But troops who served under him in the SAS – motto: Who Dares Wins – were “delighted” at his promotion.

On 29 August, Fordham demanded proof that the captive soldiers were still alive, and Kallay brought with him to that day's meeting the two officers from the group—Marshall, the company commander, and Captain Ed Flaherty, the regimental signals officer. During the meeting, Flaherty shook hands with Fordham and covertly passed him a sketch map of Gberi Bana which detailed the layout of the village and the building in which the soldiers were being held. [14] But despite “suicidal” odds, they rescued their comrades, a local army officer held in a latrine pit and 22 civilian hostages in a firefight lasting just 30 minutes. You're so focussed on what you had to do, you didn't have much time to think about the other aspects of war." Richard Hutchings, former RNAS Yeovilton pilot Fowler, William (2010). Certain Death in Sierra Leone– The SAS and Operation Barras 2000. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781846038501. During that short time, a war had been fought and won over 8,000 miles from home.' State of the art technology

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Confirmed to have died in the operation were 25 West Side Boys, although the true figure is probably higher, possibly as many as 80. The gang's resistance was stronger than expected and there was speculation that more bodies lay undiscovered in the jungle. [47] [48] Several other West Side Boys were captured, while others fled into the jungle. Many of those who fled later surrendered to Jordanian peacekeepers. The Jordanians had received 30 by the end of the day, and 371—including 57 children—had surrendered within a fortnight of Operation Barras, to which Julius Spencer, Sierra Leone's Minister for Information, declared that the West Side boys were "finished as a military threat". [44] [49] 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] 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 . . .

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.’ In his book he also recalls the first of many missions dropping off patrols into the Falkland Islands from HMS Hermes. The day before 846 squadron left the UK, they took delivery of seven sets of NGV's which worked with a system called ANVIS.Fowler, William (2004). Operation Barras: The SAS Rescue Mission: Sierra Leone 2000. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 9780297846284. You're so focussed on what you had to do, you didn't have much time to think about the other aspects of war." 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. 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] Flying like that was not conducive with the sort of missions we had to do inserting special forces patrols into the Falkland Islands but the night vision goggles enabled us to fly right down to ground level at high speed and enabled us to navigate very accurately to the required drop off point." Nocturnal creature Collins, Tim (2005). Rules of Engagement: A Life in Conflict. London: Headline Publishing Group. ISBN 9780755313747.Not wishing to appear in anyway ungracious or churlish, and recognising that I would not be flying for another 12 hours, I duly accepted his kind offer and sat in bed enjoying a pint of lager. This gave cause for much merriment amongst the officers who were in the wardroom at the time, with several of them offering to change places with me.' I couldn't believe it, I said to him 'No, we're from the British ship in the port,' and he said, 'There is no British ship in the port, please get into my car,' and he drove us into base." MI6 safe-house The ground operation was conducted by D Squadron, 22 Regiment Special Air Service, reinforced with a Troop from C Squadron, Special Boat Service — who assaulted Gberi Bana in a bid to extract the Royal Irish—and elements of 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment (1 PARA), who launched a diversionary assault on Magbeni. The operation freed the five soldiers and their SLA liaison officer, as well as twenty-one Sierra Leonean civilians who had been held prisoner by the West Side Boys. At least twenty-five West Side Boys were killed in the assault, as was one British soldier, while eighteen West Side Boys—including the gang's leader, Foday Kallay—were taken prisoner and later transferred to the custody of the Sierra Leone Police. Many West Side Boys fled the area during the assault, and over 300 surrendered to UNAMSIL forces within a fortnight. Not sure whether to classify this as historical fiction or history. Lewis claims much research and reality behind the story at the same time he admits to fictionalizing much of it.