Death Before Dishonour - True Stories of The Special Forces Heroes Who Fight Global Terror

by Nicholas Davies

  But although the SBS had carried out the first mission, the SAS had been out in the deserts of Kuwait and Iraq before the war had started. Shortly after the initial political decision was taken by the United States and Britain that Iraqi forces must be expelled from Kuwait, the SAS were on their way. By December 1990 the SAS had four squadrons – some two hundred and forty men – on the ground, ready for action. They had been sent to the Persian Gulf with specific orders to find the best ways of rescuing hostages seized by Saddam Hussein’s forces. The Iraqi leader left the Coalition in no doubt that these European men, women and children were to be used as human shields. He ordered they be taken to potential Coalition targets such as power stations, telephone exchanges, command centres, army bases and armed forces headquarters. This policy of dispersal made it extremely difficult for Coalition bombers to strike at any Iraqi targets and for the SAS and other Special Forces to rescue the hostages.

  While the SAS sat on their hands and tried to make feasible plans, diplomats were working behind the scenes to persuade Saddam Hussein to send home the hostages, for they were totally innocent people. And the Iraqi leader came to realise that by taking innocent hostages and using them as human shields he was setting the entire civilised world against his country. The policy worked, for he freed the hostages and permitted them to go home before the war even began. But it had been a close-run thing.

  There were now two vital objectives for the SAS. The first and most important was to find and destroy the mobile Scuds and the second was to disrupt and cut the Iraqi main supply routes, attack convoys and destroy any depots or communication links they came across. This second task was a traditional SAS operation for which they had trained for most of their Special Forces career.

  One squadron was divided into fighting mobile columns, which meant that all the men from Air, Boat and Mountain Troops had to re-train in vehicle skills, learning how to drive across deserts and also hone up on their shooting skills. All had to learn to fire Milan anti-tank missiles, 0.5 inch Browning heavy machine guns and American M19 40mm grenade-launchers. They practised for twelve days, during which they also had to learn how to ride motorbikes at speed across the desert, a demanding and physically exhausting task. A number also had to learn to drive long-wheelbase 110 Land Rovers which were equipped with medium machine guns and had all the kit and the mortars stacked on the back.

  Each troop of eight Land Rovers took along a ‘mother vehicle’, a three-ton truck loaded with everything they might need, including spare ammunition, mortar shells, ammunition, spare rations and kit and the NBC kit – protective clothing used in the event of nuclear, biological or chemical attack. For greater safety, the mother vehicles stayed in the middle of the column of eight. Most of the time two motorbikes led the way, riding some two hundred metres in front of the lead vehicle, scanning the horizon.

  Some SAS men complained that when they set out it seemed as though they were each carrying far too much gear to be truly mobile, and yet it was all very necessary kit, especially for the emergencies that would follow. Most carried an M16 assault rifle and a 9mm Browning high-powered pistol, sixteen magazines of thirty rounds each for the rifle and a couple of magazines of 9mm ammunition for the pistol, plus six grenades and a full evasion kit.

  There was one major complaint from all the British Special Forces sent into the Iraqi deserts – clothing. All Special Forces had been advised to take light tropical clothing because the weather would be warm, even at night. It was an unbelievable basic error on the part of the planners. They should have known full well that at night during December, January and February the deserts of this region are always cold and often near to freezing. To send the Special Forces out dressed in warm-weather clothing was almost criminal. Some suffered frostbite, all felt bitterly cold and most were unable to sleep in the few hours possible because they were simply too cold. Indeed some of the men became so desperate that they pleaded with base camp to send warm clothing, any warm clothing, to keep out the cold. None had been sent to the Gulf by the Ministry of Defence, so quick-thinking quartermasters went to local markets and bought a load of thick, warm Bedouin coats worn by the shepherds and sent them by helicopter to prearranged meeting places. One SAS soldier remarked later, ‘These coats were real lifesavers.’

