IN MEMORY OF ……FALKLANDS WAR PARACHUTE REGIMENT HERO…… LIEUTENANT COLONEL HERBERT JONES VC . OBE. ( simply known as H Jones) killed in action on 28 May 1982 during the Battle of Goose Green .

 

Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Jones, VC, OBE (14 May 1940 – 28 May 1982), known as H. Jones, was a British army officer and posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross. He was awarded the VC after being killed in action during the Battle of Goose Green for his actions as commanding officer of 2 Battalion, Parachute Regiment during the Falklands War.

ABOVE AND BELOW  : COMMEMORATIVE BRONZE FIGURINE DEPICTING  COLONEL H JONES , 2 PARA  ON DISPLAY IN AND AMONGST THE UK SPECIAL FORCES EXHIBITION AREA  AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL

On 2 April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a remote UK colony in the South Atlantic. The move led to a brief, but bitter war.

Argentina’s military junta hoped to restore its support at a time of economic crisis, by reclaiming sovereignty of the islands. It said it had inherited them from Spain in the 1800s and they were close to South America.

The UK, which had ruled the islands for 150 years, quickly chose to fight. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said the 1,800 Falklanders were “of British tradition and stock”. A task force was sent to reclaim the islands, 8,000 miles away.

In the fighting that followed, 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen lost their lives, as did three Falkland Islanders.

 

 

medals awarded to H Jones posthumously .

Rare bronze statue on plinth ( 18 inch tall ) of Colonel H Jones , now on display at Littledean Jail .

Plaque on side of Rare bronze statue on plinth ( 18 inch tall ) of Colonel H Jones , now on display at Littledean Jail .

Rare bronze statue on plinth ( 18 inch tall ) of Colonel H Jones , now on display at Littledean Jail .

Colonel H Jones memorial situated oa the Falkland Islands

Colonel H Jones memorial plaque

Colonel H Jones gravestone

Memorial , listing some of those soldiers who were killed in action during the 1982 Falklands War

Was Colonel ‘H’ a mad fool?

Last updated at 00:39 12 May 2007

Much has been written about the hero’s death that won Colonel ‘H’ Jones a Falklands VC.

Here, for the first time, is the brutally honest and vivid account of one of the Paras who fought with him.

It raises some deeply unsettling questions

My breath sounded like a storm in my ears. Surely they could hear it? They were only a dozen metres away – no distance at all.

You know you’re really scared when you think your own breathing is going to betray you.

Sliding my weapon into the crook of my arms, I inched forward on my elbows, pushing slowly, very slowly, with my feet.

The slightest sound could lead to catastrophe for our patrol. Every movement I made was carefully measured and weighed.

I was soaked to the skin, and my knees and thighs were bruised by the rocky ground I’d crawled over.

My hands were numb with cold, and the muscles on my neck and shoulders were clenched like a vice. But I had to concentrate.

There was an Argy trench directly in front of me. No enemy visible. One heavy machine gun in place. Couldn’t miss that. I was staring straight down its barrel.

Another trench 20 yards to the left. Two enemy talking – and pink toilet paper everywhere.

The dirty devils had not dug latrines, they’d just walked out of their trenches and fouled the ground in front of their own positions.

This was encouraging. It told us they’d been worn down by the wind and weather and couldn’t be bothered to dig pits in the freezing cold.

If they were similarly sloppy about sentry duty, that was good news for our lads.

Surprisingly, no one seemed to be manning the gun pointing straight up my nose. What was going on in that trench? Better take a closer look.

As I inched forward, I could hear the Argies still chatting away in a low murmur. What were they talking about? Girlfriends? Mothers? The price of penguin meat?

All that mattered was that there was no edge of alarm in their voices; no hint they’d heard anything. I didn’t need Spanish to know they hadn’t rumbled us.

One more push and I was nearly close enough to touch the ice-cold barrel of that machine-gun.

Cloaked by the mist, I lifted myself onto one knee, rifle at the ready, and peered down into the gloom of the trench.

There they were. Three of them. Sleeping like babes, tucked up nicely in their sleeping bags, counting Falklands sheep in their sleep.

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I could have killed all three before they could say their Hail Marys. This was a unit that was exhausted and couldn’t give a damn. More good news for our lads.

It was time to pull back. But as I crawled away in reverse, slowly and deliberately, I had a hunch that we hadn’t discovered all the Argy positions and decided we should look further over to the east.

There was no way that we’d let our mates run into a lead storm that they hadn’t been warned about.

They were depending on us to recce these outlying positions before we launched our attack on Goose Green.

As we began eyeballing the ground we hadn’t covered, we were ready for anything. Or so we thought.

