'Hey, Steve, what did you think of it?'
'I tell you what, Tom, I'm still friggin' shaking, I don't know what to think just yet.'
My comment obviously moved Tom, because he grabbed my arm and said, 'Well, Steve, you've experienced this shit for real and I'm only an actor. It's good for me that you feel this way, because if it has shaken you then I know the film is right.'
He was correct, although there is no way one can compare my combat experience with that of the guys who ran up Omaha Beach and saw the horrors of mass mutilation that day back in 1944. Individual 'one on ones' with the enemy are, by their very nature, a personal battle of survival and just as unnerving for both parties involved. I didn't think any war film could shake me up but this one certainly did.
At the time of writing, The Stowaway has yet to reach what they call in the film industry 'Development Hell'. But I'm the eternal optimist — I have to be because I really believe in the script. So, until the first camera starts to roll, I'll still be stagging on!
* As I described in my first book, Terminal Velocity.
* This was before the final collapse of apartheid in South Africa, when its government was very different.
* These were very small, containing only about ten grams of PE. Their aim was threefold: one, not kill but severely injure a victim, thus requiring two other people to look after the casualty; two, tie up the enemy's medical support; and three, add to the demoralisation of the enemy.
* Described in Terminal Velocity .
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
Acknowledgement
CONTENTS
MAPS: SOMALILAND
MOZAMBIQUE
GLOSSARY
PREFACE
PART ONE
1 MOZAMBIQUE - A NON-REACTIVE CONTRACT
2 COVERT INFILTRATION
3 DAILY ROUTINE
4 ON DEATH'S TRACK
5 COVERING FIRE
6 TEA ATTACK
PART TWO
7 THE LONDON SCENE
8 THE ARAB EXPERIENCE
9 THE UAE AND THE GULF WAR
10 THE WAITING GAME
11 MINE CLEARANCE, SOMALILAND
12 VIPs
13 LIAM AND PATSY
PART THREE
14 THE DIANA TRAGEDY
EPILOGUE
No Fear: The True Story of My Deadly Life After the SAS Page 27