  One of the first SAS mobile units to cross into Iraq after the start of the war in search of Scuds ran into a large group of Iraqi forces which included ground troops and motorised patrols. Eight SAS men in two Land Rovers were cut off from the main column and surrounded. Under orders, the rest of the patrol drove on, leaving the eight men to fight their way out as best as they could. They were never seen or heard of again and no one ever discovered what happened to them.

  The SAS travelled only at night and, thanks to their night-vision goggles, almost always saw the Iraqi forces before they were seen by them. In fact it seemed that the desert, especially near the main supply routes, was covered in enemy forces driving hither and thither, and on many occasions these clearly had no idea that the line of vehicles they could see on the horizon or even nearer was not friendly forces but an SAS mobile patrol going about its deadly business. Night vision also made it possible for the SAS patrols to approach remarkably close to the enemy forces before opening fire, because during the hours of darkness the Iraqis simply took them to be friendly forces.

  One of many such contacts occurred when a unit of four heavily laden Iraqi trucks led by a jeep was driving towards an SAS mobile patrol of eight Land Rovers and its mother vehicle. The SAS men were ready to open fire, their heavy machine guns loaded and cocked for action as the Iraqis drew almost level. Suddenly there was a roar from the Iraqi officer in the lead jeep as he realised the vehicles coming towards him were not Iraqi. The SAS opened up, driving slowly past the convoy of four and pouring metal into the trucks before the enemy troops had time to open fire.

  As soon as the last SAS vehicle had passed they all turned and came back. This time there was some rapid fire from the Iraqi trucks, but not machine-gun fire, and the SAS let fly once again, ripping the convoy to pieces. The jeep was destroyed, three trucks exploded and were set on fire by Milan anti-tank missiles and the fourth truck crashed into one of the others and burst into flames. The SAS didn’t bother to stay and check if anyone was alive but drove off, changing direction after five miles in case someone had managed to give a grid reference back to base.

  Occasionally the SAS mobile patrols would see some odd, interesting, possibly military, building on the horizon and would call base, giving grid references and air positions if possible.

  One such discovery behind the enemy lines was a communications tower, an ideal target for an SAS mission. The tower, with its antennae, was some two hundred feet high and stood out like a lighthouse on the undulating desert. The SAS team waited until dark before getting a closer look because there was a lot of Iraqi traffic driving up and down the main road near to the tower. Under cover of darkness they moved closer and, through their thermal imagers, realised the tower was a major Iraqi communications centre. The tower was defended by a perimeter wall and fence and surrounding it were a number of small buildings, some temporary, and sixty or more military and civilian vehicles.

  After spending several hours surveying and detailing the building, the defences, the guards and the overall layout, the SAS men withdrew a safe distance into the desert to plan their attack. Over their wireless link with base camp they requested any information about the tower and told of their decision to take out the place and cause as much damage as possible. Base camp confirmed that the communications centre was a vital link for the Iraqi military and that below ground there were believed to be three more floors stuffed with communications gear, forming one of the Iraqi Army’s main communication hubs. It was not known at base camp how many guards were on duty or whether the camp housed a battalion or simply a small section of soldiers.

  When the SAS group carried out their survey from the ground there had not appeared to be too m
any guards on duty at any one time. But they were surprised at the intelligence that there were three underground floors. It made them even more determined that this raid had to be both substantial and successful. They believed, as ever, that surprise would be the key. They only hoped that the guards were few and far between and lightly armed.

  If the entire building with its vital communications equipment inside were destroyed, the SAS men believed, it would cause the Iraqi high command severe problems for some time to come.

  The mother vehicle and the other Land Rovers were left behind, hidden from view in a wadi, or dry river bed, while three Land Rovers, with twelve men on board, moved off towards the objective in the early hours of the morning.

  It was fortunate that there was no moon that night for the SAS were able to approach the tower without attracting any attention from the occasional Iraqi vehicle seen travelling along the main road some half-a-mile distant. It was a bumpy ride across the rugged desert, but the troops had no wish to take the main road and risk meeting an Iraqi army vehicle.