It was Pete Myers, the youngest member of our patrol, who spotted them first, swirling around like spirits in the mist.

“What’s that over there?” he growled.

“Get down,” I ordered. We hit the ground and tried to make out what the hell we were looking at.

One thing was for sure, they weren’t spirits. These things were neighing and whinnying.

“They’re f****** wild horses,” said Steve Jones, our Welsh lead scout. At that moment, they came thundering straight for us. It was scary as hell.

“F*** it. Let’s drop the b*******,” I spat.

“No, don’t!” said Jonesy. “Just lie still and flat! They’ll run over you! Horses hate stepping on living things!”

What did he know that I didn’t? Had he been a hussar before he joined the Paras? I didn’t think so.

There was no time to argue. The herd was upon us. I looked up at them for a moment before pressing my nose to the ground and squeezing my eyes shut.

Heads and manes tossing, they charged over us, pounding the ground in every direction, filling our senses.

I opened one eye and looked up as a mustang leapt over me. I could see the blur of its legs for a split second before one of its hooves slapped into the peat inches from my head.

Then gun shots! One, two, three! The Argies must have stampeded the horses to flush us out and pinpoint our position.

We were done for – laid out in the middle of nowhere with only horse-dung to hide behind.

As the horses vanished into the darkness, I snatched up my rifle and took aim. But it was OK. The shooting had stopped.

The Argies had only been firing to scare the horses off, turning them away from their trenches.

A few relieved shouts and nervous laughter from the enemy. The sight of wild animals coming out of the dark had rattled them, too.

“Everyone all right?” A quick head check confirmed that no one had been hoof-minced.

“How did you know they wouldn’t stamp the f*** out of us?” I asked Steve. “Some ancient bit of Welsh folklore?”

“Nah,” he answered, “Grand National. You know when those jockeys come off at Beechers Brook?

“They just roll into a ball and stay still as f***, then the horses do anything they can not to put a hoof on ’em.”

“Really?” I said. “Interesting.” My heart was pounding, I’d just produced enough adrenaline to fuel a rocket, and my second in command was telling me the reason we’d lived through it was the Grand National.

Still, the Argies didn’t suspect it was us who had spooked the horses or they would have mown the grass with machine guns. God, they were sloppy.

Careless soldiering costs lives, I reflected as we made our way back to base.

Those poor devils were going to discover the truth of that within the next three hours when our lads got stuck into them. The trouble was, so would we.

FLASHBACK. December 1981. Kenya. An hour after dawn.

As I gazed out over the African plain stretching far away into the heat haze, I blinked the salty sweat out of my eyes and tried to concentrate on the view through the sight of my rifle as I searched for the enemy.

Movement was not an option. One absent-minded swat at the cluster of flies drinking on my sweat and the game was up.

We’d laid three long snakes of green parachute cord across the bush and they slithered invisibly through the landscape.

Suddenly one came to life with a rapid tattoo of tugs – a signal from one of the other lads that the enemy was advancing into our trap.

We watched them every step of the way. They were inching forward, knowing we were out there. And every second took them deeper into our ambush.

It was only an exercise. The yellow blank-firing attachments on the muzzles of our rifles showed that. The enemy were just other lads from 2 Para.

But the stakes were high. To the victor went the spoils and that meant the right to taunt the losers over free beer for weeks to come. A prize not to be scoffed at.

Then I spotted him, moving up through the scrub to the foot of the ridge we were lying on, right up with the enemy’s lead section.

It was our boss, 2 Para’s commanding officer, Colonel Herbert ‘H’ Jones.

What the hell was H doing there? He should have been back with his tactical headquarters unit conducting operations, not up with the front platoons.

Mark Sleap saw him too. Sleapy by name but not sleepy by nature, Mark was sharp as a tack and one of our top guys. As H handed out instructions to his men, Sleapy opened up.

The ambush erupted as rifles and machine guns raked the enemy. It was fast, brutal and effective. The colonel was dead. Direct hit.

He wasn’t happy. No one likes to be killed and H humped and grumped about it. “It wouldn’t have happened,” he told Mark later.

“We’d have got you lot with our artillery when we softened up your area before moving in.”

“Maybe, sir,” said Sleapy diplomatically. “But I did get you, sir.”

It was a prophetic moment, a glimpse into a future some six months ahead. Next time, though, 2 Para wouldn’t be sweltering in Kenya; we’d be freezing our backsides off in the Falklands.

ONCE again, H would be leading from the front, where he shouldn’t be, but this time it wouldn’t be an exercise. It would be live rounds and H really would be dead.

The posthumous Victoria Cross he earned at Goose Green is probably the most controversial VC of all time.

