Operation Certain Death

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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. Phil's military career has taken him to almost every conflict-prone corner of the world, as a soldier in the Armed Forces as well as as an elite operator and mercenary. Negotiators secured the release of six of the soldiers, but were unable to gain the freedom of the remaining five and their SLA liaison officer before the West Side Boys' demands became increasingly unrealistic.

Several rumours emerged that the Royal Irish were warned of the assault, including one that they were warned with the cryptic statement "Sally and Sarah send their regards and so does Dawn" (the SAS are coming at first light). The soldiers in Matthews' helicopter exited and joined the first half of the company group on the ground. With little to do, my thoughts turned increasingly to family, how would Lorraine (his wife) cope if I were never to see her again? At Hastings, the paras focused on live firing exercises and rehearsed various scenarios in a scale replica of Magbeni which had been constructed at the camp.

The British government feared that deployment of forces to Sierra Leone might precipitate an adverse reaction by the West Side Boys against the captive soldiers. Over the preceding fifteen years Lewis had reported from many war, conflict and disaster zones – including Sudan, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, Burma, Afghanistan and the Balkans (see Author's Gallery). 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.

He was injured, and was hospitalised with bizarre tropical diseases – including flesh-eating bacteria, worms that burrow through the skin and septicemia – but survived all that and continued to report. After the release of the soldiers, the West Side Boys' spokesman, the self-styled "Colonel Cambodia", used the satellite telephone to contact the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for a lengthy interview in which they outlined a series of demands, including a re-negotiation of the Lomé Peace Accord and the release of prisoners held by the Sierra Leone authorities. Perfect for fans of Ollie Ollerton, Andy McNab and Mark 'Billy' Billingham - a breathless, edge-of-your-seat thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author and bomb disposal expert, Kim Hughes GC.

Downstream from the villages—approximately 15 minutes' flying time, just out of the West Side Boys' visual and hearing range, the helicopters went into a holding pattern to allow the SAS observation teams time to get into position to prevent the West Side Boys from attacking any of the captives before the extraction teams were on the ground. We at Penguin Random House Australia acknowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the Traditional Custodians and the first storytellers of the lands on which we live and work. The West Side Boys’ leader had managed to develop such a close and mutually beneficial relationship with one of the Jordanians.

The operation aimed to release five British soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment and their Sierra Leone Army (SLA) liaison officer, who were being held by a militia group known as the " West Side Boys". The released soldiers were flown for debriefing to RFA Sir Percivale, of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, off the coast.All that was required now was to cross-deck to HMS Invincible and kill yet more time waiting for darkness and the moment of launch.