  They intended to hit the tower just before dawn when they hoped the guards would be not at their most alert and all those inside would be fast asleep. A mile from the tower the Land Rovers were parked out of sight, on the main road in a shallow dip in the terrain, and nine of the SAS men continued the rest of the journey on foot. They carried their Heckler & Koch machine-pistols and ammunition, the explosives, charges and timers, an anti-tank missile-launcher and missiles as well as grenades.

  They moved slowly, weighed down with the excess baggage which they intended to leave behind after their attack on the tower. As they moved closer to the objective they had to keep freezing whenever Iraqi vehicles passed along the road running nearby the tower. One hundred yards from the tower three SAS men crawled forward on their bellies to lay the explosive charges which they hoped would blast open the wall sufficiently to give them direct access. The others stayed back with their anti-tank missiles at the ready in case they were needed to blast open a larger hole into the compound. All nine men knew that speed and surprise were essential if the operation was to be successful.

  One man in each team was given the responsibility for laying the explosive charges on the three basement levels below ground and setting the timers. Timing was a difficult decision because they had to give enough time for the man on the lowest basement level to lay his charge and the timer and then make good his escape up three floors. They anticipated that the Iraqi defenders might realise quite quickly that the raid was dedicated to blowing apart their vital military communications system and would therefore move to cut off those men laying the charges.

  Four or five minutes would be too long, giving the Iraqis time the stop the timers and save the tower. In the event, they finally decided on just ninety seconds which meant that everything had to go like clockwork for all the men to escape before the charges exploded. That was cutting it fine.

  But the SAS raiders had a great surprise. When the men reached the wall they discovered a bomb, presumably from a US warplane, had blasted a hole in the wall big enough for men to gain access easily. A tarpaulin had been placed over the hole. This meant that the SAS men could gain access before having to draw attention to their presence by setting off explosives.

  Suddenly, the silence of the night was broken by a single shot. The men looked at each other in anticipation. ‘Let’s go,’ said the Sergeant and the men made for the hole in the wall while those left behind opened fire on the tower. They aimed at any doors and windows visible to them. They wanted the Iraqi technicians and military men inside to believe that there was a large force surrounding the tower and they poured in non-stop metal. The noise was incredible which gave those laying the charges cover to make as much noise as necessary as they made their way into the tower itself and down in to the basements.

  But the SAS were in for a nasty surprise. They had not realised that surrounding the tower were bunkers which they now realised were manned around the clock, and suddenly the sound of heavy machine gun fire reverberated around the desert making an awesome noise. That was the worst surprise they could have imagined – heavy machine guns can cause incredible damage and would make escape without death or injury virtually impossible. One bullet from a heavy machine gun will usually kill a man. A way had to be found to silence them if they weren’t to take heavy casualties.

  The SAS men threw some grenades in the direction of the machine guns and two went silent. It seemed that those manning the Iraqi guns weren’t sure of the exact whereabouts of the attackers which did give the SAS an advantage, for Iraqi bullets were firing everywhere with obviously no target in mind. Clearly they were panicking.

  Despite the Iraqi fire, however, those men laying the charges had run into the tower and down the stairs to the basement without being spotted. They had even been able to lay their charges and set the timers without being disturbed. Their job was done. Some five minutes after breaking through the hole in the wall those SAS men were spotted at the door of the tower waiting for a lull in the firing before making their escape and sprinting across the open space to the hole in the wall.

  Now everyone had to find a way of escaping without being hit. That would be more difficult. The six SAS men guarding the exit had spread out making it appear that there was a large enemy force at their perimeter wall. The metal still honing in on the tower from the SAS men some hundred yards away never ceased which prevented the Iraqis from leaving their bunkers and launching a counter-attack.