The accounts of the events surrounding his death have mostly been written by former officers and military historians.

They’re fine as far as they go, but they can’t tell it like a front-line para – or Toms as we call ourselves – and they haven’t told the whole story. But I can. I was there.

The first thing to say is that H was a cracking bloke, the best boss I ever had in the army.

He was what we called a “crap-hat” – a soldier from a non-Para regiment, and thus a stranger to the coveted red beret – but he made an immediate impact the moment he joined us.

The hard-core Toms loved the way he called battalion meetings in the drill hall and then announced:

“Right, now that you’re all here we’re going on a ten-mile run.”

All the fat HQ wallahs, drivers and officers, who normally skived off battalion runs, were trapped and H ran the life out of them.

Like any good commander, H wanted action and if there was any glory about, he wanted it for his men and not the “Booties”, the Royal Marines who led the task force sent to the Falklands after the Argentinian invasion in April 1982.

H’s distrust of the “Booties” was apparent from the moment we tried to come ashore on the night of May 21, scrambling off the converted car ferry which had brought us south and cramming into landing craft driven by the marines.

As the boats swayed and dipped in the swell, sea-sickness was only part of the problem. There was something else in the air.

Raw fear. Any minute now a fusillade from the shore might cut us into pieces.

We thought we would head straight for the beach but, instead, we went round and round in endless circles like day-trippers on a municipal boating lake.

Just in case the enemy might have any problem spotting us, the whole performance took place in the light of a near-full moon.

Boat engines throbbed, chains rattled and clanked, and friendly Booties flashed lights and called out to one another across the water.

I was not impressed – and neither was H. We heard him bellowing as he verbally castrated a few gobby marines.

When we finally got ashore, we holed up for two days on the freezing slopes of Sussex Mountain before London gave us the go-ahead for a raid on the airfield at Goose Green to the south.

H was on top form. He had plans to formulate and there isn’t an officer on the planet that doesn’t love planning.

Critics now say his plan was too complex, with lots of overlapping waves of attack. It certainly started to come unstuck pretty quickly.

On the night of May 23, we pressed through dense mist and rain towards Camilla Creek House -a sheep farm which was our initial base for the attack.

But after seven stumbling, mind-numbing, muscle-tearing miles in full kit, we were almost there when we were told to turn back.

Bad weather had grounded the Sea King helicopters that were supposed to be moving our artillery forward and Brigadier Julian Thompson, the Bootie in charge of the task force, had called the mission off.

H kicked off like a firecracker. “I’ve waited 20 years for this,” he snarled. “Now some f****** marine’s cancelled it.”

There was nothing for it but to slog back to Sussex Mountain. With the gallows humour typical of the paras, me and the lads from the Patrols Platoon started belting out a song: John Lennon’s Give Peace A Chance.

Suddenly a head popped out of the command HQ tent flap. It was H. He didn’t say anything. He just looked at us with an expression that said:

“Oh, it’s those f****** nutters from Patrols.”

H loved the Patrols Platoon – fit, aggressive soldiers whose speciality was getting up close to the enemy, acting as the eyes and ears of the regiment.

He just looked at us like a patient father with some naughty kids and never said a word.

Four days later, the battle was on for real -but there was more grief for H. On the morning of May 27, we were awaiting orders at Camilla Creek House when suddenly a melee of officers and sergeants appeared among the men. They were in a right flap.

“Move out! Move out! Away from these buildings on the double!” one of them yelled. “Grab your kit and f****** get out of here!”

It turned out the BBC had announced that we were about to attack Goose Green and, according to some of the men, had even revealed our position at Camilla Creek House.

Ironically, it turned out later that the Argy high command thought the bulletins were a double bluff, designed to wrong-foot them.

But the BBC announcement was a real jolt for H and left him wondering how much the enemy knew about his intentions.

It wasn’t his day. The chaos caused by the BBC meant that several officers failed to make a vital briefing meeting.

On top of that, the Special Forces recces that he’d been relying on to assess the readiness of the enemy were turning out to be a fairytale, while a Harrier jet had just been lost in a raid that left the enemy unscathed and on full alert.

All of which was enough to put any colonel into a spin on the eve of a battle.

Nothing travels faster in a battalion than news of the boss’s mood and the word was out. H was not a happy man.

CLICK, click. Click, click, click. It sounded like sinister insects calling out to each other in the darkness and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

For this wasn’t insects. It was our lads fixing their bayonets and preparing to advance down the narrow isthmus of land leading to Goose Green.

I was thrilled and I’m not ashamed to say it. I was a soldier and the thought of the fight to come gave me a warrior’s rush.

