names of the patrol members killed were changed.

UK Joint Special Forces Selection is the selection and training process for candidates of the United Kingdom Special Forces: Special Air Service, Special Boat Service, and Special Reconnaissance Regiment. Members of the SAS and SBS undergo selection up to the award of a sand-coloured beret to SAS personnel, whereupon SBS candidates undergo further selection to qualify as Swimmer Canoeists, and SAS personnel undergo further specialist training. SRR candidates undergo the Aptitude Phase, before going on to their own specialist covert surveillance & reconnaissance training.

<i>The One That Got Away</i> (1996 film) 1996 South African film

The One That Got Away is a 1996 ITV television film directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Paul McGann. It is based on the 1995 book of the same name by Chris Ryan telling the true story of a Special Air Service patrol during the Gulf War in 1991.

The history of the British Army's Special Air Service (SAS) regiment of the British Army begins with its formation during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, and continues to the present day. It includes their early operations in North Africa, the Greek Islands, and the Invasion of Italy. The Special Air Service then returned to the United Kingdom and were formed into a brigade with two British, two French and one Belgian regiment, and went on to conduct operations in France, Italy again, the Low Countries and finally into Germany.

The Drummuckavall ambush was an attack by the South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on a British Army observation post in Drummuckavall, southeast of Crossmaglen, County Armagh, on 22 November 1975. The attack, which occurred along the border with the Republic of Ireland, resulted in the deaths of three British soldiers and underlined the inefficiency of conventional military skills to deal with the situation in South Armagh, prompting the deployment of the Special Air Service (SAS) in this area.

<i>Soldier Five</i>

Soldier Five – The Real Truth About the Bravo Two Zero Mission is the third book about the Bravo Two Zero mission during the Gulf War to have been written by a member of the eight-man patrol involved.

Sergeant Alastair Ira Slater, MM was a British Army soldier who served in 'B' Squadron, Air (7) Troop, 22 Special Air Service (SAS), who was killed on 2 December 1984 in a confrontation with the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Kesh, a village in County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The operation led to the deaths of Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde and Kieran Fleming, and the arrest of the others. The IRA members had been attempting to ambush a Royal Ulster Constabulary police car with a land mine at the time. Slater was posthumously awarded the Military Medal for his role in the action.

Michael Asher is an English desert explorer, writer, historian, and deep ecologist. He has been acknowledged as one of the world's leading experts on the desert and its nomadic peoples. He has travelled and lived in the Sahara and the Arabian desert, published both non-fiction and fiction works, some of them based on his explorations and encounters, and presented several documentaries based on his published works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Ratcliffe</span> British Army officer (born 1951)

Major Peter Ratcliffe, is a former British Army soldier and commissioned officer who served in the Parachute Regiment and the Special Air Service in a career of almost thirty years, during which he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry in action during the Gulf War. He is the author of the book The Eye of the Storm (2000).

<i>The One That Got Away</i> (book)

The One That Got Away is a 1995 book written under the pseudonym 'Chris Ryan' concerning the SAS patrol Bravo Two Zero, which was dropped behind enemy lines in Iraq in 1991. The author was a member of the patrol and tells of his 8 day escape on foot to the Syrian border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lofty Large</span> British writer and soldier

Donald "Lofty" Large was a British soldier and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nish Bruce</span> British soldier

Charles Christian Cameron "Nish" Bruce, was a British Army soldier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kesh ambush</span>

On 2 December 1984, a four-man Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) active service unit was ambushed by a British Army Special Air Service team while attempting to bomb a Royal Ulster Constabulary patrol who they had lured to Drumrush Lodge Restaurant. Two IRA volunteers and one SAS soldier were killed during the action.

References

  1. ↑ Asher, Michael (2003). The Real Bravo Two Zero. England: Cassell. p.  2. ISBN   0-304-36554-8.
  2. ↑ Hanks, Robert "Andy McNab: The hidden face of war" The Independent, Nov 19, 2004
  3. ↑ Boggon, S (7 December 2000). "How one SAS patrol launched a fusillade of 'kill-and-tell' books, then a fierce war of words". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 July 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Asher, Michael (2003). The Real Bravo Two Zero. England: Cassell. ISBN   0-304-36554-8.
  5. ↑ McNab, Andy (1993). Bravo Two Zero. Great Britain: Bantom Press. p.  165. ISBN   0-552-14127-5.
  6. ↑ Ryan, Chris (1995). The One That Got Away. London: Century. p. 224. ISBN   978-0-09-964161-2.
  7. ↑ Asher, Michael (2003). The Real Bravo Two Zero. England: Cassell. p.  137. ISBN   0-304-36554-8.
  8. ↑ Asher, Michael (2003). The Real Bravo Two Zero. England: Cassell. p.  247. ISBN   0-304-36554-8.
  9. ↑ Ratcliffe, Peter (2000). Eye of the Storm. England: Michael O'Mara Books Limited. p. 428. ISBN   1-84317-052-3.
  10. ↑ Ratcliffe, Peter (2000). Eye of the Storm. England: Michael O'Mara Books Limited. p. 429. ISBN   1-84317-052-3.
  11. ↑ Neville, Leigh, The SAS 1983–2014 (Elite), Osprey Publishing, 2016, ISBN   1472814037 ISBN   978-1472814036, p.29,
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.