  Suddenly, the first major charge exploded deep beneath the tower, followed by two more huge explosions which the SAS could feel as the earth around them gently rumbled and shook. They looked up and saw the tower beginning to sway. This was the moment to make good their escape, their one chance to get the hell out of the place alive. And they took it. But there was no rush, no panic.

  The SAS men had been well trained. Not for one second did any of them forget the preparation they had undergone for such a real-life eventuality. They knew what each had to do in a fighting retreat under heavy fire and they began their retreat as disciplined as if they were on the barrack square. Some moved back twenty yards while others kept up covering fire. Then they kept up fire while their mates moved and went past them before taking up positions. It went like clockwork – the fire-power coming from their mates back near the Land Rovers ensured that the Iraqi defenders had no chance to raise their heads above the bunkers.

  Suddenly from the road came a hail of automatic fire. The SAS had been concentrating so hard on the fire-fight with the tower defenders they hadn’t noticed in the dark of the early dawn that some twenty Iraqi soldiers had taken up a position a hundred yards or so from the Land Rovers and had opened up on the retreating SAS men.

  As the SAS turned some of their fire towards the attackers some more Iraqi soldiers had moved towards them firing as they advanced. This was serious. It seemed for a moment as if their escape route would be cut off and the SAS returning from the tower would be faced not only with those firing at them from the flank, but also, eventually, those Iraqi soldiers launching a counter-attack from the tower.

  But the SAS men back at the Land Rovers had also noticed the danger and turned their fire on the Iraqis advancing from the road. The SAS soldier firing the M19 grenade launcher turned his attention to the road and fired directly at the enemy which stopped them in their tracks. Indeed, some turned and ran for cover behind their vehicles but more grenades from the M19 slammed into the Iraqi army vehicles, shattering them. The Iraqi fire stopped.

  A moment later, the SAS Sergeant screamed ‘Go, go, go’ to those retreating with him and, as one, the SAS men leapt to their feet and ran like hell towards their waiting Land Rovers. The engines were running and everyone was on board waiting for the nine SAS men to join them. As the men reached the vehicles the Iraqis on the road opened fire again, firing a load of tracer, and the machine guns at the tower also joined in the attack.

  As the Land Rovers made their
bumpy way across the rough terrain, those on the back kept up their fire on the Iraqis from the road who were now running flat out across the desert in a bid to cut off the SAS escape. But they couldn’t run and fire accurately and those Iraqis on the road stopped firing because they would have hit their mates running towards the Land Rovers.

  Unbelievably, only one SAS man was wounded – a bullet through the thigh. The injury wasn’t life-threatening.

  Within minutes both the SAS men and the Iraqis stopped firing as the retreating British Land Rovers put some distance between them and the Iraqi troops. Now they had to keep going and somehow make their way back to base and safety. They realised the Iraqis might well send more troops searching for them and so the only way to escape that possible threat was by keeping away from the roads and driving as fast as possible over the rough, boulder-strewn desert. They intended to take the fastest route possible back to their lines with just a couple of detours to put any following Iraqis off their tracks.

  As the Land Rovers bumped their way across the terrain the noise of bombers overhead caught their attention. Then bombs began to drop all around them and they wondered what was going on. They knew they had to be friendly bombers, probably American, but they had no idea why they were dropping their bombs in the middle of an empty desert.

  As they came over the brow of the hill the reason became obvious. Immediately ahead of them, a hundred yards or so away, was an extensive Iraqi army camp with hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers, tents, vehicles, tanks and half-tracks.

  The SAS commander leading the short convoy of Land Rovers made an immediate decision – to keep driving and hope that his courage, his effrontery in the face of overwhelming odds, would work. They proceeded at a leisurely pace down the road which ran through the centre of the Iraqi camp. Every SAS man checked his weapons, ensuring all their magazines were full and they held their breath. Unbelievably, there were no guards on duty at either end of the road and no one seemed to take the slightest notice of this convoy of British Land Rovers, carrying no flags and no Iraqi markings, leisurely moving through the camp.