One or two hands reached out and briefly clasped mine as they slipped by me into the darkness. Somewhere in the gloom a young para puked up with the tension.

He got that off his chest and went on to fight like a demon.

Things kicked off around 3am when one of the lads from B Company spotted a silhouette in the middle of a field. “It must be a scarecrow,” whispered a young officer.

A scarecrow? He was on the Falklands, the place was crawling with Argies and he thought he was seeing a scarecrow.

“Hands up!” shouted one of the lads. With that, the scarecrow came to life. “Por favor?” he said and reached under his poncho for his weapon.

Two rifles and two machine guns opened up on him without a moment’s hesitation. Bullets tore through him and tracer rounds ignited his clothing, lighting him up like a Halloween pumpkin.

Soon B Company had taken out nearly 20 Argy trenches, tearing through them with machine-guns, grenades and bayonets.

It was a good start to their advance but elsewhere H’s plans were evaporating as fast as a bottle of port in the officers’ mess.

We were supposed to be receiving support from HMS Arrow, softening up the enemy positions with bombardments of huge shells at the rate of 30 a minute. This would have shortened the engagement by hours.

In the event, Arrow had fired just one shell before her gun jammed. Meanwhile, the Harrier jets we had been promised were fog-bound on their carriers.

 

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A BRIEF HISTORICAL GLIMPSE INTO SOME OF THE VARIOUS ORIGINAL AND RARE WW2 SAS OFFICERS PEAK CAPS, BERETS, COMMEMORATIVE AND OTHER SAS MEMORABILIA ITEMS HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL, UK .

FOR THE FIRST TIME ON PUBLIC DISPLAY …EXCEPTIONALLY RARE AND ORIGINAL WW2 SAS OFFICERS PEAK CAP , WW2 SAS OFF-WHITE BERET AND  OTHERS HERE IN AND AMONGST NOW THE UK’S LARGEST PRIVATELY OWNED SAS COLLECTIONS ON PUBLIC DISPLAY .

Above : Here is an original oil painting of one of the SAS founders David Stirling aka ” The Phantom Major”, by Gloucestershire Artist Paul Bridgman, here on display at Littledean Jail

ABOVE; AN ORIGINAL AND VERY RARE WW2 SAS OFFICERS PEAK CAP

Here is an original oil painting of one of the SAS founders Paddy Mayne aka “Mad Jack ” by Gloucestershire Artist Paul Bridgman, here on display at Littledean Jail

ORIGINAL RARE SAS PEAK CAP AS WORN AT THE SAS HEADQUARTERS IN HEREFORD .   (NOT THE BEST PICTURES AS VERY DIFFICULT TO PHOTOGRAPH  TO SHOW THE ACTUAL COLOURS )

 

INSIDE OF THE ABOVE PICTURED ORIGINAL RARE SAS PEAK CAP AS WORN AT THE SAS HEADQUARTERS IN HEREFORD .  

IF IN THE LOCALITY OF THE FOREST OF DEAN , GLOUCESTERSHIRE  AND HAVE AN INTEREST IN THE SAS AND UK SPECIAL FORCES …. DO PAY A VISIT

BELOW IS A BRIEF PICTORIAL INSIGHT INTO SOME OF THE  VARIOUS LIMITED EDITION COMMEMORATIVE SAS PLATES AND OTHER MEMORABILIA ITEMS HERE ON DISPLAY

Above and Below : Original Heckler and Koch MP5 A3 submachine gun of the type that was used during Operation Nimrod – Iranian Embassy Siege, London 1980

BELOW: ORIGINAL SAS POSTER HAND SIGNED BY VARIOUS MEMBERS OF OPERATION NIMROD- IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE 1980, HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL .

BELOW IS A UNIQUE COLLAGE DEPICTING MEMBERS OF THE HEROIC SAS ,WHO FOUGHT IN THE EPIC SECRET WAR  CODENAMED ” SAS OPERATION STORM ” AT THE BATTLE MIRBAT, OMAN , 19 JULY 1972 . THIS COLLAGE  ALSO INCLUDES  WING COMMANDER BILL STOKER , STRIKE MASTER PILOT , LEAD JET, SECOND SORTIE, WHO WAS A KEY FIGURE IN HELPING WIN THE BATTLE .

BELOW : Original one of only two privately commissioned  oil paintings by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman  of Talaiyasi Labalaba , one of the heroic SAS troopers who fought in Operation Storm during The Battle of Mirbat , Oman and was sadly killed in action.

