Zero Six Bravo
Page 29
OPSEC (Operational Security) 58–9
Orion 141
Pinkies 6, 20, 24–5, 28–33, 59, 75–7, 78, 112, 116–18, 119–20, 188, 202
explosive charges 214, 219, 226–7
Qala Janghi 35, 50–1
quad bikes 43, 210–11, 230
red illume 91
Republican Guard 69
Rommel, Field Marshal Erwin 20
RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) 176
Sabkhat Abu Chars 72
Saddler, Dave (Moth) 161–2
1st LUP (lying-up point) 92, 93, 94
2nd LUP (lying-up point) 6, 108–10
3rd LUP (lying-up point) 131–2
5th LUP (lying-up point) 152
7th LUP (lying-up point) 164
8th LUP (lying-up point) 205, 206, 208, 210, 215, 217, 219
ambush 169, 185, 187, 189, 190, 191, 198–201
background 20–1
G2 airfield 76–7, 78
escape 222–4, 237, 239–40, 245, 247, 251, 254, 256–7
extraction 263–4, 268, 270–3, 275–9, 282–4, 289–93, 295, 297–8, 301–2
high-altitude training 33, 34–5, 37
JTAC procedures 23, 96–7, 133, 140, 260–1
Kenya 24, 26, 32
LZ (landing zone) 81, 84, 85, 86, 87–8, 89, 90–1
Ninawa Desert 116–18, 119, 123, 140–2, 146–7
SAMs (surface-to-air missiles) 149
SAS (Special Air Service) vii, viii, 5, 18, 19, 55, 62, 71, 76–7
First Gulf War 17, 56
Kenya 27
Oman 25, 27
Sierra Leone 109–10
World War II 55–6
SBS (Special Boat Service) vii, viii, 5, 19, 55
Afghanistan War 15, 35, 50
First Gulf War 56
Nisha, MV 16–17
Sierra Leone 109–10
September 11th terror attacks 15, 16
Sig Sauger 9mm pistols 74
SLARs (shoulder-launched assault rockets) 74, 244–5, 255, 270–2
Smith, Andy 18, 99, 130–1
Smith, Edward (Ed)
8th LUP (lying-up point) 211, 220
escape 223, 230, 231–3 236–7, 246, 255, 256, 258
extraction 260, 265, 267, 279–82, 284, 286, 293–4, 297–8
Smith, Jim (Delta Jim) 25–6, 28–9, 35–8, 88
Southern Cross 237
Spann, Johnny 50
Special Forces Headquarters (SFHQ) 232–4, 244, 256–7, 258, 260, 282, 286
Stirling, David 20, 309
Sunni Triangle 48
Syria 235–6, 306–7
T-55 main battle tanks 50
T-72 main battle tanks 49, 50, 74–5, 212, 229, 239
Taliban 15, 35
Task Force Tiger (TF20) 148–9
thermal imaging optics 197–8, 201
Times, The 307–8
Timms, Sean 61–2, 66
Tinker, Gav 95–6, 100
TLZs (tactical landing zones) 102, 112, 116, 163
Turkey 38–40, 46
United Nations (UN) 14, 45
United States 4th Army 39
United States 10th Special Operations Group 3 10
United States 173rd Airborne Brigade 310
Vickers Jeeps 124
Viper Five Three 257, 263–6, 267–8, 270–3
weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) 14
World War II 20, 55–6, 309
David Stirling, founder of the SAS, in the North African desert. Driving open-topped Pinkies – desert-adapted Land Rovers – M Squadron’s 2003 Iraq operation owed much to the tradition of Stirling’s long-distance desert raiding operations. Getty
M Squadron was fresh from a marine counter-terrorism ship assault in the English Channel – seizing the MV Nisha, a vessel suspected of carrying a weapon of mass destruction to attack the UK. Here some of the lads pose with a life ring, having stopped the Nisha reaching London. John Doe
For the MV Nisha assault the SBS were joined by a troop from the SAS, fast-roping from Chinooks on to the ship’s deck to take it by surprise. Such joint SBS–SAS missions set the tone for M Squadron’s Iraq mission to come. John Doe
An SBS Troop formed part of the SAS-led force that went in to rescue soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment held hostage by the rebel group the West Side Boys, in the Sierra Leone jungle, in 2000. Here they pose after the operation’s successful conclusion. John Doe
Joint SAS and SBS selection over the notorious Pen y Fan, in the Brecon Beacons, terrain that has been known to break many a man. Selection is designed to be incredibly tough both physically and psychologically, so that those who pass can survive the incredible rigours of Special Forces operations – and few tests would prove greater than M Squadron’s mission into Northern Iraq. Andrew Chittock