This painting is here on display at The Crime Through Time Collection, whilst the other is in the possession of Sekonaia Takave

Below: An enlarged original photograph showing  some of the surrounding landscape   where the Battle of Mirbat took place. This photo was apparently taken during the 1980’s

BELOW : Original one of only two privately commissioned  oil paintings by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman  of Sekonaia Takavesi, one of the heroic SAS troopers who fought in Operation Storm during The Battle of Mirbat , Oman.

This painting is here on display at The Crime Through Time Collection, whilst the other is in the possession of Sekonaia Takavesi .

BELOW : Original one of only two privately commissioned oil paintings by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman of Pete “Snapper” Winner , one of the heroic SAS troopers who fought in Operation Storm during The Battle of Mirbat , Oman.

This painting is here on display at The Crime Through Time Collection, whilst the other is in the possession of Pete Winner  .

Above  : Original  privately commissioned  oil painting by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman  of Captain Mike Kealy, who was the Commanding Officer  who also fought in Operation Storm during The Battle of Mirbat , Oman.

This painting is here on display at The Crime Through Time Collection,

SAS “WHO DARES WINS”- OPERATION NIMROD, IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE EXHIBITION … HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION, LITTLEDEAN JAIL. FEATURING AMONGST OTHERS,RUSTY FIRMIN, BOB CURRY , PETE “SNAPPER ” WINNER, a.k.a SOLDIER “I” , SEKONAIA TAKAVESI AND IAN “CHALKY” WHITE . TAKAVESI & WINNER ALSO BOTH ACTIVELY FOUGHT IN THE SECRET 1972 SAS BATTLE OF MIRBAT,OMAN. CODENAMED OPERATION STORM

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ABOVE: ORIGINAL CLASSIC HECKLER & KOCH MP5 A3 SUBMACHINE GUN AS WAS USED DURING OPERATION NIMROD .

Above and Below : Pete Winner – Soldier I , during a visit to The Crime Through Time Collection at Littledean Jail, dressed in his SAS Black-kit

 

 

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FROM LEFT : PETE “SNAPPER” WINNER AND ANDY McNAB PICTURED TOGETHER AT AN EVENING WITH ANDY McNAB EVENT AT THE CHEPSTOW DRILL HALL. 

BELOW: OPERATION NIMROD BLUE TEAM SAS TROOPER “BOB CURRY” WITH  ANDY JONES DURING A PRIVATE VISIT TO LITTLEDEAN JAIL TO VIEW THE SAS OPERATION NIMROD EXHIBITION. 

BOB CURRY WAS FIRST MAN INSIDE THE REAR OF THE EMBASSY AND PART OF RUSTY FIRMIN’S BLUE TEAM, ALONG WITH PETE “SNAPPER” WINNER , THE MINK AND OTHERS. 

BELOW : BOB CURRY PICTURED DURING HIS TIME IN THE SAS. UNDOUBTEDLY A BEAST OF A MAN IN HIS DAY .

BELOW: ORIGINAL SAS POSTER HAND SIGNED BY VARIOUS MEMBERS OF OPERATION NIMROD- IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE 1980, HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL .

BELOW: ANDY JONES WITH A FEW OF THE CHAPS FROM SAS OPERATION NIMROD TO INCLUDE … THE MINK, TAK AND BLUE TEAM LEADER RUSTY FIRMIN.

BELOW:ANDY JONES WITH FORMER SAS CHAPS , TAK AND RHETT BUTLER

BELOW  : A COUPLE OF IMAGES OF FORMER SAS TROOPER THE MINK WITH ANDY JONES

BELOW: PETE WINNER TALKS ABOUT THE “BATTLE OF MIRBAT “

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—————————————————————————————————-

PLEASE DON’T FORGET OUR OWN EVER GROWING …

SAS “WHO DARES WINS” AND UK SPECIAL FORCES EXHIBITION HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL , UK

ABOVE IS A TRIBUTE  COLLAGE POSTER RELATING TO THE STORMING OF THE IRANIAN EMBASSY ON THE 5 MAY 1980 SIGNED BY PETE WINNER,  NOW AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE BOTH AT PETE WINNER EVENTS AND ALSO AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL .

ABOVE AND BELOW :  ORIGINAL CLASSIC HECKLER  & KOCH MP5 A3 SUBMACHINE GUN AS WAS USED IN THE 1980 IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE , LONDON , UK .

NOW HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION SAS “WHO DARES WINS” EXHIBITION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL .

WINNER EVENTS AND ALSO AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL .

ABOVE IS A GREAT OPERATION NIMROD TRIBUTE VIDEO

BELOW IS A GALLERY OF IMAGES FROM A RECENT MEDIA LAUNCH AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION, LITTLEDEAN JAIL   … SAS WHO DARES WINS AND UK SPECIAL FORCES EXHIBITION ….. ALSO BEING  IN ADVANCE OF AN EVENING EVENT WITH SAS HERO PETE “SNAPPER” WINNER – SOLDIER i , iAT THE OAKLANDS SPORTS AND SNOOKER CLUB , CINDERFORD , FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE , UK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BELOW IS A UNIQUE COLLAGE DEPICTING MEMBERS OF THE HEROIC SAS ,WHO FOUGHT IN THE EPIC SECRET WAR  CODENAMED ” SAS OPERATION STORM ” AT THE BATTLE MIRBAT, OMAN , 19 JULY 1972 . THIS COLLAGE  ALSO INCLUDES  WING COMMANDER BILL STOKER , STRIKE MASTER PILOT , LEAD JET, SECOND SORTIE, WHO WAS A KEY FIGURE IN HELPING WIN THE BATTLE .

BELOW : Original one of only two privately commissioned  oil paintings by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman  of Talaiyasi Labalaba , one of the heroic SAS troopers who fought in Operation Storm during The Battle of Mirbat , Oman and was sadly killed in action.

This painting is here on display at The Crime Through Time Collection, whilst the other is in the possession of Sekonaia Takavesi .

Below: An enlarged original photograph showing  some of the surrounding landscape   where the Battle of Mirbat took place. This photo was apparently taken during the 1980’s

BELOW : Original one of only two privately commissioned  oil paintings by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman  of Sekonaia Takavesi, one of the heroic SAS troopers who fought in Operation Storm during The Battle of Mirbat , Oman.

This painting is here on display at The Crime Through Time Collection, whilst the other is in the possession of Sekonaia Takavesi .

BELOW : Original one of only two privately commissioned  oil paintings by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman  of Pete ” Snapper” Winner , one of the heroic SAS troopers who fought in Operation Storm during The Battle of Mirbat , Oman.

This painting is here on display at The Crime Through Time Collection, whilst the other is in the possession of Pete Winner .

BELOW : Original  privately commissioned  oil painting by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman  of Captain Mike Kealy, DSO the heroic SAS Captain in command, who fought in Operation Storm during The Battle of Mirbat , Oman.

This painting is here on display at The Crime Through Time Collection

BELOW IS A VIDEO INTRODUCTION INTO SOME OF THE HEROIC ANTICS OF SAS TROOPER… PETE WINNER  TAKEN FROM HIS WEBSITE , DO VISIT IT DIRECTLY FOR MORE INFORMATION (LINK HERE … http://www.soldierisas.com/ )

ABOVE IS A TRIBUTE  COLLAGE POSTER RELATING TO PETE WINNER IN HIS SAS BLACK KIT,  SIGNED BY HIMSELF  AND NOW AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE BOTH AT PETE WINNER EVENTS AND ALSO AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL .

BELOW IS AN EXTRACT TAKEN FROM PETE WINNER SOLDIER “I” WEBSITE  ( http://www.soldierisas.com/ ) I first became aware of the Special Air Service Regiment when I was a young sapper serving with 10 Airfield Construction Squadron Royal Engineers during the emergency in Aden in 1967 – my first operational tour of duty. The SAS, in 1967, was a secret organization and there were all sorts of rumours flying around about what “The Regiment” was up to. I was intrigued. It seemed far more exciting than repairing bulldozers, getting covered in oil and grease all day long. Little did I know that in less than five years I would be part of this elite unit and facing hundreds of Communist shock troops at the Battle of Mirbat. I withdrew from Aden in November 1967 on one of the last flights out before the Communist regime took over. Tactical withdrawal they called it. To me it was abject surrender. I also felt I could no longer continue in the Royal Engineers, my enthusiasm for this kind of soldiering had gone. I made my mind up there and then that when I got back to the UK I would find out more about the SAS and how I could join. Back in the UK the regimental chief clerk of 10 Field Sqn. explained to me the procedure for applying for SAS Selection. I immediately lodged my application and within a few months found myself on the Brecon Beacons taking part in a series of gruelling Bergen (backpack) marches over very rough terrain. Mentally and physically I was well prepared because there was no way I was going back to the bullshit and drill that was the Royal Engineers and after three weeks of exhaustive tests I cracked the greatest physical challenge of my life – the Endurance March – forty-six miles across the Brecons with a fifty-five pound Bergen in twenty hours. To pass this final march guaranteed you a place on Continuation Training. This training included weapons and explosives, first aid, resistance to interrogation training and one month in the Far East on jungle training. All with the pressure of knowing that one mistake and you could still end up back in the Engineers.
SUCCESS! The prize was mine. After six months of intense training I became the proud owner of the famous badge and SAS wings. Out of the original 135 runners who had put themselves forward for Selection only 17 made it to the Colonel’s office for the presentation of the beret and wings. I was now badged and posted to 8 Troop, Land Rover Troop, “B” Squadron. I was pitched straight into squadron life and briefed on an operation that was going to take place in a few months; to retake Dhofar – a province in southern Oman – from Communist insurgents. My first SAS operation and I was going to get a crack at the regime that humiliated the British Army back in 1967! At the time I was not to know that in less than two years it would all end up with me fighting in the last conclusive battle against Communism that would help to bring down the Berlin Wall seventeen years later. The Battle of Mirbat, 19th July 1972, was a well planned, determined attack by hundreds of Communist shock troops against nine SAS soldiers – a modern day Rorke’s Drift that became famous in military circles but because it was part of a secret war it was a relatively unknown event in the eyes of the public. Eight years later I was involved in another spectacular “B” Squadron result when we achieved what many considered the impossible – the rescue of the hostages at the Iranian Embassy Siege in May 1980. For my part, I felt immense personal satisfaction and pride at being involved in two of the greatest SAS Operations of modern times. Both Operations would live forever in Regimental history. Both victories had been gained through faultless teamwork, immense physical courage and flexibility in the face of overwhelming odds. Pete Winner, August 2010   HERE BELOW ARE A FEW IMAGES OF SOME OF THE PERSONALLY CONTRIBUTED EXHIBIT PIECES  THAT SPECIFICALLY RELATE TO SAS TROOPER PETE WINNER AKA “SOLDIER “I” … THESE BEING ON DISPLAY AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION, LITTLEDEAN JAIL IN AMONGST OUR EVER EXPANDING SAS WHO DARES WINS & UK SPECIAL FORCES ” EXHIBITION .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PETE WINNER SIGNED POSTER