American Special Operations Forces like these trained with M Squadron in Kenya, in preparation for deployment on their Iraq missions. US Special Forces often deploy alongside their British counterparts, but in the Iraq War none would secure a mission of such scope and daring as M Squadron’s into northern Iraq. Dan O’Shea
Tier 1 Special Forces – SAS or SBS – are distinguished by their weaponry and kit such as their lightweight C7 Diemaco assault rifles (fitted with silencers). They have a Sig Sauer 226 pistol as a secondary weapon, slung on a chest rig for ease of access, and to avoid it catching as they debus from a vehicle or helicopter. They’re wearing US camos, which are harder wearing, and body armour with two ceramic plates to front and rear, for extra stopping power. They’re also carrying Blue Force Tracker, plus secret satellite and image-feed technology, to facilitate fast-moving operations. John Doe
The M Squadron operators were flown north to leapfrog over the Euphrates River by RAF aircrew piloting Chinooks. This is typical of the terrain M Squadron ran into at the northern end of their mission, as it approached the Jabal Sinjar – the Mountain of Eagles. Corbis
When M Squadron deployed on its Iraq mission outriders on quad bikes scouted routes ahead and kept watch for the enemy. An entire Squadron numbering some thirty vehicles was a real force to be reckoned with, but it threw up a massive dust cloud when moving through the open desert, which was visible for miles around. It was like an invitation to the enemy: come and get us. Andy Chittock
No matter how heavily camouflaged and dirtied-up they were, in the billiard-table-flat terrain of the Ninawa Desert M Squadron’s vehicles stood out like the proverbial dog’s bollocks. It would take them days to cross the desert, for all of which time the enemy could be tracking and hunting them. Andy Chittock
With Iraqi civilians always seeming to be present it was impossible to keep tabs on the enemy. The Iraqi forces used such ‘dickers’ – enemy watchers disguised as civilians – to track M Squadron’s progress, and plan and launch the devastating series of attacks that followed. Andy Chittock
M Squadron’s objective was to take the surrender of the Iraqi 5th Corps, some 100,000 infantry, equipped with a fearsome array of weaponry including Lion of Babylon main battle tanks, an upgraded version of the Russian T72. British intelligence reported the 5th Corps as being ripe for surrender. Events were to prove otherwise. Getty
Die-hard for Saddam. Fanatical Saddam loyalists, the Iraqi Fedayeen militia were known to use Saddam’s hometown, Tikrit, and neighbouring Bayji, as bases from which to mount roving operations. When M Squadron was sent into the Ninawa Desert, it was on a collision course with this fanatical and trigger-happy paramilitary unit. Getty
A desert-adapted landrover at full pelt. Ambushed by a far superior Iraqi force, Grey, Moth, and Dude had no option but to try to outrun and outfight the enemy, as did the rest of M Squadron’s operators, who were split into smaller and smaller groups scattered across the desert. PA
Outrun by Iraqi battle tanks, trucks and 4x4s, the men of M Squadron went to ground in a wadi, but it turned out to be a treacherous quagmire. Bogged-in vehicles were rigged with explosives, but some were captured and paraded before the media – leading to
headlines that these men were ‘cowards who had run away from the Iraqis’. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Reuters
After the battle. Days without any proper sleep and spent on the move through the blistering heat of the Iraqi desert left the men of M Squadron exhausted … even before the bullets started to fly. John Doe