PETE WINNER SIGNED POSTER

IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE FINAL ASSAULT SIGNED ILLUSTRATION

REAR OF IRANIAN EMBASSY AT TIME OF THE FINAL ASSAULT , SIGNED BY PETE WINNER

PETE WINNER SIGNED POSTER

COPY OF ORIGINAL HAND DRAWING RELATING TO SIEGE BY PETE WINNER ALSO SIGNED BY HIM

PETE WINNER SIGNED COLLAGE

S6 GAS RESPIRATOR AND HOLDALL SIGNED BY PETE WINNER

S6 GAS RESPIRATOR SIGNED BY PETE WINNER

PETE WINNER SIGNED POSTER

SAS SIGNED BY VARIOUS TROOPERS, POSTER

FRONT ELEVATION ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY

ROOF ACCESS AND INTERNAL ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY

ROOF ACCESS AND INTERNAL ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY

ROOF ACCESS AND INTERNAL ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY

ROOF ACCESS AND INTERNAL ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY

ROOF ACCESS AND INTERNAL ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY

REAR AND INTERNAL SIDE VIEW OF IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE FINAL ASSAULT

REAR ELEVATION ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY

ORIGINAL NEWSPAPER FEATURING THE FINAL ASSAULT ON THE IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE

COMMEMORATIVE SAS OPERATION NIMROD PLATE AND MUG

COMMEMORATIVE SAS OPERATION NIMROD PLATE AND MUG

Personally signed (and original) signatures on this 9×6 print which depicts the SAS soldier known as Soldier 1 who survived ther Battle of Mirbat , was an Iranian Embassy Siege Assulter and parachuted into the seas off the Falklands during that Conflict with the Argentinians, assulting the Embassy from the back plus also signed by Pete Scholey (author of the Joker and SAS Heroes) who was with the Advance Party and helped install surveillance equipment

BATTLE OF MIRBAT 1972

The Battle of Mirbat took place on 19 July 1972 during the Dhofar Rebellion in Oman, which was supported by Communist guerrillas from South Yemen. Britain assisted the Omani government by sending elements of its Special Air Service both to train soldiers and compete against the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG) guerrillas for the “hearts and minds” of the Omani people

At 6 am on 19 July 1972 the PFLOAG attacked the British Army Training Team (BATT) house, which housed the nine SAS soldiers, based just outside the Port of Mirbat. The PFLOAG (locally known as the Adoo) attacked the SAS BATT house knowing that to be able to reach the Port of Mirbat they would first have to defeat the SAS guarding the approach to the town in Jebel Ali, a series of small desert slopes leading to the Port.

The Officer in Command, Captain Mike Kealy observed the waves advancing on the fort, but did not order his men to open fire because he thought it was the “Night Picket” coming back from night shift, which were a loyal group of the Omani Armypositioned on the slopes to warn the BATT house of Adoo troop movements. Realising that the Night Picket must have been killed, due to them not warning the SAS of the assault Mike Kealy ordered his men to open fire. Mike Kealy along with other members of the team took up positions behind the sand-bag parapet on the roof of the BATT house, firing at the Adoo withL1A1 SLR battle rifles, with one man firing the Browning M2HB heavy machine gun, with a further two men on ground level operating and firing an infantry mortar surrounded by sand-bags. The Adoo were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, and were mortar bombing the area around the BATT house. Kealy ordered the signaller to establish communications with SAS Headquarters at Um al Quarif, to request reinforcements.

There were also a small number of Omani Intelligence Service personnel in the BATT House, a small contingent of Pakistani soldiers and a member of British Military Intelligence seconded to the OIS who joined the team on the roof and fired on the Adoo with SLRs and other small arms.  Initially some of the Pakistani soldiers were reluctant to join the defence of the fort because their roles with the BATT were largely administrative, but they obeyed orders from Mike Kealy and the British Military Intelligence Corporal

Overflying the BATT House, Mirbat.

Knowing that the SLRs would not be of full use until the Adoo were closer than the weapon’s range of 800 metres, and lacking more heavy firepower, Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba made a run for the 25 Pounder Artillery Piece which was positioned next to a smaller fort which stationed nine Omani Army Special Forces soldiers, who had not played a part in the battle. The Omani policeman who was guarding the weapon had been seriously wounded. Talaiasi Labalaba managed to operate the weapon, which is a six-man job, himself and fire a round a minute at the approaching Adoo, directing their attention away from the BATT house. Kealy received a radio message from Talaiasi reporting that a bullet had skimmed his face, and was badly injured, and was struggling to operate the gun by himself. At the BATT house Kealy asked for a volunteer to run to Talaiasi’s aid. Trooper Sekonaia Takavesi volunteered to go.

Sekonaia Takavesi ran from the BATT house, with the remaining men providing covering fire, in an attempt to distract the Adoo. Sekonaia ran the 800 metres through heavy gunfire, and reached the gun emplacement. Sekonaia tried to give aid to his injured friend, while firing at the approaching Adoo with his personal weapon. Realising that they needed help, Sekonaia tried to raise the small number of Omani soldiers inside the smaller fort, and Walid Khamis emerged. The only Omani Gendarmerie Officer in the Mirbat Fort was Lieutenant Hassan Bin Ehsan Bin Naseeb. The remaining Omani soldiers in the fort engaged the enemy with small arms fire from firing positions on the roof and through the windows of the fort As the two men made it back to the emplacement, the Omani soldier fell wounded after being shot in the stomach with a 7.62 mm bullet. Adoo continued to advance upon the BATT house, and artillery emplacement. At one point, the Adoo were so close Sekonaia and Talaiasi fired the weapon at point blank range, aiming down the barrel. Talaiasi crawled across a small space to reach a 60 mm Infantry Mortar, but fell dead after being shot in the neck. Sekonaia, also shot through the shoulder and grazed by a bullet to the back of his head continued to fire at the approaching Adoo with his personal weapon. The squad signaller sent messages through to the main Forward Operating Base, to request air support and medical evacuation for the men in the gun emplacement.

Inside the BATT House at Mirbat

Captain Kealy and Trooper Tobin made a run to the artillery piece. Upon reaching it, they dived in to avoid increasingly intense gunfire from the Adoo. Sekonaia continued to fire on the attackers, propped up against sand bags after being shot through the stomach (the bullet narrowly missing his spine). The Adoo threw several hand grenades, but only one detonated, exploding behind the emplacement with no one injured. During the battle, Trooper Tobin attempted to reach over the body of Talaiasi. In so doing, Tobin was mortally wounded when a bullet struck his face. By this time, BAC Strikemaster light-attack jets of the Sultan of Oman’s Air Force had arrived, and began strafing the Adoo in the Jebel Ali. With a low cloud base making for low altitude attack runs, only machine-guns and light rockets were used. Reinforcements arrived from G Squadron and, defeated, the PFLOAG withdrew at about 12:30. All wounded SAS soldiers were evacuated, and given medical treatment, Trooper Tobin eventually died in hospital not due to the multiple gunshot wounds but to an infection in his lung caused by his splintered tooth which he had aspirated when his bottom jaw was blown off by an AK-47 round.

BELOW IS A TRIBUTE VIDEO PERFORMED BY SWEDISH HEAVY METAL BAND – SABATON  FEATURING AN INSIGHT INTO THE BATTLE OF MIRBAT . 

USED WITH KIND PERMISSION FROM SABATON